Runner to complete 401st marathon in 401 days

Ben Smith is embarking on his 401st marathon in 401 days Credit: PA

A man who says he used to be unable to "run for a bus" will today complete the challenge of running 401 marathons in 401 days.

Ben Smith will have run 10,506.2 miles since September 1 last year, which is the equivalent of running from London to Sydney.

He is taking on the challenge to raise awareness of bullying among young people, with the money collected to be shared between charities Stonewall and Kidscape.

Injuries have prevented the 34-year-old from running for 401 consecutive days but he has kept to his schedule by making up the lost mileage.

The runner who says he once was too unfit to run for a bus will has covered over 10,000 miles on foot Credit: Ben Smith

Over 9,000 people have joined Mr Smith on parts of his challenge with hundreds of runners joining him in Bristol today.

Mr Smith twice tried to take his own life and suffered a mini-stroke aged 29 following years of bullying and physical abuse at boarding school.

A friend encouraged him to join a running club during his recovery and he found it helped him regain mental and physical health.

Mr Smith wanted to do something to raise awareness of the damage that bullying can do as well as raise money to support relevant charities.

His final marathon begins in Millennium Square in Bristol, he will run from there to Portishead and back.

Mr Smith is aiming to raise £250,000 for his selected charities and will continue his motivational talks to schools, colleges and universities to raise awareness of bullying.

To follow Mr Smith's challenge go to www.the401challenge.co.uk.