MoonWalk Scotland: Edinburgh at its finest

You know I always love going out for a walk, but I have never started a 13 mile walk at 11.30pm in my bra!

But surely that's the spirit of the Moon Walk, a fantastic event now into its tenth year in Scotland. Since it began here in 2006, nearly £17 million has been raised by Moon Walkers in Scotland, which is quite incredible. Most of that money has stayed in Scotland to help improve the lives of people with cancer.

Although it was an event I had heard of and was aware of (I was once driving up to the Royal Mile before 8am on a Sunday morning to begin a long Loch Ness day tour, and passed many women pounding the streets in their bras!), I hadn't really thought about entering the event. It was all Dave's mum's idea - she convinced me, my mum, her neighbour, and Dave's sister-in-law to enter. Our combined team age was over 260, and it would be a challenge for us all.

I tried to sleep in on Saturday morning, in advance of being awake into the wee small hours of Sunday morning, but it just didn't happen. I didn't feel well most of the day, and was nervous about the night ahead - especially as the weather was absolutely horrible!

Mum and I made our way into Edinburgh for around 9am, and thankfully the rain was close to stopping. We met Margaret and Liz, donned our face paints and Saltire capes (for the superhero theme you see - we were Scottish superheros!), and made our way towards the big pink tent in Inverleith Park.

There was a fair bit of hanging around to do for the next few hours, and we were all quite keen to get going. However there was a great atmosphere in the tent, with Louisa aka 'Wonder Lassie' the bagpiper giving us shivers with her Scottish medley, and a very entertaining warm up.

All of a sudden it was time to head to the start line - it took a wee bit of time to get everyone through, but we officially began at 11.35pm.

Everyone set off quite quickly through Inverleith Park, then we were heading up Dundas Street (our first of many uphill sections!) and through the city centre. I must say it was quite strange walking past the pubs and clubs with people out and about, but there were lots of shouts of encouragement. One girl did take it a bit far though, and flashed us, which I thought was a bit unnecessary as the whole point was bras ON :)

It was simply incredible to see so many of Edinburgh's landmarks in pink. It really felt like a special way to see the city, as I've never seen it before. Edinburgh is always a beautiful city, but this was a fantastic way to see it in all its glory!

Up the Mound we went, down Market Street, onto the Royal Mile, down to Holyrood, then round Arthur's Seat - that was memorable! First a steady climb, then downhill. An amazingly clear half moon accompanied us, and the views over Edinburgh were delightful.

Then back up to the Royal Mile, down Johnston Terrace, along Morrison Street, into the New Town and past the National Gallery of Modern Art - I said hello to the Antony Gormley figure:

Mum and I walked the whole way together, and she set a very impressive pace. We were averaging just over three miles an hour and kept that going right through the night.

Soon we reached Ravelston Dykes and knew we were getting close to the finish.

One of the best and most impressive things about the Moon Walk was the effort of the volunteers - they cheered the walkers on all the way and were always positive and encouraging. Although I was a bit freaked out when they started saying 'Good morning!'. And I consistently got freaked out when people cheered me on by name - I kept forgetting mum had written it on my belly earlier!

But the volunteers were just great, and towards the end they were even more great - we were starting to flag, despite the end being so close. There was encouragement all the way, and finally at 3.35am we reached the finish line!

It was an amazing feeling!

The Moon Walk was definitely challenging but a fantastic event like no other. The camaraderie and the positivity is overwhelming, and it was touching to see so many women (and men!) out on a beautiful night for a great cause.

The rain stopped before we started, and in true Scottish style it turned out to be crisp, clear, perfect night for a moon walk!

Also incredible were all the people who completed the Full Moon Walk of 26 miles, and the terrifying Over the Moon Walk of 52 miles!! It was bizarre to think I'd been home and gone to bed whilst all these people were still walking! Perhaps next year (the 10th Scottish Moon Walk) I'll do the full thing - better take training a bit more seriously though!

We reunited with Margaret and Liz at the finish line, and I managed to get a better shot of the pink castle from across Inverleith Park.

Mum and I made it back to the Borders around quarter to 5, and went to bed, sore and tired but elated nonetheless. She had less sleep than me, and I didn't have that much. I felt awful the rest of Sunday and into Monday - she played a full round of golf on Sunday afternoon.

Embarrassingly I did make it onto the Scotsman website, but thankfully the more embarrassing pictures didn't make it (jumping photos in a kilt - perhaps not my best idea!)

http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/in-pictures-edinburgh-moonwalk-2014-1-3437591?ot=johnstonpress.JohnstonPressPageLayoutPP3.ot

 All in all, a brilliant night out like no other - highly recommended!!

UPDATE: I completely forgot last night when I wrote this post to mention the fact that our team has raised over £600! Through our online site (https://moonwalkscotland2014.everydayhero.com/uk/liz-margaret-jean-irene-helen-s-moonwalk-scotland-2014) we have raised almost £300, and with the money we have raised in person, we have reached over £600. The donations are still coming in so I don't have an accurate total at this stage, but a fantastic effort - thanks to all who donated!