Caitriona Balfe reveals she needs to be on Outlander set in Scotland for 5am after running London Marathon

Hardcore: Caitriona Balfe needs to be on set hours after marathon
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Actor Caitriona Balfe, star of the time travel TV drama Outlander, has been told she must be back filming in Scotland just hours after finishing her first marathon in London on Sunday.

The former model told the Standard she is due on set in Glasgow at 5am next Monday for work on the fourth season of the show, in which she plays a Second World War nurse who is transported back to the Jacobite Risings of 1743.

The 38-year-old, who is raising money for the World Child Cancer charity, said: “I’m working all week then flying down to London on Saturday.

"I’ll try to do a yoga class to get stretched out before it starts, then after the race I’m flying straight back to Glasgow that evening as I’ve got to be on set at 5am.

Caitriona Balfe - In pictures

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“It’s going to be interesting. You never know how the film scheduling is going to work out and I couldn’t get that day off.

"Fortunately, it’s all interior scenes and I just have to sit around in a kitchen. I won’t have to get on a horse, which is what I was really worried about, or, thankfully, run.

“My co-star Sam Heughan has run a lot of marathons, he’s already done two this year in Stirling and Edinburgh, he’s like an Energiser bunny and he’s given me a lot of good advice.

"The rest of them look at me as if I’m mad because they know what I’m really like.”

Balfe said she is hoping to complete the 26.2 mile course in four-and-a-half to five hours. She was talked into doing it by her sportier sister who has completed a number of triathlons.

She said: “I asked her if she would run for the charity in lieu of me, but she put the guilt trip on me and convinced me I should do it with her.”

Balfe is one of dozens of celebrities raising thousands of pounds for their good causes by competing in the race, which starts on Blackheath and ends on The Mall.

Actor Bertie Carvel, who played Simon Foster in the BBC family break-up drama Doctor Foster and Rupert Murdoch in the West End show Ink, is also running his first marathon and is fundraising for The Old Vic theatre in its bicentenary year.

In Pictures | The 2017 London Marathon | 23/04/2017

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The 40-year-old, who has never before run a race longer than 10km, said his carefully planned training plan had been shattered by a tendinopathy injury that had stopped him running throughout February and March.

He said: “I’ve had to do all my training in three weeks and that is not recommended. But I like these sorts of challenges, I’ve always picked roles that stretch me and push me so there’s something about it that appeals to me.”

Two of Gordon Ramsay’s children will be running — twins Jack and Holly, who are raising money for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity.

Jack said: “We may be twins but I’m definitely stronger and faster than Holly, so even though we are starting together of course I’m going to cross the finish line before her.”

Other celebrities participating include DJ Chris Evans, football commentator Jonathan Pearce, model Katie Price, BBC newsreaders Sophie Raworth and Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster.

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