mmg.com.au

Kyabram and district will be well represented this weekend as people from far and wide put their bodies to the ultimate test and take on the Tough Mudder assault course.

Meg Johnson and Pip Inglis are part of Wombat Mudda, a Lancaster Football Netball Club-based team, while Frank Scopelliti and Adam Basile will compete with the Tat Mudders team.

The Tough Mudder is a rigorous 20km assault course which aims to push participants to the peak of their physical strength and endurance.

Founded in 2010 by British special forces officers Will Dean and Mike Livingston, this year’s event will see participants from all over Victoria converge on Phillip Island to tackle the course.

Contestants must trek through more than 20km of muddy terrain while overcoming 25 different obstacles that include a firewalk, a glacier scale and an electric shock therapy segment, which sees participants shocked with up to 10000 volts of electricity.

Mr Scopelliti said he was inspired to take part in the event by his friend Adam Basile and has used it as a motivator.

‘‘I generally stay in pretty good shape and I referee Regional Premier League soccer during the year, but this has given me some extra motivation,’’ he said.

Mr Scopelliti said Tat Mudders have only been preparing specifically for the Tough Mudder for about two weeks, but felt fairly confident they will be able to complete the course.

‘‘The only thing that worries me is the diving tunnel,’’ Mr Scopelliti said, referring to an obstacle where participants will have to dive under bobbing barrells in freezing water.

‘‘But I think we’ll be okay.’’

Ms Johnson and Ms Inglis started training for the course in November, but insisted they’re just going along to enjoy the event and hopefully complete it and get the feeling of achievement competitors get when they cross the finish line.

Tough Mudder events take place across the world and this year organisers are hoping to have more than 500000 participants taking part in seven countries.