Coffee grinds to muddy grounds

Coffee grinds to muddy grounds

 Pictured at the Rat Race Dirty Weekend are ‘Team Supreme’ members (L-R) Philip Mills, Denis Troughton, Cheryl Walker and Andy Morrison.

One colossal 20 mile course blocked by 200 obstacles, lakes, rivers & lots of mud! That was the challenge that faced Philip Mills, group sales director, Johnsons Brothers and his fellow ‘Team Supreme’ colleagues at the annual Rat Race Dirty Weekend , held in the beautiful grounds of Burghley House, one of England’s finest Elizabethan Country Estates

The whole event, officially named the world’s biggest assault course, is separated into 20 main zones housing the majority of the obstacles, including one of the Guinness World Record breaking obstacles, 110m of monkey bars – out of the 5,500 participants, only three managed to defeat this challenge.

Philip had to undergo a gruelling schedule in the run up to the event with five months of intense training, four or five days a week in the gym plus one day cross-country running with Sunday as a rest day. In the course of his training, he lost over 10kg.

So was it worth it? “Absolutely! “, said Philip on completing the course. “It was an incredible experience where you are pushed to the limit both mentally and physically, but I was very pleased that the training paid off and I managed to get across the finishing line. I was also delighted to have raised over £1,000 for the SOS Bus in Northern Ireland.

Joe Hyland, Director of the SOS NI bus – which provides voluntary support to the emergency services in Belfast at weekends – commented: “I congratulate Philip on his commitment and determination in taking on this very challenging event. It is a fantastic achievement. We are also extremely grateful that in doing the event, Philip raised valuable funds for the ongoing and important work of the SOS Bus in Northern Ireland, which makes a real difference to children, young people and adults on the streets of Belfast.”