Co Antrim man taking on 27 marathon challenge across Europe to raise money for men's health charity

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A Co Antrim man has challenged himself to mark Movember a little differently this year with a marathon fundraising effort.

Ben Gaston is currently making his way around the 27 capitals of the Europen Union, running a marathon in each of them to raise vital funds for the men's health charity.

Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men’s health - tackling mental health, suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer.

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While no stranger to growing a stash each November to raise funds for the charity, Ben wanted to push himself further this year by setting off on a challenge that began in August and will end with a run from Dublin to Belfast to mark the end of Movember.

The 27-year-old has already completed a 26.2-mile run in eight cities including Paris, Amsterdam and Helsinki and spoke to Belfast Live about what inspired him to take on the mammoth fundraiser.

Ben said: "I'm currently running a marathon in every capital city in the European Union - it's basically a marathon every three days so I'm going to be finishing up at the end of November and I'm going to try and run from Dublin to Belfast mark the end, starting on the November 29 and trying and do it in under 24 hours.

Ben taking part in one of his European marathons
Ben taking part in one of his European marathons

"I got a bit bored of the corporate life and I knew I wanted to do something big for charity this year and I wanted to see what I can do with my body while I'm still young.

"I had just turned 27 when I decided I was going to do it back in February/March time - I was in Marseille and I hadn't really got a chance to see the city because it was quite tight for time and I was like I am just going to go and run around the city to see it."

After being able to take in so much while out on this initial run, Ben was inspired to make this his big fundraising challenge, with his 27th birthday and the 27 countries in the Europen Union lining up to make the perfect route for his journey.

Having experienced his own hardships after leaving university and after the pandemic, Ben chose Movember because of its importance in raising awareness for men's mental health and its message of support every year.

"I guess I had a wee bit of a not so enjoyable few years there and just kind of coming out of uni and covid, I just kind of got myself into a bit of a bad head space - but that's what inspired me to do it for Movember," he explained.

"I've always liked every year seeing groups of boys getting together and kind of supporting their mates and supporting each other, especially back home.

"It can often feel like mental health is 'keep quiet and don't talk about how you're feeling' sort of thing so it's nice for that one month seeing boys getting together and being a little bit more supportive than we usually are."

Having worked as a self-employed Software Engineer before his trip, Ben worked tirelessly to be able to save up to take on the fundraising challenge while also working on his new sports recruitment company SportSphere in between his marathons.

Ben is raising money for Movember to mark turning 27 this year
Ben is raising money for Movember to mark turning 27 this year

One quarter of the way through the marathons and having raised over £3000 and counting, Ben said that despite sore knees and the tiredness starting to kick in, he is remaining positive and making the most of his experience so far.

Ben continued: "I have struggled a bit at times to be fair, a bit more than I thought I would.

"I hadn't anticipated how poor my sleep was going to be staying in hostels and stuff.

"My legs aren't recovering like they would when I was training for it - a couple of my friends and I ran 100 miles down the Wild Atlantic Way back in April and I've just kind of been nursing a sore hip since then.

"It's been flaring like crazy but you know, it's not meant to be easy so I'll just have to keep figuring ways around the wee niggles.

"That's the whole point of it being a challenge, it's going to be hard."

Ben has been documenting all of his runs over on his social media accounts so that friends and family can keep up with his journey.

You can follow Ben's EU run here and can donate to his Movember fundraiser here

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