Fox Fix

Standing in quiet delight at the edge of the allotment, 6 other GoodGym-ers and I watched as Julie approached two small vixens crouching low in the grass near the crossed poles of beans and bushes of strawberries. The manager of the allotments shook a tub of dog treats and tossed them out one by one into the grass where the vixens nipped them up, only a few feet away. Moments later the dog fox arrived, slunk briefly around behind them and slipped silently back into the undergrowth. We were there to help dig over allotments, cut back overgrown plots and shift concrete slabs but none of us were doing any of that. We were all entranced. Nobody from the group had seen foxes so close and so accustomed to humans before. We'd run up that evening from Roll for the Soul, a new vegetarian cafe and bike workshop near the centre of Bristol and started with a couple of back-and-forth sprints to Christmas steps (totally purposeful and not at all because we couldn't remember where the steps actually were). In the churchyard of St Michael on the Mount Without we did some warm-up stretches before tackling a pretty route, taking us about 2.5k miles past some quaint pubs, residential streets, parks and quiet footpaths. Most of it was uphill but we ran at a gentle enough pace that everyone could comfortably stick together and have actual conversations on the way too. No puffing and wheezing for us!

When we arrived at the allotments we were greeted with cups of water, smiles, a supply of tools and, after drawing ourselves away from the lure of our wildlife watch, we cracked on to the actual work. Over the course of half an hour we hacked, chopped, turned the thick clay earth and hefted concrete slabs to make new paths. Every now and again we'd catch the fragrant scent of blackcurrants and at the end were presented with a tub of freshly gathered pink- and white-currants – from heritage plants no less.

For only half an hour's work it was an incredibly rewarding evening and I barrelled home with slightly numb legs (running to the run was kind of ambitious), hair all over the shop, a feeling of satisfied exhaustion and a grin of silly, giddy happiness on my face. Endorphins from exercise, volunteering and meeting nice people will get you pretty buzzy it seems.