High-flying Alexander Sloan trainee overcomes obstacles for the World’s Toughest Mudder

Her day job might not be one readily associated with hills, muddy fields or assault courses, but one of Alexander Sloan’s trainee accountants is in training to compete in a major 24 hour international obstacle course event in Amercia.

Nicola Callison, who is based at the Scottish firm’s Edinburgh office has recently joined top obstacle race team, Team Muddy Kit, www.muddykit.co.uk, and is its sole Scottish member.

The team, backed by Obstacle Race Magazine, competes in races across the UK, two weekends every month, and Nicola is training hard for the 24 hour World’s Toughest Mudder race that will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November.

The races are 10 to 15km in distance, and each course is different, featuring hills, assault-style courses, icy water hazards, electric shocks, weights, and of course, the ever-present mud. These courses are based upon those designed by British Special Forces, and grew out of the Tough Guy courses created by former Grenadier Guard, Billy ‘Mr Mouse’ Wilson.

Commercially available assault courses have been growing in acceptance as an alternative to road-running since 1987, but Tough Mudder, started by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone, have become the most popular worldwide.

Nicola, a second year chartered accountancy student, is a graduate of Dundee University.

She was one of the nine students from Alexander Sloan CA who achieved a 100 per cent pass rate in their TPS (Test of Professional Skills) Examinations last year; her final exams are in November 2016 and assuming all goes well, she will be fully qualified during the firm’s 150th anniversary year in 2017.

Bitten by the obstacle course racing bug after taking part in an Edinburgh event called Spartan, Nicola has been competing ever since. Her recent successes include being placed 9th elite female in the UK Championships last year. She also recently qualified to compete in the European Championships which will be held in The Netherlands in June later this year.

Competition clearly runs in the family for Nicola: her sister, Michelle won a Silver medal in the 2014 British Figure Skating Championships.

The November date for the World’s Toughest Mudder means Nicola will be finishing her exams, and going directly to one of the world’s most strenuous races, so she’s more than up for a challenge. Sadly, the challenge of persuading her colleagues at Alexander Sloan to join her in the mud seems a step too far.