A 2018 vintage - subtle aromas of windowlene and paint

So big news tonight, Laura's off to Portugal for a couple of months (we'll miss you Laura!) & Jon ran his longest ever run on Sunday. Jason & Polly joined us for their first run & Leah was back for her second. Well done all!

Under a bright red sky, we warmed up on Richmond Green. With a definite autumnal chill in the air, the warm up was more necessary than it has been for a long time. Mark got us going with a shout of 'Let's get lunging' as we did a 'round the clock' set in every direction. Then we split up into pairs to do drills. After meeting a confused member of the public who was concerned about our warmup methods, we hopefully set his mind at ease and got on with our run.

We headed out along the river & across Petersham Meadow. With our head torches on we did our best to stay together. Jon did laps back & forth between the front group & the back, in an effort to keep us together, so if his strava says he did more than the 5.5k, you know it's not lying!

We knew something else must be in store though as this seemed much too straight forward! Sure enough hill sprints awaited us. Up Nightingale Lane, 5 times for those who could manage. Anita & Jenna took the sensible option of heading back towards Petersham & up the 'not for the faint hearted' Star & Garter Hill.

Were we drunk on fun from the warm up in that photo? Or were we just imagining how we would feel after those hills?

Those of us doing the Hill sprints set off as fast as we could, powering ourselves up the steep incline. It certainly was a challenge and the sting of the cold air on the lungs warranted a quick break at the top & a gentle jog down. But back up we went with Laura commenting that Aran must have motors in his trainers at the speed he was going! We were all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, only to be suddenly over taken by a man pushing a buggy! Having ducked out of the last hill sprint, Holly & I set off after him in a real effort to catch him... but he was just too good!

After a quick group picture at the top of the hill, we set off to the Vineyard community centre knowing it was not far away & thankfully all down hill now. Desiree was waiting for us with water & Samia was there waiting for us too :)

No pane, no gain!

Tonight's tasks for the hardworking Vineyard Community Centre was to clean the windows, move some slabs in the garden and paint the glass doors on the summer house. With so many pairs of hands we made light work of all the jobs, although those slabs were very heavy!

Before we knew it Mark was calling time & gathering us up for another group photo. As a thank you to us, Desiree brought out some great cakes. So, as is almost a vineyard task tradition now, we ran back to Wholefoods carefully cradling slices of red velvet, chocolate fudge or lemony Madeleines. Mmm delicious!

Well done everyone, you deserve a "slab on the back!"

As mentioned in the news tonight, ETNA are crowdfunding for a new kitchen , if you wish to know more details on how to give your support or see the video we featured in for the centre then get in touch with Mark.

Also, please don't forget, if you wish to join the task on 8th October at Kew Gardens station then please sign up by end of Friday this week

20 strong runners, including many tourists gathered at Wholefoods tonight to run to Lynde Care home. We had visits from Goodgym Croydon (Imogen), Goodgym Hounslow (Andy and Remy), GoodGym Kingston (Gary) , Goodgym Bristol (Richard)and Goodgym Newcastle (Emily). So lovely to see so many of you.

Great run tonight everyone! #Richmond #Goodgym pic.twitter.com/fuTIvnXLb1

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 21, 2018

I was the luckiest out of the lot, as my fellow GoodGymers got together to celebrate my 100th good deed - there was a card, framed photos, balloons, cakes and even WINGS! thank you everyone I feel very blessed.

Tonight we had a 5.2km run (to be precise) but there were a few keen beans who sped off in front and took a longer route even though the task was only a stones throw away! Any excuse for a long run eh!

When we all finally arrived at Lynde our job was to carry bags of slate and create a feature in an area of the garden which included two bird baths. A few of us were asked to dig a hole for a new plant, weeding also got a look in during the task.

Don't be "slating" us #goodgym #richmond #volunteering #lyndecarehome pic.twitter.com/xMsYMJrnAQ

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 21, 2018

Now it may sound like a lot to do but with so many keen runners we got those tasks done in minutes! So we were treated to a partner workout from Mark, because of course 'lunges give you wings!' We teamed up for some co-ordination challenges that would strengthen our running performance and technique which included squats, lunges, press ups and single leg deadlifts.

'Squats the matter with us' I hear you ask.....

Squats the matter with us!!! #circuits #richmond #goodgym #workout #running #volunteering pic.twitter.com/DgtT5Y07TV

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 21, 2018

All that was left was for us to jog back to Wholefoods for a stretch and then for us to raise a glass to 100 deeds, birthdays, tourism and lots of good people.

Thanks everyone, happy running

Tonight we were unfortunately missing our much loved Run Trainer. Mark had been taken ill by a horrid bout of food poisoning so was unable to lead the run. At the last minute recently qualified Run Leader Samia gallantly stepped in to fill Marks trainers, and they were a good fit! You did a great job Samia, thank you.

