2,000+ new recruits flooded Hever Castle grounds on the 16-17 October to conquer our authentic military training course, Commando. Recruits were drafted from families, friendship groups, sports clubs and work places. They even had a handful of spectators who on arrival, turned on their heels to get changed in their cars and sign up!
Recruits were assigned a number, collected a t-shirt and selected a wristband to highlight their chosen challenge level. This meant the instructors could see who wanted extra support and encouragement, and where to dish out extra press ups!
The course started with a 15 minutes warm up in the centre of the event village. Here, two of the hardest instructors, Bart and Dougie, put recruits through their paces, giving them a glimpse of what was to come. Spectators were able to join in the fun; cheering on their family and friends through the warm-up, watching the action around the castle grounds.
Recruits were then led to the lake side where they boarded the renowned D-Day landing craft and set off to conquer the course. Scattered across the 6km route were 26 of the toughest obstacles straight out of the Commando test book – boat landings, river crossings, slopes and sheep dips, pools and planks, drops and dips, crawls and swings.
A record number of recruits chose to complete a 12k course over 52 obstacles, many chose to carry an extra 21lb of commando kit and others took on a three hour survival experience. This event isn’t for the faint hearted. It recreates the mud, sweat and pain of modern day Royal Marines Commando training. It is a true test of endurance and stamina, pressure and vigilance, courage and control.
Recruit Richard Pemberton said on the day: “It was a cracking event, well staged with a really good event village – the wood fired hot water showers are amazing alongside the heated changing tents. The course is varied but everything is achievable with a bit of determination.”
Commando will return to Hever Castle over the weekend of Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October in 2022. You can sign up and grab Commando 2022 tickets at a discounted rate of up to 50% off! Visit their website at www.castleraceseries.com for more information.
