Chris Gilmour, 25, teamed up with friends to take on the mammoth challenge of completing nine notorious Tough Mudder races across Europe to raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer Research-the disease which claimed the life of mum, Lindsay, when he was just 16.

His venture saw him and pals, Callum MacEwen, 23, and Mark Love, 23, jump in a camper van and drive all over the UK to compete in a series of excruciating competitions that see competitors swim through tunnels submerged in pools of ice and scale 15 foot walls.

The trio then flew to Dublin and on to Berlin to complete their lung bursting tour.

Delighted to achieve his goal, Chris revealed that although the trio felt overwhelmed at times, the desire to finish what they started kept them driven.

He said: “There were moments before we started when we thought the challenge was going to be too much and it was certainly a daunting prospect, but the excitement far outweighed the fear once we got going.

“Putting aside the physical challenge, the mental challenge of taking on things like crawling under electrical wire and jumping into pools of ice was pretty scary so we had to focus on the events one at a time.

“We wanted to start and finish as a team so we supported each other throughout.

“I think I was bruised and cut after every race bar one so, yeah, it was certainly an endurance test.

“There was family and friends who came down to see us as well so we didn’t want to let anyone down.

“As difficult as it was at times, the whole experience was brilliant. The time we spent doing this just flew by. Being able to do this with good friends was a real bonus.” Chris, who lives with his girlfriend in the village, added: “We rented a bit of a battered old campervan and lived in that whenever we were competing. It was a real adventure.

“We took it to Germany and over to Dublin so it felt a bit surreal at times.

“But I’d have to say that we enjoyed it so much that in the end, as good as it felt to cross the finish line of the last event, we all agreed that we wished there had been more races. “ The lads’ exploits raised more than £1500 for Pancreatic Cancer Research and allowed Chris to fulfil his dream of helping raise vital funds for what is widely regarded to be a lethal yet lesser known form of cancer.

Survival rates for Pancreatic Cancer sufferers are among the lowest of all forms of cancer and it’s for that reason that Chris didn’t have to dig too deep for motivation every time he felt his body begging for mercy.

He said: “My mum passed away when I was 16 so I always felt that I wanted to work towards raising money for a charity that was close to me.

“Pancreatic cancer is a more uncommon form of cancer but it’s almost untreatable and it perhaps gets less attention than other forms of the disease.

“There’s only a three per cent survival rate with Pancreatic Cancer so putting it more into the spot light was really important.

“The memory of my mum was definitely spurring me on, but we also didn’t want to fail all the people who had come to see us and donated.

“As I said before, to be able to help a charity so close to me whilst having good times with good friends was very special.” Pancreatic Cancer is the fifth most common form of cancer in the UK.

Almost 9000 Brits lost their lives to the disease in 2012 according to Cancer Research UK with 96% of victims passing away within five years of diagnosis.

Anyone wishing to donate to Chris, Callum and Mark’s cause can do so by logging onto https://www.justgiving.com/100milesofmudder/.