I READ with interest Tony Kelly's article on the toughest sports (High 5s, February 7). One sport he didn't mention was tug-of-war.

I have participated in many sports events and can say that I found tug-of-war the most gruelling and physically exhausting, requiring great teamwork.

I was introduced to the sport when I did my National Service. We trained morning and evening and won many titles. In the RAF the whole team had to weigh under 100 stone.

In a local tournament with no weight limit we pulled against teams with a weight advantage of 20 stone or more, so you can imagine the strength and teamwork needed to win, which we did. Our reward - a set of table mats.

Peter Moor,

Heworth Village,

York.

Updated: 09:15 Thursday, February 16, 2006