For our final January Challenge, GoodGym Kingston went to the Hawker Centre to help clean up the pod. It's a soft play for children, or tonight for children at heart, and it has slides, obstacles courses and a sensory area. We were tasked tonight with cleaning up. Catherine, Claire, Rachel and Dave all met at the Quaker Centre to run 2.6km through the town centre and along the riverside. It was fresh but not as cold as previous weeks and it felt good to be out enjoying the early evening.

On the run we were papped by the paparazzi! Who tipped them off?! Oh, it was me, and it wasn't the paparazzi but it was Marie-Noelle striding to our destination - love a dynamic shot. We met up with Laurel there and got straight into it. We were tasked with deep cleaning the soft play floor and wiping down the sensory room. So many children come through the doors that it is hard to stay on top of cleaning sticky fingers and all the dust.

Marie-Noelle went straight to mopping and she got so on it that she even used two mops! What a legend. Catherine tackled the sweeping, David and Claire grabbed the anti-bacterial spray and went to clean the sensory room. Laurel and Rachel made it their misison to locate all the balls that had randomly located themselves throughout the soft-play - behind the soft play, on top of it and even under it - they were everywhere.

We worked hard to give it a thorough clean and after 45 minutes we gave ourselves a little reward got into the soft play course. The slides were ours! And then to the ball pit for a chill out.

Great task and lots of fun. Well done, GoodGym Kingston!

A great turnout for tonight's mission! 12 GoodGymers in total with 4 walkers, 6 runners and 2 meeting at the task.

During a quick warm up at the Quaker Centre, we celebrated Samantha's 10th GG mission (Congrats Sam!) and were promptly stretched and ready to go. The walking group was soon on its way with the runners following close behind. The route led us along the river path next to the Thames river - 2.6 k there and the same on the way back.

The mission this evening was to help out with some cleaning at the YMCA Hawker Centre soft play. They had dozens of chairs and tables in need of a wipe down and a large flooring area requiring a mop. Given the headcount we had, we made short work of the tasks in hand which left us with a bit of time to spare... what better way to pass a few minutes than head into the soft play, chuck a few balls around in the ball-pit and hurl ourselves down the slides!

What a fun task to do, especially nice being inside and not getting rained on!

A few shout outs - Tom - for seamlessly joining the runners en route without any of them or you breaking stride. Impressive. Callum - for joining us for your first Kingston GG mission! Welcome :) Samantha - for your TENTH mission! Woo! Rachel - all round GG legend. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!] Laurel - GG mission no.2! Welcome back :)

See you next time!

Goodgym runners were cancelling other appointments to take part in this task tonight! They were strapping on their already mud filled trainers, zipping up their many layers and preparing their waterproofs to meet their challenger....and no , it wasnt blustery Brendan... it was the soft play ball pit!!

15 runners came together to help their local community; and it wasnt just us long in the tooth GG runners that braved the gail force winds and unforgiving showers to meet at Guildhall for a 5km run and to do some good, but 3 sparkling new runners felt pulled by good will despite the promise of soggy trainers , a huge welcome to Susi, Graham and Claire (if you can run in tonights weather, you can do anything!)

With Jo and Laura leading the way as our walking group we headed along the river to the YMCA Hawker Centre where we met Ciaran who divided us into two groups...the apparatus and the ball pit.

Who thought cleaning lots and lots and lots of tiny balls could be so much fun! #softplay #ballpond #ballpit #ymcahawker #ymca #kingston #gooddeed #volunteering #runtodogood pic.twitter.com/4lOHx3y89f

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) January 15, 2020

The YMCA centre puts on many sports and fitness activities for the community including the incredibly fun soft play area for kids (or adults, I'm not judging) which includes a ball pit. This ball pit needed a good clean, so one team set to work removing all of the balls from the pit, cleaning them with a good rattle around in disinfectant spray and the putting them back in the ball pit looking all shiny and new...while the other team got to work cleaning the soft play apparatus , so channeling our inner 5 year old we weaved in and out with joy as we wiped and dusted, using the slide as our mode of transport from one section to another.

Last night we shook things up! Come along to GoodGym Kingston every Tuesday, 6.45pm at Main Guildhall building and you can too#goodgym #kingston #runninggroup #volunteering #ymcahawkercentre #ymca #doinggood pic.twitter.com/vB6rGUGnRv

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) January 15, 2020

We then regrouped to put all the clean balls back in the pit ready for the kids and of course our group photo!

We tackled the raging gusts once more as we headed back to Guildhall for a cool down and debrief

Great group, great task, great night!

How much fun can you have at GoodGym? This much fun!!!! #runninggroup #volunteering #exercise #running #getfitdogood #kingston #tuesdays pic.twitter.com/yf5LW1tlxU

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) January 15, 2020

Don't forget we have a Starter Run this Sunday, sign up here

Well what a fun packed evening!

15 of us came to play last night, we gathered in the Guildhall where we welcomed Emily and Naya on their 1st GG run as well as GG runner Danny who will be leading our run in a fortnight.

We relished in the weekends amazing good deeds , it was a packed Saturday for Community Missions so well done everyone. The feedback from those helped was amazing too!

Also we gave a big shout and congratulations to Luke, Dave and Rachel for doing the Kingston Spring 8 miler!

