This morning we battled the snow to move piles of sand

Heavy snow on the Addington Hills was not what I wanted to see his morning with a GoodGym Starter session planned for 11am in the local Ecology Centre. However to date no GoodGym tasks have ever been cancelled and down here in Croydon we were determined not to be the first!

We met at Heathfield Ecology Centre and after huddling together for warmth to sign the register and mentally prepare ourselves we headed down to the tool shed where we met the hardy volunteers who turn up at least twice a month to maintain this amazing place. Our job for today was to move a huge pile of wet (and heavy) sand from the top of the gardens back to the centre itself. So armed with wheelbarrows and spades we dug, shifted, wheeled and emptied for almost an hour – that did warm us up quite nicely! We also had the chance to see the two flowerbeds we had weeded and dug up on a previous session in the summer.

After we’d finished we the fantastic volunteers brought us indoors and made us teas, coffees and hot chocolates to warm us back up – very welcome they were too. At this point we had two choices – head home and dry out or prolong the wet and cold by going up to Addington Hills for a run and fitness session. Probably not a surprise to learn that over half of the group were up for a run round the trim trail, dodging puddles, muddy boggy bits all interspersed with star jumps, squats, sprints and other fun activities. Finally after heading over to the viewing pint where on a clear day you can see all over London we headed back to the tram stop shelter to do our stretches and head home. Job well done by all.

Don’t forget to log your runs during the week so we can stay at the top as all your runs count towards our total. If you set it up yet then go onto your account, go to profile, settings and finally Strava/Runkeeper and follow the instructions there.

Next Tuesday evening’s run will see us heading to Lloyd Park. I headed down to see Claire this afternoon to leave the litter picks and bags with her and she mentioned hot drinks and cake after the task so don’t forget to sign up.