8 Good Gymer's enjoyed an evening at the Marble Hill Adventure Playground. It was a sunny evening and we got to work quickly to clear the playground patches to make the playground ready for action for the community to use.

This playground is unique as it has big wooden play structures and offers children a large open space to engage with others and participate in various activities.

Thankfully the grass and weeds were easy to pull out of the ground and we definitely got a handful of grass and soil on our hands! But many hands made light work and we cleared the area fairly efficiently and with a final jump photo, we were off to enjoy the remainder of the evening.

13 was lucky for us tonight, we had a good run and some great fun at a fab task!

We all met at Wholefoods and welcomed Mena, Kate and Brian on their first run.

During the news we spoke of our upcoming 3rd birthday celebrations next week (check out the padlet on whatsapp and let us know what your bringing to the birthday picnic.)

There was a reminder that the Asics 10km still need volunteers - if you volunteer this year you will get a free place in the race next year.

News of a Community Mission based in Kingston and joint long run (12km) on 20th July followed – check that out here

Richmond RunFest are offering GoodGym Richmond runners 30% off of their new 5km race on 14th September (if 5 people register we can also receive a free place) - you can register here , there is a post-race party afterwards! Save 30% by using this code at checkout: GOODGYM30 (all caps)

Tonight we also wished Jason good luck with his 100km run this weekend!

We congratulated Susan on 50 good deeds and awarded her the black sash

Lastly, we applauded our Run Trainer Mark for 200 good deeds and presented him with a homemade cape, each letter hand sewn by Africa to read “Richmond Hero 200”

Our very own superhero! Congratulations Mark #runtrainer #goodgym #200deeds #doinggood #coach #leader #runner #athlete #fitness @PtBarun pic.twitter.com/mJrK5epFG3

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) July 9, 2019

Back to the night’s task, we were to warm up on Richmond Green, taking advantage of the bright night and withholding rain we jumped, planked and tagged each other until we were ready for the 6km run ahead. We took the route to St Margaret’s and into Marble Hill park, arriving at Marble Hill Play centre.

It wouldn't be GoodGym Richmond without the crazy warmups! #goodgym #richmond #richmondgreen #warmup #fitness #runninggroup #joinus #mondays pic.twitter.com/O6p5RpQA9w

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) July 9, 2019

This centre is a very special place indeed, it offers inclusive play in their adventure playground for 5 to 15 year olds in the borough as well as drop in sessions for younger children and their families.

We met Esther who instructed us on our tasks for the evening, half of us were to put our painting skills to the test and paint a huge rope swing frame bright yellow , while the rest of us were asked to dig and turn over the ground underneath the other huge rope swing. So we swung into action putting some muscle into turning over the ground and practising our flexibility while painting so that we did not go home with yellow stains on our new running leggings (whoops too late!)

The final 10 minutes of the task was a tense time, Mark challenged us to paint the entire deck leading to the swing – so “all hands on deck then” , we slapped paint down and vigorously covered the entire decking (with the help of Kate who had acquired a large paint roller – we will now nickname her “yellow Kate”) and we did it! All with time to spare so we got to shoot some hoops and take a group photo.

Who gets to do this on a Monday night after a run! #greatfun #adventure #play #painting #therapeutic #gooddeeds #goodgym #runninggroup pic.twitter.com/2BprRrYT0d

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) July 9, 2019

We made our way back to Wholefoods, yellow and proud of our achievements. The run took us along the river, taking in dinner as we went (those pesky flies!) and then over the bridge and back into Richmond town centre, cooling down at Wholefoods once again.

Welcome again to Mena, Brian and Kate, and well done to Susan for 50 good deeds and Mark for a whopping 200!

See you next week

Happy running

There was lots going on tonight, there was news of Olympics, 100km races, Tug of War and monthly socials – with some, one and none taking part in each of them.

With regards to the GG Olympics on 3rd August, T mentioned how we each need to sign up individually on the GG website and that there are a number of events we can get involved in , including egg and spoon and sack race. T will be putting together a spreadsheet of events for us all to put our names against.

Tonight though, all runners (13 of us) were taking part in an adventure, the adventure, that’s right…the adventure playground was back!

But first of all, we were put through our paces with a rather adventurous warm-up – think…bootcamp style, “drop down and give me 10…press ups, burpees, dips, squat jumps and other exercises that got us ready to tackle the run ahead. Before we set off Mark announced the delightful news that tonight we would have the pleasure of …a hill! Oh, we do know how to have a good time in Richmond! As we set off we all wondered what hill it could me, there was nightingale whispers and church road panics, but it was Kings Road that saw us to the top. Some of us paused for a second as we took in the beautiful view at the top of Richmond Hill across Petersham Meadows.

Now, stopping for a moment may have been a mistake as a few of us were now further behind than we would have liked to be. Thankfully with the GG shirts in the distance as our beacon we were confident we would get to the task location. And we did get there…but some of us took longer to get there than others, now you see when one GG shirt follows another GG shirt that thought they were following the right route, a few extra GG shirts end up running another 2km’s further than they needed to.

We live and learn!

