The 401 Challenge announced on BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans Breakfast Show that founder Ben Smith will be taking on another challenge.
Charlotte Pinder, Head of Branding and Communication for The 401 team, said: “After the huge success of our first award-winning challenge back in 2015-16, which saw Ben Smith run 401 marathons in 401 days, raising in excess of £330,000 for two anti-bullying charities, we have decided to push the boundaries even further in our pursuit to #findyourhappy and support mental health causes throughout the UK.
“In March 2020, Ben will travel to the USA and begin a 104-day adventure where he will run a marathon in each of the 50 US state capitals, then he will get on a bike and cycle between each location.”
This adventure will cover a total of 18,500 miles, averaging around 177 miles a day, burning 15,000 calories per day, climbing the equivalent of up and down Mount Everest 9.2 times and completing between 14-15 hours of activity each day, all in aid of raising £1 million for The 401 Foundation and Youth Sports Trust.
The project has been designed to show the positive effects activity can have on confidence, self-esteem and overall mental health.
The 401 Challenge is currently looking to fund the cost of The USA 2020 Challenge by offering people the chance to purchase tickets to one of two virtual challenges.
The first virtual challenge is to run up to 1,310 miles in 365 days, while the second is to cycle up to 17,000 miles in 365 days.
Both these distances are the equivalent of what Ben will be doing in the US, but Ben will aim to complete these within 104 days when he sets out on his adventure in 2020.
Ticket sales are now open and will close on March 12. Both virtual challenges will then start on March 13, lasting 365 days up to the official start date of the USA 2020 Challenge (March 13, 2020).
As part of these challenges people will be rewarded with a selection of bespoke t-shirts, cycling jerseys and medals at key milestones, plus they will get their name on each of the four bikes that they plan to use in the US.
Tickets cost £99.99 per challenge and for further information click here.
If you would like to get involved with Ben and The 401 Challenge simply email charlotte@the401challenge.co.uk for further information.
