A group of veterans have completed an “epic” 514km (320 mile) ultra marathon across the Arctic Circle in Sweden, raising more than £90,000 for charity.
The challenge marked 20 years since Karl Hinett, a member of the Staffordshire regiment, suffered life-changing injuries following a petrol bomb attack on his warrior tank in Basra, southern Iraq.
He enlisted three other celebrity veterans – Jason Fox from TV’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, adventurer Aldo Kane and author Brian Wood – to join him on his challenge.
The team took on the Montane Lapland Arctic Ultra in Swedish Lapland, which saw them trek through snow and ice-covered rivers, lakes and forests over 10 days to raise money for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.
Despite a number of obstacles, including the distance of the race being extended by 14km (eight miles), the four men completed the challenge on Wednesday morning, with organisers saying they had broken a new record by becoming the first team to cross the finish line together.
Karl Hinett was 18 when he suffered life-changing injuries following a petrol bomb attack (Karl Hinett/PA)
Mr Hinett, 38, said the success of their challenge was down to teamwork and friendship.
“It was an amazing feeling to finally see the finish line and to get through together as a team after each and every one of our own struggles,” the father-of-one from Tipton, in the West Midlands, told the PA news agency.
“It’s so difficult to move as one when there’s so many individual needs so to be able to get together the entire way as one, it was a great feeling, to start it together and to finish together.
“It was what it was all about, teamwork, friendship in the outdoors.”
Mr Hinett sustained 37% burns to his face, hands, arms, legs and stomach and went through 16 operations over five years to recover from his injuries from the petrol bomb.
Since 2005, he has run hundreds of marathons and ultra-marathons across the world, as well as summiting Mt Manaslu in Nepal, and attempting Mt Everest.
Despite all of this experience, he said this challenge was particularly gruelling due to the terrain and cold temperatures.
At the halfway point, he recalled feeling particularly drained.
The team celebrating after crossing the finish line (Tony Parker/PA)
“My low was midway through. We were going in for a checkpoint, but the actual distance was much longer than we were told it was,” he said.
“When we reached that area, we were still in the middle of the wilderness, and there was no checkpoint – that was mentally draining.
“We had done 250km, but we still had another 250 to go.
“I would have never forgiven myself if I had given up.”
As well as facing freezing temperatures, the team also had to each pull a sled carrying all their equipment behind them, including their tents and rations.
Kane, 47, from Ayrshire – who is no stranger to adversity having worked in some of the most extreme, remote and inhospitable places on the planet, said the Swedish expedition was one of the hardest things he has ever done.
Kane, who suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon at the start of the trek, said the support from his teammates got him through the race.
“On day three and day four, I thought I was going to have to pull out of the race because I was in so much pain,” he said.
“It’s incredible how four people can come together to then actually do something as difficult and in the moment, one of the hardest things we’ve all done, and be able to fight through and pull through.”
The team trekked 514km across Swedish Lapland (Tony Parker/PA)
Fox, 48, who is more commonly known as Foxy and is a former UK Special Forces soldier and Royal Marine, said: “It’s been fun. It’s been not so fun. But ultimately, all of that combined is a massive high and then finishing as a team together is the best thing.
“Then hearing that we were the first team ever to complete this entire event, as being testament to the people that have made up, not just the team here.”
Wood, 44, author and military cross recipient, said his highlights of the trek include seeing the Northern Lights and herds of reindeer.
“One minute we’re just trekking, next thing you know, a herd of reindeer would be running by us,” he said.
“The high is also being with a remarkable bunch of men who are on this journey together, suffering together for an incredible cause.
“That’s what we all stand for, what we all put our bodies on the line to represent.”
To find out more visit Project Fire and Ice’s fundraising page: https://www.ssafa.org.uk/support-us/project-fire-and-ice/