28 people ran 6 km to move mulch for Mabley Green User Group

Mabley Green is a gem of a green space in the east of Hackney, framed by the A12 flyover and the River Lee.

'Mabley Green is a sizeable piece of common land in the east of the London Borough of Hackney measuring 35.5 acres (144,000 m2). Originally it was part of a continuous land mass on both sides of the Lee Navigation that formed the Hackney Marshes. In 1915 a piece of the Marshes was taken to create the National Projectile Factory and after World War I, in 1922, this site was used to create the Mabley Green recreation ground.'

— Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabley_Green

Mabley Green User Group, chaired by the amazingly enthusiastic chair Damian, are working hard with Hackney Council to improve the lovely green and to make it the world's largest edible park.

Last night we ran east from Coffee is My Cup of Tea to help Damian and the user group shift mulch dumped near the flyover 700m to support newly planted saplings.

First Mark Herbert (GoodGym Tower Hamlets and Coach Coordinator) talked to runners more about the lovely rewards of pairing with an isolated older person in Hackney. He started the process off there and then (CRB ID checks) with at least 2 runners!

Fiona and I led and back-marked the 3 km route, and we naturally fell into a chatty rhythm and 3 running groups along Well Street and Cassland Road.

We arrived under the dry and lit flyover, meeting Damian and 3 huge piles of mulch! With only garden bags to carry the mulch, we decided to take on 1 pile at speed using our hands to dig and lift the stuff into bags.

The user group set themselves up at the saplings to guide where the mulch was to be spread, and I moved between the points cheering runners on.

Laurence, Holly and others found the brave short cut and began running across the boggy green, whilst others ran along the path at its edge (at least 700m).

Michael and Niall managed sprints with mulch bags slung over their shoulders or changing hands to keep the weight even. Other runners opted for a jog there with the bags and a sprint back without them. It was a great first run for Zoe and Antoine, pushing themselves to keep moving on a steady jog / walk pattern.

In a tough 40 minutes we made a dent in the huge pile of mulch, ran 100 km between us, moved 80 bags of mulch and helped to protect at least 80 saplings.

In high spirits, we finished off with 2 sets of 'jubilant' high steps, power squats and lunges, before setting back on the tempo 3 km run home.

We'll be back next week Mabley to finish what we started. Show me the muscle!

Ade Aboaba GoodGym Hackney Coordinator