Michel Roux Jr on marathon running: 'I love just being out there on my own'

The Michelin-starred chef on running to Benny Hill theme music, indulging in chocolate after a race and on being the only kid who actually enjoyed cross country running

Hi Michel! You’ve got quite some form when it comes to marathons, haven’t you? I love marathons! I love long-distance running so anything really above 10km is great. I’ve run 20 marathons to date, some ultras as well, and 13 London marathons. And other marathons all over the world. Some bizarre places such as Tromso up in the arctic circle and Monaco, which was rather glamorous. For me it’s a way of life. My best time is 3h 13min here in London, a few years back.

So with that experience, when people ask you for a training tip, what do you tell them? It’s really about getting started. On days like this, its easy. It’s a beautiful day today with blue skies – it’s crisp, it’s fresh, you don’t really need any inspiration to go out. But on cold, wet, damp, horrible winter day – that’s when you really need inspiration. And that’s when you need to pick up a magazine or an inspirational book about running, go through the pages – or go on YouTube for a video of a great sporting moment, like a Paula Radcliffe race or something – look at that for two seconds and then you think, “Yeah! That’s what I’m going to go out and do!”