After Richard passed away from a heart condition at the young age of 32, his amazing wife Hayley started fundraising for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to raise awareness of avoidable deaths due to undiagnosed heart conditions. Her dedication to raising awareness, compelled me to do something to help Hayley achieve her fundraising target.

I decided to take part in HellRunner Down South 2018 to contribute to Hayley’s fundraising efforts for CRY.  The event took place on Saturday 24th November at Longmoor Camp- home of the original HellRunner. A heady mixture of hills, and cold lakes, bogs of neck deep mud and sand-sapping ascents over 10 plus miles. It’s tougher than Tough Mudder and grimmer than the Grim.

On the day, it was cold and very wet. I trained for about 2 months for the event but was very nervous when I lined up on the start line. The race started well and I clocked up the first 5 miles within an hour.  The course was treacherous and very wet underfoot which meant you had to climb up the hills on your hands and knees and slide down the hills on your bum(I chose this technique after falling over about 4 times).

The second half of the race was very tough and, half a mile from the finish, my  left  leg went into spasm.  However, thanks to 3 other runners that stopped to help me stretch it out, I got off my backside and got through the final half mile. Thinking of Rich and Hayley got me through to finish the race along with  all of the fantastic support I got from friends and family that helped me smash my fundraising target of £500, raising £745. CRY is an amazing charity and no family should have to go through losing a loved one like Hayley has. ❤️

Matt Whelan