A VETERAN runner who has raised more than £16,000 for breast cancer charity Walk The Walk is donning her decorated bra once again to walk a double marathon round the streets where she lives – and will do it all again a month later!

Margaret MacLeod, 60, took up marathon running at the age of 50, and has now completed six official Walk The Walk ‘Over The Moon’ events, which see participants complete 52 miles in less than 14 hours.

While walkers of the virtual Over The Moon this year are being given a longer, 36-hour time limit, Margaret has decided to push herself to stay within 14 hours.

The Tranent resident, who will be completing the virtual event on Saturday, said: “It’s a huge challenge.

“I can walk a marathon in just under six hours if I’m really pushing it, and I can run one in just under five; it’s like running a marathon at your top speed the whole time.”

Last year, the Walk The Walk fundraiser was cancelled entirely and this year’s has been forced to go virtual, due to Covid – but that hasn’t stopped the intrepid Winton Close resident, who last year walked 524 laps of her house for the challenge.

She said of this year’s event: “I thought if I did laps nearby, I could get people to come and walk a lap with me.

“And before I knew it, I had a wee team!”

Margaret, a receptionist in the investment industry by day, will be joined on her double marathon journey round the 3.3-mile route by 16 different friends, who will each complete a lap of the route with her.

This year, the theme of the event is ‘Out Of This World’, which would usually be illustrated by participants’ decorated bras. But, says Margaret, she is “the worst sewer ever”.

She told the Courier: “I have no imagination so my bra has just got a wee bit of fringing and some wee glitzy bits. It’s just glammed.”

And Margaret’s two adult sons have mixed feelings about their inspirational mum’s athletic achievements. While one ran with her for her first marathon – “a challenge for my 50th birthday” according to Margaret – the other is not quite as hands-on.

She said: “My younger one ran with me dressed as Elsa from Frozen, so he’s extremely supportive; but the older one just grunts at me: ‘Good on you, mum.’”

But Margaret is pushing ahead with her challenge – inspired and supported, she says, by Haddington Running Club – despite her own reservations about walking in her bra in daylight.

She said: “I’m putting myself out there for breast cancer. I’m not entirely comfortable with it, and if it’s raining or cold it’s going to be horrendous, but people go through a hell of a lot worse than what I’ll be going through.”

While this week’s fundraiser will be part of the London event, Margaret plans to do the whole thing again on June 12 for the Edinburgh arm of the charity.

An intrepid Margaret said: “There are going to be a lot of people maybe wondering what’s going on!”

More information on Walk The Walk can be found at walkthewalk.org

To donate to Margaret’s fundraiser, see walkthewalk.enthuse.com/pf/margaret-macleod-50d45-765cd