Thin on the ground, but we got the word around

First of all well done Sophie and Fran for being the only runners this week - give them a cheer!!!

This week we were handing out flyers for Feed the Minds; informing people about the events the charity will be participating in over summer, such as Tough Mudder and Royal Parks half marathon. We explained the benefits people will receive for signing up through the charity whilst raising money for such a great cause. Feed the Minds is a campaign aimed to transform the lives of some of the worlds most marginalised individuals in Africa and Asia through education.

After discussing the task, we set off from the Strand, along the Thames, crossed over Blackfriars bridge and then back along the Southbank towards Waterloo. The KCL gym had the flyers ready and waiting, so we had a quick revision session of dates and prices before prowling the gym for the avid runner types. The girls were great at choosing wisely, and more often than not walked away with one less flyer and another potential sign up. Super job!

After a few rounds of walking the gym floor we were sure that we'd done the best we could, so took the task to the streets, through St Johns park and to the station. The task became dramatically more difficult as not only did we have to grab people's attention, we also had to do a split second analysis of who looks like they will be keen for a running event, and who is going to laugh in our face (this happened a lot to begin with!!).

Sophie was on top form spying the running trainers, lycra, fitbits etc... and managed to still get a few flyers into people's hands, despite the struggle to get a commuter to even make eye contact with you at 6pm outside Waterloo station!! She liked the look of one gentleman *"with a large package" *(I'm talking big brown box) but decided it wasn't the right time or place. And ending on a high, Fran's dreams came true when she finally had a chance to go and speak to the super cool parkour dudes - who better to take part in tough mudder?!

All in all we felt like we'd made a good effort and gave ourselves a pat on the back. Even just creating awareness of the charity was a humbling experience.

The evening wasn't over without a fitness session, so we stopped at Bernie Spain Gardens on the Southbank and the GGG's (glamorous goodgym gals) with sunnies on (shading the sun or hiding the sweaty faces??) did a quick fire circuits round of tricep dips, bench press ups, sprints, step ups and mountain climbers! We jogged back over Waterloo bridge discussing pizza, wine, ice cream.... the list goes on!

Talking of pizza - don't forget the May Long Run this Sunday, lots of running and lots of pizza'ing. And next week's group run will be running to a Women's Refuge to donate nappies from KCL Health Centre to help babies in need.