Tonight seven brave souls braved the Arctic blizzard and ran a 5km round trip to the YMCA Shop by Goodge Street to have a spring clean, sort through new donations and help with some admin.

I was excited to be leading my first group run, and we welcomed a new runner for their first time run - Rebecca – don’t you think she has earned a cheer?!

After a small hiccup at the beginning unable to secure our belongings, Katrien saved the day (woo Katrien!) and we soon had our stuff stowed away safely in Somerset House and began our warm up in the court yard. It was very icy underfoot, so we practised small foot patterns that we could maintain on the run to prevent any slips! We made our way up Drury Street, passing the British Museum and then on towards Goodge Street. We made sure to fill any gaps at traffic lights or road crossings with squats and lunges! When we arrived at the YMCA shop Maria was very excited to greet us and she already had a plan of all the jobs that needed doing so we got straight to work. Ernie and Katrien did an awesome job of dusting the shop floor and making every single shiny surface glimmer like it had never glimmered before - great work guys!! Meanwhile, Rebecca and Michael got stuck in to sorting new donations and tediously finding the right coat hanger size to hang everything on (to only realise just before we left that there was a huge box of size labels sat right next to them!!). Jill was on cloud 9 with the steamer, she just couldn’t believe that something so simple could so easily make all of the wrinkles disappear! We know what’s going to be at the top of Jill’s Christmas list this year… Last but not least, Sophie helped Maria with some important admin tasks and labelling, which she was ever so grateful for.

We couldn't resist not having a little dress up and dance to the YMCA!

On the run back we went via Russell Square, where we found the grass was less slippery so could crank up the speed. We split into two teams for a relay race while those waiting danced elegantly around some trees, and finished off with a team sprint where Michael found his time to shine! I think it’s safe to say that everyone was happy to get their heart rate up and blood pumping after a more careful tiptoeing jog on the icy pavements.

Such great work today team, even in the icy and cold conditions. Maria was super happy with the work we achieved at the shop, and NOONE FELL OVER YAAAY!!!!

Remember that we have a one-off run this Thursday to the Oasis farm, which will be led by Sophie at midday from the Waterloo gym on Stamford Street.