A TEAM of hikers from south Essex have won a nationwide competition after successfully completing a gruelling trek over Welsh mountains.

The eight strong team, from Shoebury and Southend, completed The Fan Dance, a 14-mile trek over the Brecon Beacons.

The team was trained by Damien Heim, and together they completed the course in a winning time of five hours on Saturday.

Mr Heim, 35, from Shoebury, had been training the team for six weeks. The Fan Dance is part of the Special Forces (SF) experience, and is an infamous test used for more than 50 years as part of the selection process for Special Forces soldiers in the UK.

The team, consisting of Mr Heim, Chris Charlton, Greg Goodrem, Darren Collins, Gemma Collins, Ryan Champion and Emma Demichell, were awarded the fastest team award.

They were presented with their prize by Lofty Wiseman, a former SAS soldier and author.

Mr Heim said: “What an amazing day.

“I am just so proud of team Ares Tactical Concepts for all the hard work and team spirit shown.

“Everyone smashed it and completed the SF experience fan dance.

“Even better, we ended the day with team Ares winning the fastest mixed-team category.

“We trained together, supported each other and won the mixed category together.

“Looking forward to the next event and challenge I am in the process of planning this week.”

The challenge begins as soon as the race does with an immediate ascent of Pen y Fan, which is 2,907 feet up.

The route then descends on the other side of the peak with a path to the halfway point before turning around and reversing the route.

The return leg provides an even tougher challenge with the “evil” ascent back up the Fan known as Jacob’s Ladder.

Mr Heim runs ARES Tactical Concepts in Shoebury and is a former paratrooper with many years of military experience.

He now specialises in training people for fights, military selection and runs regular classes for fitness and self defence.

He added: “I honestly couldn’t be prouder of this amazing group of people that make up Team Ares.”

For more information about the challenge visit thesfexperience.co.uk