Hundreds of school friends of a pupil who injured his spine in a rugby accident are raising money for a rugby charity in the
Great Edinburgh Run. Nick Watt, 18, is still recovering after a scrum accidentally collapsed in a match between two rival schools. The teenager’s life-threatening injury left pupils and teachers at Merchiston Castle School in shock last September. They have raised £40,000 for Hearts and Balls, a charity helping his recovery, by signing up for Sunday’s 10km race. It is the single largest charitable donation in the history of the event. Former Hearts, Hibs and Scotland football star Darren Jackson and former Great Britain Rugby League Captain Paul Sculthorpe will help set the 10,000 competitors off from the race’s new start line on the George IV Bridge. This year’s event includes the strongest elite field in the event’s history, among them 2008 champion Bernard Kipyego, 10,000m world record holder Micah Kogo and American Olympic medallist Deena Kastor.
While the three pro runners will no doubt head the field as pre-race favourites, the Merchiston pupils will be the Bupa run’s largest single group by far, and will include headmaster Andrew Hunter and more than 50 parents.