On the Saturday 19 August, myself and 3 friends - Emma, Jane and Dominique - took on the UK’s toughest obstacle race, Tough Mudder, for Mencap.

Tough Mudder, the ultimate obstacle course challenge, took place at Badminton Park Estate in Gloucestershire.

The event consisted of a gruelling 10 mile run across parkland, with 21 military style obstacles, including ice, fire and electric shocks, to tackle along the way.

It was the toughest physical challenge I have ever taken on. I hadn’t anticipated quite how much the obstacles would have pushed me out of my comfort zone.

The toughest one for me was called Arctic Enema! It involved jumping down a 20 foot shoot into a tank full of freezing water (with ice cubes added for extra freeze!) Other obstacles pushed different boundaries, such as climbing 12 foot walls and jumping into the unknown. 

I’m absolutely thrilled that we all managed to complete it in one piece!  We spent the next 2 days comparing bruises that we had acquired on course. 

We all felt a huge sense of achievement to have completed the toughest obstacle course in the UK. It took us almost 3 hours, but we started as a team and finished as team!

Myself, Emma, Jane and Domonique all took part in Tough Mudder as a way to raise money for Mencap. We raised over £1,300 between the four of us, and hope to do it all over again next year!

We all raised our money by setting up a Just Giving account, so that the money we raised went straight to Mencap.

It was really simple to set up and meant we could share our training activities online with potential supporters. It was also really easy to donate online, which I think this spurred people into donating.

Through our Just Giving peage, we could also upload photos and share our fundraising journey, which kept us all on track with our training.

We had hoped to run a cake sale ahead of the event to raise further money, but unfortunately our busy lives took over and we didn’t get the chance to do it. Next year this is certainly something we would look into to doing, as it would be lovely if we could beat this year’s fundraising total.

Tough Mudder has been one of the best experiences I have ever endured! The mix of trepidation for each obstacle, and the team camaraderie that got us through to the end, made the whole experience an adrenalin fuelled and fun-filled way to raise money for an amazing cause.

There are 1.4 million people with a learning disability in the UK, many of which experience inequalities in every aspect of their lives.

All of the money we raised through our Tough Mudder challenge will help Mencap continue their work to support people with a learning disability in the UK to live their lives the way they choose.