Former Scotland rugby captain Kelly Brown calling on fellow Borderers to back Doddie Aid 2024

Known as Doddie Aid for short, the virtual mass-participation exercise event, founded by another former Scotland rugby captain, Rob Wainwright, and run annually since 2021, returned for its fourth instalment today, January 1, and will continue until Saturday, February 3, the date of this year’s Six Nations match between Scotland and Wales for the Doddie Weir Cup at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Brown, 41, follows in the footsteps of former South team captains Stuart Hogg last year, Greig Laidlaw and Samantha Kinghorn jointly in 2022 and Rory Lawson in 2021.

Participants can sign up via a smartphone app and then log the miles they cover while engaging in any form of exercise, with the distance they cover contributing to their team’s total.

Doddie Aid’s format is based on rugby’s Scottish inter-district championship, with teams representing the South, Edinburgh, Glasgow and North and Mid-Scotland, plus Wales and the Barbarians, vying to raise the most money for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, set up by former Melrose and Border Reivers lock Weir, of Blainslie, following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease in 2016.

To date, almost 80,000 supporters of the charity have taken part in the annual challenge, covering more than eight-million miles and raised in excess of £4m.

This year’s challenge is the second to be staged since Weir’s death from MND at the age of 52 in November 2022.

Urging Borderers to rally to support Team South again, Brown, capped 64 times between 2005 and 2017, said: “I was absolutely delighted to be asked to be captain of South of Scotland for this year’s Doddie Aid.

“Doddie Aid is back and it’s a fantastic way to start the year to get active and raise funds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

“This January, thousands of people are going to sign up, so I would encourage you to sign up, get involved and get active, and I would encourage you to raise as much money as you can for the fight against MND.

“If possible, we need everyone in the South to sign up.

“It’s just over a year since unfortunately since we lost the big man so it would be absolutely amazing if we could get up to the sort of numbers that we had last year.”

To sign up, go to https://doddieaid.com/

Last year’s winners, North and Midlands, are captained by Olympic gold medal-winning curler Eve Muirhead again, with Glasgow skippered by television presenter Eilidh Barbour, Edinburgh by current Scotland rugby captain Jamie Ritchie, the Barbarians by Sky Sports presenter Kelly Cates and Wales by ex-rugby international Scott Quinnell.

As of now, the South’s 1,987 backers have clocked 1,600 miles, raising £39,920, trailing the totals of 2,163 miles and £69,400 hit by Muirhead’s 3,461 supporters and 1,320 miles and £52,990 by Ritchie’s 2,629.

The Barbarians are fourth on the leaderboard with £38,400, Glasgow fifth with £37,550 and Wales sixth with £16,030.

Scotland and Melrose were among three teams Brown and Weir, a dozen years his senior, had in common, both having also played for the short-lived Border Reivers, the former from 2005 to 2007 and the latter from 2002 to 2004.

Brown’s other clubs were Glasgow Warriors and London’s Saracens and Weir, capped 61 times between 1990 and 2000, also turned out for Newcastle Falcons and Edinburgh’s Stewart’s Melville.