12 runners ran 5km to Broomfield Allotments for hedge trimming

After seeing the rain this morning, there was a brief panic that everyone would be put off the run. However, the red/black GoodGym t-shirts kept appearing at the door this evening! We were glad to welcome new runners Ally and Henry to the group, but we were a little disappointed that their house mate (who had suggested coming) had dropped out! We are all looking forward to the three of them coming for a group run. The group congratulated Rich and Laurie on completing a 10km trail run at the weekend. There was a trophy along the way somewhere, but we decided to be modest.

We headed straight up to the allotment, with Richard E *and *James G leading the way. We got there nice and early at 6.45. Tim greeted us with his excellent jokes, but also sad news that this was our last visit for 2019. He showed us to our task for the evening, cutting back a very large hedge. There was a selection of tools for the job, and three wheelbarrows for getting rid of the branches. The team set to work quickly, working in sections, with James G, James C and Richard E wheeling the branches away. David got a bit carried away, cutting back shorter than the requested foot, however the team did manage to clear almost all the overgrowth, other than the very top. Once we had finished, we had the lemon squash which we have become so accustomed to at the allotment, with Joel and Rachel entertaining our newcomers with stories of their weak quiz performance on Sunday.

Because we managed to finish early and only had a short run back, we decided to run up and down a couple of the Broomfield Avenues on our way back. Ally and Henry deliberated, and after running back to Fourth Avenue with us they decided to run back home. The boys set off quickly down Fourth Avenue, but Rachel, Catherine and Jenny decided to take it a bit easier. With barely a pause at the bottom, the group set off quickly again up Third Avenue. After our final Avenue downhill, we headed back to ARU at a gentler pace.

We stretched and discussed the social tomorrow evening, as well as the next milestone achievers at GoodGym and parkrun. Come to parkrun this Saturday, and GoodGym next week to find out more!

We are heading to the Horse & Groom pub for food and drinks tomorrow, meeting in Central Park to walk up at 6.30pm, or meeting there at 7pm.

See you next time,

Laurie