16 Goodgymmers were back at Stepney City Farm on Monday night for another round of compost shifting.

Simon at the farm was concerned about safety because at the last minute, we had no lighting for the task. So, to appease his fears, and to prevent any potential running with manure filled wheelbarrow slips, which nobody wants to experience, we improvised: those of us with head torches wore them while others took their bike lights from their bikes and attached them to themselves. We did a pretty good job of lighting in the end as there were no pitchforks through feet or wheelbarrow crashes at all.

Our task for the evening was to shift two big piles of manure from one end of the farm over to the compost heaps at the other end of the farm. Three of us set about forking the manure into the wheelbarrows at one end, three of us forking the manure out of the wheelbarrows at the other end (and turning the compost so the wheelbarrowers could get a good 'run up'), with the rest of us on wheelbarrow duties, transporting the manure across the farm to the compost heaps. We very quickly fell into an efficient feedback loop: full wheelbarrows travelling one way up to the compost heaps, empty wheelbarrows travelling a slightly different route back for re-filling, thus avoiding any potential wheelbarrow collisions.

The manure shovelling guys did not falter in their work, shovelling hard and fast throughout the task until both piles were completely cleared. In all my times at the farm I don't think I have ever seen the compost heap at the other end piled so high. The wheelbarrowers did a fine job of running up the heap to empty out their barrow as close to the top as possible, whilst the pitchforkers dug a sort of ramp for them to run up. Despite our initial lack of lighting concerns, the whole task was really well coordinated and swiftly carried out.

On the return run, Tom found us a new little park to train in, and we completed the evening with some sprint intervals. We paired up and ran 5 minutes of constant sprints; one partner sprinting to "the third lamppost" and back again, hand-tap your partner who then set off sprinting to the third lamppost and back again. Recovery time between sprints was anything between 25 - 40 seconds, depending how fast your partner sprint. A good interval session had for all, and another good deed dung.

Andreana

After a misty morning a clement evening brought 20 GoodGymmers together to move compost. A short run to the Orchard School (almost, but not quite, getting lost on the way) we make it to our task, some trepidation in the air as the last task here involved 16 tonnes of compost... This time however we were lucky… only 4 tonnes! After orders to split up into lifters, diggers and spreaders our job was easily under control, and looking like we may finish early, however early-finishing is not a word in Tom Craggs dictionary and so a fourth group of circuits was created. Even with Tom’s extra group we completed the task with enough time to run a few laps of Well Street Common to get our heart rates up and attempt to blow away the smell from the compost, then back to home for stretching. Another great run and excellent task well done to the 20 hard working runners!

Stephen.

Tonight's run saw us return to our good friends at Stepney City Farm. Composting was on the menu for the evening, with barrowloads of steaming goodness being wheeled from one end of the farm to the other. Meanwhile, a field was being expertly aerated. The pitchforking, wheelbarrow-pushing, ground-prodding and ramp-building provided a good workout for everyone, while the goats watched on approvingly.

Burn your bridges...

On the way back, we did some intervals along the canal, using the bridges as markers. We were back outside the hotel with plenty of time for a good long stretch. Great work everyone!

David

Some old faces and one new turned out to complete last week's task of moving a mountain of compost to fertilise the gardens at the appropriately named Hoxton Garden School.

After a brisk jog to the site we all got an excellent back and shoulder work out shovelling, carrying and wheeling about two tonnes of dirt. As dark descended, the race was on to get rid of the pile so that the children would have a compost-free playing space when term goes back. The amount of chat diminished as the intensity increased, with our work culminating in a very satisfying last ditch tarpaulin drag to disperse the final few kilograms. Despite this hard work, we managed a strong pace back to base.

This was a really satisfying task to complete and our help was obviously greatly appreciated. The big surprise of the evening was when it was revealed that the soil was recycled by the local cemetery! Many puns ensued.

Another great effort by the good gym runners!

Gabrielle

7 hardy souls, and of course coach Tom, braved the weather for Monday night's task.

After a 3k run to a local primary school the Group were greeted by a very grateful individual who was keen and eager for our help.

