This morning my little family went on an adventure. At 8.30am we clambered bleary-eyed and slightly grumpily into the car and set off for Capesthorne Hall about a half hour drive away from home. My husband, generally a stranger to exercise, had joined a team of friends to take part in Born Survivor, a 10k, 30 military obstacle course. It was all for a good cause and having hit 40 this year he was up for a challenge.

Way back in the spring, a brave group of 29 men and women signed up for Born Survivor. When Matt (hubs) signed up it seemed an age away, he started training but quickly managed to knacker his knees and a physio told him to take it easy, so he did. His preparation for this military style beasting was a few visits to the gym and losing a stone on the 5:2 diet. But was it enough?

The brave 29 were doing Born Survivor in memory of Lizzie Lowe and to raise money for the Didsbury Youth Cafe at St James & Emmanuel. It’s a great cause, it’s a lovely safe place for school kids to hang out on a Friday night and gets around 60 local kids in every week. 

The team were a range of ages and fitness levels, but all were well up for it, determined and smiling. They were ready for mud, sweat and tears. They had a plan and were sure no one would be left behind. 

I managed to catch up with them at some of the obstacles, I was incredibly proud to count these people as my friends as they leapt over barriers, climbed sheer walls, dove into deep muddy pits, crawled under barbed wire and smiled through every minute.

There was fantastic teamwork going on from start to finish, with everyone helping each other and each playing their part. The large group did naturally split into three smaller groups, with about 15 minutes between them. Matt was in the middle group and did remarkably well for a bloke who’d done comparatively little training and wasn’t very well prepared. 

And they all said they’d do it again next year!