Let me introduce "The Hoodie Lady"

36,000 feet in the air, en route to Tenerife and with a glass of Absolut Vodka in hand seems like the perfect opportunity to kick back, relax and chill out by writing a Kiltwalk Blipfoto.

Any regulars out there may wonder why there's been a gap since January until now, to hear all about our marvelous Kiltwalkers and their stories.

Sadly the reason I've not been writing much is not due to a lack of stories, as we continue, on a regular basis, to hear stories of our Kiltwalk Kids, walkers and their heartbreaking, or inspiring stories.

The truth is I've been busy doing my day job as 2014 has seen the company I work for, CSI, setup a new office in Glasgow, so it's been all hands to the pump. So I know spend my day on the 7th floor of The Beacon building on St.Vincent Street, just round the corner from The Kiltwalk office and every day that I walk into my office, I'm inspired by the view I have down St. Vincent Street, which stretches all the way to George Square and beyond.

It's a fantastic city and one I love dearly.

I spend a lot of time travelling around cities in the UK and further a field, however for me, there's something magical about Glasgow and and its people and an example of that is our Glasgow Kiltwalk, which is the most wonderful experience to walk.

This year there will be over 5,000 walking from the Hydro in Glasgow to Loch Lomond and I can't wait. It will be like a battalion of Kiltwalkers, as wave after wave stream out from the Hydro and stretch all the way to Loch Lomond.

Due to the Commonwealth Games, this years event sees us walking 3 miles less than normal, so for those who walked last year, that's your miles back. For those walking for the first time, you owe us 3 miles. So you can either sign up for another walk and give us them back then, or get up onto the dance floor in the Kiltwalk Marquee at Loch Lomond and dance the miles away.

One, or should I say two Kiltwalkers who know just how magical the Glasgow Kiltwalk event is, are Fiona and Andy McFarlane who took part in last years Kiltwalk for the first time. They loved it so much, they signed up for Speyside and walked that last year too. It was at Speyside I met Fiona and Andy and they do say opposites attract.

Andy is a quite, gentle natured kind of guy who is quite happy to sit back, chill and watch what goes on around him. Then there's Fiona!!

Fiona kinda bounds into your space just like Tigger, and is full of energy, opinions and endless chat. It wasn't long before I knew quite a lot about Fiona and not a lot about Andy and for a period of time, whether a Deacon Blue gig, or social media, Fiona was there too.

I now know her know as "Fiona", however she first ventured into Kiltwalk parlance as "The Hoodie Lady".

You see she had won a Kiltwalk Hoodie, and for one reason, or 12 others, we never quite delivered that hoodie, which meant Zoey kept talking about "The Hoodie Lady", who was emailing, quite rightly, on a regular basis to enquire where her hoodie was.

In retrospect I"m glad we didn't deliver it on time, as we would never have met up at Speyside and there's nothing better than meeting fellow Kiltwalkers and finding out what drives them to do what they're doing.

So for today's Blipfoto Journal I asked Fiona to drop me a line and tell the world why her and Andy originally became Kiltwalkers and as importantly, why they signed up again for this year?

I asked the latter as I remember, quite clearly, the nick Fiona was in after Speyside. You see while Andy breezed through the course, as if carried by the wind, Fiona suffered and if you remember seeing her in the Marquee at the end, she could hardly move. It was after a few beers I asked her if she was signing up for 2014, and she told me in no uncertain terms there was "no chance".

Now we have a saying round these parts and that's "once a kiltwalker, always a kiltwalker" and Fiona and Andy are a prime example of that and here's their story as told by Fiona.

"I'd heard of the Kiltwalk way back when it first started, but hadn't really given it much consideration until last year, when my husband, Andy, asked if I fancied giving it a go?

I've never liked running, but I will walk for miles, so Andy signed us up for The Kiltwalk and some Kiltwalk miles and I loved every single mile of them, or 28 of them to be precise!!

