A man who was bullied for years at school is set to complete his challenge of running 401 marathons in 401 days in a bid to raise awareness of the damage caused by bullying.
Ben Smith (34) is running his last marathon in his home city of Bristol on Wednesday. When he completes the run he will have covered just over 16,908km (10,506 miles) since September 1st, 2015, the equivalent of running from London to Sydney.
Hundreds of runners joined Smith on the final leg of his journey, starting at Bristol’s Millennium Square at 10am. He has been fundraising for charity throughout his bid and the money he has collected will be donated to Stonewall and Kidscape.
Before his last run, Smith said he was nervous but excited.
He told the BBC : “I’m actually aching today, my legs have been alright for the last 101 days and, typical, last day, legs ache, back aches, but I’ve got one day left.
“I’m doing this to raise £250,000 for two anti-bullying charities. I was bullied for eight years of my life at school.
“It affected my confidence and self-esteem and that led to me trying to take my own life when I was 18.”
Against bullying
Smith, who decided to complete the challenge after coming out as gay, added that the objective of the challenge had been “to involve as many people as possible and create opportunities for children, young people and adults to discuss the difficult topics of bullying and sexuality”.
Throughout, Smith has battled injuries including a long-standing spinal problem and pain in his kneecaps, heels and shins.
They meant he had to take a 10-day break, but he ran extra miles each day since to get back to his 401-day schedule.
Local running groups have supported him with each of his routes and more than 9,000 people have joined him on runs.
Wednesday’s marathon route wound its way to Portishead and Smith was expected to be back at Millennium Square in the afternoon.
Mr Smith’s mother Beverley Smith said: “It has always been a pleasure to be Ben’s mum but it is just awesome today.
“I don’t think anyone has written the words to describe how we feel so we decided that a new feeling has come on the market called 401. We feel 401.”
When Mr Smith explained his challenge to his parents, his mother told him: “Go on boy, get it done.”
“I looked him in the eye and said, ‘do you think you can do it?’ ” she said.
“He said ‘yes’ and I knew he would do it.”
– (Guardian service/PA)