Leonardslee Gardens inflatable obstacle course: We tried out the 1,000ft-long Labyrinth Challenge

Soft play venues, bouncy castles in church halls, climbing walls and more – my kids get to do it all, while their mum sits on the sidelines feeling a bit left out.

But not this time. This time, I got to take part and it was every bit as joyous as I’d hoped – even if I did feel every single one of my 42 years afterwards!

The Labyrinth Challenge X Leonardslee Gardens is a family-friendly inflatable obstacle course event. It ran at the pretty West Sussex gardens near Horsham from Thursday until Sunday – returning after a really great reception last year.

Participants can dodge swinging blades, leap over hurdles, and sprint to the finish on the 1000ft-long course, which includes five action-packed zones and more than 34 unique challenges and obstacles.

I went straight in at full pelt, convinced I’d be a champion inflatable obstacle courser. I run regularly. I have a good level of fitness. I thought I’d be the one helping my children do it.

But that wasn’t quite how it went. Mummy might be able to run 5k, but it turns out repeatedly hauling yourself up squishy stairs and down slides on the hottest day of the year uses completely different muscle groups to running and is actually quite hard work.

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Instead, the children’s practice at navigating soft play through years of parties saw them fly off at speed with ease, leaving their mummy trailing in their wake.

It was such good fun, though, and I found myself belly laughing at many points when I either got boffed in the face by an obstacle I hadn’t seen, or landed on my bottom when misjudging a run.

I must have gone around six or seven times, but I’m sure my children managed to do it about ten. We all absolutely loved it, and we’d definitely do it again.

Children over 1.2m can do the larger obstacle course. For those under that height, there is a mini Labyrinth Challenge.

A ticket to the event also includes entry to the gardens afterwards, which feature a fantastic new playground that opened earlier this year.

We love walking around the shady pathways through the Leonardslee gardens, taking in the sculpture trail along the way and enjoying some peace and tranquillity.

It was the perfect antidote to a more frantic morning. The children also really enjoyed running around the playpark, seemingly having an unlimited supply of energy that their mum most certainly doesn’t have!

It was a great day out. To book tickets for Leonardslee, and for more information about upcoming events, see https://www.leonardsleegardens.co.uk/