Back at Mrs A to start on the back garden - very big garden invaded by brambles, weeds and bine weeds. Started near the back door to clear the space and make it more comfortable for her and her son. I already filled 2 green wheelie bins and a council green bag, but they havent been collected. Luckily they had a 3rd green wheelie bin at the far end of the garden. Untangled the bin and started by bramble mission. Discovered loads of hidden items : wooden planks, flower pots, animal sculptures, golf balls, golf caddie and a battery for it, fridge drawer and some rubbish bags. Mrs A son was outside and did sorting out of the items i found...we put alot in the rubbish!!. I found a lovely rabbit sculpture that was hidden - now we can enjoy the view of the rabbit. Mrs A son said that his dad used to play golf and practiced in the back garden as it is very long and no one facing that side. At the end of the session, her son could not believe the space and was already thinking of putting 2 chairs and a small table under the tree to enjoy the weather especially that the area at the back door was clear. Mission over but will be back to carry on the battle with the brambles.

On a blissfully cooler day after the recent heatwave, the number of children at Acton Juniors was down on the usual, with 53 finishers. The organisers were talking about the return of a local school next week, which as we saw last time, brought a huge influx of runners and the need for extra volunteers, so if you can help, please sign up directly with Acton Juniors on the 5th of July.

While the number of runners was down, there was a strong showing of 6 GoodGymers. Maria led by running the warm up, Kash was mopping up those at the back as the tail walker and in between, Alan and Steph were marshalling, Sevan timekeeping and Divy scanned the finishers' barcodes.

Steph had a fun time dealing with sausage dogs that were off their leash. At one point he had to funnel the runners past one dog that was blocking their path to make sure that all people and dogs safely enjoyed the park this morning and no sausage dogs were made to roll.

We have 2 sessions listed with Acton Juniors in July. If you're free on either the 12th or the 19th, please join us to help this family event run safely and to make it a fun morning for all of the children taking part.

4 Goodgymers met at Ealing Broadway Station to run and chat towards Acton park as volunteering at Acton Junior Parkrun. Slightly cooler than previous days but still hot 🔥

The last two sessions in the Grove Farm woodlands have, rather oddly, coincided with the May and June heatwaves at the end of each month. This latest conservation day seemed even hotter than the one over the May bank holiday weekend. On the positive note, the temperature had dropped to "only" around 32°C, a welcome improvement after a truly scorching midweek!

Maybe the heat was the reason behind the lower-than-usual turnout? Sevan, Steph Ducat and Kash still showed up after quite demanding morning runs and, together with Mike, sought to cool down in the depths of the woods. There, upstream of the dried-up Costons Brook, the task awaited. Picking up from last month's unfinished objective, the team continued their journey into the wild green yonder, hacking through brambles, ivy and nettles, and removing fallen logs blocking the way - all while keeping a careful eye on dangerously leaning, half-rotten trees towering overhead.

Mike was hoping to get closer to the lair of Japanese knotweed, which was due to be treated by the rangers (given access to the site was provided) as a highly invasive non-native species threatening Grove Farm's ecosystem. Although the team wasn't expecting to uncover the knotweed by the end of the day's expedition, the adventurers made a few eclectic discoveries along the way. Their collection of woodland litter ranged from a shopping basket and a running shoe to a hi-fi stack system and even a wasp nest. One of the wasps took a particular dislike to Kash and made its feelings known with a sting, leaving her with a painful ankle that hindered both her walking and running for the rest of the day.

At the end of the corridor they had cut through the undergrowth, awaited "a house" - a wild camping site complete with a carpet, a table and seating. In the middle of that house, Sevan discovered another "house", and a rather bizarre one: a bird cage, which was an unusual sight in the middle of the woods, where one might expect freedom rather than confinement.

After reaching the "house", Mike suggested cutting an alternative route back, making sure both banks of Costons Brook were cleared in case the stream started flowing again with the arrival of autumn. The fallen logs and trees along the return route had to be carefully removed, one by one, until the team reached the main cleared path again.

"Grove Farm doesn't want to let you leave." - Mike.

Eventually, the nature reserve released the GoodGymers to do good elsewhere. But they promised to return in July to continue their mission, hopefully without any more heatwaves!

Very hot day so cooled down in between with and ice cream

Believe it or not, this was actually my first run of the week because of the hot weather. Fortunately, the run to the shop for Mr G was well worth it - South Acton turned out to be much breezier than South Ealing, while Chiswick was even better in that regard, especially Sainsbury's, where the air conditioning was a welcome relief.

There were no special cooling-down items on Mr G's shopping list, just the usual products, including an additional bag of walnut halves.

In total, I ran about 6.5 km, with a cooling break along the way, and survived. I now feel ready for a weekend full of running and missions. Bring it on!