Maldon Mud Race
IT was a muddy good idea for Dave King to spend his Sunday on his hands and knees wading through the River Blackwater in Essex.
Dave joined 180 other competitors for the annual Maldon Mud Race, just outside Chelmsford and watched by several thousand spectators from the shore.
The race consists of a run from the Promenade across the mudflats and river bed to the saltings on the other side of the bank, a waddle along the saltings before heading back across the river for a second time and the finish.
The distance is about 450 metres and it was mud, mud and more glorious mud. "The only way you could make any progress was to go on your hands and knees. There was no point trying to walk through the mud, which was thigh deep," he said.
"Even though it was low tide, twice we had to wade through waist-high water which was not warm. The crawl through the mud was nasty. The smell was horrible, like rotting vegetables, and the mud was cold too."
Dave took 10 minutes 17 seconds to complete the distance finishing a good couple of minutes behind the winnner.
"Never again," added Dave, who consigned his outfit to the rubbish bin afterwards. "I wore football boots for the first time in a race and they've gone into the bin too. One guy told me the smell of the river lingers on your body for a good few days. That's blown my New Year's date with Pamela Anderson!"
Photos courtesy of BBC Essex, more pics here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/image_galleries/maldon_mud_race_07_gallery.shtml