Adventurer from St Albans takes on his next challenge

Chris Ackroyd taking part in the Tough Guy challenge. (Image: Archant)

Chris Ackroyd, 34, who grew up at the White Hart Hotel on Holywell Hill, St Albans, where his mum was landlady, took part in the 15k obstacle course on Sunday, January 29, a month after returning from Africa’s highest mountain.

He said: “It was really, really fun. I am still trying to warm up now really, it was so cold. The whole day was just fantastic.”

He trained for the course by running at the weekends and evenings, as well as training at work through his job as a roofer, and has many more adventures lined up to test his endurance.

The race, which was held in Wolverhampton, was in three parts; a long run with a few obstacles, a course of obstacles and trenches called ‘The Killing Fields’ and a series of underwater tunnels.

Chris, who went to Roundwood Park School in Harpenden and now lives in Hemel, said: “I was absolutely shattered afterwards. I became hypothermic towards the end.

“The water was freezing cold. There was a frost that morning and the front one has to break that as they go in.

“There were so many people there- it was absolutely amazing. The course was as tough as they said it was going to be.”

Chris returned from Kilimanjaro at the end of December, and has also completed the Three Peaks Challenge by climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in under 24 hours.

Chris said: “Kilimanjaro was difficult, but it was the most amazing trip I have done in my life so far.It was hard with the altitude - I was sick three times going up. It was rough but it was fantastic.”

Chris has climbed Ben Nevis four times, Scafell Pike three times and Snowdon five times. He is planning to tackle Everest, the highest mountain in the world, in September, and to later climb Mont Blanc in the Alps and Aconcagua in Argentina, which is the highest mountain outside Asia.