Goodgym Tower Hamlets had previously visited the school in February to help build and plant some planters which were looking great and certainly brightened up the garden.

Just as we arrived and were readying and raring to go the heavens opened and it's fair to say everyone was well and truly drenched. However, undeterred we split into two group - one group to move a large bag of soil from its current location into a nearby skip and the rest of us set upon a rather large mound of earth, bagging it up ready for collection, before adding some to the flower beds around the garden. Luckily you could see a difference when time was up!

Feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves for braving the weather (still all very soggy) and for a good upper body work out, we set off for the run back.

Annaka

A few first timers this evening. Welcome to Alan and Anna. Alan's a keen distance runner and has "persuaded" Anna to train for a half marathon. Let's hope GoodGym can help them get a few miles in the legs. We also welcomed Helen and Caitlin who did a great job on their first outing. And lovely to see Hackney-ite Flynn doing a bit of tourism.

There were two tasks tonight. Not only did we have to deliver a ton of promotional material for Caxton House's Hillrise Summer Festival, we also had to go and tidy up an adventure playground

Since the Caxton House job involved quite a bit of distance, hardcore runners Patrick, Aidan, Ryan and Caitlin were recruited for the 7k round trip. Rucksacks on, they stormed off into the sunset and set about dodging dogs, climbing steep steps and practising their delivery action.

The rest of us headed over to Lumpy Hill, one of 12 adventure playgrounds in Islington providing a wonderful service for kids in the area. We also delivered a few spare leaflets to houses a bit further south en route.

There was a mild panic when we arrived at the adventure playground and it seemed to be locked up. We shouted, rang the bell and rattled the gates all to no response, until Steve did a bit of surveying and discovered there were two playgrounds on the same stretch of road.

Once on the proper site, we were shown in by Kerry and Jenna. There were quite a few jobs to do: Alan and Anna set about some "brooming" (that's Irish for "sweeping") to remove any nasty stones from the front of the garden while others donned gloves and spread out around the garden to rid it of nasty stinging nettles (ask Flynn about how stingy they were) and litter. Most of us made friends with ants. Some of us were still feeling ants later on in the evening. Some of you can probably feel ants crawling up your legs now? Can you? Are you itchy? Do you need to scratch? What about yawning? Anybody feel like a nice big yawn? YAAWWWNN! Sarah pointed out it wasn't just ants we had to worry about - we also had a few antipodeans in our midst (they also crawl up your legs sometimes). Ozzie vs. Kiwi debate coming up in a few weeks, we reckon.

With a nice big area swept clear we spread out a large sheet of tarpaulin and a group of us placed a gigantic inflatable pool on top. It was swiftly filled with air (via pump, Steve was relieved he didn't have to blow) and we started filling it with water while giving it the odd yank to remove creases. It was quite a large pool so it should be full in about seven weeks.

With the site looking much clearer it was time to head off and do some relays on the fields. But wait a minute, why would you go and do relays when you've got an adventure playground to mess about in? OK, sod the relays. We swang and climbed and slid down slides, threw frisbees and kicked footballs, and some of us screamed.

We finished the evening with a tennis ball game. We paired up: one member was responsible for dropping the ball and the other for running and catching it before it bounced twice. A great way of improving reaction time and speed and a great workout.

Biscuits were HOMEMADE this week. And were supplied by Anna. So tasty! Who's making next week's?

The debate for the evening was supplied by Bridget: "Should people boycott air shows?" (there's been suggestions that they should because they're dangerous). For the first time in Islington Debate history we all agreed and said that no, people should not boycott them.

Big round of applause to Patrick for 17 good deeds last month

Well done Sarah for 50th good deed. Looks like Ros's 50th is imminent.

And remember drinks on Thursday

Planter painting next week

Simon

Monday is fun day and means only one thing...... GoodGym Brent of course!!

On a significant night in the GG Brent calendar (Coach Ellie's last run for a month!!), the group collected on a drizzly and muggy Monday eve, in the midst of this Great British summer.

Housekeeping welcomed one new face, the delightful Darren, who despite his best efforts to mask it, nearly fainted when he heard he'd turned up to the bi-monthly "Long Run" session.

