Ben is a social entrepreneur, mental health charity founder, award winning global adventurer, fundraiser, author and inspirational speaker. From attempting suicide twice to running 401 marathons in 401 days, we challenge you not to find something in Ben’s life story that isn’t relatable.
As a speaker, Ben is extremely open and honest and his story is one of genuine courage and determination which has, to date, inspired over 150,000 people and helped drive genuine cultural change in some of the world’s biggest organisations.
Growing up Ben suffered at the hands of bullies. It had a huge and lasting impact on both his confidence and self esteem. At 13 he discovered he was gay, but felt the need to cover this up through fear of being attacked. At 18, then again at 21 he tried to take his own life because he saw no other way out.
Throughout his 20s he led a life dedicated to pleasing others, successful on paper, at 29 he suffered a TIA temporarily losing his sight, hearing, feeling in his left arm and speech. This was a huge wakeup call and he was left with two choices, either carry on or make a change, we’ll let you guess which one he chose.
At nearly 18 stone, a 40 a day smoker, heavy drinker, working 60+ hours a week in a job he didn't really enjoy and covering up the fact he was gay, he decided to take the leap and come out. This set in motion a series of events that would lead him to become the happy and healthy person he is today.
Sport for Ben was something he always avoided, never feeling as though he was good enough. Like many others he put up barriers and made excuses, mostly because he had no confidence or belief in his own abilities.
At 30 he was convinced by a friend to join a local running club and from day one he found something that gave him a focus, a way to express himself and a way to help him manage and deal with his mental wellbeing. It became a lifeline for Ben and helped him deal with many of the issues from his past.
In 2014, after finally coming to terms with his past, he vowed to take his past experiences and turn them into something positive. The 401 Challenge was born, a feat of endurance like no one had ever really seen before.
He set himself the goal of running 401 marathons in 401 days all around the UK, aiming to raise £250,000 for two anti bullying charities to help ensure young people didn’t have to go through what he went through as a child. He sold his house, bought a campervan and on 1st September 2015 he set off from Bristol on a mission that would end up inspiring hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to deal with their own pasts and question what is actually possible.
The project was a huge success and on 5th October 2016 he crossed the finishing line in Bristol having achieved something most people thought was not humanly possible.
Raising over £330,000 for both Kidscape and Stonewall, winning both the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award and National / Regional Pride of Britain Fundraiser of the Year Award in 2016.
The positive impact the project had had on people when it came to building their confidence and self esteem was the proudest achievement for Ben. In 2017 he set up The 401 Foundation, this became the legacy of The 401 Challenge and he’s only getting started. With another record breaking challenge on the horizon and the development of an app that will offer greater accessibility to mental health support for everyone in the UK, the next decade is going to be as exciting as his last.
Booking Ben for your event, whether that’s a regional meeting, large scale conference, after dinner speaker or event host, you won’t be disappointed. Ben’s ability to take a harrowing life story, flip it on its head and show people that anything is possible is both inspiring and emotional.
In a time where we are constantly having to look at how we do things in a different way, realising that change is even a possibility, is a massive step in the right direction.
