Don't book bag in hanger

Rain or shine we run, but thankfully today's task was inside the warehouse of Emmaus, an amazing charity that offers homeless people the chance to build a life by learning new skills and giving them somewhere to live and work.

We met at Vivo as the weather began to turn. The grey clouds came and some runners dashed back inside to get their jackets. But the rain never dampens our spirits and the happy faces shone through. It was less than a mile to the warehouse in Stokes Croft so we were there in no time.

Xanne met us and gave us a run through of what Emmaus are all about and why our help is so appreciated. They have one man working in their warehouse sorting all of the donated goods and even though he works like a horse (imagine Boxer from animal farm mixed with a cartoon Tasmanian devil) there is still loads to get through. We had three tasks to tackle:-
* Boxing books * Sorting sleeping bags blankets and clothes donations for a local homeless shelter * Sorting donated clothes

The book boxers were the largest of the groups and took on the largest task. They built boxes and separated hundreds of fiction, non-fiction, hardbacks and paperbacks into boxes of 20 for recycling and other sell-able items to be sent to their shop. They boxed clever and showed a lot of spine. The shelter donation crew bagged up sleeping bags, blankets, toiletries and warm clothes to be sent to the Julian Trust. They bagged more bags into bags than Bilbo Baggins clearing out his plastic bag drawer in Bag End. The clothes donation team used their fashion sense to pick out desirable vintage items to be sold in the new shop on Gloucester Road and also enjoyed trying a few things on for size. They posed more than a selfie obsessed question master at a photo shoot which was part of an interview for a new TV game show about models.

It was a solid 30 minutes of sorting and packing. By the time we finished we had loads of boxes, bags and rails ready to be donated or sold. Xanne was chuffed to bits as ever and I'm sure Boxer will be too!

We ran back to Queen Square where we warmed up by doing some fast fast drills and then Fartleks (speed work) to help train our recovery rates. Big mention to new runner Alan who smashed the sprints on his first run with us.

Thanks to everyone for coming along, we really achieved loads tonight and it was great to back with you guys after a few weeks off.