Last night 23 ran 4.5 km to 8km to to help local park and people

It may have been the heat, but last night was a weird one. Time, distance and reality seemed to warp with the hot weather.

It was a familiar crew that gathered last night. Some had brought friends (welcome James and Amy!) new to GoodGym and other GoodGymers were still revelling in the glory of PBs achieved at the weekend's 5 km Mile End parkrun (well done Hassan and Steve!).

We had 3 tasks to get through, 2 Mission Runs alongside the main Group Run.

The Mission group of 4 ran 2. 5 km (5 km in total) to the Outward centre in Hackney Downs. Outward provide support and care services to vulnerable people in Hackney. It was set up by parents of disabled children looking for an alternative to institutional care provision. This group ran to one of their facilities, which gives tailored support for people with severe learning disabilities.

Their task was to finish weeding for planting next week….Hopefully, once they have worked out how to keep the plants safe from over enthusiastic residents.

The second group of 3 ran to an elderly resident based 4 km away (8 km in total) in Upper Clapton. She'd heard of us through Age Well UK, and then contacted us directly to see if we could help her out with her jungle of a garden. I get the impression a few sessions will be needed here.

16 of us then ran, what was supposed to be 2.25 km (4.5 km in total), to the old 1920s running track in the east part of Victoria Park.

This was where the time warp began. Beam me up! And, it actually proved to be one of the hardest tasks yet.

The park ranger on duty asked us to trim the excess vegetation and dirt around the track to reveal the concrete edge, making the track look sharper…Not sure 'sharper' is the right word to use here. The track was just about recognisable as a one, and the Victoria Park Harriers kicked up dust around it as they got on with their track intervals as we beavered away.

Work with the hoe was strangely taxing on the legs, back and shoulders. The ranger asked us to be more aggressive with our hoeing, which created more resistance and ache. Each runner had a 25 metre section to attend to, and at the end we ran round with wheel barrows to pick up and dump the heaps of dirt, lifted from the track, in the track's redundant steeple ditch.

Inspired, the GoodGymers finished the session with a 400m sprint around the track, and the 2.5 km run proved to be a lot cooler.

3 tasks done, but not as we know it.

Ade Aboaba GoodGym Coordinator