Farming in the Rain

By James Moed:
After my last gruelling GoodGym run (Rubber-mats-in-the-snow, anyone?) I was secretly pleased to hear that the short run tonight would be a manageable 5K to/from Spitalfields City Farm. I looked forward to the backstreets of Brick Lane (maybe even a break for a cocktail?) Even better, this would be my friend Alison's dazzling debut as a run leader! Despite the rain, it was shaping up to be an ideal chilled out Monday night out on the town - with a touch more lycra.

Pretty much as soon as we finished stretching, I realised that Alison and Annabell had something else in mind. As our leaders bounded out the door, I'm pretty sure I saw a pirouette/double salchow as we turned the corner away from Cambridge Heath Road. From there, we enjoyed a bouncy run in the drizzle, punctuated every few blocks by "Is everyone happy?!?," and in a nod to health and safety, "Don't die!!"

Richard greeted us at the gate to Spitalfields City Farm and introduced us to our nemesis for the evening - a steaming pile of compost that needed shifting to some new vegetable beds. He offered us wellies and gloves to protect us from the biodregrading muck, but I noticed that our dirt-defying leaders preferred to take on the enemy bare-handed. (Alison: The gloves just slow me down!")

As further motivation, Richard told us that the area we cleared would be used to host a crowd of kids and parents at this weekend's Cow Fest http://www.spitalfieldscityfarm.org/node/193. Unless we cleared that compost, local children would be toddling through a field of bacterial mud. (Alison: "MORE WHEELBARROWS!!!")

With the compost mountain reduced to a flattened patch, we all headed back, A & A keeping the pace up as we looped around Haggerston Park. We arrived back at the Arch Gallery to find Ivo's group happily chatting and snacking on boxes of white chocolate truffles! As ever, Monday's Good Gym was full of unexpected rewards.

By Ivo: The run to Stepney was hastened slightly due to us having the keys to the Arch Gallery with us. We briskly ran through the streets lead by Will and Mark and arrived safely at Stepney City farm where Katherine welcomed us in and gave us gloves and showed us to our favorite place: the Compost heap.

We were working to clear some space so that one of the walls could be righted. Will and Chris shoveled hard on top of the pile with Mark. Jasmine and Ian worked on their own epic piel, turning it thoroughly while Patrick and Jez dashed across the farm with wheelbarrows of straw.

Before leaving we were treated to the sight of some newly born goats that Katherine proudly showed us.

The run back was nippy one: Will and Mark kept us on pace to about 4min 40 per km as we raced back along the canal. Back at the Arch Gallery we sadly didn't have a Piano player to accompany our stretches.

From Jez Kneebone:

Monday was my first-ever time at GoodGym: I didn’t really know what to expect, but I guessed that a rainy night at a city farm would set me up for the week. We set off from the impressively well-hidden Arch Gallery, running along the winding streets of East London down to Stepney City Farm. It was a sociable experience – people chatted away to each other while they ran, especially during the warm-up jog.

After reaching the farm we were cheerfully handed forks and spades, with instructions to get stuck in to the compost heaps. My job was to cart around straw and compost in wheelbarrows, which was easier said than done given that the farm’s a bit of a labyrinth. I was half expecting to encounter a Minotaur in the darkness, but the animals were safely locked up for the night. Anyway, after some good hard digging we were rewarded with a peek at the goats and their new kids. That definitely made up for all the toil. There might even be lambs soon, they said.

The run back was quite a challenge. Apparently it was quicker than usual – at least, that’s what I’m telling myself. After all the digging I was a bit knackered, which started to show as we legged it along the canal. Fortunately I was given plenty of encouragement, and so completed the run without falling miles behind.

I’m definitely going back next week. There were really good chocolates at the end.

NB: Photos from Spitalfields to follow.