On Wednesday 20th September we welcomed Ben Smith to Downside to begin our Sixth Form lecture series this year to talk about his life overcoming adversity, bullying and mental health.
In 2015-16, Ben Smith set out to achieve something no one else in the world had ever done – he set his sights on running one marathon every day for 401 days around the UK. Covering 10,506 miles, he raised £330,000 for two anti-bullying charities, Stonewall and Kidscape. Growing up Ben wasn’t a runner, in fact he wasn’t sporty at all. He suffered at the hands of bullies throughout his schooling and with his confidence and self-esteem knocked, led a life dictated to him by others. After suffering from a Transient Ischemic Attack at 29, Ben who was over 18 stone at the time, felt he needed to change the way he led his life.
Ben finished with some questions from the floor and reminded everyone to ‘Find Your Happy’ in whatever way you can.
