A PERSONAL trainer from Malmesbury who took part in hardcore endurance event Tough Mudder which returned to Cirencester for the second year running believes this year’s version was inferior to the 2014 event.

Ben Jackson, 37, was part of the Rough Mudders teams, who were among the thousands that took on a series of obstacles designed to test a series of muscles and fitness set across Cirencester Park on August 22 and 23.

But Mr Jackson, who runs Exceed Personal Training which is based at Cirencester Football Club, said that some of the obstacles entrants had to take on were not challenging and that the merchandise offered to finishers of the course was poorer than last year.

He said that the Mud Mile, a section of the course which is lathered in mud and mounds, was dry when he started the course at 8am on Saturday morning and for large parts of the day.

Mr Jackson also believes that obstacles such as Bale Bonds, which tasked entrants to climb over hay bales, was easy to manoeuvre.

“Last year we were in there (the mud mile) for 40 minutes but this year we were in there for five.

“A couple of obstacles like the hay bails which you had to jump over were not that challenging.”

He added that the t-shirts offered to those who finished were poor quality.

“I didn’t like the t-shirt. Last year they gave us Under Armour fitted t-shirts and this year they gave us Fruit of the Loom.

“Under Armour is a really good make and it is good quality.

“They have cut corners on a few of the obstacles and the t-shirts.”

He said: “Don’t get me wrong I love the concept of the course, it is a good bit of fun.

Although Ben criticised parts of the event he said it was great that Tough Mudder was being held in the town and he will be entering again next year.

“I think it is great for Cirencester to have an event like that - I wish there was more events like it in Cirencester, like obstacle courses and team building things.

A spokesman for Tough Mudder explained that the the lack of mud on the Mud Mile on Saturday was due to hot weather and unusually good soil drainage on the site.

The spokesman said: “The issue was quickly resolved as we brought over a million litres of water onto site for obstacles over the course of the weekend and within hours Mud Mile was back to all of its usual muddy mayhem.”

The spokesman said that the Bale Bonds obstacle was positioned to break up a gap in between other obstacles Skidmarked, a ten-foot wall, and Arctic Enema 2.0 , a vat of freezing cold water and helped Mudders keep their momentum going.

Tough Mudder introduced a dozen new or improved obstacles to the course this year.

Organisers say that this is to ensure that the events obstacles are the very best fans can experience.

And the spokesman said that a decision was made to invest further in obstacles instead of continuing to supply entrants with Under Armour t-shirts.

The spokesman said: “In 2015 we had to make a difficult decision regarding the t-shirts, opting instead to invest further in our obstacles. However, we are always listening to Mudder feedback and are doing everything we can to ensure that in 2016 we can deliver on all the aspects of the event that our Mudders love.”

What did you think to Tough Mudder? email your views to bmc@wiltsglosstandard