For those with an aversion to vermiculture, tonight’s run probably wasn’t memorable in a good way, and it may be advisable to pause here and go watch an episode of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet to get those little wrigglers out of your mind. However, given that the readership will predominantly consist of hardened green-fingered members (or guests) of Richmond GoodGym you are likely tough enough to read on… January’s clear skies had caused a wintry chill to settle over South West London this evening, but the warm-up, including “Hi-5 tags” and “Press-up Pals”, quickly raised the team’s temperatures and tempo. New Years’ resolutions / indulgencies were variously celebrated / regretted by 24 runners as we wove our way through Richmond’s residential back streets, culminating in a glorious high-speed descent of Star and Garter Hill. Upon arriving at the task venue, at first glance Buccleuch’s (/bəˈkluː/) modest garden appeared to be a pushover for a mighty GG squad of this size. Fearful whispers were soon overheard speculating that Mark may formulate some tortuous time-pass variant of the Guantanamo Xmas quiz. Fortunately, an abundance of weeds nurtured by our 5-hearted friends proved to be a worthy opposition as we raked, forked, turned and weeded the soil in preparation for bulb planting. However, even 10 hours of quality GG labour proved insufficient to complete tonight’s task, and by 8pm time was called to pack away, bulbs still unplanted. The return to home base was fast-paced, including the irresistible Nightingale Hill climb, since it was on our doorstep. Had there been enough time left one may have been tempted to repeat the climb, but instead the front runners satisfied themselves with a scorching lap of Richmond Green to rack up the Strava mileage towards the January GG challenge. Although we were Buccleuch-less about the pronunciation (let alone the task format) at the outset, it proved to be a forking great adventure, and a task of bulbous proportions. Hopefully we can return next week to complete the job in time to ensure a colourful spring blossom.

Nearly forgot to add some other really good points Firstly a Warm Welcome to Carla on her 1st run with Goodgym! Finally to help keep those kilometres stacked for January don't forget Olivia's mention of the long run - details here https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/january-goodgym-long-run