POWER TO CHANGE
Ben Smith already knew running could be a potent force but he tells Euan Crumley why the reaction to his incredible journey truly took him aback
BEN SMITH
Ben Smith was not short of company when he finished his challenge in October
Michael Lloyd
IT was back in April, while running the Asics Greater Manchester Marathon, that Ben Smith first realised his idea — his mission — was starting to create something special.
Covering the 26.2-mile distance was nothing new to this intrepid 34-year-old – he’d been doing it on a daily basis since he set off on his self-imposed quest at the beginning of September 2015 after all – but he had been largely ploughing a lone furrow and hadn’t been part of a large-scale event for months.
It proved to be quite an eye-opening experience – and the occasion when it was confirmed to him that the 401 Challenge (which involved running the equivalent of 401 marathons in 401 days) was not just capturing the public’s imagination but, importantly, really beginning to galvanise the running community.
“I was coming out of the winter and I hadn’t been at a big event since the Bristol to Bath marathon, which had been the previous year [in October],” says Smith. “From the feedback my team had been giving me, and from what I’d seen on social media, it looked like the project was gathering momentum but Manchester was the first time I realised what the possibilities were in terms of the impact this had had on people’s lives.