A balmy Bank Holiday

What a wonderful night to be working outdoors. The weather was warm, the mood was relaxed but 19 runners were raring to hit the streets of East London and head to a new task.

We made our way to Jesus Green, a pretty little green oasis popular with families, just off Columbia Road, where task owner James greeted us enthusiastically with three tasks.

One group headed to nearby flower and shrub beds to fill rubble-filled borders with compost; another group made their way to the bushes to clear the area of debris, while a third group rose to the challenge of heavy duty-raking, on hard ground, to prepare the area for shade-resistant grass seed.

A workout-and-a-half

The temperature was over 25 degrees but even in a cooler climate, this would have been tough work. The gardening group were getting stuck into tough terrain with spades and pick axes; the raking group were wiping brows and taking rests as if pursuing the toughest of CrossFit challenges, and even the debris collectors had their work cut out for them, as they had to carefully plan their route into dense, low bushes to really tackle the litter task in earnest.

It really was quite an evening’s work, completed by a Sowing Celebration, as, having prepared the entire area for the seed, the team then proceeded to carefully scatter the new grass seed, ready for it to take root for summer.

We then ‘enjoyed’ our core and upper body fitness session in the park, with the team excelling at the Pilates roll-up-on-steroids move; the tripod push-up, pulsing side-plank crunch, and not forgetting our time-honoured kneeling hip flexor stretch.

And so to the awards and thank-yous…

Carry On… moment-of-the-night award goes to Laura and Savina who refused to rest until they’d dealt with some impossible-to-reach bunting lodged high in a tree. Savina enjoyed an upper body workout like no other as she balanced Laura on her shoulders for a good few minutes. (And shout out to Laura and Si who win vox pop of the night:

Laura: Savina, move to the left a bit.

Si: Laura W, do you have your waiver forms with you?).

Thanks to Becky, for fabulous back-marking and for being the most forward-thinking social secretary task force member; to Sarah for her extensive horticultural knowledge and being such a friendly task force face for our new runners. Thanks to Bryon for co-navigating and leading the run there and back with me. Thanks to Si, Bryon, Becky and Becky for their brilliant input for social and Olympic planning.

Thank you to Laura for our wicked pun this week. It’s really tickled me!

And a big team thank you to you all. As James explained at the end of our task, your work means children, families, and anyone else using the park, can now enjoy the area, complete with new, soft grass underfoot, without fear of being cut with stones and twigs; children can play hide-and-seek in the bushes without finding a hidden vodka bottle, and everyone can enjoy new, colourful flower beds.

You are brilliant. Just brilliant. And I can’t wait to do it all again week.

SAVE THE DATE(S)

So. Next week. We’re heading to another new task at the Royal London with Barts Volunteers, to include a stair-climbing challenge – sign up here

…And don’t forget, 30th June is the Good Gym Olympics, so whether you’re a speedy sprinter or an egg-and-spoon enthusiast, please come on board and get this in your diary.

…And speaking of which, on May 28th, our next Bank Holiday run, we’ve got a fabulous Weavers Fields fitness session planned after our task, and then a table booked for 8.45pm at nearby Resident of Paradise Row (thanks Si for the suggestion) to have a quick beer, a catch-up and a GG Olympic chat, so another date to put in your diary.