Tonight, 18 brave runners turned up to help Petersham Common. Our task tonight was to move bundles of fencing from the bottom of the hill to the top, ready to be put in the ground tomorrow.

We started off the night with a fun and fast paced warm up on the green. Head-torches were necessary as it was already dark, but thankfully the rain held off.

We set off along the river on our run. As it was very wet & slippery, we hard to be sure of our footing but we soon got into a good rhythm with everyone chatting away as we ran. We passed by the 3 Pigeon Plot and noted the newly installed flowers. Then we headed to the bottom of Nightingale Lane. Most people battled their way to the top of this mega hill not once but twice, which is no mean feat! We were joined by a fellow runner doing sprints up the hill, so we gave him some encouragement too.

Thoroughly worn out after that, thankfully we didn’t have far to go to meet Ken at the task. He handed out orange hi-vis vests and showed us to the mountain of fencing bails. We were prepared for this though & keen to get on with it, we knew we had a big task ahead of us! We took the bails in pairs, making sure at least one of us had a head torch, and climbed the hill through the wooded pathways of Petersham Common, following Ken’s trail of hi-vis vests hanging in trees. Progress was slow and steady, with plenty of stops to adjust hand holds or swap arms. The bails were heavy & awkward plus the paths were dark, muddy & narrow, it really was a meaty task!

There was much discussion over technique, with some preferring the bails on shoulders or heads, others carrying them in their arms with one person walking backwards (impressive) or a simple one handed affair so long as you could get good purchase on a stake.

Each pair managed to make 2 trips to the top, with Emily marshalling us across the busy road. We didn’t manage to move them all but Ken still estimated we’d saved him a full days work- not bad team, not bad! I’m certain we’ll all be feeling it tomorrow :)

Well done to Harry on his second run & welcome to Charlie who joined GG Richmond for the first time, glad to have you with us tonight!