World Bog Snorkelling Championships

World Bog Snorkelling Championships: local and international competitors race through a peat bog in Wales

Championship founder and former local champion Sheelagh Tompkins:

"It's a very quirky thing to do and it's a good conversation starter to say you have been in the bog. It is a bizarre experience when you are snorkelling your way through and you are wondering how on earth it is that you ended up there. It is dark and you cannot see and that is scary and you bump into the sides a lot. It is popular, and you can see that from the large number of international competitors we have had over the years. We have a lot of people coming back time after time who are very competitive about it."

Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally: Thrilling car race from Paris to Senegal across the desert

Charley Boorman, actor and star of The Long Way Round with Ewan McGregor who competed in the rally in 2006:

"I think the rally is vital experience and incredibly important as it is one of the ultimate races in the world. I think it is also the toughest race in the world. It takes 15 days of you driving 800 km a day which is pretty hard. It is not just the fact that it is a physical race because there is a lot of mental strain as well. Before you ever start you have got to get your team together as well as sponsorship. We live in such a nanny state these days, so to go off and push your boundaries to the limit is really healthy. By pushing pushing yourself almost to breaking point you see what you can achieve in life if you want something enough. It?s not just a race it is a test against yourself. At the time it?s not much fun. But what you get out afterwards is so much more. Even though I didn't finish [he had to retire after becoming injured] there was still a huge amount of achievement involved."