We gathered on a crisp November evening to do good in our borough and take on the 9km run First some Glute firing and leg stretching to prep the legs for the long route of the 316 to Whitton Youth Zone.

Once warmed up and gloves palm up or down debate diffused we were ready and headed off into the dark night to the sound of fireworks. We made our way out of Richmond town towards Twickenham Rugby Stadium (where a solemn nod of the head was given in respect of the weekends events) and then into Whitton high street...Mark had managed to plot a slightly shorter route just shy of the 10km round trip which meant we had a little more extra juice left to tackle the overgrown garden that awaited us.

Once at Whitton Youth Zone we were greeted by Matt who welcomed us with much needed water, tools and bin bags. Our task tonight was to cut back any of the overgrown ivy, weeds, bushes that were blocking the entrance path to the centre and then sweep the path of debris. We got working as a team , sharing tools and helping to get monster branches into small waste bags. Such a great space at the centre for those who use to enjoy but easy to get over grown so great for us to get our GG physical fix in to help calm down the fauna or day of the triffids as someone said!

As ever we got so much done in the 20 minutes or so available to us and then headed back to Wholefoods as quick as our tired muscles would carry us ready for something warm and cosy!.

Well done to all who braved it - Lovely to share the run with you!

This evening, despite the forecast of showers and the onset of Autumnal darkness, 22 runners (& gentle joggers) showed up at wholefoods to do some good. There was a busy news section after #GGSuperSaturday and the acquisition of the 3 Pigeons Plot at the weekend. We welcomed 3 first time runners: Dominic, Antony & Paul, congratulated Katie on her wedding, then welcomed back Sali gave a shout out to Dharmesh on a tourist trip from Redbridge and celebrated my 100th run!

We headed out to the Green for our warm up, where Mark had a new game for us, involving press ups and collecting items of kit from the centre of the circle. Feeling quite pleased with our 1 item & 2 sets of press ups, Paul & I were at a lost to see how other teams had managed 4 items, you guys really are too quick!

Nicely warmed up, we set out on the run. Three intrepid walkers took the bucket & headed off on their 2.5k route whilst the rest of us headed for Holly Lodge, in the middle of Richmond Park. In the dark with no traffic, there was a really peaceful air to the park, which made for a lovely run, chatting away to each other.

At Holly lodge, we found the rest of the pack doing star jumps while they’d waited for us. They’d found some baby frogs (or possibly toads) on the path, so as we headed back, we were ‘eyes down’ making sure we didn’t step on any.

Once at Richmond Green, the walkers had already arrived with their buckets, and were heading off to fetch water from the pub. The Princes Head is rapidly becoming our favourite bucket filling watering hole, for always giving us warm water! (Thank you to both Prices Head and the Cricketer's!)

Our task for this evening was to continue cleaning the railings around Richmond Green for Richmond Council. We’ve been here a couple of times now but with a 22 strong crew tonight, we were keen to see if we could finally make it to the end of the fence. Pressure was on, we had to cover more distance than we’d done before & we had to make sure they got Mark’s stamp of approval. No streaky bollards tonight, we were after nice gleaming white ones! That required two teams, one for cleaning, one for rinsing but clearly we’re pro’s at this now as we raced our way to the end of the railings just in time. Our head torches showed up what brilliant work we’d done!

We made a short jog to the corner of the Green nearest Wholefoods for a quick warm down. And then that was it, another run down, the first for a long time, in the dark.

Let's paint you a picture (or at least our artist will...)

We all got ready to board the Goodgym Monday night flight with a pilot at the ready.

The teachers kept everyone in line although Sandy from Grease was already a rebel and trying her luck , thankfully if things got too serious the police woman was on hand.

Captain America was a super leader as we walked or ran to the task, following his super speed, building up an appetite for whatever the chefs could cook up...a recipe of goodness no doubt!

