GG giants on piles of mulch

It was the first time in a long time to see Andres still in the store at Old Spike when Sam arrived just after 18:00. He had a long and busy day in the cafe and was still cleaning up. Yet, it was good company.

Nelly was the first to arrive as she was eager to claim her 50th good deed! It's been such a pleasure having Nelly come on a consistent basis to the weekly group runs. The milestone is only testament to her belief in her routine.

Daryl and then just as Sam was finishing his intro speech, Paulin arrived. It would be just us four going for the run as the other two: Emma and Lindy would meet us there.

After the GG speech and warm-up (last one on the Green), Sam asked the ice-breaker question, which was to do with the fact that it's "International Podcast Day" on Friday, so he asked: What is your favourite podcast and if you do not listen to any, what would your podcast be?

Paulin started us off with "Everything is Alive", Nelly doesn't listen to podcast, but would do a podcast about doing podcast or one about hidden disabilities, Daryl listens to "How I Built This" - one for the entrepreneurs and finally, Sam likes listening into those BBC Sounds podcast documentaries like "The Crypto Queen" and "The Good Ship BrewDog". Emma later said in conversation that she likes listening to "The Infinite Monkey Cage" - a science based podcast with Brian Cox.

---

How's your piles?

We haven't done this route in awhile, so it was great to be running up that hill (Grove Hill) to get to the Camberwell side. Our 2.7k run took us just over 15 minutes as we arrived to be greeted by Lindy and Simon. After a couple minutes of waiting, Emma arrived as she cycled over.

Since Simon had already prepared the tools, the team just needed to transport them over to the Kitchen garden, where Sam split the team. Daryl, Lindy and Paulin joined forces to become "Team Mulch" whilst Emma, Nelly and Sam became "Team Bindweed".

The tasks were simple enough for a 40 minute session. "Team Mulch" had to move the big pile of woodchip mulch that had been delivered a few weeks ago from a locked garden back to the Kitchen garden using shovels and wheelbarrows. The team managed to transport at least 8 barrows worth. Whereas "Team Bindweed" had to tackle any bindweed that was growing in the compost and on the fence before it starts becoming unmanageable.

Even without Sam's speakers, the 40 minutes flew by as the team discussed about Autumn, podcasts and getting an update on Lindy's love life and a glimpse of her upcoming holiday.

After bring back the tools and noticing it was five past eight, Sam got the team out of Thorlands and ready to run back to Old Spike as he knew it would take a bit longer on the way back (with a warm down stretch). Lindy and Emma worked their own way home from Thorlands.

---

Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! It was a cold and longer run than what we've been used to in recent weeks. As a team, I am glad we could get a lot done in 40 minutes!

---

Thank You Simon

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon for being our constant community contact as we build this community garden together.