We had four awesome new runners tonight! Abbi who saw us out on our group run last week and wanted in on the GoodGym action, Lenka who found out about GoodGym through the volunteers fair at the local university, James who is getting back in running after completing The London Marathon earlier this year and finally Leandro who has moved to London from Brazil joined us for the first time!

A special mention goes to Phill this week firstly for running ahead and collecting the keys I'd forgotten to pick up on the way to the task (opps!) and secondly for his 5th good deed with GoodGym!

It was a slightly longer run for the group this evening and the short cut we could once take to The Log Cabin through the parks has to be put on hold over these darker months. All the new runners did great with a couple going off ahead with the faster paced regulars who knew the route, staying as the back marker it was great to see Lenka complete her first run ever, she did amazingly well!

Aside from the usual weeding and turning of the bark we do when we visit this task tonight's main job was a leafy issue! The outside space at this charity is absolutely fantastic but with such a big area there's so much to do so it's great to be able to complete these return visits every couple of months and make a difference! Every time we go and help it means the staff at the centre can use their time more wisely in the days they are there so it's a really important role we fill.

What you guys do really makes a difference!

With so much to clear we worked in small teams and there were many techniques being trailed to see what the most effective leaf gathering method was. The inspiration for tonights pun, I particularly liked Michael K's approach of donning a pair of gloves and getting into the bag itself and scooping between the legs, it wasn't pretty but it was effective!

After what seemed a lifetime of leaf clearing and many bags filled we cleared up and used the space for what it's intended... playing games! We had a couple of quick games of shark tag with Sam and James being declared the winners!

Next week we'll be doing good all over again, will you join us? I hope so!

Happy Running!