It was a perfect evening for a run along the river towards Twickenham: the setting sun bathing the riverboats and buildings in a warm glow, the temperature just cool enough to wick away the sweat, and clouds of flies. Ok, that bit was not so good, but on the plus side it did remind us of summer, and think of the extra protein we absorbed for the benefit of muscle recovery.

We set off from Richmond, a ten-strong team, with buckets swinging and armed with sponges, squeegees and Mr Muscle Window Cleaner. No flies on us this time for our window cleaning assignment at SPEAR Housing Association in Twickenham – we were tooled up for the task!

And we did it all with time to SPEAR

SPEAR works with homeless people in and around Richmond and Merton, with the aim of moving them into secure accommodation and giving them effective support to achieve their aspirations. If having smear-free windowpanes could help SPEAR to achieve their vision, then we were happy to soap up, rub down and dust off the cobwebs, also relocating all those spiders who had sought out their own secure accommodation in the nooks and crannies of the window ledges.

It was an action packed task – Maciek leapt fences like a world-class hurdler, Thomas Mr Muscled the windows like a superhero, Victoria went to the pub…to get more water. Fantastic teamwork, a river of soapsuds and some good old-fashioned elbow grease combined to sparkle up the windows very nicely. Good work, Richmond. And welcome to Matt who joined us for the first time and was tasked with coming up with a pun in what is quickly becoming a newbie initiation rite.

Lots of news before we sign off our run report:

There are two GoodGym socials this week – the ‘official’ monthly GoodGym social which is taking place on Thursday 6th April upstairs at the Marquis of Cornwall, WC1N 1AP (near Russell Square) from 6.30pm link below, and our own Richmond GoodGym night out on Friday 7th April at the Vineyard Community Centre in Richmond which is hosting a gig for a youth band that is releasing their first single for Street Invest, a charity working with street children. Gig starts at 7.30pm

If you’re interested in taking part in the Tug of War on 9th June, then let Mark know – we need a team of eight plus two reserves. That’s swiftly followed by the GoodGym Olympics at Parliament Hill track on 10th June, an opportunity for us to do Richmond proud in a Borough vs Borough competition (or just to have a good day out).

There was another piece of news, a really exciting piece of news, the best piece of news that Mark’s had for ages…he just couldn’t remember what it was. Maybe we’ll find out next week…

Thanks Elaine for a great run report...I remembered the news! Wanted to announce how great Jane did in getting us on the local paper, check it out here

Happy Running