Striking a blow for Maggie's
The moment the bell rang, all Derek Stewart could think about was the man in front of him. His trainer was shouting and screaming advice in his ear but Derek couldn't hear a word. His opponent was much heavier than him and he would need all his skill to get through this fight. Three punishing 90-second rounds later it was all over.

It is hard to believe Derek isn't a boxer. In fact, three months before that night of the fight, he hadn't even started training. For the weeks leading up to the fight, he was honed by the fierce 77-year-old coach Willie Douglas and his 20-year-old grandson William at Larkhall Amateur Boxing Club. He might have lost on points on the night, but for Derek it was all worth while.

Derek, 46, who is managing director of a firm of independent financial advisers in Uddingston, was Scotland's only participant in the Square Up In The City white-collar boxing night in London, which pitted fund managers and other financial high-fliers against each other in front of an audience of 500 people paying £400 a head. Such fight nights for office workers have become increasingly popular on both sides of the Atlantic and they certainly seem to be effective in releasing that pent-up energy in offices around the country.

Derek admits there may be an element of macho wish-fulfilment to the growing phenomenon of white-collar boxing. "It's a big ego thing," he says, "and you're doing it in front of your peers so there's a massive amount of pressure but also a massive amount of prestige."

Some contenders are inclined to subvert the stereotype, though, with tongue-in-cheek gestures. As the theme tune to accompany his dramatic entrance to the arena, for example, Derek selected Edwin Starr's pacifist anthem War, while his opponent chose Dead Man Walking by David Bowie. "It was either that or Staying Alive by the Bee Gees," he laughs.

"I don't think it is pent-up aggression that makes these guys want to get into boxing. There are a lot of activities such as boxercise and certain martial arts which use the same types of movements and exercises as boxing but without the contact. It's the contact that brings the pressure and prestige and focuses your attention 100%."

There was another bonus for Derek in taking part - he raised £13,000 for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. "All cancer charities do good work and they all deserve every penny they get. However, with Maggie's you see immediate benefits going back into the community. Some people, on learning that they or their relative has cancer, shut down when they're faced with the hospital system and don't have any idea of what questions to ask or who to go to. Maggie's is there for those people, to help them come to terms with it, making a real positive difference for them just now."

Neil Walker
"Why Ding Dang Do? No reason at all," says Neil Walker. "We just thought it sounded funny and that it had a kind of Indian ring to it." Neil laughs as he tries to explain the name given by him and teammate David Doherty to their trusty 150cc auto-rickshaw for the 14 days of the 2008 Rickshaw Run.

In the course of their travels, the only Scottish team participating had to negotiate crowds of curious locals, backstreet engineering wizards, traditional Hindu wedding dances and Australian black-market fuel dealers. Travelling in convoy with two other teams, desperation and friendly rivalry saw them over the finish line with time to spare before the celebratory cricket game and party.

The charity event in June - part epic pursuit race, part tropical adventure - saw almost 70 teams join a madcap 2000-mile chase through mountain, desert and jungle from Kathmandu in Nepal to Pondicherry in the south of India.

With a maximum speed of 30mph the auto-rickshaw, or tuk-tuk, is ideal for short hops around congested urban sprawls but could hardly be less suited to an exacting two-week endurance race through unforgiving terrain.

Each team is challenged to raise as much money as they can for charity, with the first £1000 going to the Mercy Corps, the international humanitarian aid organisation, and anything above that going to a charity of their choice. Ding Dang Do chose Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. "It was a couple of years ago we decided to do it. Maggie's was in my mind and if we were going to do it, we thought we may as well do it properly." By making it to Pondicherry they raised £2500.

Before setting off, the team's chief concern had been their lack of technical knowledge about the vehicle they were going to be pushing to its limits. A friend instructed them in the fundamentals of maintaining a two-stroke engine but without any mechanical background they knew they would have to rely heavily on local expertise. Fortunately, this was readily available and regular minor miracles of Indian engineering savvy kept them moving through 40 degree heat, fierce thunderstorms and sporadic eruptions of Delhi belly.

"It was the curiosity of people that struck me. Away from the cities it was all really friendly, people helped us out a lot and if you tried to give them some rupees to say thanks they wouldn't have it."

Indian highway etiquette came as something of a jolt. "The driving was absolutely crazy all the way. It took a while but once we embraced it, it suddenly became much easier."

Matt Dodds
It was The Proclaimers who gave Matt Dodds the idea. If they could walk 500 miles, then so could he. Matt had the idea of walking the 434 miles required to cover the whole country after reading The Herald's Walk Scotland booklets in 2005. The Ayrshire businessman's route runs from Lindisfarne to Cape Wrath and finishes with the Glasgow Half Marathon on September 7. Matt is raising money for Maggie's. He got involved through a family connection and is passionate about the cause. "Cancer is rife. It seems like it's everywhere," he says. "If there's anything you can do, you have to try."

Matt will scale three Munros on his journey, including Ben Lomond, Ben Hope and Ben Nevis, although he is unlikely to be troubled by them. Last year he reached the 21,000 foot summit of Mera Peak in the Himalayas and the year before it was the Everest base camp. Patriotically, he insists that his current venture will prove every bit as rewarding.