With Karen away this week, we met with Malcolm in Spital Hill which he informed us is statistically the poorest area in Sheffield, so a good area to contribute towards and try and do some good!

We got tooled up and headed uphill, filling bags with as much litter as we could find.

Before we knew it the bags were brimming and it was time to head back and down tools with Malolm and head home to The Showroom.

It was a pacey one tonight, with a really strong average pace, so well done to everyone for getting a faster one in!

Until next time, happy running! :)

Tonight we were off once again to meet Karen and her Pitsmoor Pickers crew. A new member had decided to come along for the ride too, make sure to giveYoseph a cheer!

We headed out from the Showroom on a relatively short run up to the meeting spot from where the evening's litter picking was to commence. Waiting for us and raring to go were Karen's team of 5 litterpickers. There were some new faces and some familiar to us. Bags, litter-pickers and hoops were distributed amongst us and then a plan of action was quickly devised. We would walk to the top of the Rock Street where there was a rubbish hot-spot, then make our way back down the road, picking on the wing. Annie kindly offered to keep an extra bag on her so that we could all put any cans that we found in it to later be recycled by Karen for cash to go into the litterpicking kitty. The area, thankfully, was not as bad as we were expecting; maybe lots of the rubbish that was on the hill has been washed down the road into the river? Hopefully people have just been keeping the place clean!

After a solid 45 minutes of refuse relocation we gathered up all of the filled bags and posed with them for the obligatory group picture with full bags. Following this we said our goodbyes to the Pitsmoor people and trundled off back down the hill to the Showroom. There we stretched off the key muscles used in the evening's efforts and popped inside for a refreshing (if expensive) drink.

On a delicious Mon evening in Sheffield we headed across town and uphill to Somerset Park to meet with the local legend that is Karen from Pitsmoor pickers to help this group keep the area litter free and sparkling.

We met with Karen and four other pickers including a new born baby and got tooled up with pickers, hoops and bags and got straight to it.

Cans were collected separately as Karen takes these away to get recycled.

Karen embraced her arty side and painted some messages, encouraging park users to bin their rubbish.

Once done, bags were collated, labeled and reported ready for collection by the council.

Until next time, happy running! :)

We set off from the Showroom (which was much busier than usual thanks to DocFest) eager to take the high road to Burngreave to engage in some trashy behavior. There we met Malcolm and his team of Pitsmoor Pickers who were waiting for us at the junction of Andover St and Richmond St. Our job for the evening was to clear Somerset Open Space and the immediate vicinity of any rubbish. It turned out that there was quite a lot to pick up. Some notable finds were: a mattress, lots of large Nitrous Oxide canisters, and a few bike wheels. There was a little bit of drizzle whilst we were wombling away, but this didn't dampen our spirits.

After an hour of persistent picking we headed back to the Showroom to stretch off (and watch one of the documentaries being showcased there). I was unexpectedly thrust into the driving seat at the last minute for the session tonight. Therefore, I had not planned any fun fitness activities.

On a pretty damp bank holiday evening three resilient runners ran to meet three persevering Pitsmoor Pickers. Our job for the evening was to clear Stanley Field and the adjacent road of litter. On arrival, after a sharp uphill climb, we distributed the bags, pickers, and loops kindly provided for us by Karen, had a quick briefing, and then set about freeing the field from litter.

Some notable bits we picked during the evening included a suitcase, lots of large nitrous oxide canisters, some bottles filled with an ominous liquid, a condom filled with a more ominous liquid, a waterproof jacket with burn holes through it, and some trainers.

During the pick we were joined by another keen-bean passerby who was so impressed by our efforts that they just had to get in on the action too. Kudos to them.

After a thoroughly soaking 45 minutes, we gathered up the many bags of rubbish we had picked, took some snaps, and ran back to the Showroom to stretch off.

A huge GG SHF welcome to new runner Gary who joined us this week from Kelham Island. We hope you had a good time and will be back for more soon Gary, great to meet you.

With Karen away this week we met with MARVELOUS MALCOLM who met us on site in Burngreave with pickers, bags and hoops at the ready.

We got tooled up and headed initially downhill on the right hand side of Kilton Hill, collecting cans separately so they can be recycled. There was plenty to go at with a lot of litter that looked like it had been there for quite some time.

Once we got to the bottom, we headed straight to the top Beatles Helter Skelter style and even got thanked by a passing local resident taxi driver who stopped to thank us and show his appreciation which is always nice to get.

At the top of the hill we got bags tied up and left next to a public bin ready for collection.

We said our goodbyes to Malcolm and thanked him for his time and also brief Geography lesson of Sheffield.

Until next time, happy running :)