ORGANISERS of a gruelling charity challenge have defended the decision not to cancel the event.

The Gung-Ho! fun run, which includes inflatable obstacles tackled over a muddy course, was held at Wynyard Hall, near Billingham, on Saturday.

An ambulance was called just after 1pm when a woman needed medical attention and she was taken to hospital for treatment.

But one runner said the course was ‘bordering on dangerous’, and the ambulance had struggled to get through due to the conditions.

One competitor, who managed to finish the course, said: “We got an email saying the parking had been moved to a hardstanding area, about a ten minute walk away and although we were in one of the earlier slots, making your way to and from the event was bordering on dangerous as the cars were backed up and participants often had to jump onto verges to avoid being clipped.

“It was particularly hard for the ambulance to get through as it was gridlocked at that time and the weather worsened.

“The course itself was so boggy and there didn’t seem to be many marshals around.

“I rolled my ankle following the first obstacle and there was no one around to help if I’d needed to stop completely while there was not much control on the obstacles either, particularly the last one.”

The event, which cost £60 to enter was in support of Children in Need.

Gung-Ho! spokesman Alan Brown said: “Gung-Ho! is a physical event which carries some risk of injury and so safety is our number one priority.

“To this end, we have a robust safety plan in place that minimises the risk of injury to participants as far as reasonably possible, including a medical team and ambulance that are on-site for the duration on the event.

“Although we would be much happier if no accidents or other health issues occurred at our events it was good to see that our safety plan was put into operation smoothly when called upon.

“We would certainly refute that the weather and traffic prevented the injured participant from receiving medical treatment at best speed.

“We did not assess the weather conditions to be overly detrimental to the Gung-Ho! experience and certainly not serious enough for the event to be cancelled.”