Jamie Lang begins Ultra Marathon Man Challenge

Jamie's route, how to sponsor him and why he's doing it.

Jamie Laing has kicked off his Red Nose Day Ultra Marathon Man Challenge.

Setting off from the BBC Headquarters shortly after 8am this morning, the Radio 1 presenter will complete five marathons in five days as he runs from London to Salford in Manchester, where this Friday night's Comic Relief programme will be broadcast live on BBC One.

He'll take in locations like St Albans and Loughborough along the way, and fans can hear his progress by listening to BBC Radio 1 via the BBC Sounds app.

Before he began the challenge, he told Greg James: "I'm doing this for every person who's experienced anxiety, OCD and depression"

His wife Sophie said "He's been so nervous, he just doesn't want to let anyone down but he's going to be amazing".

Within the first hour of his run, Jamie was joined by 50 'lookalikes' who accompanied him through Hyde Park, and many more surprises are promised along the route.

Samir Patel, CEO of Comic Relief, said: “We couldn’t be more grateful for Jamie to be taking on this challenge for Red Nose Day. Comic Relief is celebrating its 40th year of going big, giving big, and feeling good and it doesn’t get bigger than this. People across the UK are facing impossible decisions every day just to get by, so the money raised from this challenge will really make a difference. No matter how tough it gets, we hope Jamie remembers just how much of a difference the money he is helping to raise is going to make all across the UK and the world – good luck Jamie, we can’t wait to cheer you on!"

Here's how you can donate: