'Gorilla man' STILL crawling the London Marathon turns out to be a Met police officer!
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The 'Gorilla Man' is still crawling the London Marathon on his hands and knees.
The man dubbed 'Mr Gorilla' for crawling the London Marathon on his hands and knees has been unmasked as a Met police officer!
Tom Harrison, 41 years old, is raising money for the Gorilla Organisation, and began his mission to pass the finish line on his hands and knees at 10.34am on Sunday. By lunchtime on Tuesday, he had completed the first 11 miles and made it to Rotherhithe station; and late on Wednesday afternoon, he's still going.
TOM HARRISON / MR GORILLA | PA IMAGES
Along the way, Tom has slept at friends' houses to recover from his 10-12 hour days on his hands and knees. He has been crawling an average of 4.5 miles per day, switching between crawling on hands and knees and up on hands and feet, to save his blistered knees.
Despite having to take a break every 100 to 200 metres to save his shoulders and knees, 'Mr Gorilla' enthused: "I'm going good, I've just been having a gorilla power nap. Just been napping on some bark chippings under an old tree, which is the perfect gorilla nesting habitat really.
TOM HARRISON / MR GORILLA | PA IMAGES
"It's hard work today. All of my muscles are aching now so I've probably had a few more stops than previous days, but I'm still going forward so that's what matters.
"It's all about raising the profile of the Gorilla Organization and raising money. I don't really matter that much, I'm just a conduit to the gorillas in Africa."
This is the very first time anyone has crawled the London Marathon, making Tom's effort an incredible feat. Asked what advice he would give to anyone planning a similar effort, he said: "I'd probably advise anyone else doing it to get a bit more training in. We only did about four crawling sessions beforehand."
"I'd also recommend painkillers and just bloody-mindedness. Anyway, I'd better get crawling. Three more days to go I think, then I'll be tumble turning down the mile."
TOM HARRISON / MR GORILLA | PA IMAGES
Tom Harrison has set up a JustGiving page for his effort, which has raised more than £12,000 so far for the Gorilla Organisation. The charity is dedicated to conserving gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo, and they have said that £2,000 could pay for a team of rangers in the Easter Congo for three months.
"He's just this incredible personality who seems to me to be absolutely fearless, but he loves the gorillas." said charity director Jillian Miller.
"I thought he was mad at first, but you know when Tom sets his heart to do something, he absolutely does it."
On Magic in the Morning, Harriet managed to sneak in a chat with Mr Gorilla, who told her how he manages to get through the knee blisters and shoulder pain. Listen to the link just below!
What an incredible guy. You can donate to his crawl at the JustGiving link here!