Edward Norton was the fastest celebrity in this weekend’s New York marathon. The ‘Fight Club’ actor crossed the finish line in 3 hours, 48 minutes and 1 second, beating other celebrity runners including Alanis Morissette and ‘ER’ actor Anthony Edwards.

Edward, 40, described his experience running the race as “phenomenal” and was pleased he had achieved his personal goal of beating former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s four hour marathon time.

Edward completed the run to raise money for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, which promotes conservation, education and health services in southern Kenya, and he had the opportunity to train with the warriors in Kenya ahead of the marathon.

He said of his training: "I’m often slower than the Maasai, which is to be expected. But then I see something like a lion print, and then suddenly, amazingly, I’m as fast as they are."

The Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture also ran, finishing in 4-hours 23-minutes; and he was joined on the finish line by record breaking weight loss queen Tara Costa, star of US slow ‘The Biggest Loser’, who ran the race in the same time.

Rumoured participants Teri Hatcher and magician David Blaine didn’t run. Terri’s representative had confirmed earlier in the week she was taken ill with laryngitis.

Bang Showbiz