10 runners ran 7k to help Netil House build planters for local community

Ten Goodgym Hackney runners met at Coffee Is My Cup Of Tea last night in slightly strange circumstances. Newcomer John had already made a fine start by running to us from London Bridge, and Hackney's residents seemed to have mistaken fireworks night for the start of a war. The bangs and crashes of fireworks greeted us from every direction as people set them off whether they were supposed to or not and without a lot of care if someone was in the way.

War zone or not we set off on a 2 mile run up to Hackney Downs Studios. The first part of the task was to help them load up a van with reclaimed wood to build the planters. The team made mince of the task, Drea got stuck into lifting the planks into the van, and Shaun found himself a trolley to help move the reclaimed wood.

We then raced back to Netil Market to unload the van with Damien, James and David leading the way. Jenny and Kate got us into a good system of unloading the van, and then the Netil House team treated us to a rather special fireworks night experience.

Hana from Netil took us up to the rooftop for a glass of mulled cider, a sparkler and a fantastic view of hundreds of firework displays lighting up the London skyline. It was quite a spectacle, though I thought that Ade's excitement at having her first ever sparkler was an even better thing to witness.

We'll be back next week to turn the unwanted planks into planters for local people to grow their own veg in. Thanks Hana for your hospitality!

Lauren Garland