Comedian Eddie Izzard will be gracing Shropshire and Mid Wales with his presence over the next few days as part of his attempt to run more than 1,000 miles around the UK in seven weeks.

His journey will be taking him through Newtown, Welshpool and Oswestry as he attempts to raise money for Sports Relief. The 47-year-old, who set off from London on July 27, is expected to run through Newtown and Welshpool tomorrow.

He will before making his way through Oswestry on Sunday.

Mr Izzard is not known for his running, and, as one of Britain’s greatest comics, is not one of the regulars on the televised Comic Relief nights every two years.

But he said: “I could never quite fit in with Comic Relief. I don’t do much TV, I do live shows, and TV comics can go on Comic Relief and do sketch shows but I can’t.

“But I’d already thought of doing something for it, either involving running or football actually.”

His marathon effort is due to finish in about five weeks taking in Northern Ireland and Scotland before finishing in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Sarah Johnson, tour manager, said updates of Eddie’s progress were available on his Twitter website page.

She said: “He’s running about 30 miles a day but this can vary from day-to-day.

“We’re expecting to be in the Newtown and Welshpool areas on Saturday and Oswestry on Sunday, but we can’t give exact times it just depends how things go.”

At the moment Mr Izzard is making his was towards Edinburgh before heading back to London for the final part of his run.

But the star who only started training for his adventure four weeks before it began, has already suffered a few injuries including problems with his hamstring and his shins.

To support Mr Izzard’s running, go to www.comicrelief.com/donate/eddie

By Anwen Evans