Following the day's deluge, I feared a depleted turnout for our long run from Walthamstow to Chingford last night. Fortunately, after over a year of running with this redoubtable crew, I should have known better. "Rain, what rain?", was the thought that occurred to me when I joined nine eager beavers at Mirth, Marvel and Maud. Our mission? To rid South Chingford Memorial park of single-use plastics, cigarette butts, aluminium cans and various other unmentionables. I love these guys.

I'll get to the nitty-gritty of the run in a mo., but first, here is the news:

As mentioned in my last weekly email, we have been invited to take over all the volunteer duties at Leyton Junior Parkrun on Sunday 16th June. It is sure to be a fun event and we can go for a few laps of the lovely Jubilee Park afterwards. Details and sign-up here

Well done to Libby and Patrick who completed a wonderful gardening mission in Waltham Forest last weekend. You can read about their experiences here

Tonight the monthly social is over in Southwark. Needless to say, anything organised by GoodGym GoodEgg Pritesh Mistry will be a right laugh. I recommend you to get down there and chew the fat with fellow runners

Over 100 GoodGymers will be heading to Sofia this weekend for the festival of running. If you are one of them, good luck and tell us all about it when you get back.

Okay so back to last night's Pluvial Plogging. In the end, we were pretty damn lucky with the rain as it seems the clouds had wrung themselves dry throughout the day. With everyone arriving in a timely fashion, we headed off at a decent clip covering the 4 km run in quick time. We arrived in leafy South Chingford by 19.20, where our contact Janet and her fellow Love South Chingford gardener equipped us with all the necessary gear. We particularly love the hoops they have that keep the litter bags open.

Fanning out and sweeping the park we covered several acres of the parkland like a crack commando unit. With our task completed and the park shining like a newly polished Rolls Royce, we headed back out on the streets and back to base for a drink and a debrief.

Well done everyone, you are all awesome people.

Next week we are visiting Walthamstow Toy Library to help them prepare for their annual May Fair. It's close by so not a taxing run at all and we will head to Lloyd Park for some drills afterwards. Don't miss this fun event, sign up today.

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