17 runners met at Wholefoods in Richmond tonight to enjoy the first Goodgym run of sunny September! News of marathons just completed (huge congratulations to Ercole) and 10ks on the horizon was shared (look out for a sea of goodgym red speeding through Kew Gardens soon!), briefing was done and we were set for a trip to Holly Lodge Centre... But not before a detour to Richmond Green where Mark put us through our paces: knees up, squats down, photo poses, planks and partner tag. He finished off (but didn’t beat us) with a Mexican wave of core strength and we were good(gym) to go!

Hands down, we got it beat! #goodgym #richmond #richmondgreen #warmup #plank #squats #games #fitness #volunteering pic.twitter.com/RdNCqfIFd9

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) September 3, 2018

Getting around the core issue #fitness @goodgym @HollyLodgeCentr #running #warmup #richmondgreen pic.twitter.com/7sXnsbWSmb

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) September 3, 2018

Our strong cores carried us on 4km through the streets of Richmond (and up a sneaky ‘steady’ hill at Queens Road) and into the park where we all basked in the September sun without stopping... we had good to be getting on with!

We were warmly welcomed at Holly Lodge by Anna and her daughter Izzy (who was helping out tonight). Holly Lodge is run by a very small team of 2 (Anna and her colleague Freya) and a large amount of volunteers doing brilliant work with the local community and supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities to learn about Richmond Park. We were fed, watered and armed with tools. The toilets were the next stop but no comfort breaks for us! Teams were formed and we taped, we papered and we painted in force!

Mark's time check wasn't so well received by some of our painters who didn't want to down tools until the toilet wall masterpieces were complete but the clock was ticking so a quick mop up of spillages, a squeeze in for a team photograph and we were off!

Welcome to Eva, Chris, and Anjana and well done on your first run with Goodgym Richmond! Thanks to Ercole for joining us from Waltham Forest GG and also huge congratulations for taking Goodgym Richmond in your stride after yesterday's marathon!

Next week we'll be helping clear the litter up Richmond Hill for the Council, sign up here

After a windy, overcast day, it blossomed into a beautiful, balmy (balsamy) evening, perfect for 17 GoodGym runners to take to the hills around Richmond park and tackle the tropical marshland taking over the towpath. Of course, the hills had not been advertised, nor had the nearly 2km extra that we found ourselves running because Mark “got a bit carried away” on Strava route mapping. Anyone would think we were here to get fit…. Much as we like to grumble about those hills, it was a nicely challenging route with the always good company of old, new (Emma and Nick – welcome!) and visiting runners from Hounslow, Hammersmith and Kingston.

"Every Monday we're shuffling"#Goodgym #Richmond #Richmondgreen #warmup #fitness #running #volunteering pic.twitter.com/rna6BB0s6c

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 13, 2018

We were back to the site of a recent task – that of the towering Himalayan Balsam. Fiercely protected by head height stinging nettles and guarded by tropical-size mosquitos, this task is not for the faint hearted. Indeed, Indiana Jones would not look out of place here. And, we had been warned, the plant may be about to seed. Apparently, this could mean showers of black pods bursting into the air and scattering far and wide when we pulled the weed out of the ground. A bit like Gremlins, then, and causing just as much havoc. As it happened, we could see no signs of exploding seed heads, so all that remained was to battle through the nettles and get pulling.

Hard at work!#goodgym #volunteering #doinggood #richmondcouncil #petershamtowpath #weeding #balsam pic.twitter.com/RaHs2JkJdO

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 13, 2018

With not nearly enough time, we nevertheless got through a swathe of the overgrowth, piling the giant beast of a weed around us. We were bitten, stung, muddied, but triumphant. That’s the last of the Himalayan Balsam for this year. Guaranteed we’ll be seeing it again next summer though…

Awesome Balsam!!@goodgym @LBRUT pic.twitter.com/MhZIW28QH3

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 13, 2018

p.s. Drinks after running next week to celebrate our lovely Jenna for achieving 100 good deeds – a marvellous excuse if ever there was one – do join if you can

A note from the Run Trainer - The hills were alive with the strides of GoodGym , you all did an amazing job of making those hills look flat!