A Sleaford man who took on the World Toughest Mudder race has raised almost £1,250 for a Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance campaign.

Fitness fanatic Ben Holderness completed eight laps of the five-mile circuit at Belvoir Castle, covering a total of 40 miles of the 24-hour obstacle course race over the last weekend in June, in his attempt to raise funds

for the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance ‘Mission Impossible 2’ campaign to buy a second life-saving chopper, as featured in the Sleaford Standard.

Ben said: “It was a pleasure to be amongst world class athletes from afar as New Zealand. Even Ben Shephard off ‘Tipping Point’ was there, entering the team event with family members.”

Ben swinging across the 'Shaft It' open water obstacle at the World's Toughest Mudder event at Belvoir Castle.

placeholder image — Ben swinging across the 'Shaft It' open water obstacle at the World's Toughest Mudder event at Belvoir Castle.

To date donations have nearly hit £1250, and Ben would like to thank the Sleaford Standard for providing the campaign coverage, Tesco’s Sleaford for allowing a bucket collection in their store, and of course the people of Sleaford and surrounding area who generously donated £313 on the day.

“It is clear people see the air ambulance service as massively valuable, and it was lovely to meet so many people through the day, some of whom had either been, or knew of somebody who the helicopter had flown to in their aid.’

Endurance athlete Ben said the event was bitter-sweet for him, frustrated by the loss of his head torch in one of the obstacle plunge pools, a technicality which would ultimately impact his overall time on the course.

“I had been so careful in the earlier heat. I was five laps in by 10pm and feeling great,” he explained. “While my emergency spare was fully charged, after one lap I simply didn’t trust the battery to last another two and a quarter hours. A functioning head torch is mandatory between 8pm and 4.45am and its failure during a lap would have meant disqualification. You can’t compete at night without seeing where you are going.”

Up to his beck - Ben emerging from the Fire and Ice obstacle.

Reluctantly he had to wait until the night time curfew was lifted to rejoin the course.

“I was annoyed but it gave me time to refuel and catch up on foot and kit admin. Any sleep was difficult though,” said Ben. “The pit crew area is busy right through the night as athletes come in and out, I think I got about one hour in.”

He said by sunrise some athletes were “in a zombie like state”, while the elites were still bouncing along. A hundred miles was covered by 8am in the morning by the leading athlete!

Ben completed another lap by 7.20am but had to accept his 50-mile target was no longer achievable as athletes were challenged to complete every obstacle twice on laps between 9am and 11am. He was also busy providing support to an injured competitor meaning lap eight would be his last.

Ben helping a fellow competitor out of the Muddy Mega Mile obstacle.

Ben finished 265th out of 371 and came 24th out of 32 in the men aged 50-54 category – just four places behind Ben Shephard!

Ben says he will be returning next year, determined to cover over 50 miles.

The winning male achieved 23 laps (115 miles). The first female managed 19 laps (95 miles).

The JustGiving website remains open for three months and any late donations are still welcome in support of the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, simply visit www.justgiving/page/Ben-Holderness-1