This afternoon we ran a little but painted a lot to help brighten up the shelter in Park Hill Rec

This afternoon was the second Starter Session of 2017 and another beautiful day in a lovely location. Park Hill Rec is situated very close to East Croydon station and is worth a visit at any time of the year but especially in the spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming. A couple of years ago it was also the temporary home to a lost stag called Jeremy. Our task today was to add to the artwork brightening up the shelter near the walled gardens and we was ably directed by Josi from Friends of Park Hill Rec. Once she’d explained what we were to do and all the different types of paints, stencils and other tools it was painting time.

I did have a full run and fitness session planned for the second half of our time there but persuading the “artists” to put down their paintbrushes and surrender the paint did prove a bit tricky so they had an extra 15 minutes. We then headed onto the grass for a warm-up, hill sprints to work on strengthening legs and improving power followed by a few flat sprints where we practiced short bursts of acceleration. Josi’s selection of treats afterwards went down very well too – thanks Josi.

The Starter sessions are to introduce new runners to GoodGym and give them a chance to see what we do and also to tell them about Coach run and Missions. So we were happy to welcome Maddy and Carl to the GoodGym crew where they were able to chat to the regular runners – it was great to meet you both and hope to see you again soon.

As I mentioned there’s going to be a publicity campaign in Croydon in January to get more runners for the Coach runs and Missions so please point friends and family in our direction if they are interested. I’m also happy to arrange local DBS checks outside the normal Tuesday sessions.

This Tuesday’s run will be to help support Mind in Croydon as part of the #RunAndTalk** campaign. I believe a mini social at Boxpark afterwards was also discussed so don’t forget your pennies.