Wow what a day!

August 18th 2019 was a memorable day as my Got Soul sister Laura and I (AKA Boydie) walked the 25 mile Mighty Stride Dundee Kilt walk! All to support Cancer charity, Maggie’s Dundee! ❤

Bank of Scotland and Arnold Clark were 2 major sponsors of the Kilt walk! So big thank you to them too! To find out about what the local Dundee paper wrote about the event click here.

There were 3000 Kilt Walkers walking across the Dundee Kilt Walk! I found it phenomenal that so many people could come together to walk for something they believed in and supported! We need more humans like this in the world!! There were 3 walking routes to choose from: The Mighty Stride (25 miles) From St Andrews to Monifieth Beach, The Big Stroll (11 miles) from Tayport to Monifeith Beach and The Wee Wander (6 miles) from Dundee V and A to Monifeith Beach. All just as good as one another!

The Adventure

Our Mammoth walk started out at St Andrews Old Course Hotel…

It started off pretty brilliantly actually! To Laura and I’s absolute delight a photographer called us over as we were passing to get ready to start…. They only wanted us to get into a photograph with the one and only- Judy Murray!

We got chatting with Judy for a short while- such a lovely woman! Miss Murray also very kindly aloud us to take a little selfie with her. Thank you Judy Murray, it was a pleasure to meet you ❤ (Please note Laura was pretty excited with this and somehow didn’t realise that her “peace hand gesture” was in fact the wrong way round! Opps! She really will not live that one down everrrr! ha!) 1st giggle of the day!

We then took to the grounds and did our warm up with the crowd- led by Pure Gym Dundee! Thank you to Pure Gym! The vibe and the music was just perfect! “I will walk 100 miles” Proclaimers! One of my favourites! Little did we know that by the end of the walk it really did feel a little like 100 miles!

Let the race commence!

And a lovely wave from our new friend Judy Murray- which was extra lovely! Thank you! 😊

Laura and I had an absolutely great time on the walk- we kept our selves entertained with our ZORBS, chatted, sang, danced, played eye spy. Anything to kept our vibe and spirits up. I think our positivity along the way also kept many other walkers entertained and plodding on! Our random bursts of song and sound of the zorbs may be something walkers will remember from their Kilt walk 2019!

We met and spoke to new people along the way and we had a challenge to meet as many Maggie walkers as possible and get a selfie with them! The reason we were so keen to catch up with as many Maggie supporters as possible was because Laura works as the Fundraiser at Maggies Dundee – and a very enthusiastic one at that! So we wanted to thank all the supporters!

There were 5 pit stops in total where many Kiltie supporters were cheering us on and supplying us all with fresh fruit, water and snacks which was sponsored by ALDI. Thank you ALDI! There were also some great music entertainment at the pit stops-like this jazz band!

Training?

Ehhh-No! We had done very little to no training for this walk, but surprisingly we kept a steady pace (average of 4 mph) the whole way and came away with Minor aches and Pains. It is probably best that you train before a walk like this, but at the end of the day your body will cope differently depending on a variety of factors like age, gender and fitness ability. We totally winged it!

Landscape of the walk

It was a very mixed landscape: Road, forest, beach, bridge, by the beach, you name it we walked it!

Tentsmuir Forest 🌳 lasted forevvvverrr!! I felt like I saw the same tree about a million times! 😂

There were mile signs, little quiz questions and quotes that kept us going!

We didn’t really stop for a break apart from 2 minutes at pit stop 3 to get a photo on this epic giant chair 😂 👑 👸🏻 👸🏻 (Not even a toilet break!)

The rain ☔️ came on big style just before we hit the bridge at Tayport 🌉 so we were drenched! The bridge was great through because it was really really windy and dried our clothes a wee bit! The views were pretty great too!

When we reached Brought Ferry our bodies really were starting to ache and we just wanted to get to the end! But we kept each other going!!! Still smiling!

It was so great to reach this 1 mile sign!!!!! We had seen the white tent from Tayport and were striding towards it the whole day! So to get to the one mile to go sign was a relief by this point !!

WE DID IT!!!!!!

Nothing will beat the exhilaration of when we not just crossed the finishing line- but danced across the finish line! Legend MC Greg Summers made our finish very memorable! He was filled with SO much enthusiasm! Everyone was clapping and cheering, music was blaring and our medals were just waiting for us! Really good times!

In fact to Laura and I’s surprise we cried with exhilaration haha! It really was a journey!!! I don’t think anyone will ever fully appreciate how long that walk actually was unless they have experienced it themselves! I am really proud of us! We achieved the Mighty Stride 26 Mile Kilt walk from St Andrews to Moinfieth for Maggies Dundee in 8 hours 15 minutes! Go us!!

After the walk..

A bath and good stretch was needed! I was walking like a 99 year old for a couple of days- I think I am almost walking like a 24 year old now! haha

You should GO for it !!!

I really recommend doing it the kilt walk whether it is the Mighty stride, Big Stroll or Wee Wander! It doesn’t matter how long because you will be raising funds to support someone else who needs it!

Follow the Kilt walk on Facebook to see when the 2020 registration is open!

Kilt Walk Kit

*Rucksack

*Disposable Poncho

*Snack to replenish energy (Chocolate, sandwiches, crisps, banana, apples, snack bars) Don’t overload, but take food to keep the energy up!

*Good protective socks +Spare socks I recommend Rocky Accelerate Anti-Blister Socks Click here to view them. They are sooooo good! My feet were in pretty good condition after a 26 mile walk!

*Compeed Plasters (Put these on before any long haul walk!) and keep your feet as dry as possible.

*Lipsil

*Kilt Walk Map

About Maggies Dundee

Maggies was founded by a lady called Maggie, who was told she had breast cancer and was told she would have 2-3 months left to live. As an architect she saw the idea to build a place for others who were experiencing the same as her. A place where cancer suffers and their familys could go and talk and make sense of their cancer, in a positive frame of mind. In 1996 this thought became a reality and the first Maggies centre was born in Edinburgh. The charity support many cancer patients.

As many of you know fundraising has been a passion of mine from the age of 5 years old. Maggies has been one of many charity’s that I have supported in the past. On this charity venture I managed to raise £89.00 for the charity. The Kilt walk organiser will add an additional 40 % to all kilt walkers sponsorship, which is an extremely generous boost to all charities! The money that I have raised will pay for 1 patient to receive 2 nutrition sessions with change to pay for other additional supports like tea and coffee in the centre. I am really delighted with that! Thank you to everyone that has made a very generous donation! I am so grateful!

My just give page is still active for anyone who wishes to make a donation. Click here to view my just give page for Maggies Dundee. Thank you! ❤

Maggie Event Coming Up SOON!

Coming up on the 30th of August is the 6 mile Cultural Crawl which is an event to raise fund for Magggies. This event will take place across the country. This walk is much smaller (only 6 miles). Click here to view your nearest Culture Crawl and sign up now!

That’s all for now! I really hope you have enjoyed this blog!

For more info on my fundraising journey click here!

Lots of Love From

Chlo Jack

XoX

“A lifestyle blog written by a Scottish Lassie”