Published: Thursday, 25th June, 2009 8:00am

Leish on a high after wonder walk

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ON A HIGH: Jim Leishman at the top of the bridge's North West tower after completing his 81-mile walk.
Pic by: Dunfermline Press

JIM Leishman regularly regaled his followers with "The Wonder Of You", and he was still singing their praises after 81 strength sapping miles.

Plodding, and limping, along the Fife Coastal Path by day, the Pars legend and the 40 core walkers on "A Dander for Mary" had time to unwind in the evening.

And although they"ve now received recognition in the Scottish Parliament, the walkers got their own "treat" from Leish himself.

He laughed, 'The karaoke night, the rock n" roll evening and the sportsman"s dinner were all brilliant.

'I was up first at the karaoke on the Thursday night and treated them all to "The Wonder Of You", but the whole event was a great bonding experience.'

The 55-year-old was on a high – literally – as he completed the five day trek on Sunday by scaling one of the towers of the Forth Road Bridge.

'It was beautiful up there,' he explained.

'I was a bit tired going up and a bit anxious about the height but to look back up the coastal path and to look down at Babcock Marine, who have given us so much help, was brilliant.'

The walk was in memory of his wife, who sadly passed away on their 30th wedding anniversary in February, and to raise money in her name.

The Mary Leishman Foundation may well have hit its £100,000 target when all the sponsorship cash from the walk rolls in.

He presented them all with a medal, donated by Babcock at Rosyth, at the end of their endeavours and proud Jim said, 'We all got on so well, there were so many stories and laughs along the way.

'Every one of the official walkers signed my shirt and I"m going to get it framed.

'They were all first class and to see them walking towards the finishing line at the end, I just felt so proud.

'Every one of them was a hero and, to me, it felt just like winning the championship.'

The party included Jim"s daughter, Kate, and son-in-law Gordon, while his son, Jamie, swelled the charity"s coffers by more than £6500 with their Aviemore to Keltybridge bike ride the weekend before.

Friends from Fife, as well as those from the football and showbiz worlds, joined the walk and set out from the Tay Bridge last Wednesday to negotiate the 81 miles round the coast to the Forth bridges.

And it wasn"t without incident, with everything from infected limbs to a Dundee United fan inviting him to a party because Leishman's Pars relegated Dundee in 2005.

There was also 'Henk from Haarlem', as Jim laughed, 'He"s from Holland and part of the support team so no matter where we were, if asked he would always say "Just four miles to go".

'Then you"d find it was seven or eight!'

Rain, aches and pains and blisters dogged the team and Jim continued, 'It was a wee bit harder than I thought it was going to be but from the second day on it was great.

'I turned my ankle on the very first day, the skin burst and it got infected but it didn"t spoil it for me.'

Jim and his army of walkers have also been commended in the Scottish Parliament with Labour MSP John Park tabling a motion to praise the charity.

The brother-in-law of former Par Greg Shields, the MSP joined Jim and the walkers for two days and 30 miles.

The motion reads, 'That the Parliament welcomes the establishment of the Mary Leishman Foundation, which is seeking to raise £100,000 to support people with debilitating illnesses and help young people to achieve their full potential; congratulates the foundation on organising the hugely successful Dander for Mary, a sponsored walk along 81 miles of the Fife Coastal Path between 17th and 21st June 2009; pays tribute to all those who took part in the walk and in particular to their sponsors; wishes the foundation the very best for future fundraising, and notes with appreciation the ongoing work of the foundation to improve the quality of life and life chances for people across Fife.'

Mr Park told the Press his fellow MSPs had sponsored him and that he had been 'delighted' to take part in part of the walk.

'The Mary Leishman Foundation is an important local charity and I will do all I can to keep supporting it,' he added.

'I tabled this motion to pay tribute to all those who were involved in the sponsored walk, especially big Jim, to congratulate the foundation for organising the walk and, in highlighting the work of the charity, to gather support amongst MSPs for the Mary Leishman Foundation"s work in the future.'

Donations to the charity can still be accepted by sending them to The Mary Leishman Foundation, Burnside House, Keltybridge.