Shocker for Claire as she takes on muddy challenge
A DERBYSHIRE mum who was challenged by her husband to take part in a gruelling 10-mile endurance obstacle race in return for him raising £1,000 for charity has finally fulfilled her part of the deal – and said it was “brilliant”.
Claire Hollingshurst, her husband Tim and two friends braved electric shocks, withstood a slide into a skip of ice-cold water and climbed over a series of energy-sapping obstacles when they took part in the legendary Tough Mudder Midlands event over the weekend.
Tim is a veteran of many a Tough Mudder event, having taken part in 12 over the years, and spent months trying to convince Claire to join him in his next one.
Eventually, she agreed, on the condition that Tim raise £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation, which at the time was the official charity of Lubrizol in Hazelwood, where they both work.
Tim took up the challenge and achieved the total last year through a JustGiving page and, 12 months on, Claire completed the 10-mile run, taking three-and-a-half hours to overcome the 25 obstacles which had been laid out at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire to test participants to the limit.
They include Funky Monkey – a set of monkey bars – the Electric Eel, where runners crawled through electrified wires dangling from a frame, the Arctic Enema – a slide into a skip filled with ice cubes and water – and Kiss of Mud, where participants had to crawl through mud and underneath barbed wire stretched out just 18 inches above them.
Claire, a quality systems manager at Lubrizol who lives in Horsley Woodhouse, said: “It was a brilliant event. Standing on the start line, I was very nervous but I threw myself into it and really enjoyed it.
Lubrizol, which has also donated £500 to Tim’s fund, taking the total collected to £1,524, has handed over an incredible £18,396 to the BHF following a two-year fundraising campaign.