13 Winter warriors, faced some fierce icy winds, to run 8km and task for GG Brent's first one back for the year!! pow pow!

FIRST ONE BACK!!! & Boy oh Boy was it a frosty one! But no weather was going to keep this gang of gutsy go-getters from the glory of the first task back in Jan! hurrah.

Joining the ranks of old familiar faces were two newbies in the midst - Kathy and Harold, who were wrapped up and raring to go along with the OG's on deck - Mouse, Dimple, Simon, Uzman, Karen, Liz, Joe, Debs, Pete and our very own Dinesh who's birthday it was today!!!!

In celebration of our fav warrior Dinesh's years on this planet, we sang a spritely rendition of HAPPY BIRTHDAY before heading out onto the pavements to pound the first half of the 5mile route.

The weather may have been cold and bitter, but the troops were quite the opposite. Gassing, chatting and smiling all the way, up hills and big climbs and windy, dark roads to the destination at hand - The Brent waterways stretch in Wembley, our adopted pride of land that we will be tending to for the whole of 2018!

After an excellent demo of fitness finese arrival came swiftly as we landed and approached Jack our host for the eve and his trusty white van.

As always the van was filled to the brim with pickers, high viz vests, bins bags, torches, sticks and stones and everything else you could possibly imagine that could get the job of clearing our patch achieved!! So wasting no time (as we only had 30mins on the clock), the team set to work on the rocking and rolling and lets watch this show unfolding!

For 25mins the team picked and pulled, dragged and grabbed all number of articles of disguarded waste from the canal and its banks. From peculiar pants, to mossy plants. Beer cans and follys and supermarket trollys. The spoils were as varied as a stocking stuffed full on xmas morning thats for sure!!

After a cold 20mins, the weather took a turn for the even colder and this sped up our efforts indeed! A quick final flourish took us to the end of our mission and we packed up quick smart, thanked our host and waved goodbye before our fingers froze too much to wave!!

The last leg of the journey was a mad dash for home, with every runner lifting legs and making dashes through every gust of chill, to get back to base before turning into ice sculptures!! But do you know what, it was a blessing in disguise this cold, because it proved to us all that no matter how many mince pies we'd all enjoyed over the festive season, we still had the skills and thrills to throw caution to the damn wind and bang out some fast miles home, smiling all the way no less!!

Back at base and we all couldn't believe our speed through the last legs! Perhaps there is something to say about being based out of a pub - The promise of beer jackets and toasty fires for relaxing! HA HA!!

But in all seriousness, this troop of terrific taskers, could not have proved their honours in a more gallant way, on this first session back! Demonstrating the promise of our teams capabilities of wonderful, worthwhile magic, for the new year ahead!!

I cannot wait to see you all next time!!!!

** DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE**