10 Girls, 1 Guy, a 6k run, 30 Petunia's, 2 odd encounters and 1 big fun night at GG Brent.

Rain, rain go away, at least by 7pm anyway...... oh great you did thanks for that! After a thankfully dry end to the evening and No April Showers in sight, GG Brent and it's merry band of women and one man, congregated at the Queensbury Pub on Willesden High Road for a joyful and high spirited start to the week.

Sadhana's upcoming first marathon led the discussions as the crew planned the logistics of getting to Brighton to support...... and to eat fish and chips hurrah, but obviously the first thing more important LOL the fact Sadhana will be running 26.2 Miles in 6 Days!!!!!! Woo HOO.

With housekeeping in check and a warm welcome outstretched to our 2 new ladies - Andrea and Gillian, we set to work, pounding the pave the 1.8mile route over to Harlseden High Street to link with our favourite pastor Marcia Tull for a spot of planting after our galavanting.

Leading from the back and welcoming the new starters coach Ellie was lucky enough to have coach-runner Clairey-Bell on hand to step up to the plate and lead from the front and putting the leading pack through their paces by the sounds of things!! The back pack cruised the streets and were joined by a local character on a bike who invited us in for tea and a slice of his Battenberg...... We hope he meant cake!! Declining we powered on!!

In no time at all the flurry of red tees had descended onto the high road and were greeted with the best smiling face ever - Marcia, with boxes and boxes of beautiful spring flowers that we would be tasked with planting in the front garden of the church!

Harlesden Methodist Church is a crucial part of the community and serves the people of Harlesden in more ways than one, offering guidance, a safe space and worthwhile outreach to the community on a regular basis. What better way to give back then to brighten up their surroundings as the Spring comes in!

Off to work we set, to the soundtrack of Mariah Carey and Tom Petty, a musical feast for the ears, while we Got Diggy with it on task.

30 minutes of hard graft included: * The discovery of 10 foot worms * Laura's rat cage * Hidden Treasures - Gin Bottles and Cork Screws to name but a few

Before long the time was up and the merry band of Do-Gooders were on their way once more, but not before some lung busting sprints up and down the high road and star-jump squats for good measure!!

On route back and there was sharing and caring, thrills and puddle spills, giggles and gumption...... But just a typical night for one of the best groups of people in the land, where the running and the do-gooding go hand in hand with the community and friendship that's blossomed over the year.

A Fabulous evening, terrific task and job well done from the Brent Brigade

Until next time folks........

Do Good. Feel Good. Inspire

30 people ran between 5-8k to help out at urban orchard in Kings Cross and a womens theatre group in Kentish town.

Who we helped.

Urban Orchard Project- They help to restore, create and plant community orchards. Here's what they say;

A community orchard isn’t just a collection of trees, it’s a community of people working together to make the local area a better place to live, work and enjoy.

Yes.

Clean Break- here's a synopsis from their website too.

Clean Break was set up in 1979 by two women prisoners who believed that theatre could bring the hidden stories of imprisoned women to a wider audience. Still the only women’s theatre company of its kind today, Clean Break has remained true to these roots, continuing to inspire playwrights around the complex theme of women and crime - enlightening and entertaining audiences. Integral to this, is the company’s long-established theatre-based education and training programme enabling women offenders and those at risk of offending to develop personal, social, professional and creative skills leading to education and employment.

Yes

What we did

We had 3 jobs at the Orchard; weeding around the bases of trees, clearing leaves, and breaking up some rubble. All jobs are important at this moment in time. The leaves and weeds are nutrient sappers, preventing water and light reaching the bits we want them too and the rubble will come in useful if turned into useful bricks. The guys at Alara don't like to waste anything. Alex started the business way back in the 70's and it's a pretty amazing story. Read it here

We broke into 2 separate teams and absolutely creamed through it. Im not sure we have ever been as efficient and organised (both traits are low on my skill-set list), but we were running out of weeds to yank within 25mins.

Here's Steve's take on the extravaganza at Clean Break;

A dedicated group of ten goodgymers braved the firework strewn streets of Kentish Town to clear rubbish and do weeding for Clean Break. We were tidying up their communal garden area so they can make more use of it. A speedy trot both ways enabled us to complete the task and join the main group and collect a box of muesli from the guys at the the Orchard. An excellent evenings work.

As a treat for helping out the guys at Alara kindly gave us a box of muesli to thank us. Muesli is fantastic as a wholesome morning treat but not so good to run with. We gave it a bash though with some guys willing to carry 2 boxes in order for others to have a blast out along the Regents Canal.

We got back to Somers Town with time for a quick stretch and a conflab' before we headed off home (for many the local boozer is now a second home after all!).