After a successful Ealing Half Marathon earlier in the day, six of of our crew came back to the route to take down warning signs, mile markers and directions.

Two of our number had taken part in the race - Steph Ducat and Harvey, amazing that they still had the legs to get round again! Other had stood cheering runners on - Ealing Half really is a community event and so well supported.

We have become experts in snipping plastic ties, a life skills that could come in handy if ever stranded on a desert island! There was a bit of confusion early on as we went round of our section of the route in reverse, but it was dark and taking the long way round isn't so terrible, is it?!

Signs under our arms, we headed to drop them off at Lisa's house - the well known coordination point (Lisa also has a camper van and delivers the signs to their year round storage, a handy person to know).

At the end of a satisfying day, our team headed off into the night to for r and r (not rock n roll; rest and recuperation!).

The award-winning Ealing Half Marathon is one of the events of the year for runners and supporters in Ealing and across the country. Our group of walkers, wanderers, minstrels, travelers, joggers and runners gathered together for a key job ahead of this year's half on 27 September - advance notice signs of road closures. Yes, sooper dooper important for our supportive local residents to know what's happening on the day.

This was a carefully planned logistical enterprise, with weeks and months (well, minutes and hours) of high level project planning (well, some notes on Harvey's iPhone and jumping on the bus with a bag of signs). Two groups were formed, with members chosen for their specific skills mix after significant testing and modeling (well, the people standing together on one side at our meeting spot, and, erm, the people standing together on the other side at our meeting spot). It helped that we had a range of heights within our team because street furniture (esp. lamp posts) is our bread and butter. There was a slight suspicion that one group was competing with the other to get their share of signs put up first. Or was it that they wanted to get home in time to watch the football? Whatever.

A year out from the last time we fed cable ties together, you wouldn't believe how many different kinds of lamp posts there are! You might not actually care, but you would if the lamp post was too fat to get your cable tie around!

We guided around our section of the half marathon route as the sun set over the West Ealing tall towers (how romantic).

Before we finished, there was just time for Sevan to enact a culturally iconic Bob Dylan music video from 1965 (hence the title of this report). Then, like rolling stones, we blew in the wind, to head off and knock on the heaven's door we call home.

On a late August Thursday evening, Richard, Sevan and Kash met with Tom, Linda and Nicky at Havelock Estate in Southall to help We Run Ealing spread the word about a beginners' running programme starting very soon - on 2nd September. The programme, led by the running coach Linda, was aimed at women who wanted to progress from walking to running their first 5 km.

Sevan and Richard ran along the canal to the task, while Kash clocked in a 10 km evening walk through green spaces and towpath on the way to and from the session before it got dark.

The team spread to post 500 leaflets through letterboxes on different streets of the estate, including, fittingly, Post Road. The area wasn't large, and the group agreed to meet up again at designated points.

"Let's meet again at the Islamabad Road."
"Where?"
"Oh, that's Isambard Road. I cannot see it on my phone screen, the map is so small."

If you are a bridge enthusiast like the author of this report, you may link the road name with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a 19th-century engineer who designed the nearby Three Bridges landmark. Interestingly, there are only two bridges in that crossing: the aqueduct carrying the canal over the railway tracks and a road bridge over the canal. Don’t let that disappoint you - seeing the rail tracks underneath you and the road overhead, looking from the towpath, is still unmissable!

Hopefully, in less than an hour of leafletting today, we helped the women of Havelock Estate bridge the gap between walking and running this autumn.

Kash and Harvey rolled out for our monthly Ealing Mile support. After helping carry out the timing kit, mat and clock, Harvey was assigned to his usual role at the very far, far reaches of the park. Kash was close by at the first corner. What were they trying to say?!

But, hang on, Kash had an extra role - place spotter! A hefty responsibility that involved a clipboard, crikey, and 28 runners!

After packing up, Kash headed off for lunch and her next mission. Harvey was off for a run. See you next month!

It was our regular first Friday of the month helping out at the Ealing Mile, just one of the many activities organised by We Run Ealing to help the good people of the borough get active. Steph was super punctual (he's that kinda guy) and helped with the set-up. Harvey was exactly on time (he's that kinda guy) and went round the course practicing the art of drawing arrows with chalk (needs some work!). Tom whisked in on two wheels (he's that kinda guy) ready to be the lead bike for the runners. And a warm welcome was given to the smiling Yonas (he's that kinda guy) on the occasion of his first session.

Our crew marshalled and cheered and clapped as 45 runners got stuck into the 1 mile loop of Lammas Park. One of our regulars was getting back to running so walked the course. In true Tour de France style, Steph and Harvey followed behind to sweep up! Broom broom!

See you next month milers!

It was a lovely, sunny lunchtime in the park to help out at the monthly Ealing mile. And great to see Louise from GoodGym Islington.

20 runners took on the one mile circuit. Amazing work from everyone.