And we certainly had a lot of runners last night, 14 to be exact a new record for GoodGym Huddersfield! Fortunately we had a task lined up which could accommodate such an army of athletes eager to do a good turn for their community. Sue from Growing works had a plethora of jobs to keep us amused and busy on their allotment in Dalton.

But before the work comes the play, in the form of a 2K run along the very pleasant Riverside Way and the slightly less pleasant Wakefield Road. There was certainly a supportive spirit amongst the GoodGym group as we ran our way to Dalton, with much chatting, laughing and joking to be had.

As ever Sue was there to greet us at Growing works with tools at the ready and a clear list of the tasks she wanted us to get on with. In fact there were so many tasks and so many runners I’m not entirely sure exactly what everyone was doing! Louise Galvin was already on site having run there earlier and was busy with weeding. It looked like first time GoodGymmers Mary Hirst and Oksana Shimon were getting stuck in straight away along with Jo Talbot digging one of the vegetable beds, whilst the big task of the night involved Ben Godfrey and Peter Phillips levelling a path, so Catherine Gormley, Helen Rutherford and Jane McCrea could cover it with plastic grid and gravel.

Meanwhile Mark Donnelley and David Bilton were digging in a poly tunnel, Meg Deacon and myself cut recycled plastic sheeting to make a greenhouse roof and Vicki Knight-Phillips did my usual job of running around keeping everybody motivated whilst taking photographs. Some potatoes were also dug at some point too, what a busy session! Suffice to say for 45 minutes last night the Growing works allotment was an absolute hive of activity, everywhere I looked red T-shirted GoodGymmers were had at it, putting the effort in and making a difference.

I have to say that of all last night’s jobs, perhaps the most impressive and arguably the crowning glory of the session was the newly laid path. What 45 minutes earlier had been a rough, uneven grassy walkway was now a neat, levelled gravel path that would have graced any garden. Well done all, they say team work makes the dream work, that was certainly the case last night!

There was so much work done, we didn’t even get chance to stop for our traditional tea and biscuit in the potting shed. But we set off for the 2K run back to the Stadium in the knowledge another good GoodGym job had been done and that 28 hands certainly make for light work!

Thanks to all last night’s record breaking GoodGymmers, great to see so many of you.