In fact I loved them so much, I returned the favour by signing us up to walk Speyside in September last year, and in all honesty, it was one of the highlights of my year;

I had won a hoodie at the Glasgow after party, but due to logistics (read; clearly forgetting about me!), and moving offices, the mythical Kiltwalk Hoodie never popped through my letter box :-(

I was then told by Zoey to meet some guy called Ian at the campsite in Speyside, where I was to collect it in person. I had no idea who Ian was, or what he looked like, however when he rolled up with his KIltwalk Family in tow, he was easy tp spot. It was here I became friends with Ian, and was introduced to a quite looking guy called Mike McManus.

Mike gave us a lift from the campsite to Aberlour and we bumped in to each other along the way. Mike was magnificent at championing everyone who passed by, and we spent a good portion of the after party comparing blisters and laughs.

After this, we became friends with Mike on Facebook, as you do, and it was then he popped the question and that question was "would you like to head up the Lanarkshire Division of the Dunfemline Kiltwalkers" and without hesitation, we gladly accepted! It's an honour to be part of the ever growing Kiltwalk family, but even more special to be asked to join a team and what a team at that.

I never thought I would complete one marathon, however Andy and I plan to walk all 5 Kiltwalks this year and we can't wait!! We have a passion about all things Scotland and taking part in these walks means we can setup camp for the weekend in some wonderful parts of our beautiful country and raise money for Scotland's Kids too.

For those doing Glasgow for the first time then all I can say is you're in for a treat as Andy and I are looking forward to it immensely. The community spirit throughout the walk, especially from the public, is heartening, to the point where you're trying to hold it together and not cry like a baby at the emotion of why you're doing this in the first place!

Speyside is physically tough, but absolutely stunning and comes complete with an unbeatable sense of achievement. I am thoroughly looking forward to smashing that one again this year and the after party in The Mash Tun is NOT to be missed.

As for the others? Bring 'em on! Dundee is the day before our 3rd wedding anniversary, so we're looking forward to toasting it with stoavies and a pint!

I would say that if you can walk, you can kiltwalk, but if you don't already walk a few miles a day, then get out and start!

Andy struggled with Glasgow at the 17 mile mark, despite being a keen runner. I think it’s the mechanics of walking that are different and because he's driving all day with his job, and only walking at the weekends, he's not Kiltwalking properly. Whereas before I took redundancy last year, I was getting off my train 2 stops early and walking 2 miles to work and the same back at night, so it really helped with the mechanics of my hips and knees!

The Kiltwalk really is like no other charity event - I mean, you don’t finish the London Marathon, grab a pint, change into your dancing shoes and start tearing up the dance floor with wild abandon, do you?

Honestly, I cannot recommend it enough, it’s part of our lives now, and I look forward to walking many more in the future.

Now, if only we can secure Deacon Blue for the Glasgow or Dundee efter perty…"

If I was to ever try and describe The Kiltwalk to people, I think I'd just point them to Fiona's comments as she kind of captures every emotion in her story, so there's not much more for me to add.

However, I can't finish today's email without commenting on Mr McManus. I thought the only thing Mike and I shared was the same number of chins and a love of the Kiltwalk. However in the last week I've now found out we both pretend to support teams who play in Black & White stripes, plus we have the same keen eye for a victim as he clearly identified Fiona and Andy as Dunfermline Kiltwalk Team targets and closed the deal superbly. Well done that man :-)

If you enjoyed today's blip journal, leave us a message and keep an eye out for stories about Team Max, Team Ailsa and an update on all things Team Aine.

Finally, let me give a wee plug to Fiona's new start up business.

Pawsitive Tails, see details on Fiona's van above, is a home from home holiday boarding and day care facility for dogs. Fiona has asked us to mention that the The Kiltwalk can benefit from her business as she's offering all Kilt and WoofWalkers a 10% discount on holiday bookings in 2014, and better still she will contribute a further 10% back to the Kiltwalk in December of this year, So if you're looking for somewhere to kennel your dog while you're away and want a trusted service that also benefits The Kiltwalk, then go on, you know it makes sense!