Hercules, Alexander the Great and Spartacus are all great heroes of legend, all overcoming great battles through sheer grit, endurance and bravery.

Like these greats of the past I took on my own fight. I went one further, to take on a challenge that none of them ever completed - eating 12 spicy hot wings at Buck’s Bar in Glasgow while wearing a blindfold.

The popular bar in the city centre yesterday announced their ‘Bird Box Challenge’ to celebrate the release of the new film on Netflix starring Sandra Bullock.

The challenge involves eating 12 of the bar’s wings in 20 minutes, with only some fries and a glass of milk to combat the heat.

Several of the wings were your standard tasty chicken, with a bit of a kick, the rest are coated with Bucks’ ominously named ‘Nashville Hot XXX’ sauce.

Like those in the film, those brave enough to take on the challenge are blindfolded.

It’s like Russian Roulette with marginally less peril.

I had the dubious honour of being the first person in Glasgow to take on this test of mental strength and willpower.

Now, I quite like spicy food but I’m no spice warrior. I’m not the guy who will refuse to eat anything milder than a Vindaloo or Faal at an Indian, but similarly I won’t order a Korma, it’s pointless.

So, I fancied my chances. 20 minutes for 12 wings is easy. I gave it the big talk in the office but like Icarus, I came crashing down, in a pile of shame and fresh chillies.

Glasgow Times:

One of the main issues with being blindfolded is that you can’t really see what you’re up to.

I was hoping to get off to a mild start, but sadly I bit into the chilli and hot sauce-covered day-ruiner.

After the first bite, I muttered something unprintable under my breath. This was going to be a struggle.

I kept going, and started picking up speed - I was approaching halfway.

A few minutes in and not only was my mouth on fire, but also much of my face which was covered in hot sauce and bits of chilli. I looked like a toddler who’d been left alone with a jar of jam. Spicy, painful jam.

Then disaster, two of the spicy wings, one after the other. My teeth felt weird and the blindfold wasn’t exactly helping me ignore the inferno in my mouth.

I felt a bit like Homer Simpson when he ate the chilli so spicy, it made him hallucinate. I half expected to see a Johnny Cash-voiced coyote telling me that I’m on a quest for knowledge.

A couple of minutes later and I’m sweating, a lot. My head was swimming and every bite was just a slightly different level of ‘ouch’.

I came for a meal, not a medieval torture chamber. So, I threw in the towel.

As they pulled off the blindfold, I winced at the light. I’d forgotten how good it was to see.

I looked down at my wings, and I’d had just over half. Pathetic. The whole city will now think I’m a chilli wuss.

I’m not proud to admit it, but I failed. Like the great conquerors of history, there is always a bridge too far. For me, that bridge was some chicken wings, but I still think my task was harder.

Take it on, if you’re tough enough - I wasn’t.