Pupils ran 50m legs in a shuttle relay race against time to try and beat the men's 10,000m world record time of 26 minutes 17.53 seconds.

Clerk Maxwell House came closest to the record with a time of 28 minutes 92 seconds.

With more than 700 pupils and staff participating throughout the day, it was a memorable experience.

School funds

Traditionally, the school has held an annual sponsored walk to raise money for school funds, but this year the event was extended to include an action-packed programme of activities, which offered something for everyone including a beat the goalie competition, streetdance, basketball, hockey, rugby, badminton, golf.

The 5.3km sponsored walk took place in stages throughout the day around the grounds of nearby Penicuik House.

Early indications show that the pupils' efforts have raised almost £2,500 for school funds.

The event was designed as a health promotion day.

Media project

As well as the sponsored walk, there was a wide range of activities to encourage students to see exercise as fun and help foster a positive attitude to fitness.

Past pupils joined a number of coaches and instructors from the local area and contributed to the day by running some of the activity workshops, while others were run jointly by senior school students and teachers.

Photography and media students were kept busy as they had the task of filming and recording the occasion as part of a media project to produce promotional material for the school.

Another aim of the day was to build school ethos through the school's house system and both pupils and staff were able to earn points for the various houses, which led to an atmosphere of friendly competition as pupils and staff competed to earn the most points.

Overall, the day was deemed a huge success with staff and pupils alike and succeeded in bringing the whole school together in an atmosphere of purposeful enjoyment centred on the common aim of raising school funds.

It is hoped the momentum of the health promotion day will continue and see more pupils taking part in after-school activities as well as developing exercise habits for life.