A big batch of Bristol runners broke out of their beginning-of-the-week babble to bumble along, break some brambles, bamboozle blackberries and bag up some bad litter. Some say barmy, we say brilliant.

The Jumping Jack off

The group started off with a merry jumping jacks warm up. Or so I thought... according to Darren's photo evidence from the night, Alice and I were merrily doing our jumping jacks while everyone else was doing their utmost to pretend they weren't with us...

Task 1: The Bramble-Removal

Alice ably led a group of runners out to the Harbourside to help the Friends of the Harbourside Reed Bed. After a summer of growing (and our help a few months ago) it was time for another trim to keep the area looking spic-and-span. Not ones to like an easy challenge, to do a good job, the group had to tackle brambles and a nest of wasps in the area. But they got it done in no-time and left the area looking ready for the Autumn months.

Task 2: The Litter-Pick

Our second group of wiling runners went to the other side of the harbour to Gaol Ferry Bridge to help the Friends of the Avon New Cut to do a big litter-pick in the area. Unfortunately, this part of the river has become rife with anti-social behaviour, leaving a lot of litter and more in the area. The group did an absolutely fantastic job of filling 16 bin bags with waste. Massive well done to everyone for getting your litter-pickers out and getting stuck in!

Task 3: The Fun One

Meanwhile, those who wanted to stretch their legs a bit further (or knew what was in store) were led on the 3km run to Bramble Hill Farm by Paul, where they met Chris for animal feeding and blackberry picking. Roll-on animal stroking, selfies and blackberry eating, just in time to roll back down the hill for finishing time.

To top all of this hard work off, the group then powered their way through a circuit session around Queen's Square (until a pug came along to distract everyone from their burpees).

Phew, what a scorcher!

Temperatures were raised today and not just in anticipation of a tense World Cup showdown between Sweden and England, it was actually flipping hot.

All the more impressive then that a hardy bunch of seven runners agreed to join me on one of our longest ever runs (a 10k round trip) to help out Brave Bold Drama at Creative Workspace in Withywood. Brave Bold Drama are seeking to make drama accessible to families in an area that gets very little funding and is in fact one of the most resource deprived in the whole country. Our job was to clear their outdoor space of litter (and a couple of tyres) so that they could lay wood chip and create a welcoming community space. Our host Paul even sweetened the deal (literally) by laying on water, tea and biscuits for us when we arrived.

With such a long run (made slightly longer by a wrong turn at the last junction) we didn't have much time to spare but we had pretty much cleared the central area of rubbish by the time we had to leave - so fuelled by jammy dodgers and chocolate biscuits we took the more scenic route home along the Malago Greenway.

Meanwhile, Dave took our remaining group around the harbourside to join Sarah of FoHRB (Friends of Harbourside Reed Bed) in a little waterside gardening. This certainly sounds like a nice place to hang out on a hot day - and I understand there were some little moor hens to coo over too! A few enthusiastic individuals even completed a harbourside loop with their run home.