8 runners ignored the stormy skies of Kingston for a 5km run to support Kingston Council to clean and tidy a wayside garden in Surbiton. Thankfully Mark B, our illus-tree-ous leader, rejoined the group today and proved he definitely wasn’t syc-any-more, giving us a great group warm up before heading out along the river to Surbiton.

Builds glute strength, lower abs and sometimes trust!#warmup #kingston #goodgym #gettingactive #volunteering #grouprun pic.twitter.com/rl3ndibzwk

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 7, 2018

We were welcomed at the task by a very enthusiastic group from the council led by Andy who to our re-leaf knew their sycamore from their maple leafs and provided examples of the plants for us to focus on removing. Also included in the group tonight were some super keen councillors who would enhance any GoodGym team with their commitment to getting stuck in, great to meet you, Hilary and Alison.

We spread out along the path and quickly got to work on our target plants. Unlike previous clearance tasks this definitely put our plant recognition to the test and we left no leaf unturned in our challenge. Thankfully our years of life lessons meant we could all identify the vine laden with grapes that Martel discovered!

You never know what your gonna get on a @goodgym run!#kingston #kingstonactive #volunteering #running #greatrunner #doinggood pic.twitter.com/zxaBKkf9rg

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 7, 2018

At the same time as removing the weeds we also cleared the rubbish and raked the soil to help improve the look and feel of the garden and hopefully put off others from being wayward at the wayside.

As the weeds were weakened the future garden quickly began to emerge through the undergrowth. It was fantastic to receive lots of positive motivation from passers by who were impressed by our very vine work, and who clearly enjoyed the positive impact we were having on their daily commute route. We received high praise indeed from a local Vicar, who knows a good task when he sees one, and was keen for us to help with his local churches for future tasks. PR and garden clearance all in a nights work for this bunch of GoodGymers!

As the heavens began to open we carried the huge bags of vines and weeds across the road for removal and we were able to step back to admire the new Salubrious Surbiton Sidewalk!

Bags of fun!#goodgym #kingston #tuesdays #runninggroup #doinggood pic.twitter.com/E8z1oWvRq0

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 7, 2018

In news tonight... Kate talked about her first and second mission, both taking place at the weekend where she discovered lots of animals under the woodwork. Well done Kate!

As mentioned, if you are interested in becoming a Taskforce member please let Mark know, you will need to have run 10 runs before being eligible.

Next week is a big'un , we are running 10km total to Firs Court Care Home (part of Fircroft Trust) , please consider whether you are able to run there and back in the time frame or whether you would prefer to run there and take public transport back. The address of the task is 370 Hook Rd, Chessington KT9 1NA. Please check out the best route for you back from this location.