A post-parkrun mission at Portsmouth Lakeside today included an honorary litterpick lap of the lake to keep the trails pristine, and 2 scavenger hunts!

Whilst litterpicking, we were also on a mission to find a Hilsea Lido duck that Sammy had spotted on a bench during Parkrun. After some searching, it was determined that the bench duck must have been a placebo! Thankfully, Sammy did manage to find a duck tucked into the branches of a tree.

The second scavenger hunt was heartbreak for Andy who was on a quest to see the local amphibians! Expecting to see a thriving ecosystem of leaping frogs, he was instead met by stationary, plastic frogs that kids could sit on at the playground!

We then ventured off-piste and discovered a hidden world tucked away from the main path, where other wildlife was clearly in abundance. While the discovery was majestic, it came at the cost of some very soggy trainers!

We rounded off the morning with a well-earned coffee where Dave and Sammy planned a full day of food recommendations in the city for Andy!

After being treated to some pre-event music from another runner in the car park, the team attended a sunny Portsmouth Lakeside Parkrun, where Sammy, Wilson and Dave kick-started their morning with a pleasant 5k in the sun, whilst Jen was master of the stopwatch, and Andy kept the team motivated through his beats zone! Double points for Dave who also managed to take on traffic duties, and a shout out to Alice for her incredible drawing skills!

Massive kudo's to Sammy for setting her new course PB!

The mizzle, the breeze and the fading light didn't put us off our quest to clear the beach - we love a challenge!

We are pleased to report that the beach is quite clean at the moment and that Colas had put out a big extra bin on the promenade by the coffee trailer.

A lovely way to end the week!

Our team this evening was small but mighty, and with the enthusiasm of Vicky from Victory Primary, we created clear pathways and dug a fire pit in just an hour.

Victory Primary have their community fun day next Tuesday, so we were tasked in making the pathways through the woods to the fire pit area safer and more clearly marked. Lucy was out quality controller for the evening, confirming whether a log was a good fit or not, and also showed great commitment to hammering in safety pegs to stop the logs rolling away.

Sammy provided an unprecedented number of Mini Eggs, which kept us fueled throughout the task.

We finished up by finding some small stones and rocks to circle the new fire pit - in doing do some real treasures were uncovered. An unopened, in-date pack of Party Rings and an earring being the highlights!

Team GG gave the woods and playpark a good litterpick this morning.

We took some time out to go and see the swans who have recently made their nest for this season. They were enjoying the morning sunshine as much as we were.

Samantha had a great find in some sunglasses to help with the glare. Sadly these ones had seen far better days!

We said our goodbyes and that we will see the pond again soon for the Easter egg hunt!