Athletes ran through flames as part of the biannual Tough Guy event at Perton, Staffordshire, yesterday. An estimated 3,300 of the 5,500 entrants completed the assault course, which organisers claim is the most demanding in the world. Tough Guy stretches over 150 acres of land and entrants have to deal with dozens of different obstacles. In one they are forced to hang from a 12ft high wire by their bootlaces before plunging into an icy lake. The average completion time was 2½ hours.
Billy Wilson, 69, the event organiser, said: “It all went extremely well. We didn’t have any major casualties this year. Only a couple of people went to hospital with minor injuries.”
The event has been running for 20 years and competitors raise money for the Horse Sanctuary charity through sponsorship.