Two best friends from Glossop are putting their bodies on the line for the second successive year to tackle a Tough Mudder in aid of a worthy cause.

Conor Ball and Adam Coomber, both 27, will be taking on the ultimate fitness test at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire again - but doing 15k this time, compared to 10k last year.

The challenge on Saturday 10 September will be raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

“There are a lot of different obstacles that you’d probably see the US Army do, it’s very physical,” said Conor, who is a transport co-ordinator at Kingspan and an Under-10s football coach with Glossop North End Community Club.

“Last year there were ones like going under fences and navigating through water where if you stuck your head up you get a little electric shock. Obviously there’s a lot of mud too!”

'Sam was the life of the party and a really good lad' 

Last year, Adam - who has recently completed a Masters in Human Physiology and Biomedical Science at Manchester Metropolitan University - spearheaded the fundraising for national charity Action Duchenne in memory of his friend Thomas Mickleburgh.

This year, Conor is leading the campaign in memory of his pal Sam ‘Smog’ Moghadasnia, who died in late 2021 from brain cancer at the age of 26.

Sam was originally from north Wales before moving to Manchester to study on the same history course at Manchester Metropolitan University as Conor.

“Sam was one of my best friends from university,” Conor explained. “I knew him from first year back in 2013. You’re like one big family at uni and we got closer and closer as uni went on. He sat next to me in lectures and we went on nights out.

“In first year, I remember we did a presentation together in one of our seminars and our tutor at the time called us Ant and Dec! That’s because any time he couldn’t finish a sentence I jumped in and vice versa. We worked incredibly well together.

“Then in 2017, he told me he had been diagnosed with brain cancer. He had told us all individually at a party and said he was going to hospital to get it eradicated through chemotherapy. After that, I spoke to him a lot but I didn’t really see him as much.

“I spoke to him last May (2021) when he put something on social media about the gym and he asked me about protein powder, I remember it really well. We were chatting about it and then we talked about the Euros. But then in November I found out that he had passed away. We knew something had happened but I don’t think we wanted to admit it to ourselves. It was horrible.

“He played football at uni, he kept himself fit and healthy and he worked hard. He was active both during and after uni. It’s one of those, it’s the same any time someone gets diagnosed with something like that - why him or why her? It just doesn’t seem to be fair." 

Conor (front centre) with Sam (front right) and friends back in 2017

Conor continued: “Sam’s best friend Liam, another guy who I know from uni, did a sponsored run for him which I think was the Manchester Marathon and raised a good amount of money. I’ve told him I’m going to the Tough Mudder for Sam too and he’s helped to spread the word.

“Adam asked me whether we wanted to do the Tough Mudder again this year for Sam and I said I would love to, after we did it last year for Adam’s friend Thomas. It will be amazing to have Adam by my side doing it again.

“The main reason I’m doing this is because I hadn’t seen Sam for so long. He was the life of the party and a really good lad. It’s the least we can do to raise money for a very good charity in his memory. I hope he will be looking down on us on the day.”

Conor and Adam have been gearing up for the Tough Mudder for a number of months to be physically ready for what lies ahead.

“We’ve more or less done the same as last year as it worked really well for both of us,” Conor said of their preparations.

“I’ve been in the gym most nights and still played football to get my cardio up. We didn’t want to try anything drastic as we’ve both been very fit and active throughout our lives anyway. It’s been the exact same training as last year, just a bit more cardio. The strength training has still been the same as it’s still going to be the same course.”

Conor completely covered in mud during last year's Tough Mudder! 

'You just have to keep telling yourself to keep going' 

Conor believes the mental strength required to complete the challenge is what they learned from doing it last year.

“You can get the runners high and we definitely got that,” he told us. “At the end, I just wanted to carry on because I was so focused but although a lot of it is physical, the mental strength is just as important.

“You just have to keep telling yourself to keep going. I remember one of the obstacles last year where we were straight into being submerged in mud and you’re like that for four hours, or where you are under water that’s zero degrees and if you haven’t taken a good breath beforehand it hits you like a brick as it’s a massive shock to the system.

“We both know what to expect now and we have each other for support. Last year it took us around three and a half hours to do 10k, I imagine it will take us around four hours or slightly more to do 15k this year.”

Conor and Adam are raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support this year 

The pair have already raised over £400 through their GoFundMe page for Macmillan, which provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer.

Anyone who would like to donate can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-sam-moghadasnia

We wish both Conor and Adam well in their Tough Mudder and will report back to see how they get on.

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