11 Celebrity Marathoners

Next Monday, 25,000 people will gather in Hopkinton, Mass., for the start of the 113th Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon. When they cross the finish line, they'll join the ranks of the likes of Michael Dukakis, Mario Lopez, Lisa Ling, and Ali Landry, all of whom have navigated the same hilly, 26.2-mile course. Here are 11 other celebrities who have gone the distance at marathons throughout the world.

1. Oprah Winfrey

Wearing bib No. 40 to match her age, Winfrey finished the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, in 4 hours, 29 minutes, and 20 seconds. "This is better than an Emmy," Winfrey said after fulfilling a promise she made to herself eight years prior. Winfrey trained for 20 weeks leading up to the race with personal trainer Bob Greene, who ran alongside her. The race was filmed for a future episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, during which Winfrey introduced the marathon's female winner, Susan Malloy.

2. Will Ferrell

3. Katie Holmes

4. George W. Bush and 5. Sarah Palin

Distraught after his father was defeated by Bill Clinton in the 1992 Presidential Election, George W. Bush turned to running. "I decided I was going to set a little project for myself," Bush told Runner's World in 2002. That project was training for the 1993 Houston Marathon, which Bush finished in 3 hours, 44 minutes, and 52 seconds. There's no word on whether Bush, who said that running helped teach him not to be so compulsive, will plan a similar project after the Republican Party's latest defeat. If he does, he has a potential training partner in Sarah Palin, who ran the Humpy's Marathon in Anchorage in 2005 in less than 4 hours.

6. Buster Martin

7. Sean "Diddy" Combs

8. Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy's well-documented streak of futility in the mid-game Presidents' Race at Washington Nationals games continued at the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon, where the lovable loser proved that it's not always about winning and losing, but finishing the race. With security detail running alongside him, Teddy completed the marathon on the eve of his 150th birthday in 6 hours, 26 minutes, and 49 seconds, which was good enough for 17,944th place. If nothing else, he served as motivation for some of the slower participants in the race, who could either muster the energy to pass Teddy over the course of the final few miles or fall asleep that night knowing that they finished behind a guy with a 40-pound head.

9. Lance Armstrong

10. Michael Waltrip and 11. Kyle Petty

Petty and Waltrip have done their parts to dispel the belief that NASCAR drivers aren't athletes. Moving at roughly 7 miles per hour instead of their customary 200, the duo ran the 2005 Las Vegas Marathon to raise money for charity. Waltrip, a marathon veteran, finished in 3 hours, 56 minutes, while Petty, who was running his first marathon, finished in 4:16. "The wind was horrendous, but I enjoyed the race," Waltrip said. "I don't know if I could have run any faster." He then thanked his pit crew.