It was a Tuesday evening, around 9pm when the challenge was laid down. I was round a long-term Lancing personal training client’s house, when I was asked if I fancied doing an Army assault course.

Sure why not. Sounds like fun… er…

When I got home and told the missus, she wanted in on the action, and so we had a crack team of three intrepid (insane?) would-be commandos.

The A-Team? Maybe just crazy foo’s…

Nonetheless, I decided to use the opportunity to raise a bit of cash for the Worthing Churches Homeless Project, who are a totally awesome local charity.

Unfortunately the night before I got a phone call that our team leader, our Hannibal, had been injected with a deadly virus that would render him paralysed and slowly spread to wipe out humanity.

Or caught a nasty bout of man-flu. I forget which…

Either way, we were down to two. Murdoch and Face… er… woman.

Well, what can you say about a several km run, stopping only to climb up, over, or through something, or run up to your neck in mud. One thing really. Great fun!

It started with a nice run around the field before hitting the hay bails. Tall piles of hay bails to climb over. And it was then it became immediately obvious this challenge wasn’t going to be about competing for time. It was about helping everyone around you get around the course.

No man shall be left behind.

There was all types of people. People in shape, out of shape, tall, short, Bertie Bassett, teenagers, women, men…

…Wait back up…

Bertie Bassett?

You might think mud poisoning has made me delirious. But no.

Don’t ask me what charity it was for (I hope it was for charity, and not just a Saturday afternoon jolly in your Bertie Bassett costume… because that would be weird…) but Bertie was making his way through the obstacles followed closely by a mini film crew.

Even so. Watching me pull a talking sugar-filled liquorish man last seen on a sofa with Chris Tarrent in the 70s out of a river the wrong way up a mudslide I would imagine is a little bit like watching Saving Private Ryan after a batch of your weird Uncle’s ‘special’ brownies.

Despite the trippy visuals though, we climbed walls, ran through tires, hopped over barrels, balanced on tree trunks, jumped into and waded through neck high pools of water… and made it out the other side.

To all who completed the challenge, I salute you.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for charity?