Ahoy There! You Look Oarsome!

It took a turn for the chilly, as four oarsome runners took on Greenwich, covering 5km and spreading the word about both the Ahoy Centre and GoodGym en route.

Tonight, Sarah took the lead ahead of taking over as trainer at GoodGym Greenwich next week - welcome Sarah! It was pretty chilly for almost June, so we weren't hanging around. We took to the grass (look how absolutely lush the Greenwich grass really is!) and Sarah got us going with some drills, side steps, heel flicks and a running-around-in-a-circle-keeping-us-on-our-toes-in-more-ways-than-one game. We were now officially warm.

We're very lucky in Greenwich, with stunning buildings, sweeping vistas and a whole stretch of the Thames to play with and along. This evening we enjoyed a run along the river, passing by the Cutty Sark, taking in the view of Canary Wharf across the water, stepping over the swing bridge in Deptford and turning to head back towards the historical centre.

We stopped near the DLR station, hoping to catch commuters on their way home and, armed with leaflets, we aimed to boldly step up and tell people about the work of the Ahoy Centre. Ben pointed out here that we did look a bit like we were in The Apprentice and that he might just be going into the board room later. Actually, we weren't quite as pushy as those candidates and gently sauntered up to people, asking rather shyly if they were interested in rowing. It took a little while for us to get into it, but we got there in the end, with people even turning to come back and take a leaflet, once they'd realised it was something a bit different! Dressed in our red GoodGym t-shirts, we also took the opportunity to tell everyone about how we spend our Wednesday evenings - wouldn't it be great if some of these people come and join us soon?

After a quick time-check, we decided to head around to Greenwich station and see who we might catch there. A few more interested commuters, eager to get home to their supper, but equally interested in what we were promoting. So, what were we promoting? The Ahoy Centre is a local charity, working towards changing people's lives through water-based activities. You can read more about how this is done, here.

With only a few leaflets left, we headed now to Greenwich Park, briskly picking up the pace to warm up cold limbs and, striding up a hill (you can't avoid hills in Greenwich Park!), we stopped to do some intense core work. Check out the views in our photos, thirty seconds go very quickly when you can distract yourself with a view like that! Those cores were basically taking care of themselves! Sort of. Some boxer-style squats and dips, some tough jumping squats and a mean hand-tapping plank saw some determined grimacing from Amy and Ben - Sarah means business!

Feeling the burn, we rounded off the evening with a downhill run, looping around the park, sweeping under the avenue of trees and out towards the Old Naval College, where we stretched and talked about upcoming runs and opportunities to do even more good. We wished Sarah luck in her marathon in Edinburgh on Sunday (and good luck to regular runner Alex, who is also taking part) and said our goodbyes, tummies rumbling good and proper!

Good luck training the lovely people of Greenwich, Sarah, I've really enjoyed covering for the past few weeks and will be back to join in a group run, for sure! Adele x