Such a lovely warm evening for a group run, and great to see such a good turnout, especially considering everyone has been so busy with things like getting kids back to school, moving house, recovering from bronchitis, winning bowls trophies, breaking a thumb, packing for holidays, painting a play house and flying on private jets.

We met at 6.45pm and warmed up at the Windsor FC car park on the edge of Windsor Great Park. We were then treated to a pretty setting sun as we did a lovely green loop in the park before heading to our task location, the Lawns Nursery & Preschool. Walkers and runners took slightly different routes (4km vs 3km) but waved to each other as we dashed round. Thanks to Amanda and Sula, whose local knowledge kept us on track, to walk-leader Tara, and to Sophie and Jess, who back-marked for the runners.

Our task for the evening was fence painting and we decided to focus on the stretch by the sandpit. This worked out well as it was under cover and it started to rain towards the end of the evening. We used brooms to see off the spiders and then slapped on the chocolate covered paint, using torches as the light faded.

The darkness during the Autumn and Winter does bring challenges, but it also casts a sort of magic over the evening.... we're not just painting a fence, we're doing it by torchlight and we're all in it together! It is not something any of us would typically do on our own on a Wednesday night, so it feels more adventurous and special. Darkness is also great for hiding the inevitable paint 'freckles' and 'moles' we seem to end up with...

Having completed the target area, we traded dipping paint-brushes for dipping triceps, and fence planks for side planks. Team spirit was high as we zoomed round a fitness circuit, which also included jump squats, jumping jacks, running, skipping and side-stepping. Neighbours might have mistaken us for a group of giant fireflies or a busy runway with all the head-torches and body lights energetically bouncing around.

We then headed back to our start location running or walking via a more direct route and finished with some stretches and discussion about exciting future plans like a Christmas social and some races to aim for. More details to follow...

Well done everyone on an energetic, productive and sociable evening!