Power to the Peepul pickers - a lotta litter in the light

Great to be out in the light and back running along the canal. Its been 35 weeks since we last did a litter pick at the Peepul centre - that was our 2nd group run - not sure if I expected we would be still going strong at this stage but my reliable nucleus of core members just seems to be getting stronger and seeing them all lined up in the red shirt for that final photo made me a very proud trainer indeed.

We welcomed back our newest member Nicola for her second run - she even brought her documents for checking too as she intends to be paired with a coach - great news.

Elaine arrived in the nick of time just as we were leaving but it highlighted there may be a problem with the way I have listed the runs which implies we dont leave until 6.15 - I will check that but just for the record the intention is that we shall always be leaving at 6 unless otherwise advised.

We were down at the Peepul Centre by 6.25 with Jim leading and me taking the tail. Coro had gone home but had left instruction with reception and we were soon provided with bags. Mel had made her own way to the PC and brought with her our weapons - the litter pickers. We set to work and in no time at all had filled 16 bags - not bad for 25 minutes work. No surprise finds tonight, just the usual beer cans and plastic. Our activity attracted the attention of a passer by who questioned Jim - "Who are you?" she said "GoodGym" said Jim. "What are you doing?" she said. "We are picking up all this rubbish where people have been dirty" said Jim. "Oh" she said. "Gonna join us?" said Jim............. Reply inaudible!!!!

We tidied away and set off on our way back.

A short stop off under Burleys Flyover for some urban circuits using everyday pieces of urban architecture - a sprint to a tree, direction changes round the bike stands, step ups on a bench and tricep dips on another - my gratitude to Anne Newberry, who some of you know, for the idea.

It made everyone blow a bit and Michaela made me smile when she told us "I can get away with the red face in the dark but theres no hiding it when its light". Well, as I said in reply, if I have made a few people puf and pant and have a healthy glow then its a sure sign I am doing the job I am here to do.

Jeanette led the stretches with a few for good measure thrown in by Lindsay and we were all done for 7;40.

Another Goodnight for GoodGym