On Saturday 2nd August, Estelle Reed, wife of the Vicar of Saltburn, took on a 10 - 12 mile long obstacle course designed by the Special Forces. Estelle completed Tough Mudder Yorkshire, raised £500 for her church, and showed everyone that being a Vicar’s wife isn’t about baking and arranging flowers.

Tough Mudder is an endurance event in which participants attempt a military-style obstacle course, designed and created by British Special Forces to test mental as well as physical strength. The course has obstacles to strike fear into the heart involving fire, water, electricity and heights, as well as plenty of Yorkshire mud.

Estelle Reed said, “The course was great fun and team work was essential. We all trained hard for it and it paid off on the day. It does sound a bit mad to climb, jump, slide, run, swim in mud, water and go through electric shocks but on the day it all made sense! I thoroughly enjoyed it and will do it again. I think it had a profound impact on all of us: for me, it fired up my faith again, because the training was so rigorous and the course quite scary it makes you look at your primal fears. I think the coping mechanism came into place and I drew on deeper strength."

The other people who took part in the Saltburn team were Cath Mason, who is raising money for the CUP Foundation (Cancer of Unknown Primary); Vic Tosh who is supporting Diabetes UK; Brian Cole who is fundraising for Down Syndrome North East; Adam Reamswood who is raising money for Parkinsons UK; and Richard Yaldren, who is supporting WaterAid.

Congratulations to you all!