Man Dressed as Gorilla Crawls London Marathon for Conservation Charity

Thousands who ran the London Marathon at the weekend are still nursing sore muscles.

But one man is still making his way slowly round the route.

Policeman Tom Harrison, dubbed Mr Gorilla, is crawling through the capital on his hands and knees to raise money for conservation charity The Gorilla Organization.

Harrison has been doing 10 to12 hours each day before resting up at friends’ homes, and is expected to finish Thursday or Friday. The 41-year-old has a fundraising target of £2,000, which would pay for a team of rangers and supplies to protect gorillas in Eastern Congo for three months.

When Tom sets his heart to do something, he absolutely does it

He has already completed a series of big challenges for the charity, including the Great Gorilla Run and Tough Mudder. “I thought he was mad at first, but you know when Tom sets his heart to do something, he absolutely does it,” said Jillian Miller, director of The Gorilla Organization.

Several members of The Big Issue team also ran the London Marathon this weekend, raising more than £5,000 in total.

Adrian Lobb and Chris Stead raised money for The Big Issue Foundation, the independent charity that works with vendors and connects them to vital support services. Andrew Burns ran for Anthony Nolan, the blood cancer charity and bone marrow register.

Vendor George Anderson was on hand to congratulate The Big Issue runners with their gold medals at the finishing line. “It was a great achievement, and they’ve inspired me to think about running next year,” said George.

Big Issue vendor George congratulates journalist Adrian Lobb