And we certainly had a lot of runners last night, 14 to be exact a new record for GoodGym Huddersfield! Fortunately we had a task lined up which could accommodate such an army of athletes eager to do a good turn for their community. Sue from Growing works had a plethora of jobs to keep us amused and busy on their allotment in Dalton.

But before the work comes the play, in the form of a 2K run along the very pleasant Riverside Way and the slightly less pleasant Wakefield Road. There was certainly a supportive spirit amongst the GoodGym group as we ran our way to Dalton, with much chatting, laughing and joking to be had.

As ever Sue was there to greet us at Growing works with tools at the ready and a clear list of the tasks she wanted us to get on with. In fact there were so many tasks and so many runners I’m not entirely sure exactly what everyone was doing! Louise Galvin was already on site having run there earlier and was busy with weeding. It looked like first time GoodGymmers Mary Hirst and Oksana Shimon were getting stuck in straight away along with Jo Talbot digging one of the vegetable beds, whilst the big task of the night involved Ben Godfrey and Peter Phillips levelling a path, so Catherine Gormley, Helen Rutherford and Jane McCrea could cover it with plastic grid and gravel.

Meanwhile Mark Donnelley and David Bilton were digging in a poly tunnel, Meg Deacon and myself cut recycled plastic sheeting to make a greenhouse roof and Vicki Knight-Phillips did my usual job of running around keeping everybody motivated whilst taking photographs. Some potatoes were also dug at some point too, what a busy session! Suffice to say for 45 minutes last night the Growing works allotment was an absolute hive of activity, everywhere I looked red T-shirted GoodGymmers were had at it, putting the effort in and making a difference.

I have to say that of all last night’s jobs, perhaps the most impressive and arguably the crowning glory of the session was the newly laid path. What 45 minutes earlier had been a rough, uneven grassy walkway was now a neat, levelled gravel path that would have graced any garden. Well done all, they say team work makes the dream work, that was certainly the case last night!

There was so much work done, we didn’t even get chance to stop for our traditional tea and biscuit in the potting shed. But we set off for the 2K run back to the Stadium in the knowledge another good GoodGym job had been done and that 28 hands certainly make for light work!

Thanks to all last night’s record breaking GoodGymmers, great to see so many of you.

It’s the start of September so GoodGym Huddersfield went back to school last night. Back in fact to our old friends at Berry Brow Infant School for some more painting of fences and playground furniture. However painting wasn’t the only task, the school had some leafleting to do promoting their free nursery provision. It was just as well GoodGym friend and task provider Katrina Whale from the school had come up with two tasks as twelve GoodGymmers turned up last night, all eager to run do a good turn for our local community.

Meeting at our alternative rendezvous point of Lockwood Park it was good to see a total of three first time GoodGymmers as part the Huddersfield crew. Welcome to Jane McCrea, Jo Talbot-Patterson and Anna Kingston, joining old timers Kati Law, Ben Godfrey, David Bilton, Peter Phillips, Laura Merriman, Vicki Knight-Phillips, Zena Whalley and Richard Byrne. I made up the numbers completing the impressive total of a dozen GoodGymmers. I also had the dubious honour of sporting the GoodGym Huddersfield Superhero cape for the evening, this being the occasion of my 50th GoodGym run.

After a warm-up at the rugby club it was swiftly into the 3K run to the task at Berry Brow. Avoiding main road running, the footpath to Armitage Bridge provided a very pleasant alternative in the September sunshine. Less pleasant perhaps was the final pull up Waingate, but we all made it and arrived at the school ready for action.

Dividing into two teams the painters were swiftly dispatched into the playground to get on with painting a fence blue, whilst four leafletters grabbed a huge stack of flyers and made their way up the hill to Newsome posting as they progressed. A little local knowledge often goes a long way with these things and fortunately Laura and Anna, both of whom have lived in the area all their lives were able to plot the most effective route to get as many leaflets posted as possible within the time available. The fence painters certainly certainly seemed happy in their work too, chatting away as they gradually transformed an old picket fence from a worn woody brown into a new vibrant blue colour.

40 minutes hard labour later it was pretty much job done, the leafletters returned and the painters down brushes in preparation for the 2K run back to Lockwood Park. In the gathering gloom (looks like we’ll be back to working with headtorches pretty soon guys☹️!), there was just time for a group photo on the school climbing frame (and for me to do justice to the superhero cape by sliding down a fireman’s pole) before running off downhill back to our start point.

