The power of positive thinking perhaps slightly overruled the sensible side so we left the head torches at base when we set off to join Steph at the Eastwood Community Garden in South Woodford.

It looks like this was about the last evening we could get away with it, not in the least due to the lamp posts nearby... so mental note - its that time of the year to both keep an eye on the weather as well as check the batteries in the torches.

As per usual it was a mixed bag of walking & running to task as well as meeting on site, all in all 7 of us joining Steph to hunt for specific weeds to remove as well as keeping the paths clear of any plants encroaching.

Soon enough the large green bag was about full of bits & pieces removed, with some rubbish in a big bag as well. Time to pack up, tools were collected, bags dropped off at Stephs and off we went on our separate ways again.

P.S. kudos to Linda for rememberin the banner to highlight James' milestone of 300 tasks! give him a cheer

some last minute changes to attendance notwithstanding 5 happy goodgymmers set off on a run to South Woodford. Feeling adventurous the route was more guided by a sense of direction than a mapped route...... and we did roughly arrive on schedule!

Steph was already busy at the community garden project the local residents started up earlier in the year and smoothly assigned the different runners a specific weed to target for removal, having quickly figured that not everyone has such great knowledge of plants as she does, putting it nicely.

So we roamed around looking for specific little plants to remove, example in hand, or like Linda very creatively stuck in the shoe laces.

Having gotten through most of the targeted weeds and tidied up the pathways, the different stomachs were indicating it might be time to round things off. Steph had similar ideas so tools got packed away and off we went, with the thanks from Steph.

Aunty Linda ( gotta use nicknames to keep the two Linda's apart!) was talked into the scenic and slightly longer route back, through Roding Valley Park instead of the streets. There we discovered that James was putting a double portion of gym in Goodgym this evening, running with a backpack - kudos to him!

Arriving at the other end of the pathway there was still a little time for some history for Nicky & Linda, showing the red brick pillar which reportedly is the last remaining bit of the bridge that gave the borough its name - Redbridge.

Back at base, the call of dinner was too strong for more socialising so all went their separate ways.

P.S. Steph separately also expressed her gratitude to chief Julia, another session will be planned in for another day.

A beautiful sunny evening evening for the goodgym sesh!!!

Sadly our run leader Peter has broken yet another bone from his rugby shenanigans and is out of action for a while!! Get well soon P, we wish you a speedy recovery!

Arrival Julia, James and Linda were the first to arrive, quickly followed by Anit, James and Jenny.

Walking After a quick catch-up, our walkers Anit and Linda took off towards the task at 6.35pm.

Joggers The four J-skeetiers Julia, James, Jenny and John waited for Marlon for a bit but as there was no sign, we did a quick warm up and started jogging down Roding lane. In all the excitement Julia forgot to turn off and we ended up doing a "slighly" longer run to the Redbridge roundabout to cross to the other side. The jog in Roding Valley was lovely and we even had our own obstacle course of mud and thorny roses. We also said howdy to young fellas enjoying a drink and something smoky;)

It was a hard run but we made it and thankfully our local South Woodford contigent was already there from 7pm helping Steph the task owner. AJ helped to bring the tools in and Beccy joined soon after.

Eastwood Green task This is a lovely community project that took a litter-full patch of grass and now creating a wildflower meadow. To help wildflowers establish regular weeding is needed. Here's where Goodgym comes in!

Marlon's first Redbridge session! It was a lovely surprise to find Marlon joining the task as he lives nearby!! Welcome Marlon, we are happy to have you join our group!

Weed it and weep The weeds are coming thick and fast now that the days are lighter and warmer and we did a good job getting quite a lot of weeds out! Chickweed and bindweed were particular offenders!

Wrap up After a good sesh, it was time for walkers to walk, runners to run and locals help wrap up and tidy up.

Next time we are meeting in Hainault and now that it's light we'll be going to wonderful fairlop waters for a nature outing! See you there!

P.S. No photos of Linda and Julia but they were definitely there!:)

After a lovely run in the sun with Jenny we met the rest of the goodgym group at the community garden. The task was to get rid of the weeds to let the wildflowers grow. Luckily Julia was there with her Latin plant knowledge to make sure we only pulled out the bad plants. Watch this space for more weeding missions here .......