ABOUT 70 people from the same gym are forming the biggest team to take on Muddy Mayhem this weekend.

The team from Bodyforce Fitness in Sunnybrow, County Durham, have been working their way up to the challenge since the start of the year and are raising money for charities, including the Great North Air Ambulance Service [GNAAS].

They decided to raise money for GNAAS after one of the gym's members had to be airlifted to hospital during Born Survivor - another obstacle race held in Penrith earlier this year.

The team, which trains from The Chapel gym, in Moorland Close, has about 70 people aged between 17 and 56.

They will be taking on the obstacle race at Hardwick Hall, near Sedgefield, on Sunday (September 27).

Neil Davies, who runs the gym, said: “It’s been really nice because there’s so much support. It's a real community.

“I love this sort of thing because my approach behind the work we do in the gym should lead us towards moving like human beings should in nature. We’re always out in the mud and doing river runs so it’s what we’re used to. A lot of them only started in January and hadn’t really done exercise before but they’ve done really well.”

The gym was previously based in a scout hut in Willington but moved to its new location three months ago.