This weeks group run saw us visit our friends at Hope Housing. Hope is supported housing for single homeless individuals. They also provide training and education for their residents to enable them to move forward into independent living i.e. non-supported accommodation and seeking employment. click here for their website

We also welcomed a newcomer in Carl to show him some love! He was awesome and we look forward to having him back next week! After a bit of a pulse raiser and some dynamic stretches in front of our trendy meeting spot, the group set off along the pedestrian zone in Bournemouth town center and headed towards Hope Housing which was only 2km away. We managed to stick together the whole way, chatting and catching up on the happenings of the last week. It was really nice to firstly not get run over...but also to see that there are still many nice people out there who stopped in their cars and allowed us to cross the road. Thank you if you stopped...and happen to be reading this! hahaha It was great to welcome back Neil, who had been ill and unable to do any exercise for over a month! He has a great fluid running style and didn't show any rustiness at all! We were greeted by our good friend Mark on arrival, who said he missed us and that we need to come back more often! He had set up a car with the head lights on with another big torch on the top to help us see. We were also lucky to meet Alan, who together with his wife have set up Hope Housing and all the great things they do in Bournemouth. They showed us all the progress they had made, sheds they had built thanks to some funding. The sheds will act as workshop space where residents will learn new skills like woodworking as well as use the space to fix bikes and many other things. After Mark had let us know what needed doing we split up into three groups to finish the tasks. Abi, Caprice and Andrea chose to eliminate vital information by crumpling up lots of it and then strategically putting it in a fire pit!

Dan and Carl took apart some furniture as well as carried about a tonne of it out of the shed and in the garden to be used next week, that was after they spent 15 minutes walking the plank. Ross, Neil and Daryl were tasked with placing three planks across some muddy ground and jumping and hopping on the planks...the aim was to try to flatten the ground beneath it in an attempt to make it as even as possible. Then moving the planks along a bit and then going at it again! It looked like a lot of work, probably the more than the whole running to and from the task!!

Neil, Caprice, Daryl and myself then carried 4 railroad sleepers to the edge of the garden to act as a barrier to stop people from driving onto the area that the others had put so much effort into trying to flatten out. Alan in the middle of this managed to sneak off and come back with a bag full of water bottles for us to say thank you for our hard work. He was really appreciative of what the team had done on this task but also on previous occasions. Great work all of you! Alan wants us to come back and have some drinks and food with him next time we are free! On our way back we went a slightly longer route that took us down along the promenade by the beach. It was amazing to hear the waves and not hear any cars. We used the long flat surface to do some interval running focusing on our arm drive, and how important our arms are to help us balance and push us forward. Neil and Ross showed some great power as they raced each other to each landmark!

With time running out we had to cut up the hill behind the BIC...not a nice hill as it's probably the steepest hill in Bournemouth, but everyone powered up it and were greeted by very friendly and cuddly dogs at the top! An excellent effort by everyone. I loved leading the group and I'm really looking forward to next week's group run which you can sign up to here doooooooooooooooooooooooooooo it!

Daryl and Caprice have the Dark Valley half marathon coming up and they looked strong, I'm sure they're going to be amazing!Abi also asked if there were any runners interested in being zombies at a running even on the 11th of November, get in touch with her if you are able to help out! And next week after our group run...we are going to stick around at Flirt Cafe to take part in the free cheese and cider tasting they are having there! OMG CHEEEEEESSSSSSEEEE!!!!!!!! Thanks everyone! You were brilliant!