AS a dairy farmer from a remote part of Cumbria, he does not cut the figure of the archetypal ninja warrior.

Even if he did, his seven-day a week job would make it pretty impossible for him to even attend a gym.


  But obstacles are not something which 28-year-old Steven Fell allows to get in his way - literally.

For the farmer from Bootle uses things in his every day life, including cows and barn rafters, as a way of keeping ultra fit.

Earlier this month he put himself to the test on TV show Ninja Warrior UK - and while the result was not what he wanted, he is already plotting a return.

Mr Fell was one of 200 people who were chosen to appear in the televised assault course game show, which is aired every Saturday night. He featured in episode three, shown on Saturday January 9.

He didn't manage to complete the assault course as the spinning log proved to be too much of a challenge, but this isn't something he sees as a set back.

He said: "What threw me off was when I looked at the crowd, I just lost my balance.

"I know I can do all the stuff on the assault course but actually doing it for the first time in front of all those people was harder than I thought."


Mr Fell's journey into becoming a Ninja Warrior UK contestant all began last year when he first applied for the show.

He said: "You had to send in an audition video which was you completing some sort of assault course."

Mr Fell's assault course was in a barn and it showed him climbing up rope, scrambling over a hay bale and running off while carrying a calf.

This was enough to attract the attention of the judges and Mr Fell was one of 1,200 people to be invited to a face-to-face interview.

He said: "I went to Glasgow for my next audition and that was more focused on taking a general fitness test, checking strength and finding out their personality.

"They looked at grip strength, hanging and balance. They wanted a range of people taking part."

Mr Fell, who admits he didn't do much training, was thrilled to find out he had been picked to take part in the show.

So in June he travelled to Manchester hoping to complete the obstacle course which would put him in the running to win the Ninja Warrior title.

However, it wasn't to be.

Mr Fell said: "It was brilliant to get to that point and if anything its inspired me to actually train, it's something I'm taking more seriously now and because of that I will be applying to take part again this year."

Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) is a passion of Mr Fell's and something he has been taking part in for the last two years.

Having competed in Tough Mudder, Born Survivor, Spartan and Urban Attack, he thought that Ninja Warrior would be the next step.

OCR sees the competitor traveling on foot, overcoming various physical challenges in the form of obstacles. They are designed to physically and mentally tire you out.

But because of how demanding his career is he has had to be inventive when it came to training.

He said: "I try and create different daily routines which can include jumping over cows, swinging round on the girders and climbing on the cubicles.

"I do anything that scares me a little bit. The course was totally different for me so all I could do was step up and do my best."

Since taking part in the show Mr Fell has been all over the country to different training spots, which have included training with a Ninja Warrior, going to OCR bootcamps and taking part in parkour - a training discipline using movement developed from military obstacle course training.

He will also be taking part in a Broughton Young Farmers event where he will be helping to push a car with a chicken shed on its roof 34 miles.

The event, which will be taking place on February 27, will see the team push a car from Kendal to Bowness and then on to Broughton to raise money for Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

To donate visit  https://www.justgiving.com/broughtonyfchickenrun

With all the events and training Mr Fell has lined up he is now keen to find sponsorship.

He said: "I came 17th place at a Spartan Beast race and I have been told that if I actually train I could be hitting some of the top spots. Sponsorship would help me get there."

If you're interested in sponsoring Steven Fell then he can be contacted via his email address on steven@consolid.co.uk .