The lovely Mr T from far North must have beaten the record of getting me running for a single mission: 22km. 8 km out through busy Holland Park Avenue and equally packed Hyde Park, then 14 km back to Ealing via Paddington and Acton. Luckily, Lidl was just 130 metres away from Mr T's flat!

The gentleman praised his regulars, Nick and Loiuse, but was still happy with what I've delivered today.

Mr T is a history buff, and I learned from him that the granddaughter of the revered Polish king John III Sobieski was the titular queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the mother of Bonnie Prince Charlie. A chat with Mr T and the interesting fact were absolutely worth the run!

"Do you have a bucket?" - Mrs C

...was not what Kash and Sevan wanted to hear from a beneficiary at the start of a mission to clean Mrs C's windows. Thankfully, Mrs C was not as unprepared as they initially feared. There was a mop bucket, some cleaning cloths and a brand new step ladder and window cleaning pole. Mrs C had a large bottle of Fairy Liquid and the dregs of some white wine vinegar too. Sevan mixed them together with warm water and made some good-enough-for-the job window washing liquid while Kash put the window washing pole together.

Inevitably, Kash and Sevan got wet. Sometimes in expected ways, like water dribbling down their sleeves as they reached up to clean the windows. Other times, they were surprised, like when they tried to rinse the mop bucket with the garden hose that was strung over a window. The bucket stayed dry and instead, they turned on a water feature that sprayed everywhere, giving the window and the GoodGymers a nice a shower.

Once they had everything prepared, Kash and Sevan breezed through cleaning Mrs C's traditional wooden sash windows. They speedily worked through the panes in the back garden and back door, plus the bay window in front, cleaning the frames and sills too. The squeegee wasn't great, leaving a few streaks, but Mrs C was really pleased and could see the difference immediately.

"I can see the shine in the kitchen! ✨" - Mrs C

A lot of the chat before Acton Junior parkrun this morning was around the Winter Olympics. Who's seen the opening ceremony? Who'd been firing themselves down an ice flume on a tea tray at 120kmph? Who had the most impressive or least practical outfits at the opening ceremony? Had the GoodGym team been in training for today's parkrun?

"Timekeepers, are you ready?" - Run Director
"Yes, my thumbs are ready."
"They've been in training."
"They're at peak performance, ready to record times!" - Sevan

The rest of the team were ready too, with gold standard marshalling by Maria, Harvey, Chris and Steph. Lightening fast barcode scanning by Joanna... and dependably slow tail walking by Kash.

There weren't any 120kmph performances today and thankfully no ice either, so the 61 finishers made it safely around the track. The first finisher recorded a more sedate, yet still impressive 14.52kmph (or 8:15).

Meeting early at Ealing Broadway Station on a dry Sunday morning, 3 Musketeers set off on a chatty run to Acton Junior parkrun where each of them were volunteering. Kash, Sevan and Steph Ducat ran roughly 3.5km and had a chat/catchup before reaching the park in no time.

You didn’t run here in this weather, did you?, Ms C greeted me with her classic line.

Of course I did, although it was a very short run since my second session on the day got cancelled, and I ended up coming to Ms C from home. In changed shoes, less wet and muddy - wow! Ms C gave me an opportunity to double my steps during the mission, sending me right back to my local Sainsbury’s. She needed some emergency food, so I scrambled to get her some chicken drumsticks, fruit and a kitchen towel. She was very pleased to have something healthier to cook rather than relying on ordering pizza when running low on food.

Another exciting fact was that I still had over an hour to help Ms C with her decluttering. We ventured to the cold, damp, unused bedroom at the back of the house and took some suitcases and bags to the living room for Ms C to go through on her own. I was happy to see she had made progress while the GoodGymers were away, packing away the clutter from the floor into bags she had stacked in the corner of the room. She said that the task made her breathless and that she wasn’t too happy about the solution, as the items in the sacks still had to be reviewed. Nonetheless, to me it looked like progress, and Ms C had a plan to go through one bag at a time to decide what to keep and what to dispose of.

I moved some bags and dived under a chair to find and connect an extension cable, to which I plugged the TV and a heater (which also had to be located) to keep Ms C extra warm when she’d be going through a batch of her belongings this evening.

Before I left, Ms C highlighted future tasks she’d need help with, including changing a SIM card in her phone and planting bulbs before it’s too late - but for now, the decluttering remains a priority.

As much as I’d like to say that it’s always sunny in Horsenden, today it would have been a difficult statement to defend. The early morning welcomed Ealing with showers, so we were prepared to face the Saturday task at the farm in pretty damp conditions. Lucky for us, the rain stopped, leaving behind just a grey sky and lots of mud (dangerously obscuring deposits of cow muck!). None of that deferred most of the GoodGymers who signed up for the volunteering day, including two new starters, Ash and Melissa - well done to both for showing up!

Since the regular volunteers managed to complete moving bricks and other items to make space for a farm trailer before 10 am, Elsa from Friends of Horsenden Hill had a different job for us up her sleeve: a bramble bash! She warned us about cows hanging out on the other side of the fence enclosing the paddock where we would be working. The Shetland rare breed bovines, working at the farm in the nature conservation department and grazing the meadows, were supposed to be easy-going gals, but Elsa suggested that we should give them space in case they go for a walk outside their enclosure - which they did!

Just when we moved the wheelbarrow over the narrow gate to the paddock and stopped for the task briefing, the cows appeared on the Horsendens Gruffalo Trail, approaching us cautiously. Uh oh, what now? We made the perfect impression of minding our own business, hoping that the animals would do the same. They got the hint and ventured as a pack to another pasture.

Meanwhile, Ash and Sevan missed the encounter, busy with a bonus task: moving gravel onto the edge of the road to the farm to redirect the rainwater towards the canal to prevent flooding. They joined the rest of the group later for the bramble bash and watched the cattle from a distance.

Having cleared a good section of the paddock and built a higher dead hedge on the other side of the fence, we traditionally returned to the farm’s hub to order pizzas, coffee and beer, then sat in the shelter area for the team lunch. We got to know better the new farm volunteers whom we met at the session, shared interesting things to do in Ealing, and spoke about cycle paths and trails along the green spaces in the borough. The conversation inspired some of us to go for a walk on top of Horsenden Hill and enjoy the view.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Won't be needing the gym today! Everyone was friendly and I feel we got alot done. Somehow ended up with mud inside my wellies lol. - Ash

We will be back at Horsenden next month on the first Saturday as usual - if what we do sounded like fun to you, join us for the task and team lunch with pizza. Sign up here!