Along with the mass of GoodGym runners and walkers descending on Conkers parkrun, 3 of the group helped to run the event too. Louise arrived first to help set up the course, which allowed her to run it too. Sevan was there at the end as one of today's timekeepers (surprisingly, both were in sync throughout) and Brenda took on the role of Walkleader at a parkrun where they can have up to 80 of them taking in the gently undulating course.

With the GoodGymers, including Ivo who finished 6th, there were 490 finishers recorded. As well as getting the finishers safely around the course, everyone met the extremely friendly locals and got some local flavour and recommendations for the weekend.

When the golden evening sun casts long shadows of GoodGymers arriving at Elthorne Park armed with spades, you know exactly what time of year it is: burdock-hunting season.

While burdock is a useful food source for pollinators, it is also extremely invasive. A single burdock can produce up to 15,000 seeds, allowing it to spread rapidly across green spaces. Left unchecked, it can grow to an impressive 10 feet tall, competing with other plants for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Its large leaves can block the sunlight from reaching surrounding vegetation. Apart from making it harder for a variety of plants to survive, burdock produces spiky seed heads called burrs later in the year, which easily stick to dogs, wild animals, and people's clothing, helping the plant spread even further.

The Ealing Parks Rangers asked for our help in tackling this botanical giant by digging out its deep taproots wherever possible or cutting plants as close to the ground as we could. Six GoodGymers answered the call. Richard, Yonas, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash ran 3.5 km from Ealing Broadway through West Ealing and Hanwell to meet Conor at Elthorne Park.

Armed with spades and determination, these Aces of Spades set to work clearing burdock along the path leading to Elthorne Terraces Orchard. Before long, they reached a true burdock stronghold and spent the rest of the evening removing as many plants as possible before they had the chance to develop burrs and disperse their thousands of seeds.

It was a rewarding session that made a difference to protecting the biodiversity of this much-loved Hanwell park. However, having discovered such a significant burdock colony, our work is far from over. We'll need to return before the end of the month to stay ahead of the invasion.

Fancy joining the fight against the burdock army? Come along to our session on 30th June!

Sevan and Kash would have thought that a GoodGym intervention a year ago would discourage, or at least slow down, the bramble growth in Ms A's garden. They were wrong! This year, the blackberries behind the corner of the garden had grown even taller and thicker.

Not deterred by the return of the vicious spiky weeds, the two GoodGymers rolled up their sleeves and put on the thick, bramble-proof gloves. Kash decided not to use the shears that Ms A considered very blunt and instead chopped her way towards the house wall using a good pair of loppers.

Meanwhile, Sevan raked up the trimmings, cut them into smaller pieces with secateurs and packed them into green bags. He then had a round of strimming - with the same ominous strimmer as in 2025 - targeting the grass that had survived the competition with the brambles.

The three green waste bags could barely contain the volume of cuttings, so Sevan and Kash resorted to their usual stomping and dancing in the bags. Ms A was very grateful for the help, as she'd been in a lot of pain and hadn't been able to keep on top of her garden maintenance. Another Sunday afternoon well spent!