Getting Fitter Picking Litter!

11 runners turned up in Exeter quay this amazingly sunny morning to help Plastic Free Exeter with a litter pick. Tom W joined us for the first time. Great stuff! We hope you enjoyed it and will join us again sometime soon!

We all made our own way, running (some straight from yoga training!), cycling, jogging or walking to the quay, where we met up with volunteers from Plastic Free Exeter, to take part in the litter pick. We quickly got kitted out with litter pickers, bags and gloves and set off searching for litter. The weather was absolutely gorgeous; the sun booming from a clear blue sky! Amazing after all that rain in the week!

To begin with we mostly found small peaces of plastic wrappers, but we made sure we picked them all up, as we had been informed that these micro plastics spread really easily out into the sea and that it is important to pick up every bit of plastic, no matter how small! As we continued our walk along the quay we met some very friendly geese and swans. We also came across more and more litter...

Towards the end of our walk we found an area with prickly bushes and realised that the ground underneath was covered with bottles, cans, wrappers, plastic cutlery, takeaway boxes and all sorts of rubbish. Francesca even found a par of matching shoes! Shame they weren't running shoes.. could maybe have been useful to someone in the group! We also found a metal shopping basket (perfect for carrying the shoes in!) and Tom T found a glass full of green liquid with a straw perfectly placed in the middle.. It almost looked ready to be consumed but I am glad no-one decided to give it a go!

After an hour of litter picking, chatting and having a great time together, we walked back to the starting point to hand in 4 bin bags full of litter! Not bad at all! Some group photos followed and some price-giving for the weirdest peace of litter. Our very own GG runner Lisa got a prize for having found a pair of boots and a Christmas cracker! Congratulations!

Even though it is a bit depressing seeing how much litter is being chucked away and how much plastic there is lying around, I had the best of time walking around in the sunshine with you guys, doing good and getting fit!

Next Week we have our first really long run coming up so please feel free to share this with friends who like longer distances. We will run a total of 10k to Ellen Tinkham School and help them improve access to a classroom for children who are visibly impaired. This feels like a very important task that will benefit the children so much! Sign up here, I would love to have you along!Remember to bring a headtorch if you got one. Please also wear some layers so that you don't get cold whilst working at the task.

Can't wait to see you all soon again! Happy running till then!