IRC champion Mikkelsen turns marathon man

Defending Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Andreas Mikkelsen will swap his rally boots for a pair of running shoes when he takes part in the Oslo Marathon on Saturday.

Mikkelsen regularly runs half-marathon distances during his extensive training programme for his IRC campaign but has yet to run a full marathon. Despite his reputation as a super-fit driver, the 23-year-old fears he’s behind with his preparations for the event in Norway’s capital.

“I’m far far behind schedule training for my first marathon,” admits the ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver. “It was a last-minute decision – I only discovered I was running the week before Barum Czech Rally Zlín, so that gave me less than one month to prepare.

“My housemate, Anders, did the Oslo Marathon last year, so my main goal is to try to beat his time. He finished in just under four hours, so I have an aim of three hours 45 minutes – but that will be tough because of the limited amount of training I’ve done. I am in training all the time of course, but not for marathons.”