Blessed with a dry evening (which seems hard to come by lately!) 13 runners came out to make a difference on The Grand Union Canal in Park Royal. Unfortunately this is a notorious spot for litter so we were here to support The Canal and River Trust and also all the residents that live on this stretch of water to tidy up and make it a nicer place to be.

We started by welcoming first timer Alec, go and give him a big cheer, before a quick head count and round up of favourite things to dress up for on upcoming Halloween. Lots of witches and Dracula shout outs but my favourite was the simple yet effective Walter White from Breaking Bad.

We had an undulating run this evening, first taking in the prestigious West Walk which is great for hill reps (great training for runners!) before cresting the top of Hanger Lane. Running through the streets armed with litter pickers as a big group soon attracted attention and we were asked what we were up to which we're always happy to explain. Hopefully they'll go and look us up and join in next time! I probably made us look quite conspicuous as we performed squats to cars in traffic on the Hanger Lane roundabout.

We were greeted at the canal by a big beaming orange moon so we grabbed a quick group shot before getting down to business. The reason we were there was immediately obvious with cans and litter everywhere but although it's upsetting that's why we're hear to help!

What are you guys up to?!

Said a local canal boat resident. "Well", I said, "We run and do something good every Tuesday evening and try to help wherever we can". Needless to say he thought we were pretty awesome and thanked us for helping make the canal and nicer place for everyone! We were also stopped by other passers by who said thank you for our efforts as well as someone who offered to stop and help (because they thought we were looking for something we lost, but still lovely none the less!).

We gathered our loot and by the time we'd left we'd filled at least 7 FULL bags of rubbish this evening, including hundreds of cans, great work everyone.

What goes up...

So after climbing the dizzy heights on West Walk on the way out it was a delight to run down on the way back and lovely conversation made the route fly by. Just a few stretches and a chat about all the awesome upcoming stuff in Ealing (check out the community missions as well as the Tuesday night group runs) and we were done!

Until next time!