June continued its glorious unseasonal weather with constant downpours whilst I tried clearing up some of the mess at the Rec.

No Mow May is still in effect which helped keep a lot of areas clean but it seems the benches are a popular watering hole now!! Bitter at one and Guinness at another.

Plenty of wrappers around and 2 socks, but not a pair!

Fran, Rebecca and I whizzed around this small green space and made a big difference!

Gosh, that was a blustery one!!

In slightly different running conditions from last week's heatwave, four of us headed off from Hilsea Lido before collecting the rest of the crew at the Mountbatten Centre. We welcomed Paul to his very first session - epic commitment to come to a beach task when it's blowing a hooly!

Judy's recommendation to bring smaller bags was certainly a good idea, as bin bags would probably have doubled as parachutes with the additional sea "breeze". Weighed down with a few large stones (and a random shellsuit), we got to work filling our bags.

The more interesting finds included a drill picked up by Katie, Andy's mysterious 6 / 9 / g and most fun of all, a message in a bottle!! Sinéad messaged the number on the note, I'll keep you posted if we find out from where and when it came.

Epic work in challenging conditions, folks, well done! I think my favourite photos might be the ones featuring Andy in a t-shirt and shorts whilst Louisa looks ready for an Arctic Expedition 🥶

We cleared a big grassy area at the front of the station, ready for the soil to be added and wildflower seeds sown!

It was a good workout, in very lovely company. The station is looking great!

We wandered through an ever-changing Bransbury Park and collected the usual suspects of litter and got a bagful!

I'm not sure I'll be able to write a Run Report to do this evening justice - I am so full of food and exhausted from laughing so hard!

The Golden Trainer We have a BRAND NEW CHAMPION for 2026 - congratulations to Katie CR for your amazing internal stopwatch! Katie completed the 1km time-trial just five seconds quicker than her predicted time. Andy came in second with a commendable fourteen second difference - which would have been enough to take the title last year! Everyone underestimated themselves, completing the course faster than predicted. After multiple practice attempts and talking a strong game, Sammy somehow picked up the wooden spoon tonight, although this did take the form of a fantastic Endeavour Cape. Preparation and hardwork should be rewarded, not just the result!

Litter Pick We picked up a huge amount of litter in just half an hour, the runner's high definitely have us a boost! Top finds included a whole onion and garlic, an eyelash curler and a bottle of bougie passionfruit vodka, and an empty condom packet beside a half-finished course of antibiotics. Kingston Rec seems to be the place to party these days.

Paanchi Party After burning off all that energy, we headed back to our spiritual home, Fratton Community Centre, to enjoy an evening of curry and great company. Lots of laughs were had, with lots of insights into pyramid schemes, beauty influencers, the reality of teaching and much more!

Thank you for an awesome evening guys, I loved celebrating eight years of GoodGym Portsmouth with you all!