Swires Farm, Dorking. Or as some severely aching, exhausted participants of the notorious 'Nuts Challenge' may now see it: Hell. Earlier today, all shapes and sizes pulled their weight around a gruelling obstacle course that was engineered to test the most hardened athletes.

Stoic mentality on top of huge physical power was demanded of competitors to repeatedly overcome the temptation to quit early as they staggered past the finish line. No, runners of the full 28km distance had to complete 4 whole circuits before they could reach those (pearly) gates. However, finishers can proudly say they have completed the UK's toughest obstacle race, as made official in the Mudstacle Awards - yes that's a real thing - of 2014. It also gained acclaim for its sheer muddiness and decent value for money.

What the 'Nutters' were paying for was about 100 pain-inducing obstacles per 7km. Names like 'Hell River' and 'The Somme' entailed punishing tasks such as wading through breathtakingly cold, scummy streams and clambering up vertical tunnels. The course sadistically zigzagged over hills and swerved to catch each exhausting incline. What's more, being set in the Great British Countryside, all this was done through gloopy, soupy mud with an uncanny likeness to Belgian chocolate. A particular crowd-pleaser  was the enormous slide into a deep pool of water that had lost all transparency and instead opted for a more excrement-reminiscent hue. Nevertheless it  could be said that 2015's bunch of maniac participants had it easy. In previous years, people have recounted having to hack through sheets of ice to conquer the supposedly 'water'-based obstacles!

Bright and early at 8am, and pumped up with adrenaline and Lucozade, the 'Tough Nuts' began their epic 28km journey. This meant typically between 4 and 6 hours of relentless action, to total over half a marathon in length. However the energy required to defeat the fiendish obstacles means that in terms of physical endurance, even a full marathon would be comparatively lightweight. Roaring cheers faded to grimaces as hours stretched on, but giving up didn't seem to be on anyone's mind. These particular runners were competing to qualify for the OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) World Championships. The top ten in each age group go through for a chance to win $10,000 in Ohio this winter. Of course, some less dedicated people may argue that even still, it isn't worth the mud, blood, sweat and tears.

For a more realistic - if not completely sane - challenge, the less advanced could choose a 7 or 14km distance. This came with the added bonus of a later start time: an extra few hours in bed, working up the courage to get up and face the punishing day ahead. The challenge was undertaken by men and women alike, from 14 year olds to those who were probably thinking something along the lines of, 'I'm much too old for this'.

Spectators of the Nuts Challenge can expect to witness tenacious enthusiasm, extraordinary fortitude and an abundant supply of mud. Today, they dotted themselves around the 7km track to give moral support for their family and friends and the general atmosphere around audiences was one of 'Rather them than me!'. Cheering onlookers and cries of 'Go'on lad!' were well appreciated as a break from the lonely silence caused by empty stretches of sludgy track. A pounding heart and ragged breaths don't make for good company. Some runners kept together in groups to keep themselves sane, with the added bonus of gaining inspiration as to some more creative techniques for approaching particular obstacles. Ideas included log-rolling down cargo nets, skipping over wooden barriers  across a river and sliding down the especially treacherous hills. There were many hills.

The end result: bodies that look like they have been battered in mud and seasoned with splatters of earth. But underneath all that are triumphant, euphoric smiles. Right now they aren't thinking of the hours of showering impending, or the aching muscles that will greet them tomorrow morning.

But maybe it's time for us pyjama-dayers and Jeremy Kyle watchers to review how we spend our Sundays. Not that I am recommending a weekly trip to wade through your local swamp, but surely venturing out from under the warm glow of a laptop would do us all some good. 

Hannah Cookson  Sutton High