MONMOUTHSHIRE runners can expect to get their hands dirty on 21st and 22nd June with the launch of a new mud run in Usk.

The race, which will be held in woodland attached to Cwmcayo Farm just outside of Usk, sports a series of military style obstacles and will be the second event in 2014 for relative newbies on the scene 'Dirty Dozen Races', who launched only last year.

Co-founder Doug Spence said their business model differentiates from other mud runs, whose phenomena has catapulted unprecedented growth in the area of adventure sports.

"We have different levels of difficulty so on Saturday 21st it will be 12km with 20 obstacles and on the Sunday it will be 6km with 15 obstacles," Mr Spence said.

"We also encourage a different mentality than other races. We don't just want you to turn up and do one race and that's that. We want to encourage a sense of community and lifestyle, get people in the mind-set to further their goals and get fitter."

The race will see around 700 people descend on Usk for the weekend, including the rumoured participation of Monmouthshire MP David Davies. The idea was catalysed by the area's terrain.

"Through a friend of a friend we came to meet Tom Humphreys, whose family farm the land the race will be held on," said Mr Spence.

"The terrain is really attractive, with long steep hills and a lot of variety, going from hills to the woods and back again. People can also expect to get very wet, going through the five ponds in the woods."

The entrepreneurial former sales manager from Kent realised the industry had a place for him and his co-founder Hugo Elliott, previously a banker.

"We could see it was a growing industry and I have to say it is the best job in the world," he said.