NEW YORK (Reuters) — Hip-hop music and fashion entrepreneur Sean “P. Diddy” Combs completed the New York marathon Sunday, despite suffering leg cramps for about half the distance, as part of an effort to raise millions of dollars for needy city children.
Combs, who has performed as “P. Diddy” after becoming one of hip-hop’s most successful stars as “Puff Daddy,” ran the 26.2 mile course in an official time of four hours, 14 minutes and 54 seconds.
“I’ve never experienced mental or physical pain like that,” Combs told reporters after becoming the 11,359th to cross the Central Park finish line out of 35,100 entrants. “But it was a beautiful experience.”
Combs said he raised $2 million for New York’s public schools, children suffering from HIV and AIDS and his own charity to foster social programs.
The rap impresario, who had undercover police officers assigned as bodyguards, was shown on the live NBC-TV broadcast grimacing in agony from cramps and fending off admirers.
“I was in real trouble and I wanted to stop. It was a life changing experience because I did not stop,” said Combs, who ran the marathon, his first, under his proper name.
Combs, who called the effort “Diddy Runs the City,” said in a marathon diary published by the New York Post that he trained for less than two months and had an injured right knee.
He said his goals were to finish under four hours and quicker than popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey’s 1994 U.S. Marine Corps marathon time of 4 hours 29 minutes. He said he would appear on “Oprah” Monday.
Kenyan Martin Lel won the men’s race and his compatriot Margaret Okayo won the women’s race. Lel clocked two hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds and Okayo’s time was two hours, 22 minutes and 31 seconds.
Combs appeared in the news Tuesday for a different reason when workers’ rights activists said garments in his Sean John clothing line were sewn in a “sweatshop” in Honduras in Central America. Combs said he was shocked by the allegations and had “zero tolerance” for any labor law violations.
