Pears before Hoes

10 Weary runners run to Worsnop house for some leaf clearance

10 dedicated runners gathered at Leisure World ready for Goodgym. It would have been 11, but Hannah had forgotten a crucial bit of kit, so she did her doc check before going home. Would be great if everyone else could bring theirs next week to get mission verified!.

Slightly different to what was advertised due to a lack of bulbs to actually plant, we ran to Worsnop House, another Colchester Borough Homes sheltered housing scheme. Here, we were clearing the carpark of weeds, and gathering up leaves.

There didn't seem that much to do, but I think the vastness of the space around was deceptive, as it certainly took the full 15 minutes allocated for the task.

Most of the leaves were under the bins, which were fixed in place, so it required some precision sweeping to get them out and bagged up. As we were there, someone from the scheme came downstairs to do her recycling. When she saw us there, she had a word with Catherine, and was invited inside to help open a can of pears. Gayle and Catherine made there way up to help, and found out that she was unable to do it because her hands were too weak, and that she was 88 years old.

What an opportune moment for her to come and do her recycling! And lucky for Gayle on her first run to get a group run, AND a mission all rolled into one.

We posed for some silly photos, and then made our way back to Leisure World for a nice stretch. Most of us had quite tired achey legs from THE race of the year, the Colchester Half Marathon on Sunday.

Next week we'll be doing a task for Colchester in Bloom, and don't forget to sign up to the Colchester 10k!