Tough Mudder 1565, a team of six athletes from Malta, have successfully completed one of the most challenging Tough Mudder obstacle races ever held.

The event, held in Wales last Saturday, included a 500-metre climb full of thick, deep mud as well as the more standard obstacles such as a freezing water tank and a number of electroshock challenges.

“Thanks to all our training and preparation, we overcame all the challenges and we crossed the finishing line as a team,” said one of the participants Matthew Saliba, 32, a legal advisor by profession.

The team was sponsored by Bet90 (www.bet90.com), an online betting company specialising in football bets.

“We are proud to have contributed to the success of this great team as part of Bet90’s efforts to promote healthy living. Bet90 is working on a package of incentives for its staff to participate in marathons and other such events,’ said managing director Simon Sullivan.

Tough Mudder 1565 finished the course in three hours, an hour better than the average.

“We could’ve done it even faster but we were stopping along the way to help other teams and participants. According to the Tough Mudder pledge, this is not a race, so we were not focusing on time,” added Mr Saliba.

The team also collected more than £300 for the UK charity Help for Heroes, which rehabilitates severely wounded servicemen and servicewomen. Fans can still donate by clicking on a link available on the group’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/toughmudder1565.

The group is now setting its sights on next year’s event and is hoping that more Maltese people will join them. Anyone who is interested in participating can get in touch with the team on Facebook. A large team would be able to raise money for a local charity.

Tough Mudder 1565 is made up of Matthew Saliba, Guillaume Boulais, Luke Dimech, Amy Cachia, Leonard Padovani and Simon Xuereb.