There’s no escape from the litter pickers

*This afternoon we ran around 2km to help clean up Thornton Heath Rec *

So this afternoon was the first Starter Session of 2017 and what a beautiful day it was. A wee bit nippy but dry and sunny so perfect for working hard and then some fun exercise. The plan for today was to do some digging but the ground was frozen solid so Paul from the Friends of Thornton Heath Rec suggested we did some litter picking round the Community Garden and into the park itself. Although it didn’t look too full of litter once we started looking in the bushes ad into the corners we found plenty and probably filled 5 or 6 bin bags.

The Starter sessions are to introduce new runners to GoodGym and give them a chance to see what we do and also to tell them about Coach run and Missions. So we were happy to welcome Sparkles and Adinda to the GoodGym crew where they were able to chat to the regular runners – it was great to meet you both and hope to see you again soon. We also had a GoodGym tourist in the shape of Paul who had come up from Bristol on a GoodGym frenzy and arrived at out task straight from a thistlely Mission! Paula who had come along to help Paul and his team decided to join the run too so hopefully another member in the making. We also sorted out a future task with Atul for Valentine’s Eveing so looking forward to spreading the love in a practical way. A special welcome also goes to 4 year old Noah who has the makings of a GoodGym runner – only 14 years to wait.

The Rec has a walking and running trail around the perimeter so after a warm-up jog and some molbility exercises we headed round the path and then finished off with a leg strethening and balance sessions – amazing how much harder it is to baclance with your eyes closed!

As I mentioned there’s going to be a publicity campaign in Croydon in January to get more runners for the Coach runs and Missions so please point friends and family in our direction if they are interested. I’m also happy to arrange local DBS checks outside the normal Tuesday sessions.

Don’t forget there is another Starter run next Saturday so please sign up and feel free to bring family or friends along. They are particularly suitable for those who want to see what GoodGym is all about or who may be worried about the running bit Saturday 28th of January.

This Tuesday’s run will be to help support Croydon’s Neighborhood Watch so don’t forget to sign up and then there’s a great task on the 31st to support Mind in Croydon as part of the #RunAndTalk** campaign.