EVEN tough guys cry, as four people from Gwent proved on Sunday.

After completing the renowned test of endurance, Tough Guy, in Staffordshire, former paratrooper Darren Jones burst into tears and embraced friend Charlotte Hargreaves, who had finished it alongside him.

However, the relief at completing the four-mile assault course was short-lived as Miss Hargreaves had developed hypothermia and was ushered to a medical tent.

The pair - unlike 400 of the 5,000 participants - completed the course that involved negotiating sub-zero lakes, fire walks, barbed wire and electric fences.

Mr Jones, 41, of Trostrey, Hollybush, Cwmbran, developed hypothermia himself with half an hour left, and vowed afterwards "I'm never doing anything like that again".

He is a fitness instructor at DW Fitness, Maesglas. He signed up for the event with Mark Main, 45, of The Gaer, Newport, Ross Kenny, 28, of Maindee, and Miss Hargreaves, 27, of Bassaleg Road, Newport, who train at the gym.

Mr Jones said: “I felt my whole body breaking down and was running past people with broken arms and legs and big cuts on their heads. Others were just frozen in fear and crying.

“I was in a bad state mentally and there were so many times I questioned if I could go on.”

The course featured a set of 10 hill climbs, each one 60 metres and steep, with people power walking up and some rolling back down after collapsing.

The most difficult part for Mr Jones was confronting his claustrophobia, taking five minutes to build up the courage to crawl through a narrow, 30-foot tunnel.

“You stop feeling the bottom half of your body, diving in and out of freezing cold water,” said Mr Jones.

“You can hear people screaming behind you and the pain in your head is incredible, like when you have really cold ice cream timesed by 10.”

The course required negotiating a section flaming straw where Mr Kenny was so cold he simply stood in the middle of it.

After all that, crawling through barbed wire seemed like a walk in the park.

"You really find out what kind of person you are”, Mr Jones added, as he recovers at home with cuts and bruises.

The group were raising money for the Help for Heroes charity with Mr Jones a former private in the paratrooper regiment.

They have raised £2,000. To donate, visit www.bmycharity.com and follow the link for Darren Jones Tough Guy 2010.