They must be mad...but after a three-year break, the Maldon Mud Race is still as popular as ever.

Competitors wade their way across the river (19003-e)

The maximum number of 150 entrants braved the freezing weather to battle across the mud in the River Blackwater in Maldon.

The town's Rotary and Lions clubs joined forces to organise the event, which was last held at Easter 1998.

Winner was 24-year-old David Bunting from Silver End, who was part of a four-man team representing Buntings Butchers in Coggeshall.

First female home was Louise Tanois, who also won in 1997. Wooden spoon for the last to compete the 400-yard course went to American Jose Espinosa. There were also best team and best fancy dress winners.

Maldon District Council chairman Penny Channer was also thrilled at competing the course.

"The officers said I was too old and wouldn't finish it, but I proved them all wrong," she said.

Brian Olley, chairman of the Maldon Mud Race Committee, said he hoped it would now once again be a regular event.

Sponsorship money, together with a collection from the many thousands watching the Boxing Day event, is expected to run into several thousands. The two charities to benefit will be Essex Air Ambulance, who did a flypast, and Farleigh at St Clare's Hospice.

Simon's story...

Picture a man standing in front of a river full of mud knowing that he has to get across it and back.

That is the situation I found myself in on Boxing Day along with more than 100 other runners and I thought to myself: "How did I get here?"

Question: How did I get myself into this, asks reporter Simon Spurgeon. (19003-b) Pictures: SEANA HUGHES

My mind flashed back to the balmy summer day when I volunteered (yes, I put myself forward to do this) and how it seemed a good idea then.

But as time passed, more and more people were willing to tell me what an idiotic thing I had let myself in for.

As I stood on the bank of the River Blackwater with my fellow competitors, I finally understood what my detractors had meant.

It was bitterly cold for the thousands who had turned up to watch us, so imagine how it felt standing there with ice still clinging to the mud by our feet.

The Maldon Mud Race is basically a mad (there's that word again) dash across the river estuary through water up to your waist, then a long slog along the far bank before coming back through the freezing water again.

It sounds easy, but in almost sub-zero temperatures it was a daunting prospect.

Trying to get along that bank is one of the most physically tough things I have ever done or ever want to.

How I made it to the finish line I'll never know. But I did.

Published Friday December 28, 2001