24 runners ran over 5km to help at the Deborah Ubee Trust office!

Another great turnout this week! Same numbers as our record week last week which is amazing, especially considering the horrible weather and storm Doris sweeping us off our feet, literally. It's great to see so many of you coming back each week and seeing lots of friendships blossoming, I LOVE IT! What a lovely bunch you all are :)

We welcomed two new runners to the family, Emma & Kevin! Give them a cheer! And we were also joined by super speedy GG veteran Andy that we met at Mile End Parkrun on Saturday. He has done over 100 good deeds, WOWEE!! Great to see you again Andy!

After a name check, headcount and finding out everyone's favourite restaurant chain (sorry these are getting really tragic now), we dropped off our stuff and got started with a little warm up. The good old Chips n Gravy game made a comeback - a few minutes of that and we were ready to go!

We set off along the river which was so pretty at that time of the evening! The Deborah Ubee Trust was just over a mile away and we were there in no time!

"Is anyone scared of dogs?"

We were greeted by Denise who was super organised and had lots of jobs at the ready. She also informed us that they have a puppy next door called Ziggy that they are training to be a therapy dog. Everyone's faces just lit up, mine included. One of the jobs on Denise's list was to take her out for a walk! Best GG task ever! Mridula & Andy W jumped at the chance, and a good thing too since Andy used to be a dog trainer... PERFECT!

Other jobs included wiping down yoga mats, hoovering the cupboard, cleaning the cupboard shelves, folding blankets, cleaning chair cushions, wiping tables, cleaning the kitchen, washing windows and dismantling some chairs which had somehow wedged themselves into a tiny cupboard and no one has been able to get them out!!!

We had about half an hour and a lot to get done in that time, but with 24 people, anything is possible! Gareth and Helen got started on the kitchen, Alex, Christian & George went to inspect the chairs, Katie & Mike were on yoga mat duty, Rina was beautifully folding some blankets and everyone else was cleaning whatever they could!

25 minutes down and all the jobs were done... except one... the chairs!! One chair had been set free but there were still a couple wedged in that cupboard. The boys were so close and now had an extra brain in the form of Gareth and I could see the determination in all of their eyes. I didn't want to tear them away, so the rest of us went over to Island Gardens for a fitness session whilst they spent a few more minutes there to get the job done!

SEGMENT!

We went through Greenwich on the way back and headed for the foot tunnel. Ben P mentioned there's a nice Strava segment through the tunnel so he shot off and I couldn't see him after about 4 seconds. Muinat and Bashirat were also speeding through there, nice one ladies!!!

We got to Island Gardens and the first ones there did a lap of the park while everyone was still coming through the tunnel. The fitness session was 3 laps of the park, but with the aim to do each lap a little bit faster than the last. A lot of people tend to go out too fast when they run and then their pace drops as they get tired so going out slower and speeding up can be quite a challenge!

Halfway through the session, Christian, Alex, Gareth and George emerged from the tunnel! They managed to get all the chairs out of the cupboard, woohoo! And subsequently earned themselves a nice speedy lap around the park! It was so great to see you all pushing yourselves! Some really great running going on!

Everyone got their breath back and we said goodbye to Katie, Mike & Helen as they live close by. One last little slog through the tunnel for the rest of us and out the other side for a stretch! #greenwichgoodies this week were some mini cinnamon rolls, which went down a treat! They were no Cinnabon but they weren't bad! Perfect little pick-me-up for after everyone's efforts!

Amazing job last night!!! Great running from everyone and excellent work on the task, you got so much done! Give yourselves a round of appaws (dog pun). See you next week!