Thanks to all last night’s GoodGymmers, once again it was great to see us maintaining double figures for attendance following on from our busiest ever month in August. Let’s keep it going through September!

Thanksto Vicki Knight-Phillips for some of the photos.

The Friends of Ravensknowle Park are amongst GoodGym Huddersfield’s best customers, we tend to run down there to provide some practical help a few times a year. And so last night in warm and humid conditions we set out to run the 2K there in order to tend to the park’s Memorial Garden. The garden was created in memory of all the Huddersfield Service People lost in conflicts over the years, and with its low walled individual beds stocked with a variety of plants and shrubs provides a lovely space for users of the park to enjoy.

It also provides a lot of work for the Friends group to keep looking neat and tidy, so Ann Denham who is the Chair of the group (and probably the Park’s best friend) is always appreciative of a little GoodGym labour helping out. Although Ann couldn’t be there last night our own Louise Galvin, who is pretty friendly with the park too being one of the founders of a Junior Parkrun there, had the keys to the Friend’s hut so we could access the tools.

Suitably tooled up we were soon we were straight into gardening mode, cutting, weeding, digging and generally doing what was required to keep the garden looking good. Whilst David Bilton and I scraped weeds and moss from the block paving surrounding the memorial stone, Meg Deacon and Peter Phillips were weeding away, and our resident gardening Wendy Redmile was assuming her usual role advising what plants were weeds and what were something more significant. Mark Donnelley did also point out that his recent GoodGym gardening activities were leading to questions at home, mainly about why he’s not putting as much effort in doing the garden there!

Meanwhile Ben Godfrey and Louise Galvin had found the herb garden and were getting busy on the many weeds there. Vicki Knight-Phillips was busy brushing up, doing her best with a ridiculously small brush, until we found her something more substantial. On the warm, still, calm night the fragrance of the herbs hung heavy in the air and we all gravitated there to complete our time in the garden.

As is traditional at Ravensknowle after the work we retired to the hut for a drink and biscuits, before setting off for the 2K run back to the Stadium. Thanks to all last night’s GoodGymmers, I hope you all had as good a thyme as I did!

Another double figure attendance for GoodGym Huddersfield, for the second consecutive week! 11 runners last night for a relatively short 4K run and a gardening task for our old friends at Christ Church Moldgreen.

Prior to the run I was proud to present now regular GoodGymmer Wendy Redmile with her “no expense spent” trophy for becoming the inaugural GoodGym Huddersfield 10-Pin Bowling Champion last week. Thanks to Kati Law who unfortunately couldn’t be at the presentation for taking the time to hand craft such a beautiful trophy.

After the formalities it was on with the warming up and of course the running. About 2K, (admittedly mostly up hill) took us to the church where congregation member Andrea and her dog Piper were waiting for us with tools aplenty. Our task for the night was to clear the “Jolly Big Bank” which lies between the church and the vicarage. Over the winter GoodGym had an ongoing battle with a former resident of the bank, “The Jolly Big Bush”. During the course of a number of sessions we had entirely removed the bush, but now the bank was regrowing with weeds of all varieties.

There were also a few flowers and shrubs in there, and fortunately we had GoodGym Huddersfield’s resident gardener Wendy Redmile on hand to advise us less green fingered runners what needed digging up and what needed leaving to flourish. It was a big job but with 22 hands cutting, digging, scraping and praising reluctant roots from the earth we were done within our time limit of an hour. In the process we had entirely filled two large wheelie bins with weeds, cuttings and other garden waste, and the Jolly Big Bank was looking far prettier than when we had started.

Waving goodbye to Andrea and Piper we set forth back to the Stadium, with a little trail running over Kilner Bank, dropping down to the Stadium through the secret pine forest behind the cinema. Once back there was time for a swift stretch and the usual debate about an appropriate title for the run report.

Thanks to all last night’s GoodGymmers, as ever your efforts are much appreciated. Good to see Zena Whalley and Megan Higgins who were new to the group runs, along with all the old GoodGym favourites David Bilton, Vicki Knight-Philips, Peter Phillips, Meg Deacon, Mark Donnelan, Wendy Redmile and Louise Galvin. Hope to see you all again next Tuesday to make it another double figure attendance.

Particular thanks to Louise Galvin also for some of the photos, which are far superior to my efforts.