Ben Smith's official speaking topics include:
- Motivation & Performance
- Adventure & Exploration
- Leadership
- Mental Resilience
- Motivational
- Peak Performance
- Teamwork & Team Building
- Running
- Awards & Event Hosts
- Conference Facilitators
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Mental Health & Wellbeing
- LGBT+
- Workplace Culture
- Online Motivational
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
"We arranged for Ben to speak to the team to celebrate Pride month and we could not have been happier with the event. Ben is charismatic, energetic and delivers his incredible story with honesty and humour. We have had really positive feedback from the team and can’t thank Ben enough for sharing his story with us" - Georgie, Director HR & Business Management, Archer Hotel Capital
"Ben was fantastic, I've never seen the team so gripped by a speaker - He spoke for 45 minutes yet his superb storytelling ability meant that the time flew past. His story was compelling, funny, inspirational and at times, moving. The team really enjoyed the afternoon and I'm so pleased that we got to hear him speak. The booking process was smooth and we felt in good hands all the way through." - Anatasia, Director of People, QuantSpark
"The talk was fantastic! Ben is great and people really enjoyed his talk, they were inspired by and engaged with it. Ben’s description of his experiences is profoundly moving. He is able to paint a very powerful picture of what it is like to suffer intolerable pressure on your mental health until you feel the only way out is to take your own life. However he then shows us how you can be given an unexpected chance to rise from desperation and rebuild your life – and then to go way beyond what you thought you were capable of. We all have our own struggles to endure but Ben helps us understand how we can overcome even the most terrible situations and find happiness and fulfilment in our lives. We loved hearing his story and will take it with us in our daily lives." - Sanofi
"Ben's delivery of his personal story and journey was done in an authentic way. The audience could really relate to Ben and found his talk very moving. It really did start a conversation within the Company to talk more openly about mental health." - Gilead
"Your talk set an important tone for the rest of the day. The day was attended by 150 members of the paediatric multi-professional teams mainly from the Great North Children’s Hospital, but also colleagues’ working across the North East and it was a great success." - The Great North Children’s Hospital
"Ben was an amazing person, really friendly and really approachable. He talked to the delegates on numerous occasions as he walked around the hotel, at the airport etc. His presentation was so inspirational. Throughout his presentation you could have heard a pin drop. His delivery was so good and his story was just so interesting. We had delegates sobbing because they had family members who could relate to his story and many delegates admitted to a tear in their eye, including me! After his presentation people were certainly talking about it and I heard only excellent comments about how interesting his story was, how inspirational he was etc. I have to say it is one of the best I have seen and thank you for your help. It was so good. We wish him luck in America in 2021." - Elite Travel
"Great Place to Think is a quarterly programme where we invite external speakers to challenge, stretch and inform our thinking with the aim to stimulate ideas and discussions. We invited Ben Smith to speak as part of Pride month and he gave a powerful talk, sharing his personal story and how he came to run an incredible 401 marathons in 401 days. Prior to the event, Ben took time to get to know our organisation and find out what we wanted from the session. He told us that he would be talking very honestly about some issues that people may find emotional or upsetting and at the session we were able to signpost people to the support we offer internally. Ben finished his talk by saying: “My life fully started when I embraced myself wholeheartedly. This success and happiness all came when I accepted my truth and dropped all of the shame.” Feedback following the event was very positive. One delegate said: “Your story made me cry and laugh. So inspiring (you almost made me think about running!)." Having booked lots of guests for Great Place to Think, Ben was a natural and engaging speaker who provoked discussion about being our authentic selves. I would highly recommend him as a speaker on topics covering mental health, anti bullying, resilience and LGBTQ+." - RHP
"We have been so lucky as an organisation to have had some great speakers at our events over the last 20 years, but Ben Smith stands out as one of the very best. His story resonates with us all. Anyone who has been touched by adversity will relate to Ben’s experiences, but his story of resilience is truly inspirational. He has a unique skill in making his story relatable at the same time as astonishing us with his incredible achievements, all told with great humility. Ben’s story is one that needs to be heard, and he is superb at telling it." - EuRA Relocation
"Thanks again for such a great talk. The way Ben tells his story really connects with people on such a personal level. I've had such positive feedback from the team and even a few inspired to get out running the next day!" - Byte
"This event was a huge success and many thanks Chris for highlighting Ben to us. Please can you pass our sincere thanks to Ben, we have received so many wonderful comments from staff, saying how much they enjoyed his story which was both incredibly moving and inspiring and many look forward to reading his book." - Invicta Law Ltd
- 2022 - Created and implemented a FREE Virtual School Programme for 20,000 young people between 4-11, designed to help them build their confidence and self esteem after the COVID pandemic.
- 2021 - Delivered over 500 inspirational talks since the start of The 401 Challenge
- 2017 - Founded The 401 Foundation, a national mental health charity that provides financial aid to projects whose aim is to improve mental wellbeing in UK communities
- 2016 - Delivered his first TedX talk
- 2016 - Recipient of the Power of Light Award from the Prime Minister
- 2016 - Won Pride of Britain National Regional Fundraiser of Year Award
- 2016 - Won BBC Sports Personality Helen Rollason Award
- 2016 - Ran 401 marathons in 401 days raising over £330,00 for two anti bullying charities
How to hire Ben Smith
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Ben Smith for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
