Willow weave finish this arch?

It was five alive in Greenwich tonight, with just under 4km covered in total, including a run to and from The Bridge children's centre, a run through Greenwich Park, some mean hill repeats and all alongside the construction of a Willow arch!

We had a slightly different start point in Greenwich tonight, with our usual room being used for exams, we were moved over to Queen Mary, which caused a little bit of locational confusion (cue Adele and Ben doing a little jogging circuit, taking in a whole new courtyard along the way, sweeping up any wandering runners found en route). Our small but perfectly formed group tonight included two first-timers, welcome Chris and Priyanka, who are both relatively new to running - high five! We did one more circuit to make sure we hadn't lost anyone and gathered on the beautiful springy grass to get to know each other a bit better - those names are sinking in...Alex, Ben, Chris and Priyanka...and everyone made a wide circle, jumping up, side stepping, running on the spot, getting warm.

It's a short run over to The Bridge (remember we were here a couple of weeks ago, cleaning the toys in the big container?) and we were soon wending our way up through the East Greenwich Pleasaunce to our task venue. Once again, we received a very warm welcome from Raeleen, Ruth and Henrietta and were presented with some lovely new gardening gloves and spades, to tackle the first part of the task, digging the Willow out of the compost. So prolific is the Willow in setting roots, we found the twigs had started to make a home for themselves in the spot where they had been left by the council, who had kindly donated them. It didn't take Ben long to free the first bundle, which was carried by Alex, out to the metal arch, ready for planting. More bundles appeared and we were soon ready to get stuck in, literally.

Ruth explained how the job needed to be done. It's a really quite skilful process and not one that can be rushed. It turned out four runners was just the right amount to work in this space, two at each end, working towards the middle. The lovely new spades were put to good use, digging little trenches, where Henrietta and Raeleen had been watering, trying to soften the hard ground. It was then a challenge to find just the right piece of Willow for that spot: too stiff and you would struggle to weave it in, too long and you would spend an age fiddling about with the little pipe-cleaner ties. But very quickly, everyone found a system, a rhythm that made the arch progress beautifully.

A silence fell on this small corner of Greenwich, as our runners concentrated hard, planning the next stage, tending to the soil carefully, thoughtfully guiding the bare twigs through the black metal. As always, time passed quickly, the sun setting around us and birds singing in the nearby bushes. The great attention to detail paid off when everyone stepped back to see the arch really taking shape. We decided we should return in two weeks' time, to add some more Willow and maybe move on to the raised beds, which will probably have sprouted a few weeds in that time.

It's lovely coming to The Bridge, not only do we have a friendly welcome, a top junior-helper and fun tasks, but we also have sweet treats :) Thank you Ruth, Raeleen and Henrietta for the flapjacks, biscuits and squash, it's always tempting to stay longer and enjoy the hospitality! There's a schedule to keep and fitness to be got/had/maintained, so off we went, towards Greenwich Park, which is - at last - within our reach beyond 8pm! Up we went, towards a hill. It was pointed out that this was an optional element of the session, but everyone got stuck in to some hill repeats, looking closely at form on both the uphills and downhills. A little pointer about arms was taken on board by everyone, with a noticeable change on the final hill - excellent!

We jogged back, towards a stunner of a sunset, decided to stretch with a view of the river, a golden glow reflecting off our faces. We wished Alex good luck for Sunday, when he will tackle a possibly scorching Hackney Half Marathon, we talked about future races (Petts Wood 10k in October, anyone?), we congratulated Priyanka and Chris on doing so superbly on tonight's run and we popped a social in the diary for a week on Wednesday...a post-run drink at the Meantime Brewery, just a short saunter from our start point. So, that's a drink by the river...with ice cream! Yes, ice cream! Thanks Alex ;)

See you next week?