15 Tons of Earth Muck

Last night, GoodGym dealt with the most enormous pile of topsoil that we've ever seen. By "topsoil" I mean very hot, very fresh compost, which stank as much as it steamed. And by enormous, I mean a mammoth mountain of manure, which a number of experienced and wise GoodGym eyes say looked well over a standard 15 ton pile.

Fortunately, to deal with this record breaking quantity, there was a record breaking team of 36 of us who gathered at the start point and another 2 who turned up on site, keen for fitness. A foot injury may stop a GoodGym runner running, but there's nothing like a stinky-half-rotted-earth-muck pile to keep us exercising.

The job was to move the heap out of the way of the road which runs through the city farm and into a side field. A large quantity of straw, which needed some more encouragement to rot properly, was also mixed in. So, armed with shovels, some runners began breaking up the mountain and piling it into wheelbarrows. A team of high-speed trundlers then jogged the heavy barrows to the side field where they emptied the loads onto a straw layer which a fork wielding team had been breaking up and spreading.

As the time ticked away, the intensity grew. We could see that the main restriction in our task was the number of wheelbarrows. Wheelbarrow running became the most high pressure task and some of the diggers even took up roles directing empty barrows to their most useful location to ensure a speedy fill.

Strict timings meant we had to stop the task before total completion, but the tiny heap we left was barely a molehill, and will be easily dealt with using a dustpan and brush this morning. We split into two teams for the return journey, one taking a spritely jog back the way we came to complete a 4k round trip and the others pushing hard through a 25min 5k to make a 7k total.

Thanks from Richard and some lost and found gloves: "Thankyou everyone for an amazing effort last night! The mound is steaming happily and wasnt in the middle of the path 'scaring the horses' anymore, plus,alll that waste start that was layered into the mound will rot in weeks not years now. With your help we are turning a wasteland into a community and food hub, no long food chains and mystery meats in the food chain here! Your work will be feeding everyone from asylum seekers to bankers, all coming together as equals to grow and bond, so Thankyou.

"There were a sweet mismatched pair of gloves (one puple one orange) left on the floor, they are stored on my chaotic desk and should be there for about a week if anyone wants to claim them."