Tonight in Croydon, 19 runners ran 4km to help the community at Addiscombe Railway Park

It was a great night in Croydon tonight; 19 runners met up to do some good. What I really loved was seeing a few regulars, a few we haven't seen in a while, and even a couple of runners new to GoodGym (that's the incredible Donna and Helen !)

A horse and undecided

During our headcount at the beginning we introduced ourselves and said if we were a dog or a cat person. A fairly even split, and a horse and undecided option thrown in as well! It was a lovely 2km run to the task, we were all so raring to go that we stopped at the side of the road for a quick warmup, and then carried straight on to the task. As we entered the park, there was an impressive number of pugs around (4, just 4, still an impressive number of pugs) in our bit of the park, which combined with the animal chat earlier gave Amber the dope idea for the report title.

3 become 5

Here we were met by the lovely group that volunteer here, and were briefed on the 3 tasks they had in store for us. They must have clocked how energetic and keen our group is, because the planned 3 turned into a great 5. Some were digging in some beds further down the park, some were litter picking, some were watering the lovely beds of veg in the community garden, some were chopping some pesky plants that were blocking the public path and bench, and a couple of runners were scattering poppy heads to liven up some of the messier areas!

Heads and tails

Each group gave it their all, and the volunteers were very impressed (enough to give us some lovely muffins!). At this point we popped down the park and for our fitness session went back to an old Croydon regular; heads and tails. This gave us all a mix of exercises to do, and provided a good giggle. After a bit of this we ran back, in a couple of loose groups, to the start location where we stretched off and chatted about future events (and missions and coach running!).

Next week

Next week is a great group run to Wilford Road Recreation Ground, task courtesy of Sparkle, who has set up a community garden there. Next Thursday, there's also the monthly social to look forward to; a great chance to meet other runners and mix with other areas' groups!