We paired up and warmed up , there was a bitter wind so we welcomed the running, dipping and jumping...even if our groans said otherwise.... Push up's on the step completed and whose feeling the chill now? Not me that's for sure!! So all set to do some good on a Tuesday evening and destination YMCA Hawker Centre here we come. Great to run along the river and actually see it for a change - 1st time this year it has been bright enough on our group run. So long winter ; - )

YMCA is a charity organisation and the Hawker centre is a buzzing family community site in Kingston offering activities for all from soft play (for the children and us), group exercise classes /gym for adults and so much more!

Once in, it was shoes off, gloves on, and bacterial spray at the ready. Tonight our task was to clean The Pod, this soft play is great for local little ones but it can get a little grubby so we were there to scrub and dust..(oh and play on the slide of course).

Sliding into a GG task like...#somuchfun #volunteering #ymcahawker #running #kingston #softplay pic.twitter.com/eCmSGHUjE2

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) 3 April 2019

We were met by Myke who gave a super greeting and was all prepared with ingredients for our work so we could get stuck in right away. So we did ...to the biscuits of course and juice (how spoilt were we!!) then the soft play -child hood nostalgia flashed in front of us and we were off!

Now just how much fun can 15 adults have while cleaning a soft play I hear you ask, well A LOT as it turns out. It was not all WORK WORK WORK like you might imagine. We were slipping and sliding our way around , J cloth in one hand , bacterial spray in another. Finishing off the biscuits and juice at the end before our mummys and daddys came to pick us up (oh no wait, scrap the last bit - we had to run home with our friends instead).

It's a GG Jacuzzi!#kingstongoodgym #goodgym #runninggroup #community #ymcahawker #softplay pic.twitter.com/YrCEzPVBh5

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) 3 April 2019

The finale of the evening was an unforgettable group photo of us all in the ball pit (our multi coloured jacuzzi if you will) I don't think I have ever had so much fun on a night that included running and cleaning!!

Hard to get our heads together for a pun after all the fun despite the run trainer's requests for one!

Welcome again to our new runners and to Hannah for her second on the Kingston turf!

Looking forward to next week already.

How about a PPP?

PPP = Post Parkrun Plog, and we met with Kate still guzzling her super smoothie breakfast to do some plogging. As was the case with our previous plogs at the YMCA, we never actually made it to the towpath. Instead, we were kept squatting and picking by the car park and grass verges, filling our bags with cans, plastic, bottles, tissues: you name it, we plogged it!

Rob was wired from his speedy 5km and set about collecting a host of wires and cables, whereas Samia adopted a plogging specialism of kids' socks and gloves - oh the ethical dilemmas that this brings (do we leave it in case the child returns? How long does it look like it's been there for?). Meanwhile, Kate was true to her plogging form and moved into a bush, pulling out items and passing them to the bag. Now if only Kate's dreams could come true and she had a litter picking stick and shrub lifter-upper...

Three bags full, three bags emptied into the bins, and three goodgymmers done!

Too many pieces of news to start this with, listed in no particular order:

• Well done to Nicky and Kate (and all the other GoodGym runners that ran) for running the Kingston 10km this morning - and then making it for some plogging with only a hot chocolate in between (you know my disappointment about the lack of my favourite stretches though...). Great work guys!

• Welcome Daniela and well done on your first good deed - especially on a cold November morning.

• Congratulations David on your 100th good deed yesterday!!

David had been assured the full Kingston experience and he wasn't left disappointed, donning the 100 Good Deed Wings like they were part of his standard running attire. Who knows, perhaps they are.... Worn and modelled like a true angel.

The aim of the game was to collect litter from the 10km race but the towpath seemed relatively litter-free, so we set our sights on plogging around the YMCA grounds, starting with the cafe patio area, then to the perimeter pf the playing fields, and finishing off in the car park.

As with yesterday's plogging community mission, I endeavoured to itemise all items in an attempt to match the detail of Cardiff's reports, but couldn't keep up... Here are some of the highlights that I can remember (helpfully prompted by Nicky's photos!):

• Kate determindly found all red & white barrier tape and diligently unravelled it from branches to set it free (and into the bin bag...). She also fancied another serving of brambled leggs, reaching to pick said tape and the odd stray coke can. There was also a finding of some shady-looking shades (modelled beautifully!) and a Kinder egg surprise toy capsule WITH THE TOY STILL INSIDE!

• Karen found an adorable kid's snake glove. No matching glove to form a pair however... And then there was the giant screw and bolt too!

• Nicky was prompted to review the thoroughness of her plogging at one point (sorry!) - but definitely collected some wire from beneath her feet and then cleared up the race's leftover paperwork that was being blown around. (Nicky did had a valid reason for the occasional oversight, as she was frequently being called upon to photograph the weird and wonderful items we were finding). And never one to miss a networking opportunity, got details from a marshall that is involved in social prescribing.

• Daniela managed to fill an entire bag without me ever noticing what she had picked - all the while being bombarded with information of all things GoodGym throughout. A thorough induction but she was still able to plog at the same time - Daniela, you can definitely come again!

• Samia found a broken coathanger and the mandatory plogging ball (sadly no footballs today, but a tennis ball still fits the brief).

• David demonstrated just how skilled he's become through his 100 deeds, collecting: a broken chair (an early finding, which he carried for the entire task), a ladybird children's toy thing, a mop head (to give the ladybird a dougle-esque look), a Baby on Board sign - and who knows what else...

Luckily the rubbish bins were big enough to stow away our plogging collection - although a certain squirrel didn't seem pleased about us throwing away the (his?!) chair.