A COMEDIAN and two friends ran the Brighton Marathon to honour their colleague who died of cancer.

Joe Wilkinson, famed for appearance on BBC’s Live at the Apollo and Channel 4’s 8 out of 10 Cats, tackled the challenge to raise money for charity Sarcoma UK after fellow comedian Phil Jerrod died from the disease last year, aged 42.

The Brighton resident was “dragged around” the course on Sunday, April 10, by friends Simon Livermore and Brian Russell as they raised £2,100 in donations.

Joe with running partner Simon, right

“We are glad we managed to raise some money for this fantastic charity. Thank you to Sarcoma UK for all your support,” said Simon.

“It was tough getting through the middle section, but we managed to recover and finished with a time of four hours and 32 minutes. I was aiming for four hours and 30 minutes so I’m very happy with that.”

Simon and Joe post-race

Sarcomas are a rare type of cancers affecting the tissues that connect, support and surround other body structures and organs, according to the NHS.

Around 15 people are diagnosed with a sarcoma each day, averaging 5,300 a year.