"I've never run that far before" Darren gulped, "You'll be fine, there's lots of traffic lights" Coach Ellie explained with a wink.

Wembley, seemed far away, but the team assured Darren, it was a meer hop skip and a jump over the north circular, then just 3 and smidge and you're there.......Not going into great detail of course about the smidge or the journey back either!!!

With the nerves beginning to semi calm down, the group prepared for set off, feeling pumped and excited to be Branching out further in the borough...... (Pun will make far more sense when you see what the task was...LOL)

Setting off the pace was tight Rasi, Dan and Claire pushing up the front and Ellie with Darren not far behind. Soon enough Darren's full tracksuit, including leather shoulder patches, became the most fashionable live-in sauna you've ever seen. Like a boxer shedding pounds for weigh-in, he began shrinking before our very eyes!! To counter this, Darren ran with a full 2 litre water and you'd better believe that thing was empty by the end!

Arriving at our destination we were greeted by the awesome crew at 3rd Wembley Scout Hut, including the gorgeous Reggie... Ellie was in love........ Reggie is a dog BTW. Straight away, Jay showed us the task at hand, but not before kindly providing the team with jugs of squash and water, what a champ.

As we filtered outside the mission was clear, chop down the dead tree branches and vines (See I told you it would make sense), to clear a space for Scout Summer camping!! What better cause is there than that! The team began sawing and chopping, feeling very strong and powerful in the wake of our destruction. We also had to uproot some stubborn bulbs that had mutated into concrete blocks in the earth. Unyielding and fierce, Sadhana and Dan began the great fight with grit and determination.

After working up a sweat for a good 40minutes, time was up and our work here was done. Bidding farewell to our fantastic hosts we hit the road again for the journey back. With sprints and hill drives thrown into the mix, the team pushed their bodies to the max and motivated their way back to the home stretch.

One last hill to finish, on - Out-of-Puffington Road and a raucous cheer for Darren as he thrashed out the last of the 7mile journey, not really believing what he had just achieved with the help of a few Good-Gym Friends.

Never one to miss a celebration - Pritesh arrived yay!!!! After cycling 10miles and stopping into his cousins for a slice of lasagne - as you do!! It must of been a bloody good lasagne.

With Garfield, I mean Pritesh now in tow, we set to work at the final task of the evening........ A trip to the pub, finally Ellie's first time and to think Bodil wasn't here to witness it!!!

The drizzle had cleared and the mild evening beckoned a team gathering in the outdoor beer garden for one last toast - To Coach Ellie and to wish her well on her trip to Malaysia. Laughs and revelations and a few more laughs, a fabulous team, a brilliant night and one hell of a send off!

Until next time....

DO GOOD. FELL GOOD. INSPIRE

This week's task was cancelled at the last minute due to lead worker on the project suffering sun stroke. With no task 17 GoodGym members ran off to Victoria Park to get hot, bothered and fit!

Having tackled the 1 mile run to the outdoor track we did a series of paired relay runs with one partner running one way around the track, to meet their partner heading in the opposite direction. Having clapped hands, bashed chests or otherwise crashed somewhere in the middle we turned and ran back to meet our partner again. Tom asked for an honest 8-9/10 effort and it definitely felt like we put that in under the blazing sun. With the first set complete we did a series of bodyweight exercises including squats, lunges, bear crawls and a wheel barrow race - helping to get to own our partners a little more intimately!

Then it was back tot he track for a repeat of our pair runs before a mini core workout and back to base. Tough work, but good fun!

A rather unique GoodGym activity had 23 runners (including two newbies) itching and ready to get crafty. After meeting at Town Hall Hotel we ran to the National AIDS Trust in Old Street to get crafty. We were tasked with painting papier mache pill-shaped hats, so that they'd be ready for Pride at the weekend.

The National AIDS Trust is using the march to promote one of their current campaigns regarding a preventive HIV medication, so when you see a group of pills walking through the parade, think of GoodGym as well as this important work from the Trust ;-)

Aside from the heavy duty painting workout we all ran 6.5km with Andy Lulham stretching the group's pace on the way back.

ReeRee