Tom Harrison AKA 'Mr. Gorilla' Completes London Marathon after Six Days

ByMeera DolasiaonMay 1, 2017

On Sunday, April 23, almost 50,000 athletes took to the streets to compete in the 37th London Marathon. While few were able to get even close to Daniel Wanjiru’s 2:05:48 winning time, none were as slow as Tom Harrison, whocrawled to the finish line, six days later, on April 30.

However, the Metropolitan Police Officer, who was dressed in a gorilla suit, had a good reason for hisslow progress.He had completed the 26.2 miles on all fours to raise money to help gorillaconservationefforts in Africa. The 41-year-old who spent an average 8-10 hours on his hand and knees, covered about 4.5 miles each day before crashing at friend’s house for the night.

To prevent his knees fromblistering, he swapped between hands and knees to hands and feet and took breaks every 100 to 200 meters. But thelong and often painfulcrawl was well worth it.

Harrison, who crossed the finish line at 11:45 am, has raised over £37,000 ($47,800 USD), much more than his original goal of £1,790 ($2,300), for the Gorilla Organisation, which isdedicatedto protecting gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The much-needed funds will help train the communities near where gorillas live to stop killing gorillas in order to sell their meat. The money will also help pay for ranger services to monitorthe hunting of the Great Apes. More importantly, Harrison hopes his six-day crawl will encourage more people to help protect them as numbers are falling very fast.

While thrilled at the outcome, Harrison, AKA Mr. Gorilla, is not done yet. He is planning to continue his fundraising efforts at the annual RideLondon cycling festival scheduled for the weekend of July 28th-30th 2017.

Section A

Read the passage and underline the correct answers to each of the following questions.

  1. The winner of the 2017 London Marathon was

Daniel Wanyama

Daniel Wanjiru

Daniel Wanmala

Daniel Wantrasa

  1. Tom Harrison took much longer to complete the race because

he was wearing a gorilla suit and moving along on his hands and knees

he was wearing a gorilla suit while running

he was wearing a gorilla suit while running backwards

he was wearing a Shrek costume

  1. At the end of each day, Tom Harrison

stayed with a friend

stayed at a hotel

stayed with his parents

stayed with his partner

  1. Tom Harrison tried to avoid getting

sore feet

blisters

sore legs

headaches

  1. Money raised was to help

protect gorillas in the wild

protect gorillas in zoos

allow more humans to visit gorillas in Africa

allow gorillas to breed more in the wild

Section B

Tick (√) the correct box to show if the following statements are true, false or don’t know

True / False / Don’t Know / Statement
Almost 50,000 athletes took part in the 37th London Marathon
Tom Harrison completed the marathon ten days after everyone else
Tom Harrison completed 6 miles each day
Tom Harrison trained very hard for the marathon
People in Rwanda kill gorillas to sell their meat
Gorilla numbers are falling slowly

Section C

Complete this summary of the passage. Fill in the gaps using one or more words in each space. You may use your own words or words from the passage.

The 37th ______(1) Marathon took place on 23rd April 2017. One man

named Tom Harrison dressed up as a ______(2) and completed the

______(3)on his hands and knees to raise money for charity. His chosen

charity was the Gorilla ______(4). Tom Harrison spent between 8-10

hours each day on the ______(5)before resting at a friend’s house each

night in order to ______(6). He raised over £37,000 to help

______(7) gorillas in Africa. Tom Harrison was ______(8)at what he

achieved and plans to ______(9) another charity event later in

2017 which involves______(10).