27 JULY 2026 ·  DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
RUNNING 135MILES  · 50°C+

I’m running the world’s toughest footrace to fund Walk+Talk communities across the UK.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Your donation and message will appear below shortly.

We really appreciate your donation.

I’m Ben. A rower turned runner. I'm not a celebrity, not an influencer - just someone who believes ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

This July I’ll race 135 miles through Death Valley aiming to raise £30,000 for The Allegr Foundation.

Total raised:

£ 27759.81

(incl GiftAid £ 5551.96)

We are really grateful for all the generous donations and messages of support:

Tracey Hora
- £
10

Emma Pearce
- £
20

Incredible acheivment to all involved ❤️

Zena Stevens
- £
50

Well done Ben

Mrs V H Cuming
- £
30

Jody Ford
- £
50

Amazing!!

Matthew Williams
- £
25

Amazing effort

Oliver Waugh
- £
100

Ali Mead
- £
100

Hope you survived!! lots of love Mickey and Ali

Angus warner
- £
100

I feel the same way about Hove park run and the support crew at the cafe.

David Fricker
- £
500

Well done Ben. A simply incredible effort, youve inspired me to never run again in my life 🤣

Fred Thomas
- £
10

Well done! Quite a dramatic way of getting to cut Sheringham short! Fabulous achievement!

R B Quayle
- £
135

Well done - hope the sunburn has cured!

Ian and Anne Gibb
- £
30

A Z Browning
- £
50

Amazingly mad!

Clementine Knight
- £
20

BIG BEN, you're a superhero! Absolutely inspirational, many congrats to you and your incredible team! Dan & Clemmie xx

Mr R M Masey
- £
250

Huge congratulations from Leila and The Moreno Masey Team (whilst looking down on The Rose & Crown)

mr a h macaskill
- £
20

Well done Ben; you run and I'll paint!

Mr j h andrew
- £
50

What an epic challenge and huge congrats on finishing so well

Osamu Yamagata
- £
20

Great stuff!

Mr Calvin J Rodger
- £
25

Astonishing!

Jones Jonathan
- £
10

Wow. From brenda

Andrea Hewitt
- £
20

Nick Stewart
- £
50

Amazing achievement!! Well done my friend

Hugo Lamdin
- £
50

So inspiring Ben well done!

Elizabeth Gray
- £
135

Wow what an achievement ❤️

Gavin Cook
- £
50

A true legend

Angela Young
- £
50

We are in awe - well done Ben and crew! Ange, Si, Ed and Ellie x

Mr Patric T Hosier
- £
50

Fantastic, well done and for agood cause

Luke Powell
- £
50

Legend

Alice Helps
- £
30

Amazing. So inspired

Daria Heffler
- £
50

Final miles! Lets go!

Caroline Cooper
- £
50

Not far now!

Adam Johnson
- £
135

Amazing mate. Incredible!

Samu Salmelin
- £
20

Amazing Ben 💪🏻

Christopher Brazier
- £
10

Good luck Ben! Hope it goes well.

Ms Kyn K Kent
- £
50

Good luck!

Rose Van Orden
- £
75

Awesome work Ben 🙌💪

James Street
- £
500

Amazing effort Ben! From us all at the Harsbrook team.

Gareth Cleland
- £
35

Beat the Heat.

sam Bray
- £
50

All the very best Ben. Go well.

richard welch
- £
90

Ben- Sunshine Looks Great On You

Dan Alldis
- £
100

Just keep putting one foot infront of the other...

Natalie Burch
- £
40

We're thinking of you - what a huge achievement even to get to the start line!

Stuart Paciej
- £
25

Good luck!

A M OHearn
- £
50

Wow....bonkers but very brave! Tig

Bruce Newman
- £
250

The craziness just keeps coming! Utter madness triggers utter admiration. Go well, stay safe, see you in the WH for a celebratory (0% ABV) pint!

