Four men are gearing up to take part in a challenge billed as ‘probably the toughest event on the planet’.
Steven McIntosh, Mike Crosbie, Chris Drinkwater and Jay Pollard are taking part in the Tough Mudder event at Broughton Hall estate, in Yorkshire, on Saturday.
The Manx Mudders are raising money for Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation by completing the 12-mile obstacle course.
Steve said: ‘It’s billed as “probably the toughest event on the planet” and will certainly be the toughest challenge we’ve ever done.
‘It’s not every day you volunteer to get burnt, electrified, dunked in ice and constantly bashed and bruised over 12 gruesome miles, but we’ve trained exceptionally hard and we will be helping each other all the way.’
Organisers warn participants that ‘mud will be abundant’ and the course design team are going to use the terrain – rolling grazed fields and classic Yorkshire moorland ‘to create the most challenging and muddy course Yorkshire has ever seen’.
In preparation, they have been training five or six times a week for the past six months.
Training has included kuta (an outdoor fitness class), weight training, mountain biking and a lot of long distance runs through plantations, glens and dirt tracks.
Steve said: ‘One of the obstacles is to swim through a pool of ice, so we’ve been preparing for this with ice cold showers in the morning, although were not quite sure how to prepare for the electric shocks!’
They thanked their families for putting up with their demanding training routines all summer, saying they have played an important role in helping them to prepare.
It will be the first time they have taken part in such a gruelling physical challenge.
Steve, Mike and Chris took part in the ToughMann adventure challenge in Ballaugh last month.
They described it as a ‘fantastic warm-up’ but expect the Tough Mudder to be twice as challenging.
The Manx Mudders believe it is important to support their local community and decided Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation do just that.
Steve said: ‘We are all involved in sport on the island, and we also know a few of the people behind the charity who are working tirelessly to make sport on the island a safer place.
‘Also, we have all taken advantage of the free heart screening provided by the charity and we’d like to give something back.’
So far, they have already raised more than £1,000, and they hope to raise as much as possible.
To make a donation go to www.justgiving.com/teams/manxmudders