With temperatures hitting 35 degrees, this was never going to be an evening for speedy runs. The team wisely swapped the run for a walk to the task, arriving slightly later than usual - but with the mission still being crystal clear.

Sevan: “Everybody be cool, this is a litter pick!”
Kash “Any of you rubbish tricks move and I'll bin every last bit of ya!”

The assignment was simple: clear the alleyway all the way down towards Park Royale, tackling the usual collection of discarded fast-food wrappers, cans, and mystery debris lurking in the bushes.

As the team spread out with litter pickers and bags, accompanied by Harvey’s improvised Dick Dale & The Del-Tones beatbox soundtrack, the conversations drifted into full-on Tarantino territory.

Steph: “You know what we call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?”
Harvey: “You don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?”
Steph: “No, man, we got the metric system. We wouldn't know what a Quarter Pounder is.”
Harvey: “What'd you call it?”
Steph: “We call it a Royale with Cheese.”
Harvey: “Royale with Cheese. What do you call a Big Mac?”
Steph: “Big Mac's a Big Mac, but we call it Le Big Mac.”
Harvey: “Le Big Mac! Ahaha, what do you call a Whopper?”
Steph: “I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King.”

The GoodGymers didn’t need to go into Burger King either. Burger King came to them. Wrappers, drink cups and abandoned fries cartons flooded the top section of the alleyway. Sadly, despite reaching Park Royale, the team found very little actual “Royale with Cheese” evidence, only Captain Morgan bottles coming in all shapes and sizes.

Among the haul were disposable vapes, sweets packaging, beer cans and enough assorted rubbish to fill three bags, alongside a couple of small fly-tips cleared from the passage. Like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, some mysteries remained unsolved. Who leaves this much litter behind? Why were there so many Captain Morgan bottles in one place? Who planted a Heineken tree? And most importantly: where was the cheese?

Still, there was good news beneath the grime. Compared to the previous visits, the alleyway was noticeably cleaner, proving that repeated community action really is making a difference. The path to Park Royale may not have been paved with gold, but after one sweaty evening with GoodGym, it was at least a little less paved with rubbish.

On the hottest day of the year so far, and with many people enjoying a relaxing Bank Holiday Monday, a hardy crew of GoodGymers headed to Lark Hall Park for a mission to rejuvenate a long-neglected pétanque court.

The aim is to bring the space back to life so that people of all ages in the community can once again enjoy using it. With temperatures soaring, we made sure to take things steadily: plenty of water, sun cream, and caps were the order of the day before we got stuck in.

We soon began clearing and restoring the court. Our efforts didn’t go unnoticed — passers-by stopped to ask what we were up to, and the local publican was so thankful that he kindly offered us free pints of lemonade when we were finished!

We took a much-needed ice cream break, giving everyone a chance to cool off but despite the heat, we managed to complete around a quarter of the work, with plenty more planned in the coming weeks — including another session this Saturday

After a hot run back and some stretches, we headed off to enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday feeling good about having done something positive for the local community.

Next week we’ll be back at Doddington, followed by our monthly pub quiz — hope you can make it!

Alan, Tom and Steph Ducat tackled the new edition of the Queen of the Suburbs. Not an easy one today due to the heat but they managed to conquer the heat. This couldn't of happened without all the volunteers on the course who kept them hydrated. Great aid station in Southall with the GG Ealing crew