On Monday 5th August, Managing Director Douglas McCrea set-off on his 15th Annual Charity Walk - his 'Stage 1: Pre-Op' walk - to raise funds for Revive MS Support and Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. 

Just over one month before Douglas' hip replacement operation in September, Douglas hobbled his way round The Clyde Walkway, a 65km walk over four days which began in Partick in the West End of Glasgow and finishes in New Lanark. 

A huge thanks to everyone for their donations which is massively appreciated, as over £5,500 has been raised so far! If you'd still like to donate to support Douglas, you can do so on our Revive MS Support Just Giving Page here, or our Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity Just Giving page here. 

Find out how Douglas got on over the four days on his daily blog below! 

Thursday 8th August

97,481 steps, 223 flights climbed, a rather large blister and a very stiff hip later, Douglas has finished his 'Stage 1: Pre-Op' Annual Charity Walk!

The final day of walking started at 9.30am in the middle of the Clyde Valley at Maudslie Bridge, with the final destination being the impressive Falls of Clyde past New Lanark, which was reached just before 4pm.

 

An interesting day which included very fortunately (for a change) missing the downpour, finishing the walk 10 minutes before the heavens opened. The walk included some great scenary, quite a few unexpected climbs, and a dinosaur (definitely unexpected even though it was a plastic one at a kids park; it was still a fair size!)

The 26,000 steps for the day took Douglas to just under the 100,000 mark since Monday morning, which is not a bad shift for someone just before a hip operation. Needless to say the 65km in the book was nothing like what was walked, as the yearly tradition of a few added detours with his navigational skills added a good few km!

Apart from Monday's soaking, Douglas was really fortunate with the weather, and thanks to Wilson, Gordon, Brian and Ava for the company at different stages of the walk. 

Lastly, another massive thanks to everyone who has donated, and next years wander should be a lot more comfortable as a bionic man!

Wednesday 7th August

Thankfully a shorter walk on Wednesday in comparison to the 16 miles on Tuesday, especially with the appearance of a rather large blister, likely having appeared due to his 'waterproof' walking shoes having felt like they had been dipped in The Clyde on Monday; Douglas says he's not being dramatic however if the Royal Mail were to do a £100 coin, it would be the size of the blister. 

Having been patched up, Douglas' walk today was from Strathclyde Park to Rosebank in the Clyde Valley, accompanied by Brian, a veteran of many of Douglas' walks over the years. 

As with yesterday, a few places could have been doing with some marker signs and various discussions were held over the correct direction; amazingly no mishaps (other than looking at day 4's map instead of day 3's for a few minutes) and no extra yardage.

One day and approximately 12 miles to go. A massive thanks from Douglas for all the donations for two great causes and very surprisingly the soon-to-be replaced hip has held up better than expected; possibly down to the painkillers or everything else being sore!

Tuesday 6th August

So much for the expected 11 miles for Tuesday, with the final tally ending up being over 15 miles; although that does tend to happen after a few 'detours', especially when you start the walk on the wrong side of the river! Thankfully Douglas and the team realized after about 15 minutes so no real harm was done. Never a dull day...

On a positive note, not one drop of rain on Tuesday and plenty of sun means Douglas was advised by Fiona that he now looks like a beetroot, a stark contrast from yesterday. 

32,147 steps later and the equivalent of 53 flights of steps climbed - a surprise as the Clyde Walkway wasn't meant to involve any hills - and Douglas had completed day two of the Stage 1: Pre-Op walk. 

A big thanks to Wilson who accompanied Douglas on Monday, and Gordon and the ever-reliable star of the show Ava (dog) who walked Monday and Tuesday.

Unfortunately it looks like the nice weather was short lived, with day three's forecast being rubbish and day four even worse; remember the waterproofs, Douglas!

Monday 5th August 

Douglas summary of the day: 'It rained. Then it rained even heavier. We all got soaked.'

As you'll see in the rain-blurred video below, the Met Office got it spot on with their yellow weather warning for rain on Monday and Douglas got absolutely soaked as he walked 21,000 steps on Monday. 

Hopefully Tuesday brings some nicer weather and will allow for the walking boots to dry out! 

A massive thank you to those who have donated so far to support Douglas' efforts, as it is genuinely appreciated. If you would like to donate and haven't already, you can do so on our Revive MS Support Just Giving Page here, or our Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity Just Giving page here.