Mike continued his amazing litter pick of the Number 11 Outer Circle route in Birmingham. In the morning, he began in Cotteridge where he had ended his Super Saturday, and was joined by Steven as he went from Selly Oak to Harborne. As you can see from the pictures, a lot of litter was collected along the way. I met up with Ben at City Hospital in the afternoon and we got straight to litter picking as we waited for Mike to get to us. It was just as well, as there was a ton of masks and other medical discards among the litter along the road, which was a bit of a wind tunnel from the bus stops outside the building. Taz came along to greet us before Mike arrived and we were granted a special Hi Viz for the occasion as we started to lag behind, picking lots of junk as we approached the Prison and went through Winson Green. We took a short cut so that we could meet up with Chloe in Handsworth. We stopped for the best of reasons, cake, to keep Mike going along the last leg to Erdington, where this 27 mile journey had begun on Saturday. We then picked along the road I live on, so I left them at the end of the road and the others went on to Perry Barr, and in Mike’s case, to the Finish Line in Erdington. What a remarkable task, taking in a whole city, meeting lots of emerging community groups who are taking ownership of the upkeep of their local environment. Hopefully we will have inspired many others to action as we were stopped many times along the way to ask what are group was or to be thanked by members of the public.

Arriving early tonight, I was reminded by Will that this would be his final GoodGym run in Birmingham. Not as a protest about me leading the group for the first time, but because he is relocating to Somerset for a new job. Hence the pun above and all which will follow (I have tried to remember some of the many created by George).

Binned there, seen it, done it

During a nervous first briefing I informed the group that over the last 4 group runs to the Birmingham City Mission, all of the fitness session hills had been ‘binned off’ due to weather, extended tasks and for pre-Christmas drinks. So tonight, I left it for Will to decide what type of hill reps we would do to get our sessions back on track.

Tonight we welcomed Rory to his first GoodGym session and Lucy joined us for her second group run. Please give them a cheer and your support. We also celebrated Laura wearing her 100 T-shirt and Ben joining the TaskForce after completing 10 good deeds.

Last Will and Testament

After a quick headcount, Rob led us to the BCM with Liam and Tousif taking on the back marking duties. It was great to see lots of good spirits in the group as pairs and threes ran and chatted along the way. We negotiated the quite busy city centre streets and found ourselves at the task rather more at the time we usually set off than the time we arrive. The usual stalling tactics of getting a cricket discussion going mustn’t have worked on me!

Where there’s a Will there’s a way

We had a slightly different task for some intrepid adventurers tonight as we were asked to look through the pantry and check the dates of the food items. Rob identified Liam and George as ideal candidates following their ‘Speed dating’ at the Foodbank last night. In the end, Liam went for it along with Rory, Laura and Chloe. The group found an enormous collection of salt, an even bigger pile of doughnuts and cakes (which I was assured that they didn’t eat any of, even though it was likely they were going off soon and needed eating) and some out of date items carefully removed. George applied himself diligently to the washing up along with Rob and Francesca, as Ben used the in and out doors well to bring in the dirty dishes. Outside the kitchen, Will, Lucy and Tousif kept very active by serving the food. Tousif even managed to grab a few photos when it got quieter.

After a few thank yous from the staff at the mission, we were ushered out as they got the next part of their evening started. So we turned our minds to the fitness session and jogged to our usual spot around the corner. Ben said his farewells at this point as he was feeling an injury from his run at the weekend, so it was great that he joined us for this much of the group run. Best of luck resting and recovering.

The illusion of Free Will

At this point I gave Will the choice between two four minute hill sessions with recovery, or a six minute session of Kenyan hills. He quickly got wise to the fact that I’m a soft supply teacher and asked for another option. I did indeed offer the option of just a four minute session, but as he went for this it was quickly overruled by Rob, who was looking forward to the challenge! Still, at least it wasn’t binned off!

Will Power

Everyone got earnestly into the four minute session, especially Chloe who showed great form as she charged up the hill, and Rory on his first session as he made great efforts to catch her. Everyone stayed committed all the way through, Rob showing he meant business and Lucy showing no weariness from her recent half marathon efforts. After a minute of rest I set everyone straight off for the two minute finisher, with Tousif fighting through it really well, Francesca maintaining a great pace and George making fierce effort look effortless. After reflecting on how much I’d rather have been doing the hills myself, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath and getting a group photo, we set off for 1000 Trades.

My Heart Will Go On

Which can only mean one thing - more hills. All the way back, more or less, so we all enjoyed the rest, stretches and beverages at the end point! Thank you to all of the group for supporting me tonight leading my first group run. All the best to Will as well. I hope all of the puns aimed at you will not put you off returning to us when you inevitably come back to see all of the unseen attractions of the second city! Only time Will tell!

Tonight we were back plogging our adopted part of the canal. It was great to see everyone, especially after a few illnesses and people away with work. We also welcomed Jake, joining us for his first ever run - it’s great to have you with us!

With spring just on our doorstep, it was nice to start tonight’s run as the sun was setting and not in complete darkness nor with last week’s hail/sleet shower! We set off on our route, with John leading the way and Will back marking. At the canal, we split into three groups to scout for litter and filled up our three bags easily. We had a quick pit stop at Aston locks for our obligatory photo.

Tonight’s fitness session was at Millennium Point, for the one mile time trail. Everyone did an excellent job - with some getting new personal bests and setting future targets to beat.

After we’d caught our breaths back, it was time to head back to base - not that this is an easy run as most of the way is uphill! Great work everyone.

Next week we will be doing good again at Birmingham Mission Care, see you all then!