Oliver Phelps Just Ran His First New York City Marathon, Here's What He Looked Forward to Eating

How did you celebrate the premiere of the new season of Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking? If you’re anything like us, it was with a pile of sweet treats in front of a cozy fire. But host Oliver Phelps went the extra mile … or, should we say, 26.2 miles.

After catching his breath running his first-ever New York City Marathon, the actor and world traveler posted to Instagram, "Even a busted IT band in my left knee after 0.2 miles didn’t stop me having an incredible time. A massive thanks to everyone who came to cheer me and the other thousands on."

When we asked if he had any plans for a postrace recovery, Ollie responded: “The cool thing about being in New York this time of year is carb-loading … Probably a big pizza slice, I haven’t had one in a while. And a nice glass of wine.”

Ollie ran on behalf of the Matt Hampson Foundation, which supports and seeks to inspire youths who have been seriously injured or disabled playing sports. The foundation helps hundreds of individuals each year through physiotherapy and personal training, in addition to teaching team-building and leadership roles.

His brother and Wizards of Baking co-host James Phelps is no stranger to road races either, having run the London Marathon himself in 2023. And he ran it with no music: "I wanted to listen to the crowd and experience the crowd, and I'm so glad I did that, because that really did carry me through a lot of it in London. And I hear that the New York crowd are very loud, especially, especially when you need it."

Though he didn't join in the marathon this time around, James did run in the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line, a 5K road race through Midtown Manhattan that ends in Central Park.

Congratulations, James and Ollie, on some of the hardest-earned slices of pizza in New York City!