ULTRA-runner Ben Smith finishes his 401st marathon in 401 days yesterday.
Ben, 34, has run 10,506 miles since last September, wearing out 22 pairs of trainers, losing 19kg in weight and fracturing a vertebrae in his spine.
But Ben, who raised £250,000 for anti-bullying charities, has to carry on running as he is now addicted to endorphins.
After finishing in his home city of Bristol, he said: “I’ve got addicted to the endorphins and the 6,500 calories I eat a day. I can have a sleep in but then I have to run a half-marathon.”
He set himself the epic challenge of running round the UK to raise awareness of bullying after he was picked on at school for being gay.
Ben suffered depression throughout his twenties.
He said: “After years of doing what others wanted me to, I took charge of my life and finally came out as gay.
“The bullying I had faced at school had stripped me of the ability to accept who I was, but this was no more.”
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A friend urged Ben to join a running club when he picked up the sport at 29 after suffering a stroke.
He weighed 16-and-a-half-stone and exercise helped him to get mentally and physically fit.
He said: “I was hooked.
“The feeling I got from running was a sense of accomplishment I had never felt before.”
Ben ran his first two marathons in 2013, before planning the mammoth 401 challenge.
He has travelled around Britain in a camper van called Florence. The 401 marathons have been completed in 309 different locations.
He added: “I'm exhausted - it's taken a massive toll on my body.
“Although I have made it through without having a single blister or losing a single toenail.”
More than 9,500 people have jogged alongside him during the challenge.
However, Ben did not break the world record for consecutive marathons. Spanish ultra-runner Ricardo Abad completed 607 consecutive marathons in 2012.
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