Nothing like a pun from The Bard to kick off a run report. Of course, Mercutio was talking about his imminent demise after being stabbed. Fortunately, despite us wielding an impressive collection of gardening tools, none of tonight's plucky crew was impaled on a fork or sliced with the sheares .

As usual the excitement commenced at Mirth, Marvel and Maud where our numbers reached double figures as we welcome back Jo "long-lost" Loxton. Jo more than made up for a long and widely travelled absence by bringing herself and new recruit James O'Donnell, who despite bearly having run for a bus before acquitted himself with aplomb throughout the run, task and drills.

From Mirth, we headed on a 2k uphill run to the delightful St Peter in the Forest church which sits in a small woodland which is probably one of the last vestiges of the real and ancient Waltham Forest. Once there, our contact Tony kitted us out with tools and gloves and we set to battling the bracken, ivy, nettles and other fauna that envelopes all corners of this delightful spot.

There is a lot to do in this place but the team made excellent headway. One could almost sense the weary bones of the of some of the long-term residents resting more easily after the creeping plants were fended off their plots.

Once our work was done we headed into the gloaming forest for some spooky drills and once hearts were pounding, we headed back 2k downhill this time to our base.

Well done to everyone you did some great work. looking forward to next week already, sign-up here

T'was a sultry summer's eve when a magnificent seven runners assembled at Mirth, Marvel and Maud to embark on a mission (technically a Group Run) to improve the lives of the numerous little folks who make regular use of another one of Walthamstow's community gems, The Toy Library.

In addition to our awe-inspiring regulars, we welcomed new recruit Steph and girl on tour Liz to our collective this evening; and most welcome they were too. After a steep 1.5 km ascent to the task to meet organiser and general library linchpin, Helen, we wasted no time in getting stuck into various tasks. We had Ramon and Ruthiran on roofing, Carmen, Steph, Nerys and Liz on painting and in one massive group effort, we all came together to actually lift a house off the floor and move it to a new location. Oh okay, a Wendy House but still a house!

After completing our work, we then liberated Woody, Buzz and friends from the evil clutches of Lotso Bear and his dastardly crew. Then we headed to Lloyd Park for a lap as the sun started to set and the temperature became more bearable. Finally returning wearily to base for a stretch, refreshment and a curious philosophical debate about life which culminated in us pondering the vital question of why oysters are not afforded equal opportunity to participate in big money sport as humans.

Nobody drank more than a half, I swear!

☮️Ant

PS If you liked this or if you missed this then join us next week when we will be doing a spot of gardening in Lloyd Park. Sign up here

PPS All volunteers need to complete a couple of forms before next week's task. Printed copies will be available on the night but to save time you can print and complete each form here: * Volunteer Monitoring * Volunteer Information