The teenage son of an Paralympian was able to fight off hundreds of plucky racers, as he secured gold after wading across a boggy riverbed to win the annual Maldon Mud Race.
Albert Crates managed to run, walk and crawl his way to victory on Sunday across a 440m stretch of the muddy River Blackwater in Essex – making him the youngest person to win the race.
The 16-year-old, who is the son of Paralympian Danny Crates, a British world record holder in the 800m, admitted he had done so without any training.
When asked by the BBC if he had done any preparation for the race, he said: ‘None at all, absolutely nothing.
‘My legs are burning, but my head is very happy. I don’t know how I did it…I’ll be coming back next year.’
The dirty dash dates back to 1973, growing out of a bet made at the local pub Queen’s Head, when a regular was challenged to serve a meal on the riverbank dressed in a dinner jacket.
The challenged evolved into a race across the river to a waiting barrel of bear, where racers drink a pint of beer before slipping and sliding back to the other side.
Now a charity event, the beer barrel was taken away and runners raise tens of thousands every year for charity.
Albert Crates (pictured) managed to run, walk and crawl his way to victory on Sunday across a 440m stretch of the muddy River Blackwater in Essex – making him the youngest person to win the race
The 16-year-old is the son of Paralympian Danny Crates, a British world record holder in the 800m (pictured)
The dirty dash dates back to 1973, growing out of a bed made at the local pub Queen’s Head, when a regular was challenged to serve a meal on the riverbank dressed in a dinner jacket
Participants ran, walked and crawled as they clambered through the thick mud and across the riverbed
The hundreds of of plucky racers waded through the river, which was predicted to be around 8C in temperature on the race day on Sunday
Some contestants choose to up the ante by dressing in fancy dress – bananas, Where’s Wally, fairy’s, Mario and minions have been known to cross the riverbank
Runners dressed as Where’s Wally crawled across the plains of the River Blackwater
A man becomes completely drenched in mud after he seemingly slipped in the drained river bed
One competitor looked like she had a mud mask after making her way through the river
One racer thought it was all too much and seems to have chosen to lie down and have a rest in the thick mud
Some contestants choose to up the ante by dressing in fancy dress – bananas, ‘Where’s Wally’, fairy’s, Mario, Batman and minions have been known to cross the riverbank.
This year welcomed the first ever elite race for the super-sporty, won by John Matthews who only signed up to the race last week.
Paralympian Mr Crates was left perplexed as to how well his son did. He said: ‘Being the youngest and potentially setting a record time makes it special as well.
‘He’s put me to shame. I’d still be out there now if I’d run it.’
The former athlete competed in T46 (arm amputee) running events, and represented Great Britain at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
The elite race started at 3.30pm. It’s winner Mr Matthews said: ‘It was much harder than I thought it would be, near enough impossible.
‘You have to pull your legs out with your hands, it was near enough a full body workout.’
The river temperature was predicted to be around 8C during the race.
The event attracts hundreds of competitors, travelling as far afield as Australia and Japan. Some 20,000 people attended the event in 2022, according to the organisers.
