A show of strength in Newham last night, reaffirming how vibrant and healthy our Olympic Park collective is. Four fabulous new faces, Aamir, Ros, Muyiwa and Darmesh getting stuck straight into the longest run we do. Baptisms of fire so to speak, all that follows should be plain sailing as a result.

Traditional drills and then some chat pre-run. Random Weekly Question "what's the funniest thing you've seen a drunk person do?" The answers flowed like cold lager at a championship football game: Arguing with oneself in the mirror, using the toilet where a toilet does not exist, jumping into rivers, geordie attire on a winter night out, falling off walls, backing your bounce and landing onto bicycle racks and multiple outrageous barf stories which I don't care to repeat (I intend to enjoy some cereal soon).

Sharon pointed us towards a new route, cutting out some roads and utilising the Greenway section that recently opened, top marks there. If you like traffic free flat runs then this one is for you. Some folk liked it so much....they just kept on going, arriving another 20 minutes behind the rest. I can't/won't fault your passion for running and topping up your mileage. We got to the Hospital with plenty to do. Multiple different gardens were pruned, weeded and cleaned. Papers were handed out to patients. We managed to round everyone up from their various work stations at 8.30 and began our return journey back. Muyiwa had a saucy sprint finish, Aaron's return run was toughed out after a sugar low and then had to contend with me 'encouraging' him back. Superb efforts all round.

Next week we have a short run to a local primary school, we've been helping them out for a few years now and the tasks are always varied and plentiful. Not one to miss. Sign up here

We've got the treat of seeing each other for a double whammy this week. The GoodGym Olympics looms large on Saturday, the annual competition where all the GG areas compete for a bit of fun. Hampstead Heath Track at 11.45am. Not signed up? Not to worry, there will be drop outs and it's one to just come for the craic, the red shirts will swarm into The Vine after for post race regalement and refreshment. *Check your event time please guys and know when you're on

See you folk in a couple of days AND thanks for another productive, endorphine flowing eve in East London

B