Tim (greatest Runner in the World) Mckenzie had thoughtfully demonstrated his greatness by allowing 6 York GoodGymers the chance to arrive extra early for the Dalby Dash 10k in order to do a great community mission for the good folk at the Friends of Dalby Forest Volunteers.

Once we had figured out the right forest car park we met Judith and Simon who kitted us out with loppers and bow saws to clear the overhanging branches from the pathways around the lake. After a quick health and safety briefing: Don't fall in the lake and try not to cut your arm off and an explanation of Eco-piles (big pile of twigs and stuff) we got under way, splitting into two teams to go in opposite directions and meet up in the middle.

Team Mitch were soon sawing and lopping, carefully creating space around benches and paths. Simon reappeared to tell us we could be far more brutal after which it was open season on anything that got in our way and didn't move. Mitch was sawing so fast there was sawdust in his 'hair' and Nick opened up some views of the lake from a bench by lopping all of the branches that impeded the view.

Simon had asked us to have a real go at that green stuff on the far bank which we took to mean the larch branches overhanging the path. Only trouble was the branches themselves were too high to lop or saw. Leanne however developed an excellent technique. If Nick reached up to catch the tip of the branch with his loppers he could drag it down for Leanne to dangle from. Once she was properly dangling, the thickest part of the branch would come in reach of the loppers. Then it was just a case of

3-2-1 Chop!

Luckily once disconnected from the tree above, Leanne and the cut branch were at no point launched into the air and no one fell in the lake.

Meanwhile Mitch carried on sawing.

Team Tim had been busy on the other side of the lake. After a slow start with not much needing to be cut back, they soon got into the thick of it and, once instructed by Simon to be quite ruthless, they had great fun on the steep banks trying to reach the overhanging pine branches. They were lopping and sawing without hitting anyone at all (honest!) on the head with the falling branches. They soon built up some quite impressive eco-piles (sounds better than a big heap of bits of tree) and were met by the rest of the team from the opposite direction. Anxious to depart in plenty of time to drive back through the forest for the Dalby Dash, we gathered the tools and headed back to the car park.

We arrived at the Visitor Centre in plenty of time to get registered for the most excellent Dalby Dash forest trail 10k. After Darran Bilton's traditional poem and 2 minutes silence to commemorate Armistice Day the runners all legged it off up the hill (3km of up), down the hill (5km of down), and back along the forest trail (2km of 'flattish up') to complete a very satisfying 10km muddy run through some of the most beautiful forest trails in Britain.