This weeks task took us on one of our long runs out to Writtle allotments for City Mencap, this was a round trip of 12km so plenty of running for the five who met at Anglia Ruskin Uni. We welcomed Ally and Henry to their second ever Goodgym group run and they looked like they were looking forward to the long run tonight. No time for a warm up as we had to get going, so James set the pace with Laurie as the tail runner. James pressed on with the pace which was a bit rapid and with a few short cuts we found Rachel and Joel at the railway station waiting for us. Onto the park following the parkrun route through to the cycle path to Writtle, a few spots of rain fell on us but we were running so fast not to notice! Arriving at Writtle and the Tiptree tea rooms expecting to see Catherine, quick check on Whatsapp to find a message that she would meet us at the allotments. Finally arriving at the allotments there was a handwritten map of the area we were to dig over and kindly amongst the tools were bottles of water, I also had some French biscuits from my trip last week which were eagerly consumed. Laurie and Adam started clearing weeds from the tomato bed, Catherine, Rachel and Henry tackled some weeds in an over grown area, Ally, James and Joel started digging and turning over an area of ground. Before we knew it time to pack away for the long run back to the Uni, we took a slightly different route and Catherine headed off to the tea rooms (shame it was closed). Back into Admiral park we said goodbye to Rachel and Joel who headed off back to the station. In Admirals park there is an incline (hill) that is an infamous part of the parkrun route and one that shouts “hill sprints” so after the shout of “Go” Ally sprinted off chased by the rest of us to get to the top. A recovery walk to the road and then we ran on through the streets back to the Uni, Adam tried some backwards running down First Avenue, managed it without falling over. A stretch down after the long run was essential for recovery, a well done to Ally and Henry for their efforts on just their second run. Finally a big congratulation to Laurie for her 100th run tonight and my 50th.

Gerry