Comedian Eddie Izzard admits he’s beginning to feel the pace — and who can blame him after completing an incredible 24 marathons in 28 days.

But the cross-dressing comic hardly had time to catch his breath when he arrived in Northern Ireland yesterday on the latest leg of his Sports Relief odyssey.

It was straight down to the business of clocking up another pavement-pounding marathon for the man who is already on his 14th pair of trainers.

And despite the obvious exhaustion of his long-distance charity run around the UK, he harboured only one doubt about the country where he was raised.

So far on his epic journey through parts of England, Scotland and Wales, Eddie has carried the flag of the nation he’s running through.

And he was aware that flags and emblems can cause a little local difficulty here.

“I know all about it and it has occupied my mind,” he says.

“But I think I found a solution and I’m hopeful no one will be offended."

Multi-talented Eddie, 47, also planned to visit his old street at Ashford Drive in Bangor.

He and his family spent three-and-a-half years in the Co Down resort when he was a nipper. “Those days were definitely the happiest of my childhood,” he recalled.

The self-styled “transvestite with a career” underwent just five weeks training before setting out on his mega-marathon that will see him cover 1,100 miles in seven weeks.

“I’m a determined b*****d and I’ll grind it out,” he says. “I have to keep on staggering forward. Running, walking, crawling, whatever it takes.”

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Belfast Telegraph