What a week for GoodGym Hounslow — so many celebrations, achievements and adventures to catch up on!

Fresh off the back of the London Marathon, the good things just kept coming. Florian was busy acting as a guide runner at the Hamburg Half Marathon, while Steph completed a double-header, topping things off with a marathon in Milton Keynes. Add in Will racing in Copenhagen this weekend, plus some adventurous international parkrunning tourism, and it’s safe to say there’s absolutely no stopping you all! We love to see it.

Last night our group run headed out to Dukes Meadow via what we'll call the scenic route. On arrival, we found a few GGers had already beaten us to the task and got stuck in early.

We were joining forces with Abundance London to tackle a huge mound of mulch that had been fly-tipped across several parking spaces. Task organiser Jen greeted us with a cautious, “Just do what you can — I don’t expect you to finish it all…”

But this was her first encounter with GG Hounslow...

Armed with rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows, we got to work. Barrow-load by barrow-load, the mountain steadily disappeared until the hidden parking spaces were finally revealed once more. Great to see some brilliant teamwork in action.

Meanwhile, Emily and Lucy headed over to the beautiful riverside garden, where they took care of some much-needed weeding and tidying, helping the space look its very best for passers-by.

With the sun out, the river alongside us and plenty of heavy lifting involved, it turned into a stunning evening and an unexpectedly thorough fitness session too.

Don’t forget — there’s a mission happening this Saturday at Watermans Park. Can you make it?

Great work everybody!

A big Monday night in Wandsworth after a huge weekend in London! There was still a buzz in the air after incredible atmosphere at the London Marathon on Sunday—crowds out in force, sunshine, four world records and thousands of inspiring performances. If it got you thinking 'maybe next year', why not go for it? You can enter the ballot here: https://www.tcslondonmarathon.com/enter/how-to-enter/ballot

Massive congratulations to GG OG Jack who smashed it on Sunday—what a legend 💥

*Mission alert *

We’re looking for a helping hand tonight to transport food from Streatham Hill to Clapham Common. If you’re around and can lend your legs (or wheels), we’d love your help! Sign up here

*Last night’s run *

We headed down to the Scout Hall in Battersea to get stuck into a pre-election spruce-up. With voting day around the corner, the place needed to be looking its best—and we delivered.

Jobs included:

• Mopping floors
• Hoovering throughout
• Deep-cleaning the kitchens
• Wiping windows
• Weeding outside areas
• General tidying and making everything shine

Everyone pitched in and we got through the list in no time, so it was on to the fitness part of the evening! We headed outside for a session focused on stability, conditioning, and strength. There was lots of controlled movements, core work, and a bit of coordination—all while keeping an eye out for reversing buses.

At that was left was a run back to base for stretches before heading to the pub to celebrate marathon triumphs 🏅, recent weddings 💍, the return of familiar faces 🙌 and the exciting challenges ahead (both land and water based).

We’ve got two brilliant weekend missions on the horizon—the perfect start to the weekend. Fancy cleaning up and clearing out a greenhouse at a local nursery school? or making a petanque court accessible for everybody?? Course you do! Hope to see you there 👏

A big Wandsworth welcome to Anna, Honor and Charles who joined us for the first time last night — great to have you at your very first session!

We kicked things off with a run down to the Falcon Road Estate, where an organisation of local residents works hard to keep the area safe, welcoming and clean. We arrived ready to plant bulbs… but unfortunately the bulbs hadn’t quite made it in time. No problem — plans pivoted, gloves went on, and we got stuck into litter picking and weeding instead.

One knowledgeable team took charge of the raised beds, clearing, weeding and pulling, while the rest of us spread out far and wide on a mission to find every stray crisp packet and forgotten bit of rubbish. The transformation was swift and satisfying with a positive impact. We even had a special visit from a local councillor, who dropped by to be part of the action.

With the task wrapped up in record time, we headed over to Banana Park for a punchy fitness session. Partners at the ready, it was game on: who could rack up the most squats, press-ups, and sit-ups solo, before finishing strong with burpees together? There was real effort, sweat and laughs from everyone, but there was one standout team - drum roll for ... Jason and Veronica, who powered their way to victory.

Then it was time to run back to base, tackle that last hill and make even more connections.We wrapped up with stretches and more plans, such as

• Next Monday when we’ll be heading to the Scout Hall to help get things ready for the local elections

• Being part of the GoodGym cheering station at Sunday's London marathon

Hopefully see you there!

Spring was in full bloom on Monday evening, so we couldn't have asked for a better task than a visit to one of our favourite spots - Doddington Roof Garden! After a quick warm up and spring-inspired intro question (Bluebells won the prize of favourite spring flower) the group ran 1.5km to Doddington, where we were met by volunteer Melissa, who wasted no time in taking us through the evenings tasks. There was a lot to do, but with plenty of GoodGymmers on hand, including first-time GoodGymmer Joanna and a few tourists from other areas, no-one was phased by the long to do list. Beth, Jordan and Felix straight away volunteered themselves for the unenviable and rather smelly task of composting, transferring waste veg to the compost heap and turning the contents. While no-one likes to see food go to waste, it's good to know that those overly ripe vegetables have avoided the landfill and will instead help nurture future growth in the garden. Veronica and Nathan grabbed trowels and started pulling up grass to create a pathway across the lawn area, which will be filled with wildflower seeds to help the garden attract more bees and Dan, Dave and Hannah uncovered a resident toad in the veg patch! The rest of the team were busy digging up and relocating plants, weeding, pruning and sweeping; essential tasks that help the garden to thrive and keep it accessible for other volunteers and visitors.

After all that hard-work, some of the group went on to The Latchmere Pub for our monthly pub quiz social, and their heroic efforts won the team second prize - an amazing effort from everyone involved! Those who couldn't make it to the social this time ran back to the meeting point for some cool down stretches.