What started out years ago as a small Egg Run intended as a bit of fun for the kids at Yorkhill and some local bikers has turned into epic proportions akin to a scene from Ben Hur! The event not only attracts participants from all over the country but also raises much needed money for the hospitals to buy vital equipment.

Once again our attendance predictions were shot to smithereens as, according to Police estimates, between 2500 and 3000 bikes were gathered to take part in what is now one of the biggest charity runs in the UK. The run is now attracting people from as far away as King's Lynn and Bristol in the South, Inverness in the North, Edinburgh & Aberdeen in the East and the West End of Glasgow in the.er.West! Every type of bike was represented from vintage to supersports as well as mopeds, scooters and trikes.

The run was due to start at 1:30pm so we were more than a little surprised when we drove past the meeting place at 11:30am to find a whole load of bikes already parked up. By 1:00pm there was very little room left and some people will have second thoughts about arriving so early in future as Hans (our support bike mechanic) and his partner Agnes went around with the donation buckets accosting them for all their spare change. Hans took no prisoners and even accosted the Police who had made the fatal mistake of laughing while we were fleeced of all our change.

Off we went on the 11 mile route to Yorkhill hospital lead by four attention grabbing bikes from Clyde Valley HOG and Alba Wings who also provided appropriate steeds for the Downs Syndrome boy who joins us every year (one of these days we'll find out his name), a disabled girl called Susan, a disabled boy whose name we didn't get and Joan MacLeod who works for Yorkhill Children's Foundation - the charity that benefits from all the money the run raises.

The run is a good spirited affair and we were flanked all the way along the route by thousands of well wishers smiling and waving at us as we went by with only one or two car drivers getting hot and bothered about the inconvenience we were causing them. I have to say, even with double the amount of vehicles compared to last year, this year's run went a lot smoother which was due, in no small part, to all the extra marshals provided by the various local clubs - Alba Wings, Animals Fae Naboombu SC, Caledonian Reivers MCC, Clyde Valley HOG, Clyde Valley MCC, Forth Valley MCC, Mercury MCC, Motherwell MCC, Mutineers MCC, Rollin Bones MCC, Scottish Roadrunners MCC, Scotwest MCC, Talisman MCC, Thistle MCC, Laura & Craig and friends and Andy Carnochan. They all did a top job with only a couple of hiccups and without them the run would have been impossible to control.

So it was that I arrived at Yorkhill feeling pretty chuffed that the run had gone well with no catastrophes and with no rain to dampen everyone's spirits. Ah.spoke too soon. Damper Number 1 - Just as I was pulling in to the car park the heavens opened and everyone was treated to a wee wash. Didn't seem to bother too many folk which is surprising cos there weren't many places to shelter and the canteen was chocka. Damper Number 2 - once I'd parked my bike I opened my top box to take out the prizes which were to be presented to the people who a couple of the kids at the hospital thought had dressed-up the best. These prizes included a bottle of Scottoiler Anti-Corrosion spray which, it transpires, had opened thus ruining the other prize (Niall MacKenzie's autobiography).

Arriving at Yorkhill is probably the most satisfying part of the whole run cos the kids there absolutely love it and it really brightens up their day. The reaction of the kids makes it all worthwhile and the various rants we get from frustrated car drivers on the way pale into insignificance. There are always kids around and about the car park to greet us with some of them in wheelchairs and the ones that can't get outside are up at the windows waving at us. The day the kids don't greet us with smiles on their faces is the day we'll know to stop doing the run. Once everyone had been and gone and the hospital was all quiet it was down to the mammoth task of counting the money raised. I won't bore you with all the details, there will be a list posted on this site soon with a breakdown of the figures, but we managed to raise

How many eggs did we collect? Your guess is as good as ours - let's just say "wheens"!!!!

All in all it was a very successful run and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend the run, donate money and bring eggs for the kids.

When's Easter next year? 27th March - put it in your diaries now!