It was a cold cold night, you know the kind, where most people feel they are braving it simply by sipping on a hot chocolate looking out the window contemplating whether they should be having a festive biscuit with some cinnamon dusting or is it still too early to move into that sort of treat?

This is not the case for those that do GG Richmond, some even turned up bare legged to perform some Monday magic that conjures up the sort of warmth that even a hot chocolate fails to deliver; that inner glow of doing good.

The Vineyard sits nestled nicely at the foot of Richmond Hill just slightly off of the main road. Innocuous in appearance from the outside one could easily be forgiven for simply assuming that it is a small part of the church. Truth is however that although it is funded by the Trustee's of the church it has been providing great support and help to the homeless since 2012.

Our task tonight was too assist the Vineyard in their great work by bagging up food parcels that had been provided by the community of Richmond and blessed for the harvest season. The efficiency and co-ordination with which the task was handled was most impressive and the run trainer would like to say that he decided the system that we should use but this was catered for completely by the Richmond runners.

These runners had already tested their comfort threshold by stepping out into the cold night to make the 3km run there which included relay bridge races comprising of squats, press ups and star jumps to brighten up the busy Richmond traffic and yet the real test was whether or not one should eat the cake before they run back from the task or whether they should...run with the cake! We won't mention those that left the cake as it is too painful for them to think about. So amidst the dilemma and the cheers of “what a great task” whilst chopping down the last few mouthfuls of buttercream, one particular runner decided to make the journey back with cake in hand. The run trainer had to drop back to resist the temptation of stealing the cake and it is safe to say that it made it back to Wholefoods in one piece.

Post run stretches there followed some great talk of future runs that Richmond would like to take part in, a Christmas Social and some representation and the Richmond Park Run this Saturday. Those that couldn't make it tonight but wish to support GoodGym Richmond on Saturday then grab your red shirt and make yourself known!

Pleasure running with you Richmond as ever.

P.S Guys you ran nearer 5km tonight rather than the original 3km we had planned...good keeps getting better!