This evening in Coventry we had 11 fantastic runners, competing 5KM to help keep the adopted section of canal clean and litter free.

On a lovely sunny evening in Coventry we welcomed along Marcelle and Kevin for their first Goodgym runs, great to have you along! Please give the a cheer! With brilliant GoodyGym Coventry trainer Liz having just completed the Grand Union Canal race (amazing effort!) it was over to me to lead my first Goodgym Coventry run! We began outside to enjoy the great weather for our briefing and warm up. During this we also heard from Damian about the Coventry Parkrun match off between Northbrook and Sphinx running clubs, very close between the two so well done both for that.

Task Time

Our task tonight was supporting the Canal and River Trust along with Sustrans to keep the section of canal from bridges 1 – 3 clean and clear of litter. At our starting point of bridge 1 we dropped off the first of the groups to begin working on a section of the canal. We dropped more groups off as we found the litter hotspots along the canal. Everyone did a great job finding out the litter from amongst undergrowth, between fences and even one item in the canal itself! As the last time the group did this task we were met with a right mix of items from boots to an espresso machine (partly hence our report title for this week!). Our meet up point was bridge 3 however once arrived we found yet more litter to clear. Not wanting to finish like that we did a final push of a couple of minutes ‘speed litter picking’ to get that section clear. Once all completed we could admire our litter picking haul and also take it the fantastic new graffiti artwork now lining the walls of the path connecting the road to canal. Overall the group collected 7 bags full of litter, a fantastic effort, which helps makes a real difference to the canal.

Express Fitness

Our good deed done but with time running out we headed back towards base this time via a more direct route on the road back into town. With time short we did a reduced but quick fire fitness session (in fact it was so quick I completely forgot to take photos!). The session involves all exercises that help make us strong and better runners, this included squats, lunges, press ups and walk outs. The group worked hard for each 30 second period and gave great effort to each exercise. Once arrived back at base we wrapped up with a good stretch and talked of run reports titles ideas, thanks for the help!

Upcoming

Next week, Liz will be back and the task will be helping Emmanus Coventry with tidying up their boarders and garden area, please sign up here

Have a good week, thanks all and hope to see you again soon!