Got Shouted At By The Marines

And I paid for the privilege.

How did this come about? I paid £10 to take part in the Help for Heroes Boot Camp at Eldon Leisure. 90 minutes of what was essentially a circuit class with attitude. We were put into eight teams, and eight exercise stations were set up, complete with bellowing Marine instructors straight out of central casting.

You could have put these guys straight into a Hollywood movie: bellowing sadist (who you secretly know would be the guy who braves the mortar fire to drag his wounded comrade back to safety), thoughtful guy trying to prepare his recruits for the reality of going to Helmand Province and killing people ("I look for aggression in my trainees"), bald tattooed older guy, and several rather attractive young instructors who could have stepped off the recruiting posters. Since they were all in sleeveless white T-shirts, camoflage trousers and boots, it certainly made running round the Eldon Leisure Main Hall carrying a stretcher with 40 kilos of water in a more aesthically pleasing experience.

Although by the time I'd lugged a Bergen pack full of water over three wooden vaulting horses, pulled myself over them, then crawled on my hands and knees pushing the pack along the floor, I was too knackered to care.

Possibly I'm just a glutton for punishment, but I really would do it again.