Katie Price says she will "crawl" the London Marathon if she has to, vowing to do whatever it takes to get over the finish line.
The 39-year-old star is set to take part in the gruelling 26-mile run on Sunday (22.04.18) – amidst adversity as there is a heatwave forecast for the UK capital this weekend and Katie has not been able to train as much as she wanted due to a knee injury.
But the ‘Loose Women’ panellist is running the 38th London Marathon to raise money for the British Lung Foundation and increase awareness of the progressive and irreversible lung condition idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which her mother Amy, 64, has been diagnosed with and is adamant nothing will stop her crossing the finishing line.
Katie told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Last time, I trained up to about 14 miles and this time I’ve done up to about nine miles, if that. But rather than continuing to aggravate my knees, I’d rather aggravate them fully on the day. I did the marathon before and it wasn’t the fitness that was the problem. It was nothing to do with that. I was really fit stamina wise, but it was just my knees. They’re basically f***ed. In the last one, I just hobbled. It felt like a knife going in my knee. In both of my knees.
"But even if I end up having to crawl, I will get over that line. Whatever has gone on in my life this year, I’ll put that aside on the day."
No matter what challenges are presented to her on the day, Katie insists she’ll have no excuse to quit and any thoughts like that enter her head she’ll just think about her mother who now struggles to breathe.
Katie added: "Of course it will be a nightmare, but who cares? Sure, my knees are going to be in pain, but what about my mum? She can’t breathe. I’m still alive. I’m lucky to be alive, but my mum’s not that lucky as she’s got a terminal disease.
"If I collapse, I better f***ing get up again. And it won’t be a collapsed lung, anyway, as there will be enough support around to keep that lung going. There will be ambulances and people shouting, ‘Get up, get up’."
The businesswoman – who is mother to children Harvey, 15, Junior, 12, Princess, 10, Jett, four, and Bunny, three, from three different relationships – previously ran the Marathon with her ex-husband Peter Andre in 2009, taking seven hours and 11 minutes after suffering a miscarriage shortly before the race and struggling with her knee problems. That year she ran for her eldest son Harvey, who is blind and has a range of special needs.
She said: "Running this Marathon is important to me. I did that one for Harvey, but Harvey is still alive. My mum is dying."
Katie Price will crawl London Marathon to finish
