Horsham teens to tackle ‘mud run’ for Help the Heroes

The teenagers, who go to the College of Richard Collyer, decided to take on the challenge after being inspired by the bravery of the participants of the Invictus Games last year.

The first event of its kind in the UK saw more than 400 wounded servicemen and women from 14 nations compete in nine sports over four days.

On April 19 Rory Slatter, Jacob Larbey, James Tandy, Matt Harby, George Boyle, Alex Clery, Todd Lowe, who are all aged 17, and 16-year-olds Rory Stack, George Palmer, Edwin Wraith, Luke Saunders and Ben Joyner will brave the elements for the Warrior Run, which bills itself as the ‘toughest mud run’ on the south coast. It is based on army training exercises.

There are three distances to choose from 7km, 14km of 21km. The team chose to do the 14km challenge - but only because the 21km one was fully booked.

Rory Slatter said: “It’s lots of obstacles, there’s crawling through tunnels.

“It’s mainly focused around teamwork - and getting muddy. Help the Heroes is a great charity to give to.”

Jacob said: “You’ll get a sense of achievement when you finish.”

Ben added: “Three years ago I did an obstacle course for football training. This one will be harder.”

They have set an initial target of £500, but hope they will reach £1,000 between them.

To sponsor them go to www.justgiving.com/hyow