It was a golden delicious evening when 22 happy and smiley Goodgymers met at Vivo on the Welsh Back to run up to the Easton Community Allotment to help them out with various maintenance jobs. The allotment allows people who would not usually have access to a garden to come and help out, learn and enjoy the beautiful space that they have created.

The run was a bit longer than usual, 4.5k each way so 9k in total so after our usual introductions and all that jazz we split into two groups, Fast and Sexy. This was a suggestion from Kevin who had used the same system in London to great effect. The fast group would head off at a quicker pace and get started on the task earlier, and the Sexy Group, led by Dave (obviously!), went at a more casual pace causing everyone in Castle Park to swoon as they passed by.

When we arrived at Easton Community Allotment we were greeted by the wonderful Cristina. Our jobs for the evening included giving the apple trees a prune, collecting all of the fallen apples, trimming the grass by the ponds and transferring some compost/manure. Everyone set to work with great gusto and we smashed through all of the tasks in no time. Alice even found time to cuddle a nearby moggy, but as you can see by the picture Cristina is not too keen on that particular feline. After 30 minutes of graft the Sexy group set off with a 4 minute head start on the Fast group. There was talk that the gap was too large and that we would never catch the Sexy group, but that just spurred me on to pick up the pace for the return leg. I also knew a cheeky alternative route that missed out a time consuming crossing at some lights. So with some rocket powered legs and the aid of a zebra crossing the Fast caught the Sexy on the final straight and we all finished together.

After a good stretch out everyone was ready for a drink of water and a sit down. Thanks to everyone for coming along and ruddy well done for completing the 9k run and smashing the task, you guys kick ass and make it a really fun to lead these runs. It’s always brilliant to see new faces so welcome to Tim and glad you to see you again Frank.

Gary