A Royston funeral director has slogged through waist-deep boggy ditches, swam through freezing cold water, and carried builders’ buckets filled with rocks, sand bags and huge logs in order to raise money for a valued hospice in North Herts.

Andy Mcfadyen of Newlings of Royston took part in the Cambridgeshire Spartan Race at Elton Hall, and raised more than £1,000 for the Garden House Hospice in the process.

Andy said: “I would like to thank everyone for their support and their kind donations for the hospice.

“The course was described as more than 5km in distance with 15 obstacles, and I found that it pushed me to my limit.

“After a brief warm up I set off and we were immediately going over a set of energy sapping 4ft walls.”

To test the Spartans to the limit, there were monkey bars, spear throws, Herculean Hoist, barbed wire to crawl under, the 25ft rope climb and fire jump just before crossing the finish line.