A team of costume-clad superheroes and film characters ran 22 miles from Dunfermline to Edinburgh earlier today, all to bring smiles to children and families at the Sick Kids hospital.
Starting from Glen Gates in Dunfermline, the band of heroes including Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, Batgirl and Superman ran just under a marathon in full costume, before being piped through the Meadows and finishing up outside the hospital to visit their fans.
The superheroes initially teamed up during lockdown to bring some cheer to Dunfermline locals during difficult times. They are now taking part in the Lap the World challenge – a fundraising race between Edinburgh and Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charities to virtually cover the distance around Scotland and the world’s Equator (50,087km) before 31 July.
The gang have raised an incredible £5700 so far for Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC), which supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. They are part of an army of over 2000 participants that have signed up to help the charities Lap the World.
Buzz Lightyear, aka Andy Spence, says: “I’ve joined Team Edinburgh in the race to Lap the World as I’ve been a supporter of the Sick Kids since 2005, when they saved my daughter Hope’s life.
“Our family is so grateful to the wonderful hospital teams for everything they have done for us. Myself and my wife have clocked up many kilometres over the years by running marathons and half marathons to raise money for them. Hope has also signed up to the fundraising challenge, as without Team Edinburgh, we wouldn’t be Team Spence.
“Our team of superheroes are absolutely thrilled that we have now raised over £7000 for the charity and we hope to raise even more before the end of the challenge.”
Victoria Buchanan, from ECHC, said: “The Lap the World fundraising challenge has been bigger than we could ever have imagined, and who better to have on our team than some of the fastest superheroes on the planet as we race Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity to the finish line?
“We are so excited to have the superheroes on Team Edinburgh and would like to say a huge thank you to them for running such an incredible distance for the children, families and staff of the Sick Kids.
“Though the heroes are unfortunately unable to visit the wards at the moment, we know the kids would still have been amazed to see some of their favourite heroes and there would have been lots of smiles all round.”
To support the superheroes, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/team/DunfermlineSuperheroes
The Lap the World challenge is running from 6-31 July. To donate to ECHC, visit: www.echcharity.org/donate
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
