Help Roundwood Youth Center

Report from Claire:

Four runners, Hannah, Sadhana, Darren and Claire, met Ax at Willesden Green Sport Centre for a chat and briefing about the week´s task at Roundwood Park Youth Centre.

We started off with a bit of jogging on the spot, high knees and butt kicks, then some dynamic stretches, and learned that they are better to do as part of a warm up at the start of a run than static stretches, which should be done afterwards. After a short 1.5km run, we arrived a the youth centre and headed upstairs to the dance studio where we were greeted by Anthony and some of the local young people, who had already started unpackaging tonight´s challenge, assembling mini greenhouses!

Armed with a variety of tools, including screwdrivers and an assortment of cutlery, we put our DIY skills into action

Armed with a variety of tools, including screwdrivers and an assortment of cutlery, we put our DIY skills into action. The team enjoyed exercising their brains as well as their bodies as they figured out which bits fit where and why the metal shelves didn't quite fit properly - after a couple of attempts, we managed to get everything looking just like it did on the packaging. Job done, we went out on the terrace to admire our handywork, and the beautiful allotments we were overlooking, and imagined how the greenhouses would be put to use growing an array of vegetables and feeling like we had done a 24-CARROT job, if you'll LETTUCE get a pun in there. After a quick group photo inside one of the greenhouses, it was time to head back to base, stopping en route to do some speed training.

We were joined by a friendly dog who came to greet us

Four one-minute runs; 30 seconds then an about turn see if we could make it back to our marker (the good old jumper on the ground) before the minute was up, imagining balloons attached to our heads and keeping us straight. We were joined by a friendly dog who came to greet us and looked like he wanted to join in the fun, but it looked like his owner wanted to go home, so it wasn't to be. After a steady jog back to the sports centre and the notorious out of pUFFINGTON Road, and some static stretches to finish off, we headed off into the sunset... until next week :)

Claire