The Tradmill - Weegies & Teuchters for Doddie AID 2021

This one time, at band camp.....

Not since the Avengers assembled has the world seen such a powerful team…. 40* (*39) of Scotland’s finest entertainers (depending who you talk to!) - traditional musicians, comedians, singers and dancers - plus Captains Donnie Maroot and Stuart Cassells, have united to take on the Doddie AID Challenge and raise money for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

Never a group to do things by halves, they’ve set themselves a challenge within a challenge: divided into Teuchters and Weegies based on current locations, each team was racing to complete a 1200 mile virtual lap around Scotland linking their hometowns - a total of 2400 miles between them.  HOWEVER, they smashed that target in the first two weeks, so they've upped the ante and are now aiming to collectively cover 5000 miles in 30 days!  

From Gourock to Bearsden, on to Taynuilt and around the Western Isles, up to John O'Groats (no one lives there, but they've chucked it in anyway), down to Inverness, onto Aberdeen and down the East coast to Fife then back to Glasgow - they are racing to clock up the miles for their respective areas and battling for pride, booze and bragging rights in the process.  The team who completes the lap first and racks up the highest cumulative mileage between now and February 6th can declare themselves the ultimate Tradmill Champions!  All miles are being tracked on the official Doddie AID app and counted towards the overall Doddie AID team totals, and independent adjudicators will be brought in to ensure there are no dodgy highlander deals being made to secure victory!

The Tradmill Weegies - Captained by Donnie Maroot

Captain Donnie has a long history of sporting achievement.  Originally hailing from Stornoway his athletic prowess was clear to see from an early age when he captured the Western Isles Swimming Championship title.  He also enjoyed a brief stint in international rugby - achieving ‘Legend’ status himself after being called up to join the Scotland Legends team for a half time 7s exhibition match, where we can neither confirm nor deny he tried to stay as far away from the ball as possible resulting in an accidental overlap.  A man of the Munros, he’s used to racking up the miles so is perfectly placed to inspire and motivate his team to a solid second place.

Despite the name, the Tradmill Weegies feature many an import, most of whom practically hold shares in the properties that make up the famous ’teuchter triangle’ - it’s just as well Glasgow is on lockdown or all the challenge would have ground to a halt the first day the Park Bar opened.  Donnie’s crew of scallywags is made up of Alec Dalglish, Daniel and Martin Gillespie and Scott Wood of Skerryvore; Craig Munro, Dougie McCance, Gary O’Hagan and Grant Cassidy from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers; Manran’s Ewen Henderson; legendary Comedian Fred Macaulay; Ali Turner of Tide Lines; David Shedden of Assynt; David Calder, drummer with The Riffreshers and Be Charlotte; Larry Deveney from Whisky Kiss; Kinnaris Quintet’s Laura Wilkie; Mhairi Marwick of Fat Suit; Paul Jennings formerly of Tannahill Weavers; piper John Campbell; and Lesley Shaw of Celtic Connections.  Completing the team is Vice Captain Eilidh Buchanan from Flings & Things Highland Dancers.  

The Tradmill Teuchters - Captained by Stuart Cassells

Captain Cassells, whilst short of a SPOTY nomination, has plenty of other accolades to his name from the world of piping, not least the title of Young Traditional Musician of the Year.  He is also the man responsible for unleashing the Bagrock genre on the world when he created the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.  Now General Manager of The Macallan Estate, Stuart has moved from the piping world deeper into the world of whisky - it’s unclear which has had the greatest impact on his lung capacity and cardio endurance, but a combination of the two recently fuelled him to complete the New York Marathon so we’re expecting big things from him and his squad from the North & Midlands. 

Stuart’s Tradmill Teuchters span the full length and breadth of the country, boasting athletic prowess that ranges from the sublime to the non-existent.  Whilst some in the team have completed marathons on many continents, others have been known to struggle tying slip on shoes - yet what they may lack in sporting ability they more than make up for in competitive spirit and questionable patter.  He is joined by Ali Levack of Project Smok and Whisky Kiss; Champion Highland Dancers Ali MacGregor and Gemma Baillie; Singer, drummer and guitarist Andrew Dickson; Chris Judge of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and Soul Nation Choir, and his fellow Soul Nation member Pam Stewart; Take the Floor host with the most, Manran’s own Gary Innes; fiddler Graham Mackenzie; Red Hot Chilli Pipers Harry Richards and Kyle Howie; Ian Smith and Seonaidh Macintyre of Trail West, along with their sometime ‘tour manager’ John Robertson; scorer of own goals, big Joe Macneil; and Flings & Things dancers Brogan Bauld, Emily MacDonald, Rachel McLagan and Vice Captain Shelley Chalmers.

The squad have 30 days to complete the target so the challenge is on and the trash talk is flying!  Your donations will not only spur the ‘athletes’ on, they will enable the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation to continue to make an enormous difference to the lives of those living with MND.  Thank you for any support you can give!