Benjamin Ward, 44, from Falkirk, completed the 96-mile West Highland Way in 36 hours and 48 minutes last Sunday, and then proposed to his partner, Natasha Goldthorpe, 37, from Irvine, at the finish line in Fort William.
Ward undertook the challenge in memory of Goldthorpe's son Liam, who died last October aged 13 from a rare progressive condition called BPAN, which damages the nervous system and gradually worsens. He was raising money for Together for Short Lives, a charity that supported the family.
Ward told the Press Association: "I don't think it's quite sunk in what I managed to do, because I was so just focused on trying to do it for Natasha and Liam – that was really my sole focus in it."
A Special Place
This was Ward's second West Highland Way challenge. Last August, he walked the trail in two-and-a-half days to raise money for Children's Hospices Across Scotland, another charity that helped the family. At the end of that challenge, Goldthorpe confessed her feelings for him, and since then, the trail has felt like a special place for them both.
Ward said that is why proposing in Fort William a year later at the end of his latest challenge felt right.
Goldthorpe said it was "great" to see him jog across the finish line and get down on one knee, but she could not stop laughing. "It was weird because he was running and smiling, and everybody who was supporting him [for that last section] looked more miserable and more tired and more fed up than he was," she said.
Challenging Conditions
One of the biggest challenges Ward faced was the weather. He walked about 30 miles overnight and it "didn't stop raining once." He recalled: "It was heavy rain and the wind also picked up, so it was kind of driving rain into our face. I couldn't see probably more than four feet in front of my face because it was just pitch black, and then the rain was just making it even darker. The paths had turned to rivers at that point because the rain had been so constant, so all the trails were just full of water. My feet were just consistently soaked pretty much the whole night."
Despite the conditions, Ward said giving up "never" crossed his mind. "They were my inspiration for doing it, Natasha and Liam have been everything, really," he said. "I did actually enjoy it, which is a weird thing because I didn't expect to enjoy it. I thought by the finish line I would be crawling."
Fundraising Success
Ward's challenge has raised more than £3,000 for Together for Short Lives. The charity created necklaces from Liam's fingerprint for Goldthorpe and her family following his death at no cost. "Having seen first-hand the impact [Together for Short Lives] makes, I wanted to try and support their work for other families faced with such devastating events," Ward said.
Although his challenge is complete, Ward's JustGiving page is still accepting donations at justgiving.com/page/benjamin-ward-1775733752801.
