City MSP gets on his marks for marathon

A LOTHIANS MSP is one of 13,000 people to have already signed up for this year's Edinburgh Marathon.

Conservative Gavin Brown will be among those entering the event, which takes place later this month.

This will be the health-conscious politician's first full marathon, and he has already laid down the challenge to other MSPs to take part in next year's event.

He said: "My mission is to bring four MSPs together to run the team relay from four different parties.

"Running a full marathon is a great way of improving your fitness but requires a big commitment, especially with the amount of training that's required.

"Running the team relay was a great way of preparing me for the big challenge and who knows, in future years we might see more MSPs rising to the challenge of running the full marathon as well."

He will be raising money for Edinburgh-based homelessness charity Bethany.