Once at the task the stakes were high...or were they?? We thought we had to climb many metres with fence stakes in hand but instead we were sent along a dark path and instructed to throw the stakes into a ditch so they were ready to be built to protect the beautiful landscape in Richmond.

We served up an ace...well the tennis player amongst us did. You might say we were so speedy with the task that we were "on fire!" Thank goodness for the firefighter on site to cool us down.

After the run many of us decided to conquer the infamous Nightingale Hill. As the footballer tackled the incline, the stewardess noticed a drop in cabin pressure, but still we powered through with the help of our climber to reach the top and once there the magician worked their magic to help us disappear back down Richmond Hill and back to Wholefoods.

All the characters - chuffed with what we had achieved celebrated a good night and a happy 10th birthday to Goodgym at the pub.

And if I lost some of you during this report, then let me explain that we celebrated being 10 years old dressed as what we professionally wanted to be at that age.

17 of us fully charged and raring to go met at Wholefoods this evening. In the awesome pack was Sam from Liverpool, Rosanna from Southwark and Matt from Kingston – All on a first tourist trip with Richmond and most welcome, as was Christina on her first ever GG adventure and welcome back Naveed, Ciara and Emily on your 2nd run out too!

The brief was kept as short as we could to allow for time on the road this evening but it included heaps from a task vote of action, a shout out for the Richmond run festival this coming weekend and then a huge congrats to Anita on achieving a first place in her category in the Richmond Duathlon this weekend – Very Proud of you!!

Jack delivered a super warm up on the green, squeezing in a mini circuit and even BURPEES!!!! To which all performed remarkably well (some did just seem to stand with hand on hips but assured me they were just doing the drills VERY FAST – I believed them of course!) We were POWERED UP so time to get our stride on.

Fast feet make light work! #community #tasks #doinggood #getfit #running #charity #volunteering #warmup #goodgym #richmond pic.twitter.com/hRYPjKBe1n

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) September 10, 2019

The run was long and straight for the most part with no hills. It was referred to as a little boring in fact but we decided it was made all the lighter for the great company we ran with and of course it cheered me up to hear that hills are more interesting. So, the way forward is to the hills – we have seen the light ; - )

Warm up time! Thanks to Run Leader Jack for putting us through our paces! #goodgym #runninggroup #richmond #warmup #fitness #volunteering #community pic.twitter.com/Mm3umyACg8

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) September 10, 2019

The task tonight was a NEW one for us, so super excited to be helping at THE MORTLAKE OLD POWER STATION which now houses the venue for Mortlake Youth Centre and what a great place it is. Danielle, our task owner was ready with all tasks in place; so after some quick hydration and some explanation we powered through as much tidying and cleaning as we could in the art room and kitchen, prepped as many bottles as we could for the youths who attend to creatively upcycle, cut as many SPOOKY labels as we could to be used for Halloween craft and then lifted huge items (SOFA included) to make space and allow better use of the areas available.

Powering up our cleaning skills at the Old Power Station Youth Centre #richmond #barnes #goodgym #volunteering #fun #runninggroup pic.twitter.com/AffQB0E3Yg

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) September 10, 2019

Phew…what a lot to do mid 7/8km run. We loved it though and made as much use of the time as we could.

The Youth Centre is a great space in our community for the youths to have access to and Danielle was super to welcome us so that we could help contribute to this facility.

As ever time goes to short and now head torches a glow, we bobbed our way back in and out of some smaller darker alleys and walks until the road was a straight stretch back to Wholefoods for some stretching and a chance to refuel.

Next week we celebrate GoodGym turning 10 years old. To celebrate we will be having drinks and food at One Kew Road in Richmond after the run. The theme of our party is "What I wanted to be when I was 10" - you can come in fancy dress to either the run, the pub or both!! Sign up here - https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/group-runs

Oh and not forgetting...a GG tourist had a great idea tonight regarding who write's the run report. From now on if no one volunteers then I will nominate a Task Force member...it could be you! (Insert evil laugh here)