A double task tonight so after a bit of a warm-up, we split into two with Charlie taking a smaller tactical team all the way up Gloucester Road to the new Sofa project shop while the remainder joined me on a much shorter run to the nearby Redcliffe parish office just outside St Mary Redcliff church.

Newsletters and Biscuits

My group arrived at the office to find plenty of newsletters waiting for us all ready sorted into bundles for the various local tower blocks and residential streets. Marky did his usual sterling job of leading off teams of runners to climb each of the blocks while Kat worked out routes for everyone else. I quickly worked out that on a cold night like tonight it is vital that the trainer remains in the warm with the biscuits in order that they can assist with logistics and direct returning runners to new sites, so thanks to Tim for navigating his group across to Merchants Quay, to Sarah for heading up the party tackling the streets around the Colosseum pub, and to Mel for helping gain access to the Customs House. Great teamwork everyone :)

Of course the consequence of a short run is there will be plenty of time left at the end so after a few more biscuits and a couple of anxious head counts we headed off to Queen Square for some running arm drills and a game of musical runners.

A very warm welcome to Tim and Katie on their first runs with us tonight!

Secateurs and Brambles

Charlie and her team met up with Nicci from the SOFA project to clear the yard behind their new shop. Apparently SOFA stands for Shift Old Furniture Around but today it was all about shifting brambles. As is usually the case, the brambles were not entirely co-operative and indeed made sure they wound around each other in the most inconvenient ways possible to create a challenge for the group which I have no doubt they relished especially on the evidence of Charlie's action-packed photographs.

Another warm welcome to Patrick on his first run tonight!

Great work today to everyone on both teams, and don't forget to sign up for our last eats of the year on Tuesday 12th December.

(Ps Thanks to Tom for his support with running arm geometry and for helping me find my phone in Queen Square after the run, it having slipped from my pocket during the stretches in a very 'my-precious' manner presumably to find a new short person to corrupt. And thanks also to Clo for her lovely phone-locating voice mail)

And thanks to Dave and Charlie for the pun!