Getting muddy was all part of the fun for a group of fearless fundraisers who took part in an extreme obstacle run for charity.

Dunmow Crests netball team players tested their physical and mental abilities when they entered the Nuclear Race, in Brentwood.

The challenge – a 6km muddy obstacle course – took participants through farmland and terrain including lakes, rivers, ditches, banks and woodlands.

A team of 10 set off but only nine made it to the finish line after one had slipped on a verge and had plunged into a ditch, hitting her back on a tree stump and forcing her to pull out.

The course involved a number of weird and wonderful challenges including a zip wire into a lake, only to pull themselves out before facing a two-storey high ‘death slide’ into another cold lake.

But nothing could beat their spirits.

One of the group, Kate Smith, said: “We stuck together, pulling each other over hurdle after hurdle whilst calling encouragement and even singing our way through a swamp.

“We yelled and hollered reassurance for the Fireman’s pole and shouted cries of praise for the Ridge of Revenge. We crossed the finish line sore, muddy, wet and gloriously triumphant in our achievement that day.”

The team’s efforts helped raise more than £3,000 for The British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and the Farleigh Hospice.

“Not only did we raise such a great amount of money we also achieved an amazing sense of camaraderie that will stay with us for a long time,” added Kate.