Pop goes the balsam

Last Tuesday 33 keen runners assembled at The Folk House for one of our longest runs of the year - we were heading out to Ashton Court to attack the invasive Himalayan Balsam, the scourge of biodiversity everywhere!

It was a warm evening so it was really important to make sure everyone was hydrated and for once the health and safety talk had a bit more seriousness to it - Ashton Court is home to deer, deer are home to deer ticks, and the ticks can be home to Lymes Disease. So it was agreed that we'd check each other to ensure we didn't have any unwelcome guests!

We headed off and it was a lovely evening for a run - it was mostly off road and flat, although there was a mighty hill near the end! We met up with Neil and then it turned out we had more running to do - not that much further but there would be more hills on the way back.

Because of the length of the run, we didn't have that much time so the team attacked the encroaching invader with gusto. The plant makes an appealing popping sound when you snap it in half, and to prevent the balsam from regrowing, you have to basically mash the stem, so there was a lot of popping going on.

All too soon it was time to head back, and we all had a quick check for ticks - luckily we were not taking any passengers with us back to the Folk House!

Our run back was steady and accompanied by several hot air balloons that set off from Ashton Court at the same to as us. We made it back to the Folk House just after 8 where we had a good stretch. There's still more balsam to bash so it's really possible that we'll be back there some time soon - I can't wait!

Thanks gang!