"WHO RUNS TO WEMBLEY"

Monday is fun day and means only one thing...... GoodGym Brent of course!!

On a significant night in the GG Brent calendar (Coach Ellie's last run for a month!!), the group collected on a drizzly and muggy Monday eve, in the midst of this Great British summer.

Housekeeping welcomed one new face, the delightful Darren, who despite his best efforts to mask it, nearly fainted when he heard he'd turned up to the bi-monthly "Long Run" session.

"I've never run that far before" Darren gulped, "You'll be fine, there's lots of traffic lights" Coach Ellie explained with a wink.

Wembley, seemed far away, but the team assured Darren, it was a meer hop skip and a jump over the north circular, then just 3 and smidge and you're there.......Not going into great detail of course about the smidge or the journey back either!!!

With the nerves beginning to semi calm down, the group prepared for set off, feeling pumped and excited to be Branching out further in the borough...... (Pun will make far more sense when you see what the task was...LOL)

Setting off the pace was tight Rasi, Dan and Claire pushing up the front and Ellie with Darren not far behind. Soon enough Darren's full tracksuit, including leather shoulder patches, became the most fashionable live-in sauna you've ever seen. Like a boxer shedding pounds for weigh-in, he began shrinking before our very eyes!! To counter this, Darren ran with a full 2 litre water and you'd better believe that thing was empty by the end!

Arriving at our destination we were greeted by the awesome crew at 3rd Wembley Scout Hut, including the gorgeous Reggie... Ellie was in love........ Reggie is a dog BTW. Straight away, Jay showed us the task at hand, but not before kindly providing the team with jugs of squash and water, what a champ.

As we filtered outside the mission was clear, chop down the dead tree branches and vines (See I told you it would make sense), to clear a space for Scout Summer camping!! What better cause is there than that! The team began sawing and chopping, feeling very strong and powerful in the wake of our destruction. We also had to uproot some stubborn bulbs that had mutated into concrete blocks in the earth. Unyielding and fierce, Sadhana and Dan began the great fight with grit and determination.

After working up a sweat for a good 40minutes, time was up and our work here was done. Bidding farewell to our fantastic hosts we hit the road again for the journey back. With sprints and hill drives thrown into the mix, the team pushed their bodies to the max and motivated their way back to the home stretch.

One last hill to finish, on - Out-of-Puffington Road and a raucous cheer for Darren as he thrashed out the last of the 7mile journey, not really believing what he had just achieved with the help of a few Good-Gym Friends.

Never one to miss a celebration - Pritesh arrived yay!!!! After cycling 10miles and stopping into his cousins for a slice of lasagne - as you do!! It must of been a bloody good lasagne.

With Garfield, I mean Pritesh now in tow, we set to work at the final task of the evening........ A trip to the pub, finally Ellie's first time and to think Bodil wasn't here to witness it!!!

The drizzle had cleared and the mild evening beckoned a team gathering in the outdoor beer garden for one last toast - To Coach Ellie and to wish her well on her trip to Malaysia. Laughs and revelations and a few more laughs, a fabulous team, a brilliant night and one hell of a send off!

Until next time....

DO GOOD. FELL GOOD. INSPIRE