22 runners ran 4km to weed, plant and pick up litter at Vanbrugh hill!

Our run last night was extra special as it was the first group run starting in the daylight! Well done to all the runners who kept up their good deeds through the cold winter nights, but I’m sure we are all very much looking forward to some nice sunny Goodgyms!!

We had a few new runners (welcome to Julian, Eleanor and Gavin) joining us last night and lucky for them they got to learn not only our names, but our favourite things to have on toast! Peanut butter seemed to be a common favourite, but that’s no surprise amongst a group of keen runners.

After a quick warm up we set off to Vanbrugh Hill through Greenwich Park (yes, the park is open long enough for us now!!). We were greeted by Fiona, Patrick and Eddie who are part of the East Greenwich Resident’s Association. They work hard to keep East Greenwich looking clean and bursting with flowers, and we were on hand to help. As we were quite a big group we split into two. One team took on the task of gardening. There was weeding to be done and new plants from the Royal Hill Community Garden to be planted. Everyone quickly got to work making sure the flower bed had a new look in no time!

The other group was on litter duty. Armed with litter pickers they scoured the roads and local train station for anything they could find. Unfortunately, it didn’t take much effort to locate litter. It was everywhere! Four big bin-liners were filled. A great job done but sadly only a dent in all the litter in the area.

After helping to make Vanbrugh look a little more dashing, we ran back to base for a quick fitness session. There are lots of Greenwich GoodGymers who are racing this weekend (good luck to Bliss, Jonny, Alex and Steve running the Manchester Marathon and Claire running the Adidas City Run) so instead of strength we did some….more running! We did four laps of a small loop, each time adding in a bit more speed. A quick stretch and we were all finished for the night!

If tonight’s session wasn’t enough and you want to get involved in more community activities check out this fun community mission here taking place next month at the Mini Marathon in Greenwich Park. Deadline for sign ups is THIS FRIDAY!!!

Also, as already mentioned, Steve and Alex are running a marathon this weekend. But, if that wasn’t enough, they’ll be running another two this month. It’s all in aid of Barts Charity and they’ll be holding a quiz night to raise money on Tuesday 23rd April. If you’re interested in attending (excellent company and even better prizes have been promised!) then drop one of them an email: alex.j.murtough@gmail.com / stevemurtough@gmail.com

Great job everyone, we absolutely transformed the area!! See you next week for some more gardening, this time at Christchurch Church at The Forum!