After the hills we were spitting feathers but still chirping about mental health

It was only a short distance to our task location at Lynde Care Home in Richmond on Monday night, but this only ever spells trouble for those of us with a liking for steady, flat routes. “I don’t want to spoil it for you,” Mark says, smiling like he’s about to tell us what we’re getting for Christmas, “but there’s a couple of hills tonight.”

Well, a nightingale might have sang on Berkeley Square, but it was less chirpy-chirpy-cheep-cheep and a bit more huff and puff up Nightingale Lane, the second of our Richmond two-peak challenge. Feather light was the one thing I definitely didn’t feel as I pushed on up the final near-vertical gradient. We had just been chatting about how we keep our minds healthy in connection with Thrive LDN, a citywide movement to improve the mental health and wellbeing of all Londoners, who are also partnering with GoodGym for World Mental Health Day tomorrow. (Running, leaving work on time, getting outside, watching for burn out, talking, having a bath, slowing down, and switching off the smart phone were some of our top tips for keeping our minds healthy and happy, in case you wondered.) And the Lane was certainly a test of our mental as well as physical strength and endurance. It was like the Tour de France, but without the bikes and the (alleged) performance enhancing chemicals. Nothing but the GoodGym vibe to give us added propulsion.

At least it was all downhill (in the literal sense) from there on. This was our second visit to Lynde Care Home in Richmond. We had been promised birdhouses the first time we visited, but the materials had not been ready. So, we were back to finish the original job. With more hands than there were brushes to paint, we took turns at sanding, painting, illuminating and directing and there were plenty of eagle-eyes to check the quality of our handiwork. Two bird tables and three bird boxes are now ready for action.

With 15 runners, two hills and a lovely task, it was great running, GoodGym Richmond. And fabulous also to welcome back some returning new runners (David, Mark, Holly and John) and to greet Bipin with the only vertical hill in Richmond on his first ever run with us. Well done, you lot.