The January starter run, despite a fair bit of pushing and encouragement for attendance, unfortunately didnt have the desired effect of attracting lots of newbies, however, such is the strength of Goodgym Leicester we can always rely on a small band of regulars to show up and do a bit of good.

It wasnt a total blank in terms of newbies as we were indeed joined by Lindsays better half Cliff. We learbed that Cliff works away in Kent during the week so we are unlikely to have his company at group runs but we were treated to an amusing tale of the Fung family rivalry on Boxing Day whereby Cliff had used borderline illegal use of elbows to get past his good lady in the closing stages of the Barrow Handicap Race. Investigations still continue as to whether any VAR or TMO facilities were in operation on the day but in the meantime Lindsay will have to settle for the incident inspiring her to one of her fastest finishes ever,

It was an open day at the Uni so we hung around for a few minutes for Katy who was struggling to park - she was also the only one who was running off the back of an earlier Parkrun.

As there was no one who needed "beginner runner" treatment we agreed to a go on a bit of a longer trip along the Great Central Way and back via the river and canal. It was the thick end of 3 miles and a good pace was maintained throughout particularly from Katy who had that earlier effort in her legs.

We ran all the way back to the DMU and collected the pickers and black bags and decided on a circuit of Bede Park to see what had been thrown down for us.

It never ceases to amaze me how much litter is to be found within just a few metres of the bins, its almost as if people just cant be bothered to go that extra few yards - never mind it gives us something to collect. And collect we sure did - all six of us filling a decent sized bag, in a short time we made quite a difference.

As usual the major problem was actually dragging people away from the task - it does become quite addictive. Worthy of note is that Lindsay has decided to take a permanent loan of a litter picker which she intends to use on her daily walks with her dogs - well done Lindsay.

With rain threatening and the lunch bells ringing there was just time for a few photos before we went our separate ways,

See you Tuesday