What does it feel like to cross that line?

Question: "What does it feel like to cross that finishing line?"

It's one of the questions that I've been asked over the last few months along with "Have I done enough training" or "Should I wear my Timberlands?"

I'll come back to answering the first question later, however to answer the other two then all I can say is "I will be starting off next Sunday having done a 5 mile walk, followed by a further 6 mile walk a few weeks later", so who am I to answer such a question.

I haven't prepared for a variety of reasons, however I've walked it before, know what to expect and will have plenty of bandages with me for my blisters.

As for the timbers question, then all I can say is "not advisable if you want the soles of your feet to be there at the end of the 26 miles"

Today has been a long day which started with a Dad's Taxi run at 02:30 this morning, was I mad? Well I'll explain why I offered shortly and finished with a drive through to Edinburgh to pick up some cheap Kilts for the lassies on Kiltwalk Day, which was rather amusing as I was subjected to "Fleece the Tourist" which was an eye opener.

So let's start with, what on the face of it, seemed a 'mad' offer of the Dad's Taxi, which started with a drop off via various stops at 20:00 and had a return trip picking up at 02:30 and finished just over an hour later by the time I'd dropped off at Kings Park, Giffnock and Barrhead before climbing back into bed in Newton Mearns around 03:45.

This wasn't a Father wanting to make sure his 22 year old was home safe and sound after a night out in Glasgow, as she's old enough and hopefully wise enough to look after herself. No this was all about raising money for The Kiltwalk.

You see Zoey was off for a night out with her work colleagues and money, as we all know at the moment, is tight. This means that when Zoey sauntered into work with her Sponsorship Form, she was met with apathy at best, despite the noble cause she's fundraising for.

However Zoey is nothing if not resourceful and quickly realised all her colleagues had to (a) get into town for their night out, and (b) get home safely, when taxis are at a premium and therefore she hatched her plan.

"What if" she started, "I could get you all a lift into town and back for say a fiver each, would you be interested?" and before she even had a chance to explain further, the deal was done.

The next part, was in Zoey's mind, the easy bit i.e. have the conversation which started with "eh Dad" which always means she wants something "do you fancy helping me raise £20 for The Kiltwalk tonight?" and of course that was me done up like a Kipper also.

I wouldn't want to be doing it every Saturday night, however it did give me a chance to sit quietly in the car and hear all the gossip, as after all, taxi drivers are sworn to secrecy and can't divulge any secrets, can they Gillian?

Around midday, Jan, Holly, Scott, Keri and I jumped in the car and headed to Edinburgh and after leaving Glasgow all wrapped up with my coat and scarf, it was a delight to head across the M8 and see blue skies in the distance above the Edinburgh horizon.

Being a Glasgow boy I used to dislike trips through to Edinburgh as I always found it a very uninviting City, however as the years have passed I have mellowed and not that I'd let on to anyone, but I now quite enjoy a trip around Edinburgh as I've come to appreciate what it has to offer.

The task in hand was to procure mini Kilts for Holly and Keri and a decent Kilt for Scott so we parked at the Castle car park and headed up to the Royal Mile to visit all those shops that thrive on 'Tartanry' and thrive on 'Tartanry' they do. However have you ever noticed that most of the shops are owned by the Chinese community? I didn't know whether to admire their enterprise or laugh at the situation.

Now I mean no disrespect by saying "laugh at the situation", it's simply that most of these shops are also staffed by Foreign students, I think ours was Eastern European and she clearly couldn't distinguish that our 'accents' were Scottish (I'm a bit rough, however the kids are refined 'Newton Mearns') and she proceeded to try and fleece us by selling us the shoddiest Tartan Kilts I've ever seen.

To add insult to injury she then attempted to sell us 'matching bobble hats' and explained that 'everyone in Scotland' wears them!!

It was an experience I'll say that much and yes I did procure two of their Dress Stewart Kilts for Holly and Keri, which will probably last The Wee Kiltwalk and no more, but only if it's not raining. However I stopped short at buying one for Scott as I don't think I could ever get the creases out of what they had on offer.

It's nothing a wee trip into a certain shop in Glasgow won't sort out.

Anyway as the weekend draws to a close and Kiltwalk Day get's another day closer then let me finish by answering the question I started with which was

"What does it feel like to cross that finishing line?"

The answer is really simple and all I'll say is "See picture above" that says it all.

You can support The Kiltwalk NOW!! Text KILT00 £5 to 70070

Picture of Jonathen Smith courtesy of ShaunWard Photography