Once at Marble Hill Park and at the adventure playground we were put to work by Claire who had some of us sanding down chairs and doors, so they were ready to paint, while the rest of us were litter picking and weeding. We were kitted out with all the necessities, including face masks to protect us form the sawdust and Lego to help with the sanding (see photo for evidence). It was a tough old workout, and by the end of it our arms were aching, and there was more sand around us than an Egyptian pyramid but Claire was chuffed with how much we got done. All that was left was to of course, have a go on the big swing once more (also see photos for evidence).

Once the adventures were had we headed back to Wholefoods along the river (for the second time for some people) and welcomed a well-deserved stretch and cool down – Oh, and just to finish of the night we also decided to walk like an Egyptian – well why not eh!

And if you are wondering about the pun, watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq7DGvfnr3U

and here's our version...

Walk like an Egyptian#runninggroup #Mondays #volunteering #Richmond #wholefoods #fitness #fun #marblehill #adventure pic.twitter.com/TkZRZ9UOoU

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) June 4, 2019

It was all yellow in the (Cold-)playground as we all went barking mad. Well we got into the swing of things at least…

A bright but chilly Monday evening saw the Goodgym gang gathered at Wholefoods for a fun-filled task in Marble Hill Park. Mark and Jenna were away so the run was led by Olivia of House Ealing, and while we missed Mark’s warm-up enormously (ahem!) nobody was complaining too much that Olivia’s version was a little less strenuous 😉

Olivia, by the way, is GoodGym’s new guru of participation, driving up membership and involvement across the whole of the GG network – so if you want to share your ideas look her up and get in touch!

Off we went from Wholefoods, taking a familiar route up the hill and weaving through the streets back to Hill Rise and down onto Petersham Road, past “our” flower bed (coming up nicely now!) and then coming face to face with the nemesis that is Nightingale Lane. Without breaking stride we bent heads and powered up the hill, cheering each other on and high-fiving at the top. Good to get that one out of the way nice and early…

Then it was a short run back down and across the bridge, down through East Twickenham and to our destination, Marble Hill Park (whose beautiful grand house, we learned from the entry-sign, was home to George II’s mistress) and its playground of swings and zipwires – a trip down memory lane for those of us who grew up nearby 😊

We were welcomed by task owner Claire and divided into two groups. One group was briefed to turn over and rake the wood chips under the swings - these guys definitely did give a fork (or rake); and the other group grabbed pots of yellow paint (kindly donated by Dulux) and gave the wooden frames a sunny spruce-up - they definitely didn't give their work the brush off (pretty sure this pun came up last time...).

We set to work and were soon making great progress, no doubt spurred on by the promise of a go on the biggest rope swing as rewards for our efforts. It was great to be out doing good in the mellow evening light, and as usual the team did an excellent job on both parts of the task. A couple of Tarzan and Jane impressions on the rope swing later we rounded it off with a photo of a classic GoodGym group pose – with some bikes and trikes that might have been a little on the small side. And then we wound our way back to Richmond for some hill sprint relays and Sally squats!

A big welcome to Millie who recently moved up from Bournemouth (where she was already a GoodGymer) and joined the Richmond ranks, and huge thanks to Olivia for filling in for Mark so brilliantly 😊

21! 21! I think Mark might be saying that in his sleep tonight. It was amazing to see runner after runner walk into Wholefoods and one who even changed his mind mid-run to come and run with us! Great to see you Al.

Amongest the army tonight were also 3 GG Hounslow visitors, Andy, Remy and Michelle. So great to see you and well done to Remi who will have done her 50th GG run by Wednesday this week. We also had Louisa and Chris back for their second run and newbie Sally introduced to GoodGym by Holly (lovely to see you and Jon back Holly!). It felt like even more of a reunion when we were also joined by Salwa, Victoria and Jane. Great to see you all!

Before we set off, Richmond residents and commuters got an eye full as we showed off our warm up skills in front of Wholefoods to the rhythm of our thumping feet as we fired up our fast twitch agility skills.

Richmond taking the warm up - up a gear! @goodgym pic.twitter.com/TWUkk86KlR

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) April 30, 2018

Tonight we had a new task and a new task owner and what a task it was. We ran 4.5km along the river, thankful that the heavens had closed for the day! Some of us took a detour and shortcut, keen to get first dibs on the adventure playground and pick their activity (no names mentioned)....only to be disappointed that Mark wouldn't allow us on the swings until the end.

So, we got to work, after a brief chat from the lovely Esther the Senior Playworker at the** Adventure Playground at Marble Hill Playcentres** about the fantastic provision they provide for 5 to 15 year olds of Richmond Borough. More info about the great work they do can be found here

We were asked to turn over wood chips, create a compost pile ready for growing vegetables and organise the inside of the Playcentre so that the little ones to the teenagers had somewhere to hang out. It was a fulfilling and rewarding task and one we all hope to return to. Finally after all our hard work was done...we got to have a go on the swings and get an ice pop!! Wow what a step back in time!

We took a gentle 1.5km run back over the bridge as we witnessed a beautiful sunset. Thank you for the photo Remy

There was a warm glow for GG Richmond as they completed the task tonight. Even the sky went a colour far from the grey. A scene we had almost forgot. pic.twitter.com/4VMJUwrMpe

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) April 30, 2018

Back at Wholefoods we cooled down and headed for our suppers, proud of all we had accomplished!

Well played all (no pun intended). Next week is tree felling, mat laying and some other goodies, sign up. here