... roses, honeysuckle and rosemary all smelled very sweet in Ms V's garden, making the gardening mission very pleasant indeed.

I managed to clear the plants on either side of the path to about halfway down the garden, and dead-headed the pretty rambling roses so that hopefully they will bloom again outside Ms V's back door.

I have made a submission to the City Museum for our inclusion in their Portsmouth 100 exhibition celebrating the community groups in Portsmouth.

We have now done over 12000 good deeds in the city so we deserve a bit of celebration!! The exhibition will open in October - expect a listing for a group visit!!

Find out more here: https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/portsmouth-100/your-museum-your-stories-your-city/

The fact its taken me nearly 48 hours to write a Run Report shows quite how good a night we had celebrating the Amazing Andy before he leaves us (hopefully temporarily!) for pastures new.

A night at Dice escalated from family-friendly games to debauched drawings in Scrawl, leading to many photos of the night being NSFW. I have certainly not laughed so much in a long time - and I hope you enjoy Donkey Batman in the photos. No, I cannot remember the context for his existence.

The quiz round "Dead, English, Both or Neither" nearly brought our night to an early finish after Andy's heart broke after learning that Sean Connery was no longer with us. We shall raise a Martini (shaken, not stirred) in his honour at some point.

We ended the night channeling our inner Tom Jones (Andy) and The Little Mermaid (Big Wine Jen) at Bobby's Bar. I would recommend not watching the videos which have somehow made their way into the social chat...

Hope everyone had a great night, and yes, I did make it to work on time and semi-functional on Saturday morning.

Dave and I joined up with volunteers from Fratton Community Pantry and Action Asylum to pack down after the cultural event at St Mary's Church.

We arrived in time to see the last couple of performances - local dance groups demonstrating dance and music styles from their cultures.

We then got to work packing down gazebos, then removing, folding and storing their tops. I employed some yoga moves to help squeeze the air out. Very reminiscent from my days camping with the guides!

Lastly, we helped bring some resources back down Fratton Road to the pantry for storage. I very much enjoyed being able to carry a giant phoenix - although we did get some very strange looks from passers by!

We wrapped up the day with a five-mile run - despite it being 6pm when we started, it was still crazily toasty!

6 incredible GoodGymers headed to the Stacey Centre for a fantastic gardening mission. Our small but mighty squad was buzzing to welcome a brand new member to the crew, ultramarathoner Donna! We were thrilled to have her with us, and even more thrilled she didn't try to make us run 50 miles!

The main mission of the night was to remove an overgrown patch of burdock, amongst other weeding duties. I’m not saying the roots were deep, but I’m pretty sure the team opened up a portal to the Upside Down! After much tug of war (and a cunning use of the secateurs!) we managed to rip the never-ending vines from the soil, potentially saving Portsmouth from a supernatural invasion!

Sweaty but victorious, we took a well-earned breather to marvel at the Stacey Centre’s impressive fruit collection, spotting plums, cherries, apples, peaches, blackcurrants, and grapes, like true gardening connoisseurs!

Top tier weeding team!

The trails around the YHA National Forest provided a spectacular backdrop for a brilliant Sunday morning run, a perfect way to round-up an incredible weekend at GoodGym Shindig 2026!

Andy had the privilege of leading a fantastic GoodGym crew through the woods today, joined by the legends that are: Ivo, Louise, Sammy, and Denzel - who absolutely smashed his very first trail run!

The woodland scenery, lakes, and canals made the miles fly by as we tackled the undulating paths, enjoying the fresh air and the extra physical challenge that comes with off-road running.

Between navigating the routes, and almost losing the shorter members of the team to the longer cow parsley (- sorry Sammy!), the conversation took a brilliantly existential turn, marveling at the sheer luck of the stars aligning to bring all of these legends together and onto the paths in the exact same place, at the exact same moment! What are the odds?! This naturally sparked some deep, mid-run debates about time itself.

We eventually pushed through to hit the 15km mark, in what was a phenomenal shared effort, and an unbeatable way to spend a Sunday morning.

Well done to each and every one of you, and thanks Shindig! We hope to see you all again soon!

Check out this Flyover of my run on Strava