The Verge in London Mara-thorn

On a chilly day for the London Marathon, Patrick and Lucy combined forces in Islington to complete an alternative two-hour marathon effort and dealt with fallen leaves, thorny brambles and a spot of topiary to spruce up Ms O's green garden

While Central London was packed with the excitement of marathon runners and supportive spectators (and GoodGym well-represented in both) Patrick and Lucy met in their home GoodGym borough of Islington to greet Ms O.

Ms O was delighted to receive some GLC (GoodGym Love and Care)

Ms O was the hostess with the mostess as she offered us cups of Earl Grey upon arrival: very welcome at any good deed but especially on a chilly morning! Ms O was also well-prepared for us and had a variety of tools and bags in different shapes and sizes. There was a lot to be done in the garden and our task was to reclaim as much space as possible by:

• Sweeping up the leaves on the edges of the garden
• Pulling down the ivy
• Weeding between the paving slabs
• Evicting the thorny brambles
• Trimming back the bushes

Lucy got started on the bit of weeding then raked up leaves while Patrick put on some relaxing easy Sunday tunes then bagged up the leaves - it was not long till one massive green waste bag was full.

The trickiest job was a team effort to carefully take back the prickly thorns which had taken over much of the garden. Thankfully Patrick and Lucy's gardening gloves were robust and protected against the thorns; Patrick bravely stood in the bag to crush the trimmings down at regular intervals and Ms O came to the rescue at the half-way point with more Earl Grey and some rich tea biscuits: yum.

Patrick and Lucy continue to take down the brambles while chatting about holidays, the reducing pool of music stars (Lucy was still mourning the loss of Bowie), coach runs and the Queen's birthday. We had a couple of visits from very brave robins who were not fazed by the GoodGymmers at all! Another big bag was soon full and then there was a bit of time to pull down some of the ivy and trim back the bush with a few brambles lurking in there to fill a third bag.

After a little over two hours (coincidentally around the winning marathon time), Patrick and Lucy had made masses of progress and the garden was much clearer. However, there still remains ivy along the back wall and some more brambles: a task for another day.

Ms O was really pleased with the results

Patrick and Lucy carried the three big bags of green waste to the front yard, jogged up the road then went their separate ways to warm up with food and hot baths.