With the clouds gathering & darkening, there were some question marks on whether the rain would disturb tonights group run, let alone thunder & lightning when busy in the forest!

Ofcourse the possibility of a few drops of rain did not deter this hardy lot, I think there might not even have been a raincoat in sight!

Linda led a group of walkers to the task at St Peters, with Julia leading a group chasing them down via a longer route - any votes on who won? In a sense all of us lost as well, with the high humidity meaning it was a sweaty walk/run.

St Peter in the Forest is a regular location for both Goodgym Redbridge as Waltham Forest, so there was not much hesitation in what tasks to do when the task owner was unable to attend.

• James & Anit set to work tidying up hedges.
• Hélène & Peter walked up & down watering the planters & rose bushes
• Linda & Aj attacked the ivy growing over the wall
• John & Julia tidied & swept up & got creative with chalk

All too soon it was time to pack up and make our way back.

Note, Linda & AJ were not happy with how they had to leave things behind so they are planning a little community mission to finish off their ivy pulling. Why not pop round and give them a hand this Saturday?

After a miserable wet windy morning, the weather perked up enough to entice a few of the GGR crew to venture out and run down to St Peters this evening. There we grabbed some tools and a bag of bulbs and continued the strip others had started, planting daffodils all along the fence, chatting away. With the light fading, it was time to pack up and run back. We'll be back another day to finish it off!

As part of our ongoing connection with the lovely 'St Peters in the Forest' church we headed over tonight to help clear weeds & ivy off some graves, so they can be identified if possible.

Welcoming Tony from the Waltham Forest team at our little base in Wanstead we packed some additional lights and set off on the run to St Peters, chasing down Sharon who set off before us.

At the church, James & John set to clearing up a large pile of weeds & ivy & brambles already cleared by others, while Julia took charge leading the rest into clearing more graves, discovering some very interesting grave stones along the way.

Time flew by clearing & chatting, before we knew it was time to round off, pack away tools and make our way back to base. Only a section done, so we'll be back another evening!

Next week we are meeting at Hainault station, please do sign up here to join Julia for a new adventure in that corner of Redbridge!

The dark nights are setting in, but we were lucky to have a crisp and dry evening as we set off for the task. Pete led us on a run around an approx. 3km loop to the task so we were nice and warmed up before beginning.

Our task was to clear brambles from around the churchyard at St Peter's in the Forest. Upon arriving we spotted a lovely little froggy enjoying the evening dew, although he jumped a bit too fast for me to get a proper photo. We soon got stuck in and made a big difference to the area in just 40 mins, it now looks a lot tidier.

Jogging approx. 2km back to base, the dark task in the churchyard had us feeling a bit spooky and so the talk turned to Halloween plans coming up in a few weeks. The task was also John's 50th (well done John!) so we enjoyed a little celebration with chocolate mini rolls to finish off the session. Can't think of a better way to spend a Monday evening. :-)

A lot of bramble was taken out in just an hour around one of the main trees of the church. Then a quick and easy run in the sun on the way back :)

The title is just a glimpse of what happens on any ordinary Goodgym group run, let alone what might pop up on the first one in who knows how long! * yes we could calculate the days since the last one, but really, that is just a silly big number! *

After such a long break, there might have been some hesitancy in getting back together for a group run, but within seconds of gathering it almost felt like there hadn't been much of a pause at all. There was such a natural flow of conversations that it almost felt harsh to interrupt to get started and confirm the plans for the evening!

During the lock downs & all the different levels of restrictions, St Peters Church became a regular community mission spot for small groups, so it felt quite nice to go there on the first evening run as well. Step by step we have been helping to tidy up the graveyard and bringing weeds and some larger plants under control. Last night was no exception - a few bushes were getting out of hand, but some energetic pruning & cutting back from the GGR crew brought them back under control!

The run over to the church did work up a level of sweat, as the anonymous 'sweat angel' shows... and the army of bugs defending their natural habitat against invaders meant more than one of the brave warriors suffered not just bites but some drawing blood! Tired (and bitten to bits) but happy with a job well done, we made our way back to base, smiles all around.

Thanks everyone for joining this first group run back and making it feel just as pleasant and natural as pre-covid trouble. Special mention to the very energetic and entertaining Lottie, not in the least for the complete lack of embarrasment of leaving muddy paw prints all over Jays t-shirt.

Fancy joining us next week for another GG Redbridge adventure? We'll be looking to vary the starting location beyond our Wanstead base, so do keep an eye out for the details!