MR J O MALCOLM
- £
20

Go Ben... and support crew. Tremendous effort and cause

Alex Partridge
- £
135

Amazing work Ben, you are a huge inspiration.

Dr Anthony Lowry N Creed
- £
50

Good luck

G Eggenkamp
- £
250

Lauren Fyfe
- £
25

Incredible effort Ben - wishing you the very best of luck and think how good that beer will taste at the end.Lauren F x

Sally McPartlin
- £
50

Best of luck Ben. Impressively mad!

O J Arengo-Jones
- £
100

Madness. But we love you pal.

Jacques Capelluto
- £
100

In memory of our son, Alexander, who was about to embark on a charity bike ride across the US, and whose spirit echoes yours. Jacques and Karen Capelluto

Richard Hill
- £
100

Good luck Ben - youve got this!

MR CHARLES MARSHALL
- £
100

In memory of John McCallum with whom i enjoyed a trip to Zabriskie Point in 1970

Charlie Hall
- £
50

Smash it Ben and support crew. Good luck x

Darren Pallett
- £
100

Sheffield with you in spirit

David Nicol
- £
100

I knew there was insanity in your family!

Mrs J A Baskerville
- £
75

Speechless!

Alexandra Bradley
- £
100

Good luck out there! Incredible effort x

Erin Collier
- £
35

Sounds horrendous! But what a great cause - best of luck

Mr NP Romilly
- £
40

Brutal Ben good luck

susan ross browne
- £
50

Officially certifiable. Good luck. Suzi

Richard North
- £
100

Extaordinary, very best of luck. Richard and Lindsay

Tom wilson
- £
52

Good luck Ben!! A completely brutal and super impressive challenge you've taken on there mate. Having thought about how much to donate, I thought I'd make it simple and make it simple and just go for the predicted temperature in degrees C!!! ;-))

alex barker
- £
50

Sounds absolutely wild! Have a great race.

Robert Woodhead
- £
200

Good luck big man, quite an astonishing thing to do.

Jones Jonathan
- £
17

From Avis and Brenda

Mei-Ying Chow
- £
20

Good luck!!

Jones Jonathan
- £
100

I will be thinking about you

Paul Whittaker
- £
250

Lead into the first corner and control the race from there.

Matthew Strachan
- £
20

Not sure enjoy is the right word, but I hope you're able to look back with immense pride and satidfaction. Well done!

Thomas Rogers
- £
50

Good luck James! You'll smash it.

Mark Hiley
- £
100

Hope Sunday early pays off

Tom Burch
- £
1000

Here's to hoping this is the pinnacle of your mental running madness! The years of preparation are now complete...time to go and get it done! Best of luck to you the epic crew!!

Ben Shrewsbury
- £
25

Best of luck!!

Eduardo Figueiredo
- £
30

Ann Fox-Smith
- £
10

All the best - you can do it!

Ann Fox-Smith
- £
10

All the best! You can do it!

Mr A Ingham
- £
50

Don't forget the sprint finish

Caroline Robinson
- £
50

Good luck!

Andy Kenney
- £
25

Awsome challenge! All the very best

Nigel Ainscoe
- £
150

You can thank Rich for this one Ben :-)

Peter McDougall
- £
50

An incredible challenge, best of luck!

Simon Rebbechi
- £
50

Good luck Ben!

Alexander True
- £
100

Chapeau! (though best keep yours on in that heat!) x

Tom Williams
- £
75

David Corbett
- £
135

You can do it! £1 for every mile! Love Teresa & David

Mrs P V Peasgood
- £
25

Best of luck

Nicholas Bulloch
- £
150

Good luck from everyone at Barnes Runners!

Mr S Parnell
- £
50

Well done Ben... once youve done this and then the couch to 5k, your bucket list should be complete

Alice Kassapian
- £
50

Huge respect for this degree of madness! Go well xx

Ben quigley
- £
50

I'm Ben. You're baked Ben.

