Dee Bradbury Walking For Doddie

Her party will hit the ground running. After a morning flight from London to Marrakech, they will be transferred to the mountains and will grab a ‘quick lunch’ before setting off of the first stage of their journey, a 15km hike rising steeply to 7,500 feet. The trekkers have been told to wear their walking boots on the plane, and have their rucksacks fully prepared before they leave home, ready to just sling on their backs as soon as they arrive.

The following two days will be equally tough, as the group covers a further 35km in punishing conditions, reaching heights of 8,200 feet.

The trek is fully supported, with Moroccan mountain guides, but it is still a tall order for the Scottish Rugby President, who details her training so far as “walking along the canal to break in my new hiking boots”. Participants are expected to train over a period of several months. Dee has approximately five weeks, and the slight complication of the Guinness Six Nations Championship figuring quite heavily in the meantime.

The packing list doesn’t offer much comfort. Trekkers are advised to bring a supply of baby wipes, for a ‘”baby wipe bath”, while they are also informed that “chafing can be an issue”. Even a full night’s sleep looks like wishful thinking, with trekkers told to bring ear plugs “just in case there are a few snorers” in the camp.

“When you see the photographs, it looks absolutely stunning,” says Dee, who became the first female president of Scottish Rugby in 2018, and is mother of current Scotland internationalist Magnus Bradbury. “But if I’m perfectly candid, I’m absolutely terrified.”

Dee has set a target of raising £1,500 for the Foundation, and she’s one of 26 in the trek party who are all united by the same common cause, with former Scotland internationalists Kenny Logan and Stuart Grimes also signed up to take part.

She learned about the event when she was at the 1999 Five Nations champions reunion lunch in December, and signed up for the self-funded opportunity, hoping to raise £1,500 for the Foundation. Although she did not know Doddie Weir before his diagnosis with motor neurone disease was announced in 2017, she was moved by his story and like so many people, she has been inspired by the former Scotland player’s enthusiasm and determination to raise awareness of MND and raise funds for research.

“I only knew Doddie as a favourite Scotland player and a very big character,” says Dee, who admits she couldn’t bring herself to watch the recent BBC television documentary One More Try. “He’s an iconic figure, someone who has done the nation proud on and off the rugby field. He’s a credit to the sport. I have met him a few times now, and he is such a lovely man, doing so much to raise awareness of MND.”

The thought of helping to make a difference is all the motivation Dee needs to drive her on, despite the daunting challenge.

“It’s the inclines that worry me,” she says. “I don’t know how much preparation I will be able to cram in. This is a busy time of the season, and I have come to this challenge very late.

“My background is in athletics but that wasn’t yesterday, and I have not been doing much to stay fit lately. I’d like to think that some of my muscle memory will still be there but my body will be in new territory.”

Even an attempt to talk to someone with direct experience of the trek couldn’t ease Dee’s concerns. A member at her rugby club, Oban Lorne RFC, has warned Dee of the problem of altitude sickness in the Atlas Mountains, but added that dysentery was just as big an issue.

“It is going to be an experience I have never encountered, but I will give it a crack,” says Dee. “I have nothing to lose, and I am driven on by knowing that I am helping others who are not in a position to do the same.”

Overnights will be spent in two-person tents in the mountains, in very low temperatures. Although there may be good conditions during the day, the weather is changeable, and the only certainty is that the nights will be an uncomfortable experience. Dee is sharing her tent with Doddie’s doctor.

“I’ve spoken to her on the phone about what lies ahead and we got on well, but whether we are still getting on after 50km in the mountains and spending the nights in a freezing tent remains to be seen! We will also be eating traditional food in a communal tent. But I am very much looking forward to the meal on the last night of the trip – in a five-star hotel in Marrakech. Mind you, I will be looking forward to having a shower just as much, by that time.”

And will Dee have family waiting for her at the finish line, ready for her to collapse into their arms? Eh, not quite.

“When I put my name down my husband just laughed!” says Dee. “But that made me even more determined. And I don’t want to let anyone down.

“It is the experience of a lifetime for me, but it’s about more than that. It’s about doing something even bigger for someone else.”

#marchfordoddie takes place from 27 to 30 March 2020

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dee-bradbury

Article by Scottish Rugby guest writer Donald Walker, former Deputy Editor at The Scotsman