Not for the faint-hearted
‘Tough Guy’ challenge
If your idea of exercise is a brisk walk round the park or the occasional run for a bus then this probably isn’t the event for you.
But if being burnt, bruised, scratched, slashed, electrocuted and caked in mud from head to toe seems like an acceptable way to spend a Sunday afternoon, t he n t he Tough Guy c hal l e nge c o ul d b e j ust what you’ v e b e e n waiting for.
Billed as the toughest race in the world, the eight-mile assault course in Perton, Staffordshire, features a dizzying array of o b s t a c l e s wi t h n a me s l i k e t h e Killing Fields, Battle of the S o mme, t h e V i e t c o n g T o r t u r e Chamber and the Behemoth.
C o mpe t i t o r s a r e r e q u i r e d t o haul themselves over huge wooden barricades, crawl through thick mud under yards of barbed wi r e , hur d l e o v e r wal l s o f f i r e and plunge into a freezing lake.
To make things even more interesting, marshals dressed as commandos fire blank artillery shells and throw thunder flashes and smoke bombs over their heads as they struggle through the gruelling course.
And if all that wasn’t enough some runners even complete the course hauling enormous wooden crucifixes around.
The e vent, f i r s t hel d i n 1986, was started by former Grenadier G u a r d s ma n B i l l y Wi l s o n a n d c l a i ms t o b e t h e wo r l d ’ s mos t demanding one-day survival ordeal. Sunday’s race - the 25th in the event’s history - attracted runners from more than 20 countries with many of the keenest competitors coming from the U.S.A.
Each competitor is required to sign a ‘death warrant’, clearing the organisers of any legal r e s p o ns i b i l i t i e s i n t he e v e nt o f injury or death.
Around 6000 runners start but up to a third of those fail to complete the course.