The GRACE and the Good

With a warm glow from a weekend of mutual support, 17 runners covered 5km to help at GRACE.

I'm feeling humbled by the many stories coming out of yesterday's Big Half, there was so much support to be seen around the course (and beyond), with friends turning out to encourage each other, run together and to help strangers achieve a goal, by volunteering. We had first-time racers, we had personal best times, we had dedicated cheering, we had BBC TV shout-outs and we had sweaty hugs (they're the best). If you were out there yesterday in that wind, smiling, pounding, clapping, sprinting, marching or cheering, give yourself a very big pat on the back, you deserve it.

If you want to see what goes into overseeing a water station at a big race, read this lovely run report and look out for a few familiar faces.

Weekend goodness, some extra chances to do good:

• On Saturday we have a chance to plant trees at Blythe Hill Fields, sign up here to create something that you can visit on your runs!

• On Sunday our friends at GoodGym Bromley are volunteering at the Crystal Palace junior parkrun (it's a community mission, so you get a parkrun credit AND a good deed!). Check out the details and sign up here, it's a really lovely way to spend an hour on a Sunday morning.

Our run this week was to take us to Lee, where we were helping out at GRACE. With many of our legs tonight feeling 'challenged', our warm up was all about shaking things out, mobilising our joints and getting ready to run. A big thank you to Marta for back-marking - I half expected everyone to want to go at the back tonight!

We were met at GRACE by Claire, who briefly told everyone about the great work they are doing to help people both locally and at refugee camps in Europe. This week we were going to try and make a dent in the many bags of donated clothes, sorting them into piles of women's, men's and children's clothing. Over the time we have visited GRACE we have found some 'interesting' items and tonight was no exception. There was an awful lot of giggling from Emily and Clare, who seemed to have a knack for finding knickers! There was much debate about whether clothes were for boys or girls (why not both?) and also about how someone could donate their old knickers, three flip-flops and a lacy whatsit?!

A quick tidy up before we posed for our group photo, medals on show, then we ran back towards Glass Mill. I had planned an intense squat-up-and-down session with music, but thought better of it when I saw how tired our half-marathoners were (I'm not that cruel). Next week's task is still being confirmed, so sign up anyway and take a lucky dip!