There’s an ordinary man doing something really rather extraordinary – running 401 consecutive marathons in 401 days for charity.

This week I was lucky enough to meet 33 year old Ben Smith and what an inspiration he is.

Having got wind that Ben would be running some of his 401 marathons in Kent over the past week, I thought I’d catch up with him in Maidstone on Wednesday morning, do the usual of grab an interview, maybe run a little while and then be on my way.

That was the plan anyway.

Let me take you back to the very start. Ben was bullied as schoolboy, leading to him questioning whether life was worth living at one stage.

Having piled on the weight, Ben was really struggling to face life head on, but found that running was his escape and helped him get things into perspective and gave his life purpose once again.

With the fabulous support of his friends and family, Ben has spent the past two and a half years losing almost six stone in weight whilst planning The 401 Challenge – running 401 marathons all across the United Kingdom inside the space of 401 days.

The reason for doing the marathons is two fold, to raise £250,000 for two fantastic charities in Kidscape and Stonewall, whilst raising awareness for the great work they do to help youngsters that have been bullied.

Over the past couple of years, Ben has been on the road getting as many marathons under his belt as possible, running in the United States, across Europe and throughout Great Britain.

All of it has been leading up to The 401 Challenge which began with marathon number one in his home town of Bristol on 1st September.

When I caught up with Ben in Maidstone on Wednesday, he’d already ran 57 consecutive marathons and subject to verification from the Guinness Book of Records, got his name into the record books.

After a brief audio interview with Ben (which you can listen to at the bottom of this blog), we were almost ready to depart New Line Learning Academy.

Joined by another Ben (who is going to be doing 365 consecutive marathons next year) and Richard, we set off from the car park with a vague idea where we were heading, albeit with some guessing as to the exact route through the Kent countryside.

It’s at this point that I really got to know Ben. Unlike when I ran the Brighton Marathon in April, this was more of a social run as we all got to chat with one another on the way, up the hills, past the idyllic Kent countryside, spotting the odd cow, ducking into the odd bush to avoid being run over.

Through chatting with Ben, it soon became obvious that he was just like me in so many ways. As normal a bloke as you ever will meet, Ben has so much drive and determination and takes absolutely everything in his stride – literally!

Having given up his well paid job and sold up his home, Ben had ploughed his money into buying a campervan to get him around the marathons and more importantly given up the next 401 days of his life to undertake the challenge, something I find quite extraordinary.

Most of us have ties at home that we just couldn’t leave for over a year and Ben’s no different. He has a loving partner back at home, a family, friends, everything that we probably all take for granted and he is human after all, so had already had the odd down day missing his loved ones.

Plodding through the country lanes, I peeled off the layers of Ben’s onion and got to know the man with the backpack, fuelled by Haribo and cider, yes cider.

You’d think that to run 401 consecutive marathons you would need to be on protein shakes, energy drinks and the like, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Those first 14 or so miles flew by, stopping off at the office for a cup of coffee and a well earned sit down.

This is where Ben’s challenge differs from your average marathon. It’s all about clocking up the 26.2 miles and a few stops along the way is all part of the process.

Thanks to Maidstone Harriers for plotting the route, we certainly saw parts of Kent along the way that I’d never seen and probably most people living in Kent never had.

It soon dawned on us that doing almost another lap of the country lanes around Coxheath and East Farleigh would be a real challenge both mentally and physically, so we decided to make a few subtle changes.

Back at New Line Learning, we picked up the fifth member of our run, Sheila, who decided to come with us merry quartet. At this point, I realised we were more than half way and there was no going back – I was going to complete the marathon come hell or high water.

Another mile down the road and we were kindly given lunch by Richard’s family. When I say lunch, again you would be forgiven for thinking that we would get some pasta and banana – well that’s what marathon runners have isn’t it?

Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bacon, eggs, sausages, chips, toast, mushrooms, beans and a nice cup of tea – the fuel for us serious runners!

Topped up and with renewed vigour, we were on our way once again, knowing that we were heading downhill for a change into town. With a lovely run down through Mote Park, we were soon into Maidstone itself and this is where Ben almost saw his challenge come to an end.

Not just once, but twice, Ben stumbled and nearly ended up face first on the Maidstone tarmac. Thankfully he managed to stay on his feet and we were able to run on past the bemused shoppers of the county town.

A quick detour around Maidstone United was next on the route and to the surprise of the young boys and girls having completed their soccer school, we did a lap of the 3G pitch, had a quick chat with manager Jay Saunders and were on our way once again.

This is where I really began to feel it in my legs. Mentally I was fine, but my body was starting to scream that it was time to give up.

Running along the towpath alongside the River Medway, we saw some interesting sights and caught a few rather odd smells. With The Malta Inn within sight, we knew we were in need of another break and it didn’t take much persuasion to stop for a cider.

This is where most people would question our sanity. We still had about another five miles to run and we were drinking cider. Even I was surprised, but could have happily stayed for a second or third.

Getting back up off the picnic table and moving again was hard to say the least. This is where I felt I began to be a bit of a liability to the rest of the guys.

All too often I began to drop back, but they weren’t going to leave me and with words of encouragement from Ben, I managed to keep going.

One foot in front of the other, we headed back down through the town and back the way we came.

This is where I started to really feel it and going back through Mote Park I was almost in reverse gear and down to walking pace at times.

With a brief stop for a glass of water and a kitkat about a mile and a half from the end, we could almost smell the finish line.

As the darkness began to descend, we got back to the car park some seven hours after we had set off, but most importantly, we had completed the 26.2 miles and we were done.

I was well and truly done and staggered that Ben seemed as fresh as a daisy. I’m sure he was hurting, but his body has surely got used to the pain having been running marathons for the past eight weeks.

After one last selfie, I somehow managed to get myself into the car and on my way home. Stopping for petrol on the way back was a challenge in itself and I almost needed a shoe horn to get me out when I got home.

Sat in a lovely hot bath I was able to reflect on what had been a truly memorable day. Not only had I completed my second ever marathon, but I had met some incredibly inspiring people, none more so than Ben Smith.

I would like to think that I have met a friend for life and we will be running another marathon together next year as we both are in the London Marathon on April 24th.

Ben will be coming back to Kent in the days after the London Marathon as he runs in both Bromley and Dartford, so there’s still a chance to run with him locally.

This week Ben has completed Tunbridge Wells on Thursday before heading out of the county of Friday as he embarks on marathon number 60 in Crawley.

There’s lots of ways that you can show your support for Ben and I’d advise you all to visit his website – www.the401challenge.co.uk 

If you have a spare seven and a half minutes and even if you haven’t, make time and listen to this interview we did before our run on Wednesday.

https://audioboom.com/boos/3748281-ben-smith-speaks-to-kent-sports-news-as-part-of-the-401-challenge