Once again, Goodgym was out helping our favourite cultural institution, the Phoenix Cinema, reach audiences and keep going. Tonight, however, we had an extra batch of leaflets from the artsdepot in North Finchley, who are also trying to boost numbers. By chance we met their team in the Phoenix last week and offered to piggy back their leaflets on this session.

And, with another great turn out - eight of us! - we made short work of their programmes. With the weather picking up, we had regulars and newcomers. Great to see Sheela for her first session, after she joined us at last week's allotment session as part of her charity work. And welcome back to Theo, who cycled all the way from Queen's Park, over Hampstead Hill!

Rachel set a fun but tricky topic for us to chat about: name something you used to believe was true, but don't any longer. A couple of us came up with food-related topics that we thought were healthy, like Theodore, who shared the fun fact that frozen-then-defrosted bread is easier to digest that fresh bread.

And then we were off, running a bit further than usual towards Muswell Hill to try and reach some new audiences, with Paul backmarking (sadly no Gus with him). We made short work of our leaflets running around some very nice houses. Jacqui snapped some action pics for us on route. Then, twenty minutes later, with no leaflets left, everyone 'collectively and democratically' agreed to let me choose whether we did more hard exercises or a gentler run. Obviously everyone was up for another sprinting session on the hill path into Highgate Wood, where most of us suitably burned off excess energy, except Subham, who has a bottomless store and led the way back to the cinema, while some of us walked or jogged the last stretch.

Then we all huddled around the tables in the Phoenix for a little social, exercising our 10% Goodgym discount. A lovely close to the evening, and a solid 4km route as well.

Subham arrived at my house, where I performed the sort of generous act that should probably earn civic recognition I lent him a bike and a helmet. Thus equipped, we set off on a scenic journey through the golf course and along the brook towards Cricklewood, looking less like elite athletes and more like two men heading out to negotiate with shrubbery.

Our destination was Mrs C, who had found herself on the wrong side of an increasingly assertive hedge. It had grown so large and unruly that it was pushing out towards the road, narrowing the pavement and causing understandable concern among neighbours, passers-by and, it seemed, possibly the authorities too. This was no modest garden trim. This Hedge was a small green mountain!

When we arrived, it stood there looming over us at well over ten feet tall, as if daring us to have a go. Armed with loppers and a certain amount of misplaced confidence, we got stuck in. After an hour of chopping, dragging and general horticultural combat, the beast had been subdued. The pavement was wider, the road clearer, and order had been restored to this small corner of Barnet.

The nicest part was the reaction. A couple of local people stopped to thank us, including a neighbour, and one woman said, “God bless you for doing this,” which is not something you hear every day while standing ankle-deep in hedge clippings.

Mrs C was delighted and visibly relieved. It was one of those GoodGym tasks that reminds you that a fairly ordinary hour of effort can make life noticeably better for several people at once.

After that, Subham and I got back on the bikes and headed home. Or rather, I got back on the bike. Impressively, Subham had actually run to my house before the mission and ran home afterwards as well, which meant he had somehow turned a hedge-cutting errand into a highly respectable endurance event. It’s a new event run Bike hedge! Could it catch on? You heard it here first!

A fine afternoon’s work: one giant hedge defeated, one pavement rescued, and one GoodGym runner quietly showing the rest of us up.