Yakon'd de Yack, Canal Run Back

22 Runners ran between 4-6k to help at Kings Cross Community Orchard

On a night when we celebrated 3 amazing GoodGym runners who have clocked up 50 GoodGym Runs (nice one Lauren, Beth and Will) we also welcomed 3 new runners into the GoodGym fold.

The Greenest Street in London

Our task for the evening was one of the best- we ran to Kings Cross Community Orchard to help Alex from Alara Wholefoods. Alex coordinates a host of brilliant projects from his base here on Camley Street. The Orchard Project have a space to grow fruit trees, there is an Eco Park where community food growing groups can access compost, and there permaculture courses being run for the benefit of local residents interested in growing their own food. It's an inspiring place to spend an evening.

Burning Stuff, destroying weeds, hoeing Yakon

Alex had a range of tasks for us to get involved with- from burning some old branches, to weeding around the nascent fruit trees in the Orchard. We also cleared up the Eco Park (where some locals had taken to throwing rubbish onto the compost pile) and hoed around a rare Peruvian root Alex is growing by the roadside. It's called Yacon and it's a super plant. They contain Fructooligosaccharides which though taste sweet, pass through the human digestive tract unmetabolised, hence have very little caloric value. They also have a prebiotic effect, meaning they are used by beneficial bacteria that enhance colon health and aid digestion. Alex is the first person in the EU to grow it- and we planted it at the beginning of the summer!

Canal run, Muesli Box Fartlek

After all our hard work Alex thanked us by giving us all a box of the muesli he makes on site (ours contained an aphrodisiac root apparently!) and we headed for the canal to start the run home. We devised an ingenious way of working hard without carrying the boxes. We worked in partners, taking it in turns to hold boxes while the other person surged towards a target on the path. They then jogged back to their partner and swapped roles- Muesli box fartlek! We arrived back for a stretch in Granary Square before we headed off to the pub nearby to celebrate the 50 good deed heros!