We welcomed new runner Kathryn tonight who had been brought along by Aran (good job Aran!) We also welcomed back Africa and Elliot on their second run. Also welcome back to Rich, and thank u for taking the awesome photo of the sun setting on Richmond riverside (see photos).

The news section was bursting with missions this week as I talked about my first mission in Richmond on Saturday and both Samia and Kate talked about their missions over the weekend too...the famous duck made another appearance from across the pond in Kingston. For more info about missions check out this link.

We headed to Richmond Yellow (formally known as Richmond Green) to warm up. We all had a go at trying to remember Mark's warm up techniques - "the ankle thing" , "the one where we go in to out." "Kicking our bum" (Personal Trainers in the making eh Mark!) Samia also took us through a core workout depicting all sorts of animal like moves - we know how to have a laugh on a Monday.

Stravas on we headed off on a scenic route through Richmond. Africa braved the bridges even though she has vertigo! Trooper!

Well done to Lewie for back marking , he got everyone safe to ETNA ready to plant some flowers. Hampton Court Flower show had kindly donated plants and flowers to ETNA for their front and back gardens. There was also bamboo and other foliage that needed a home, so we got to work. But not before we were introduced to the mattock , this contraption got all the men excited and they all insisted that it needed to be used for the particular job they were doing. The girls had fun too , Susan posed with the hose for a photo not realising that it was turned on - I was hot but not in need of a shower quite yet!.

What's the MATTOCK with me? What's the MATTOCK with you?!@goodgym @ETNACentre #richmond #volunteering #plantingflowers #doinggood pic.twitter.com/T1SLUjTz60

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) August 6, 2018

Like with all great GG tasks we ran out of time but we gave it a good spruce up, even making the cigarette pot into a new flower arrangement - whoops!

Off we trotted back to Wholefoods via the river with Sian and** Vanessa** from ETNA cheering us on as we went.

Well done everyone on tonights run and special thanks to Samia on leading her first run. Thank you to Susan and Kate for the pun

See you next week for Balsam pulling round 2! Dont forget longies.

In other news GG Swindon launches tomorrow, the 45th Goodgym area!! Wohoo!

Have a good week everyone

Tonight’s group run was re-named the “Richmond Mash-Up” as we were joined by some fantastic new runners in the form of Africa, Nansi and Elliot, GoodGym visitors from Hounslow (Luis on his first run with Richmond, who was joined by the awesome trio who are now becoming quite the regulars at GG Richmond) and also Kingston tourists (Kate and Nicky).

Getting into gear on the green. #goodgym #richmond #running #fitness #warmup #volunteering pic.twitter.com/H5iL1nGOgY

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) July 30, 2018

After some pretty competitive games of tag for our group warm up on Richmond Green, we headed across the river, passed by packed pubs of evening drinkers and along the lanes to CGL HQ.

It was touch and go! #goodgym #richmond #richmondgreen #running #drills #fitness #warmup #doinggood pic.twitter.com/twsmRreUA5

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) July 30, 2018

CGL stands for Change, Grow, Live and they help clients who are battling with alcohol or drug addiction and support them in taking their first steps on the journey to make a change that will enable them to grow as people and go on to live sober lives. As we headed up the stairs to the training rooms we saw the tree of motivational messages from people who have completed their journeys and it really helped to motivate us even more for the task ahead!

We were initially expecting to be painting, however due to a delayed paint delivery our painting skills were thankfully not put to the test, but instead we flexed our muscles sanding the walls and cleaning them ready for painting later in the week. Our collective 18 strong man/woman power made light work of moving the furniture and cleaning the rooms from floor to ceiling and they were left sparkling ready for their makeover.

It was a fantastic turnout and awesome energy and CGL were really pleased with the results and keen to see us all again for future tasks.

To top off the night we celebrated 2 members of the group reaching a fantastic milestone of 50 Good Deeds. Huge congratulations to Michelle and Samia. We know it won’t be long until we are also celebrating you achieving your wings!! Both legends in GoodGym, who contribute so much, thank you.

On Wednesday GoodGym will have achieved 100,000 Good Deeds, it would be great if you could all share a short message on social media about your favourite good deed, a link to the run report, and any pics you have with the hashtag #gg100k. It would be brilliant to get everyone involved so please spread the word at the runs this week. Here’s an example of a tweet you could use: GoodGym has completed 100,000 good deeds My favourite was… #gg100k www.goodgym.org/reports/.

Thanks Nicky, awesome run report, I was a bit premature with my dates for Balsam pulling, next week we visit the fantastic ETNA so loggies are needed in two weeks time!

Happy running,