If you've ever wondered what the mulch equivalent of a marathon with a 26 mile hill looks like, twenty one Tower Hamlets goodgymers can fill you in. An eleven tonne pile of wood chip and soil greeted us at Xx on Monday night, crying out to be spread across the farm's winding pathways and open space. It was immense. It was endless. For the first fifteen minutes it felt like we were all shovels and no wheel barrows, all effort and no dent in the pile to show for it.

And then, the steam began rising. The scene turned eerie or magical, depending on the cynicism of its beholder. The shovelling got faster, some crazy people started running with their wheel barrows. And the heat. It was like September all over again.

Suddenly, the looked half its original size. Less than half. We were flying. Forty five minutes in, Tom called the official finish time. Our pile was smaller, but still steaming. Marathoners don't quit at the 21 mile mark. And some of us were really dreading the speed work torture a very chipper Tom had planned for us. "We'll finish" was an easy unanimous verdict. Wheel barrows were filled in five seconds of frenzied shovelling. Mulch was ran around the paths and raked with aplomb. An hour in, our piled steamed no more. Our pile was no more. The 26 mile hill was conquered. And we got to have a nice easy run home with no speed work.

At the end of the task Magaret let us know that she had nominated us, and that we had won a special community award for our work in the borough - fantastic credit to all the GoodGym runners who have atedned Hollybush over the years!

Laura Noonan