Standing on top of one of the Pentland Hills, I gaze down to the coast, the finish line, the sandy shore of Fisherrow at Musselburgh. ‘Scurry to the Sea’ is an annual footrace, where participants need to pass through three designated checkpoints on their downhill run from the hills to the sea. Literally, a scurry to the sea.

The route itself is a variable distance and it’s up to individuals how they orienteer from one checkpoint to the next. This being so, husband and I did a trial run of our chosen route bright and early on the morning of summer solstice.

We ran up then down the hill next to the ski slope, with only Highland cows and some tweety birds for company, the bright sun still low in the sky.

I don’t think skirting a Ministry of Defence fence was part of the official route, but it was fun to do. Through an underpass under the City Bypass and through illustrious Oxgangs. It’s not somewhere I run often, but it was all downhill. So, all good.

Except the toes, the toes were complaining. No worries, I tightened my laces on a quick stop passing through Farmilehead park. We popped out the end, and crossed over Comiston Road to the Braids. I love the path right through the leafy canopy to the back of Blackford Hill. Buzzing with wildlife and the occasional runner, we dodged past the landslip to come out the other end.

Trying to stick to quiet routes, we discovered Double Hedges Road did indeed live up to its name. The Inch is Scottish Gaelic for ‘island’ or dry area in a meadow. We ran adjacent to Inch park where the Council’s plant nursery is located. So tempting, however, it was deemed impractical to run with plants. One day!

We ran on through Niddrie and found the wee tunnel - literally, it smelled like wee - to Bangholm. On familiar territory we happily galumphed past Fort Kinnaird and up and over the rail bridge at The Range (my fav lockdown shop, an excuse for bike ride to stock up on art materials).

The path down along Brunstane Burn is a wonderful place with wildflowers, overgrown bits and lots of interesting corners. Even better was emerging at the bustling Joppa intersection with the end in sight. A scurry along the seafront took us to Musselburgh’s Fisherrow Harbour for a welcome rest on a seafront bench.

We loved the route but my ongoing foot issues decided that running for longer than an hour is . Despite regular appointments at Easter Road Podiatry, my feet (and detached toenails) decided not to do the actual race. But this adventure is one I’m glad to have had - it’s easy to forget how many beautiful green spaces we have in Edinburgh, and when you venture to the southside of town, it feels a million miles away from the ding of the tram.

It’s amazing how many times over the last 15 years I’ve thought ‘this will make an interesting Leither article’ when faced with a challenge:

From mountain biking Mainly Middle Age Muddy Men March 2012, to an early dawn ride A Summer Sunrise Bike Ride June 2013, to publishing a book My Booky Baby February 2013, giving up booze for 2012 A Very Dry Year January 2013 and becoming teetotal forever Farewell To A Troublesome Friend January 2023.

I write narrative in my head as I’m doing something challenging, and being the protagonist of a story gives me confidence. It’s a visualization technique from NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming. Now at the grand age of 50, I’m focusing more internally and less on the external. Many distance runners run almost as therapy, to escape their mind or stressful situations. Over the years I’ve done a lot of distances (and coached many people to run distance).

I’m not hanging up my trainers just yet but am happy to no longer have to prove that I’m tough enough to go the extra mile, as it were. Nowadays time and energy saved by not bothering with social media or longer runs is spent swimming or cycling, or even on the allotment and maintaining our municipal planter.

And writing, I will never stop writing. Thank you, readers, I’ve met some of you on the street and it’s nice to know that my adventures have entertained you over the years.

Arthur Street Planter Update: It’s late July our planter is still in place, the marigolds flowering and nasturtiums have started to spill over the sides. A ladybird was spotted feasting on black aphids on aforementioned nasturtiums. Four sunflowers are about to bloom. We’ve adopted an additional bollard found beside the bin, it stops cars squeezing by on the footpath. We’ve also spotted more on-street gardening popping up on Balfour Street. If we don’t do it, who will? ■

Info: www.getfitandenjoyit.com