By Helen Chowaniec
The Kiltwalk is a great way to walk and raise money for charity. This year, SW/S is delighted
that students and staff of The City of Glasgow under the stewardship of Bridget Mathieson-McLaughlin, will be taking part and donating their sponsorship to SW/S. Find out all about it and how to prepare for your Kiltwalk.
What is The Kiltwalk?
The Glasgow Kiltwalk is almost upon us, and this year, due to popular demand, there are now two days of walking. The new day is Saturday, 26 April, when folks will be able to leave from Clydebank and walk the 14 miles to Balloch (and the end) in the Big Stroll. The other day is Sunday, 27 April, where the Mighty Stride at 23 miles, Big Stroll again at 14 miles and the Wee Wander at 3 miles for youngsters will be completed.
The Kiltwalk is Scotland’s largest mass-walking event, with over 178,000 people taking part over the years. Sir Tom Hunter and The Hunter Foundation took over the Kiltwalk in 2015 and gave it a new lease of life. It has helped raise £49.6 million, and that has helped over 2,750 Scottish charities from MND Scotland to Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity to Beatson Cancer Charity is just one of the many charities.
The Kiltwalk now operates in four main Scottish cities from Glasgow (April) to Aberdeen (June) to Dundee (August) and then to Edinburgh (September).
Scottish Women in Sport and The Kiltwalk
This year Scottish Women in Sport are dipping their toe into the Kiltwalk in partnership with the City of Glasgow College. Bridget Mathieson-McLaughlin, FE Lecturer Sport, Fitness, Health and Exercise has encouraged 28 staff and students to raise funds for SW/S by walking the 14-mile Big Stroll on Saturday, 26th April.
The group will range in age from 17 to 60 and mostly hail from West of Scotland. They come from various course backgrounds from fitness to sport to therapy and beauty. For many it will be their first time participating in this amazing fundraising event. Team City will kick off at 11 am from Clydebank and should reach the finish line at Balloch at approximately 3pm – given good weather and blister-free feet!
SW/S are indebted to Team City for choosing us as their charity and we will be cheering them on every step of the way.
My Kiltwalk Experience
This year will mark my fourth Kiltwalk experience. The first one I signed up for was 2020, but for obvious reasons, I didn’t make the start line and did my Kiltwalk virtually along with many others. The next one came in 2022 when I completed the Dundee Mighty Stride at 25.5 miles from St Andrews to Monifieth Dundee. My next opportunity was in 2024 where again I opted for Dundee and walked the Mighty Stride of 20 miles from St Andrews to Slessor Gardens Dundee. I admit that I preferred the second Dundee one as you could see the finish line from the Tay Bridge and knew after walking over that it was time for a cup of tea. My fourth one is this year and it is the first time that I will be tackling the Glasgow course.
My background when I lived down South was in cycling and I would prepare and cycle many charity rides. When I moved to Glasgow seven years ago, I needed to fill that space with something else and along came walking. I find walking a great exercise that can take you to many places from Kiltwalk to long distances footpaths such as The West Highland Way to Munros, such as Ben Lomond or a wee local walk along the Forth and Clyde Canal Path (although you can walk from Glasgow to Edinburgh if you prefer as well). Walking is so varied depending on what you are looking for and is a great way to let off steam after a busy week, to re-focus your mind to conquer a project, to have a catch up with friends and to help your health in many different ways from stronger muscles to better cardio. Walking can also help you recover from injury or illness or mental health conditions and help you both pre and postnatally as well.
How to Prepare for a Kiltwalk
To me, preparing for a Kiltwalk is as easy as putting one foot in front of the other and building from
there.
I split all of my training into walking, gym and recovery. To me, over a week, I would have two shorter and speedier walks and one long walk (although more often than not, there would be an extra walk or two added to the mix, so I didn’t miss out on something fun like sunny day in Scotland).
For the gym, I would focus on the muscles I would need during the actual walk, from my leg muscles to my back and core muscles. My legs would be doing the majority of the work, so I need to be strong to help me reach the finish line. My back and core muscles need to be strong to help me carry a small backpack and to make sure I am still upright at the end and not stooping too far forward, which can happen when you get tired.
The shorter and speedier walks will help build up my cardio system, and the longer walks will help build my endurance and stamina. I also need to make sure I am walking on different walking terrains. The Dundee Mighty Stride takes you through Tentsmuir Forest, which is a trail, rocky and sandy, whereas the Glasgow walk takes you on footpaths and pavements. These are two very different terrains and both need catered for in any training programme (as my blisters in 2022 would attest too!!!).
The much-needed recovery days are an excellent opportunity to sit on the couch with a hot chocolate and a good film and thank the muscles for the hard work that they accomplished. My number one rule when doing any sort of training is to listen to the body. If the body needs a rest, then it is telling you that and although sometimes hard to action it is a great thing to do so you are ready for your next training session.
My personal favourite part of training in 2024 and 2025 is having my little one in the walking backpack so they can come along for the journey as well. The benefit of this is getting to see the sights but the downside is that the backpack weighs around fifteen to twenty kilograms. That being said, when you do the real Kiltwalk, you tend to be a little bit faster than your training walks and give yourself a surprise when you cross the finish line a lot sooner than you realise, this is exactly what happened to me in 2024.
To me, anyone can prepare for a Kiltwalk all I would say is to give yourself time to train and pick a walk that gives you time to do that so you are not rushing and feel disheartened. As I said it’s all about putting one foot in front of the other and building from there. So, if you start with a 10-minute walk around the block three times a week and then keep adding the minutes over the weeks, you will get to an hour’s walk around the block or conquering your first Scottish hill (I recommend this as some of the views from the top are incredible).
If you want to support our Kiltwalk Fund – you can donate here.
