After a successful Ealing Half Marathon earlier in the day, six of of our crew came back to the route to take down warning signs, mile markers and directions.

Two of our number had taken part in the race - Steph Ducat and Harvey, amazing that they still had the legs to get round again! Other had stood cheering runners on - Ealing Half really is a community event and so well supported.

We have become experts in snipping plastic ties, a life skills that could come in handy if ever stranded on a desert island! There was a bit of confusion early on as we went round of our section of the route in reverse, but it was dark and taking the long way round isn't so terrible, is it?!

Signs under our arms, we headed to drop them off at Lisa's house - the well known coordination point (Lisa also has a camper van and delivers the signs to their year round storage, a handy person to know).

At the end of a satisfying day, our team headed off into the night to for r and r (not rock n roll; rest and recuperation!).

Thousands of runners wizzed through the streets of Ealing for the annual half marathon. Loads of familiar faces running or cheering. What a great atmosphere and well done to all. We all went bananas at the end 😀 Thanks to the GG supporters on the route.

Busy Saturday evening on the Strand and today 4 Goodgymers joined forces to serve frsshly cooked pasta with veggies. 2 of the goodgymers went bananas!!!Guess who? Yes today we had bananas and apples to be given out. To top this we also handed out bread 🍞 and water bottles. Another great session with Gurseva and loads of happy people with full stomachs.

Back for my weekly social visit with my second coach Mr T. I was welcomed by a box with a skeleton in pieces. Not a real body !!Mr T loves Halloween and is into horror films so asked if i can help him get the skeleton out of the box and put the bones together with him. Bone in 5 minutes and he is getting ready for Halloween. We then talked about famous or known horror films. He told me what he sets up for Halloween including the trickle treats. Lets see what else comes out in the weeks leading to Halloween.

Been at Ms P previously for weeding and also know this is cat territory in her back garden...they use the flower beds to drop " special gifts". Today was no different!! I know Kash and Sevan were here recently, so had just to finish weeding in one of the flower beds and brush the court yard and leaves falling from the neighbours fruit tree. I also had to pick up rotten fruit. As per usual Ms P asked if I could remove the cat gifts, which I did. Then went to the front garden to remove the weeds and sweep the small area of the house. No Winnie the Poo but weed a Poo. Am sure the cats will be back and Goodgym too in the near future.

The September conservation day at Grove Farm was a welcome break from a four-session streak at Coston’s Brook, where we had successfully located one of the invasive Japanese knotweed clusters. After our previous captivating escapades in a narrow, overgrown ditch, we moved our operations to an open meadow that needed cutting back.

Nettles, the edges of bramble clusters and dried plants all had to go, ideally cut into scallop shapes, as nature, according to Mike, favours scallops over straight lines. Mike, the lead of Friends of Grove Farm, got to test his newly acquired scythe and scything skills, sweeping through the meadow like a reaper. Meanwhile, fellow Friends Suzie and Joe, along with GoodGymers Scott, Steph and Kash, used hedge trimmers, rakes and forks to trim the meadow and move the dry cuttings under the tree cover to reduce the fire risk. The team was lucky to be joined by two young new volunteers, who quickly learned how to use loppers to cut back the thick brambles.

The next step for the trimmed meadow will be to sow a mix of a special type of grass and wildflower seeds. Maybe we’ll even get to do it at our next session. Sign up to find out!