Alexandra Poole-Warren
- £
50

James Murray
- £
100

Go well, you beautiful idiots xx

Andrew Watson
- £
100

Go get em Tiger!! Amazing thing to do. You ll nail it - loads if good vibes, love The Wattys Xx

Richard Muir
- £
20

C A Bradley
- £
135

Dear Ben Congratulations on tackling this incredible challenge. A pound a mile does not seem a lot,when you will probably be sweating that much.Good luck

K HARRIMAN
- £
25

Good luck to Ben and all the best to the fantastic support crew, from Rich's auntie Kaz x

What Is Badwater 135?

Lowest to Highest & Hottest
Starts 86 m below sea level inDeath Valley, where road temperatures hit 70°C. Crosses two mountain passes and finishes on the slopes of Mt Whitney - the highest peak in the contiguous US.
135 Miles Non-stop
4,400 m of climbing. 45 hours to finish. On 27 July 2026, Ben lines up at the start.
Only 100 Athletes are invited
Entry is invitation-only. Athletes must prove extreme-ultra pedigree and genuine community spirit. Ben was selected in February 2026.

Why I’m Running

I don’t usually fundraise off the back of races. But when you’re running 135 miles in 50°C heat, it feels right to make it count for something bigger.

Badwater 135 demands a four-person crew, equipment and countless supporters. The race itself is proof that nobody achieves anything extreme alone.

That’s exactly what Walk+Talk is built on - the idea that connection is what keeps people going.

I co-founded The Allegr Foundation because I’ve seen what happens when people show up for each other, week after week, with no agenda other than a shared purpose.

It changes lives. It changed mine.

This race is my personal Everest. But the real win is using it as a spotlight for a cause that deserves one.
- Ben Burch, Co-Founder The Allegr Foundation

Where Your Money Goes

What does the charity do?

Centred around our  ‘Health through Connection’ mantra - we build activity programmes, fostering human connection, to improve wellbeing.  Read more...

If I donate to your fundraiser, what will my donation support?

Our flagship programme is Walk+Talk.  We run this in the community, and for the military veterans.  It’s a simple and effective project, that gets people active, engaged and talking. The walks accommodate absolutely everyone - and with the help of social prescribing, also offer effective signposting support to those who are especially isolated and lonely - intercepting them before potential crisis.  

The formula may be simple - but its impact is proving itself very positive and significant.

£100 - Trains and equips a new volunteer walk leader.
£500 - Launches and maintains an entire new Walk+Talk hub for a full year - weekly sessions, a trained leader, and a community that didn’t exist before.

As with all fundraising, there's often a cost to make campaigns happen. Whilst the majority of costs are covered by corporate sponsors, personally and other support there is sometimes a shortfall. We do have a policy in place to financially support a campaign - read about our fundraising linked event support. If you are interested in being a fundraising for The Allegr Foundation please get in touch.

£30,000 - the big Target

Reaching our full target funds new Walk+Talk hubs across the UK and a part-time Volunteer & Walks Manager - a dedicated role to recruit, train and support the volunteers who make every session happen. Our walks rely on the generous time given by our volunteers; to scale responsibly, we need someone focused entirely on looking after them.

Thank-you for any donation you are kind enough to offer

Walk+Talk: Simple Formula, Significant Impact

Walk+Talk is The Allegr Foundation’s flagship programme. Free, weekly community walks - open to everyone - that turn strangers into teammates and chip away at loneliness, one conversation at a time. We run sessions in the community and for military veterans.

What people say about Walk+Talk:

92%
I generally feel happier after a Walk + Talk session
88%
Overall, I feel there has been an improvement in my social connection and wellbeing as a result of participating in Walk+ Talk
92%
Walk + Talk has helped my motivation to exercise and meet up with people
* Percentage of participants who either Agree or Strongly Agree, based on a survey of 26 people.