This week's group run saw four runners meet at the Tap Tavern in Richmond to head to Petersham Common. Jack led the run with some steady uphills and nifty local knowledge through alleyways! At the other end, Ken met us all to share his wisdom about Petersham Common and the tasks we could help with.

The verge that runs along the roadside needed some help - sadly litter is thrown from cars, including glass bottles which mean that the area can't be cut back with a strimmer because it would be too dangerous to hit glass. However, a lot seems to want to grow in this area, even with the lack of rain and there is a real risk of fire with the woody growth if someone were to throw a lit cigarette from a passing car. Between the five of us we had two missions: clear the rubbish and take out the woody growth. Dutch Elm suckers are boundless in this area and although they had already been sprayed to kill them off, the dead wood was both a fire risk and unattractive, it needed cutting out and taking away from the roadside.

Anita and Ken got stuck straight into litter collecting and picked up a huge amount of waste in the session. Sam, Jack and Liz headed after the suckers, carefully avoiding the brambles that are also trying to stake a claim to the verges.

A more direct run back to Richmond along the riverfront totalled just under 5km for the day with some rewarding verge clearing in the middle.