THE second Walk with Scott charity challenge at the weekend was a roaring success after more than 150 people took to East Lothian’s highways and byways to raise money for charity.

Tranent funnyman Scott Glynn was joined by hordes of people at Ross High Rugby Club on Saturday morning as they embarked on their journey through the county, taking in Haddington, Dunbar, North Berwick, Prestonpans, Musselburgh and Tranent rugby clubs, as well as countless villages, encompassing 56 miles over two days and six games of rugby.

The walk followed on from last year’s effort, where Ross High Rugby Club president Scott was joined by family and friends to raise money for five charities, while many walkers also raised money for their own charities of choice, with more than £34,000 raised in total for 21 charities.

This year’s sequel saw Scott nominate four core charities – The Bill McLaren Foundation, Cahoonas, Teenage Cancer Trust and SAMH (Scottish Association Mental Health) – for his fundraising.

The walk had not even started before Scott was blown away by the level of support he had.

“I turned up at Ross High on Saturday and there were 150 there to walk,” he told the Courier.

“The length of the line was amazing. My first thought was ‘God, where I am going to put them!’ Every stage was immense.

“It was awesome, just absolutely fantastic. It only rained the Saturday night when we were in North Berwick [where we camped].

“The walk was lovely; people trained harder. I think they got a fright last year so were doing training walks of 20 miles.” There was a hardcore of 46 walkers, with about 200 in total over the two days, and similar to last year there was more to the walk than just the walking.

Each stage saw a tag rugby game take place, while the community as a whole came out to support the walkers.

“Cockenzie and Port Seton [Royal British Legion Pipes and Drums] piped us out of North Berwick,” said Scott.

“They jumped in cars and then appeared at different stages on the way.

“The Clark Community Choir sang for us at Musselburgh Rugby Club then came back to Ross High. Tranent Pipe Band met us at Polson Park and piped us up Elphinstone Road to the rugby club.

“It caused mayhem! People wondered what the music was and came out to see.

“Cars were passing and tooting the horn. There were long stretches where people had their heads down and someone would peep the horn and you could see their shoulders and heads go up.

“Sometimes [with the long stretches] it was if a village had been put on the back of a lorry and taken away!” On arriving back at Ross High on Sunday evening, the walkers were met by rugby players from the club, who undertook their own marathon task to support the walk – playing a 24-hour game of rugby split across two 12-hour shifts.

Kicking off at 8am on Saturday morning, the players played until 8pm, then were at it again on Sunday before they stopped to clap the walkers home.

David Summer, Ross High head coach, said: “I was looking for the group of players to do something that would contribute to Walk with Scott. With the sevens [tournaments] continuing throughout April and the players not involved with the sevens starting an off-season strength and conditioning programme, there wasn’t any opportunity for the guys to train for the walk.

“As well as raising money for Walk with Scott 2, our main goal was to have fun. We all enjoyed the two days and the touch rugby pitch was graced by representatives of age groups.

“We had pre-school children having a run around, we had my son picking on the broken bodies on the Sunday and we had retired players all enjoying their time on the pitch and donating to be part of the event.” Scott, whose fundraising page is nearing £5,000, did not suffer the same aches in his feet as he did last year, making it a more enjoyable walk as he took in the atmosphere around him.

“I was more relaxed,” he said. “I only got one blister compared to last year!

“I enjoyed it more. People were more prepared and everyone was closer together so there was more camaraderie. The new starts, or walk virgins, were blown away. It was a brilliant atmosphere.

“There was a great quote from a girl who said she must have suffered every feeling known to man except anger over the two days. That sums up the walk.

“I can’t thank everyone enough. I can’t just mention one name, there is lists and lists of people who helped. The whole of East Lothian just came together for two days.” To donate, visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walkwithScott