As the dark Ealing skies rumbled with Diwali fireworks, three runners with head torches did a loop around Walpole Park and ran into the dead-end at the back of Rickyard Café, inadvertently scaring away a group of youths socialising on the benches. While Sevan stood on guard, Steph and Kash took wheelbarrows and shovels from the park tool store, then all three ventured into the Walled Garden to clear a compost bin they were going to fill. Tall weeds had grown in the space where the woodchip had run out, but removing them was merely a warm-up for seasoned GoodGymers.

The main task for the night was transporting compost, which had been delivered only a few hours earlier, to the empty bin. The pile was destined to be shared for free with local allotments over the weekend (GoodGym is supporting that initiative too!), but the Walled Garden was also going to receive its share. Ensuring the latter was tonight's job.

The trio followed their noses to find the smelly heap without fail. Sevan scented subtle notes of prunes, while for Steph the aroma resembled that of brewery or distillery waste. The team dipped their shovels into the compost heap. The sky thundered with fireworks, but the thick smoke on the ground came from the disturbed fertiliser.

The wheelbarrowed black gold made its way to the compost bin in various styles. Our favourite was Steph's pirate-inspired walking the plank. With each trip from the pile to the bin, the GoodGymers continued to progress to new levels, stacking the front bin planks to prevent compost spillage. The difficulty of the soil drop raised, but teamwork was an easy remedy for that.

When the compost bin was filled and levelled, the fireworks shot into the sky to announce that achievement and didn't stop booming when Steph, Sevan and Kash were leaving the park. In fact, that pyrotechnic fever keeps going while I write this report late in the night.

I will leave you now with this sniffhanger and hope you will join us for the compost giveaway day this Sunday, or our next Tuesday group run with This Girl Can to lift the curfew for exercising women after the clocks go back.