Croydon runners smashed it last night; their 51st run taking us back to one of our first group run locations, to tidy up a cultural garden.

Before setting off, we chatted about the London Marathon and the runners we know who'd taken it on (including Croydon's Stephanie Ware, who ran it for Mind). Some of us had caught the marathon bug, others decided they're going to work up to that! We also welcomed back Andrew, who made it along for his second group run.

The run to the task felt longer than we've done in a while, which was quite exhilarating. Some runners were looping back to us every now and then, meaning they got some extra running in - well done on that! As we approached the task location, Grangewood Park, we realised it is situated on top of a massive hill. After tackling this, we met Andrea who is involved in a few park projects around Thornton Heath.

She outlined the task; sweeping, chopping, and raking in their cultural garden. The winter hadn't been kind to the garden, so runners quickly started bringing some order to it; in a limited amount of time we managed to tidy it up a lot, and fill two massive bags with leaves and branches. With this done, the garden will be much nicer and more accessible for visitors over the summer, so we're glad we were able to do it.

The run back was a lot kinder; going downhill was quite exciting, and we tried leaning forward a little to keep us going even swifter. Since we were making such good time, we were able to do some very quick fitness work; we stopped in a closed section of a road and had a few rounds of Heads and Tails.

A bit more running (bringing us to around 6.5km altogether), and we reached our start point. Here, we cooled down, stretched off, and I spoke about two upcoming things; Croydon's next group run, and the exciting London-wide social due to take place in Croydon next Thursday!

Hope to see you next week!