Angus curling pals are closing in on the finish line of a remarkable Round the World in 80 days fundraiser for MND research.
And they will cover more than 32 MILLION steps by the time they get a piper’s welcome at the door of Forfar ice rink this month.
The global walk was dreamt up by members of Fettercairn and Dalhousie Curling Clubs.
Janice Walls and Alison Paterson came up with the idea after friend and fellow curler Alison Pritchard, from Brechin, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in June.
“We were all so upset when Alison was diagnosed,” Janice said.
“So when Alison Paterson suggested we do a fundraiser for MND Scotland I agreed to help.
Charity support
The charity has been a huge support to Alison, who is in her 60s, and her family since the diagnosis.
Janice added: “We all curl regularly at Forfar during the winter months.
“So the idea was to walk around the world by counting our steps every day for 80 days.
“We were looking to get 30 to 40 people involved.”
And they set off in pursuit of the 32,673,134 step target on October 1.
They had 46 taking part, ranging in age from just 18 months up to 80-plus.
“This number has grown to 57 walkers,” Janice added.
“We started from Montrose and intended to walk around the 57 degrees north latitude over land and sea – a little bit of magic was needed walking on water”.
Travelogue updates
And their effort has been so successful the walkers have been able to add some extra stops along the way.
Jan said: “Since we’ve accumulated more steps than we thought, we’ve been able to do some ‘sightseeing’.
The walker totted up enough steps to cover Europe and Asia before arriving on American soil on day 57.
She added: “We provide weekly updates to everyone participating via email and I also post to our MND Around the World Walk for Alison Facebook page.
“Alison writes the travelogue story and I provide the pictures, an update on steps and where we are with fundraising.
“Many of our walkers are collecting cash using sponsor forms so we won’t get a true picture on what we make until the end of the walk.”
But the group’s Justgiving page is already well past its £3,000 target.
Our final day is December 19 when we are organising a walk around Forfar Loch.
“We’ll then finish at Forfar Ice Centre where we’ll be met by a piper.
“Mike and Sandra Ferguson of the centre have been very supportive of this and we can’t thank them enough, as well as everyone else who had already donated.”
