As usual, we gathered at the Phoenix Cinema our GoodGym HQ and kicked things off with a chat about our favourite childhood TV shows. Classics like Blue Peter and Teletubbies got a mention, though one of us admitted to not having a TV at all .. probably the healthiest choice in hindsight!

Tonight’s mission was to visit the Tiny Forest ,always a magnet for litter , and to try our hand at that noble GoodGym art form: plogging (litter-picking while jogging). With the forecast looking grim and darkness closing in, we decided to make it more of an athletic adventure than a scientific one.

Plogging is a fine art part exercise, part medieval jousting (minus the horse, of course. The trick is to stay moving while accurately spearing bits of rubbish at speed, then deftly flicking them into your bag. Add wet leaves, gusty wind and headlamps, and you’ve got yourself a proper GoodGym challenge.

After a lively 3 km run to the Tiny Forest, we introduced Beattie and Lucy to the three new forest plots nearby part of an ongoing citizen-science experiment testing how different soil preparations affect young tree growth. Do go along and have a look; it’s fascinating to see the differences emerging.

A final round of litter-picking and some bonus plogging on the way back brought us full circle to the Phoenix, where we enjoyed a well-earned breather and some light refreshments.

Who knows with a bit more practice, perhaps GoodGym Barnet could enter the World Plogging Championships!