Ramsay's turn to feel the heat

13 April 2012

Gordon Ramsay talks like he lives - a runaway train leaving a frenzy of F-words sparking in his wake as he rattles off into the verbal distance. It rapidly becomes clear serene repose is not his thing. But then you don't become a chef with three Michelin stars by accident.

Ramsay's peers among the elite restaurant trade recently voted his eatery in Chelsea the best place to dine in the country, and the second best in Europe. On the day we met it was in the kitchens at his new eponymous restaurant at Claridge's.

"I hate sitting down," he said, twitching in his seat, as preparations for lunch got under way around him. "When I'm active with a thousand things to do, I'm energetic, I'm brilliant. When I've got no agenda I'm terrible. I try playing squash at those times but an hour's squash isn't very active. Not like running."

This Sunday, Ramsay will attack his third London Marathon. Two years ago he completed his first in four hours 52 minutes, yet was mortified when 'some bloke' leaned over Tower Bridge as the famously aggressive chef struggled on below, and shouted: "Oi! Ramsay! You don't look so bloody tough now!"

"It made me realise how piss poor my time was," he recalled, eyes blazing. "So last year I took exactly an hour off it. This time I want at least 3:45 but 3:30 is the dream. I know it's a huge difference but I'm ambitious and slightly mad. I run three times a week and I use a great gym in Soho which has an oxygen tent so it's like running at altitude.

"My father-in-law got me into marathons. He's fanatical about them. He runs 3:33 for the marathon, which is really pissing me off because he's 53. I'm 35. I've got to get close to him.

"When I began three years ago I couldn't run beyond 20 minutes. I just didn't have the time. But I made time. I started running after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays.''

In Ramsay's case "after work" means some time after 11pm, when the evening's dinner trade has finished.

"There's something quite sensuous about running over the Albert Bridge at night. You get to understand properly how beautiful London is."

The marathon is not the great psychological barrier which it is to so many. In Ramsay's case that is reserved for an event called Comrades, which takes place in South Africa four weeks after London. The course there is 60 miles long, and he has completed it twice.

"That's the ultimate," he grinned. "It's mad. After Comrades you're stiff for two weeks. After my first one I came back in a wheelchair. My feet were so swollen I couldn't get any trainers on. I had elephantiasis in my ankles. Recovery from the London Marathon isn't too bad. The day after last year's I cooked lunch for President Putin of Russia and the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street."

This time he is running in aid of Sport Relief, the new campaign from Comic Relief and the BBC raising funds for children and young people at home and abroad.

"SportRelief reminded meI had a huge lucky break when I came out of football, which ultimately made all the difference, and I wanted other young people to benefit from something similar. I went to catering college and a local community organisation called the Round Table supported me through my first year. I didn't have the money. They paid for my chef whites, my knives, the whole thing. If not for that, I wouldn't bewhere I am today."

Ramsay's promising football career with Rangers ended at the age of 19 as the result of a knee injury.

"Unless you're involved in football at that level you never quite understand the politics of it, how many people are waiting to take your place. But after football ended I couldn't afford to mess up a second time and that's how I got where I am now."

Ask him how good a footballer he was and he replies: "I was pretty determined, pretty nasty. If I were to compare myself to any of today's footballers I'd say I'm most like Stuart Pearce.''

Surprise surprise. Psycho.

For a Sport Relief fundraising pack, call 09068 101010, or log on at www.sportrelief.com

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