It was a lovely light evening in Richmond and a bumper crowd of GGers assembled at Wholefoods for our Monday night running fix. A trip to ETNA (East Twickenham Neighbourhood Association, a community centre that hosts a wide range of activities for all ages, 7 days a week) was on the cards and there was a spring in our step at the thought of continuing the good work we have been doing there over a few separate sessions.

First things first, off to the Green where Mark put us through our paces a great warm-up, getting us in the zone with the culmination being pairing-up to alternate through some core-strengthening exercises which featured rather too many planks for most people’s liking. We were spurred on with motivation from our partners who were 'living on the edge', so we made it through and soon we were on our way to ETNA.

A new route took us along the Quadrant and up past the station, then down the A316 alongside Old Deer Park before heading down onto Ducks Walk, then on through East Twickers and round the corner to the ETNA centre to be welcomed by a very smiley task owner Sian.

Already on site were a cycling-shoed EL and new boy Danny, making short work of tidying the bush around a trunk. The rest of us were divvied up between cutting back weeds and clearing the beds, planting new flowers, and painting a bike shed a very fetching shade of eggshell blue (thanks EL for the colour advice on that). Fortunately this time around we didn’t have to do the task in silence (see 4th February run report)…

Everyone set to work and were soon having a great impact. Weeds were coming up everywhere and being replaced by new plants for the spring, more bushes were being cut back, and the four in the bike shed were bemused by the fact that the paint didn’t seem to want to stick to the slats. We soldiered on with extra coats and in the end managed to make our little shack look half-way decent. Then came the grand photo where we demonstrated how to 'BENCH PRESS' 23 people, making it look easy and with a smile on our face - Got to be a record surely!

The task was a lot of fun and we all left for the run back energised by the thought of the summer evenings we’ll spend doing good together. A warm welcome to newbies Eliza, Katie and Danny, and welcome back to Gemma and Aaron.

Big thanks to Sian for greeting us at the task and don't forget there is a '10 miler' along the river if you fancy it this weekend!

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 😊

It might have been wet and grey but our bright red shirts and headtorches brought light to the night.

Our warm up was fun and of course a little confusing for a Monday night but it woke us up and got us moving, making our muscles warm and ready for our 7km run. (slightly more for some)

We set out towards Mortlake, down the long stretch of Sheen Road until we reached the railway. With the front runners up ahead and out of sight, us back runners (accidently) ran a little further than planned - just getting in those extra kms! It was a quick look at the map and we were off back down Mortlake High Street and heading for 2nd Mortlake Scout Hut.

We were there to help the Brownies and Girl Guides who have been using the hut for over 100 years! We were met by lovely Task Owner Lynn, who kindly left out satsumas, water and biscuits for us. We were so looked after on this task!!

We had a number of jobs to get to, so we got to it, first stop was a large store cupboard at the side of the hall. When I say cupboard, I mean …. Well, you could fit a few vans in it! Great job though as it was filled with all sorts of weird and wonderful things - camping equipment, clothes dryers, wool, a toadstool, tools not used since biblical times I think, and some strange (and quite spooky) clown cut out stand things you would find at a carnival (when you see the photo you'll know what I mean).

To me , to you! #goodgym #task #physical #lifting #fitness #volunteering #browniehut #mortlake #scouthut #richmond pic.twitter.com/stgM0307gg

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) 19 February 2019

Once we had moved all the treasures from the store we tackled the outside and swept the leaves ensuring it all looked in tip top shape. We also even had time to find and move a battle rope, a 9kg weight and an office chair – We did a farmers walk and more workout anyone??

#GoodGym's version of a farmers walk #fitness #sandbags #weights #strength #volunteering #brownies #girlguides #richmond #mortlake pic.twitter.com/CjAZoA9VZx

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) 19 February 2019

So that's pretty much it for the report this time, although some felt that the run report may have been more interesting to come from the perspective of one of our newest recruits if even....a mouse that we disturbed as worked. Perhaps if it has a GG shirt on next time we visit we can get the account from our furry friend …. Imagining it went something like …."My slumber was disturbed by some large beings in red, they moved quickly as though they'd been in training. They started collecting and moving my hiding places. I was left with no choice but to let my agility and speed work kick in and race to safety. I don’t know who those clowns were, but I hope to never see them again...unless they have cheese".

We bid a farewell to Lynne and Mickey Mouse to head back to wholefoods, splitting into 2 groups for the return journey. One, a leisurely jog back down Sheen Road, the other, a steady but cruel incline on Queens Road on the route back. We came together once more to have a well-deserved stretch at the end.

Welcome to Katrina and Tonje for joining us on your first run – great to meet you!

Don’t forget to look up the news from Dora in your emails with ref to shin dig and missions that were mentioned

See you next week for the hedge and weed!

15 of us met last night at Wholefoods, where we welcomed back some GG runners we haven't seen in a while - great to see you Victoria and Mahmoud. It was also lovely to run with Jenni from Ealing/Slough again.

It's GG LOVE week so our warm up involved a good old game of noughts and crosses - so surely 'noughts and kisses' right! (Alas not so romantic we had gloves and cones, nice try Mark but still great fun!). We were then off through the dark path across the green and heading towards the 316. Now the 316 is a dull route with traffic and diesel to boot but for a fast track to Whitton to weed and clip it was worth the nearly 10k trip and running with such a great crowd one hardly noticed the view anyway.

Our task on this night was to visit Whitton Youth Zone, which is a great centre offering so many activities for the youth in our community. There we met our lovely task owner Mandy who was ready with tools and the simple brief of...."give it a good tidy up"! So we got to it and did just that with clipping back rose bushes, pulling out weeds, trimming back the ivy and clearing away the dead leaves. All that was left was for us to shovel all that we had collected into a large pile of success!!

Everyday we're shovelling! #goodgym #runners #fitness #volunteering #mondays #whittonyouthzone #richmond pic.twitter.com/b62HwD2dcD

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) 12 February 2019

It may have been quite a way out to Whitton but distance 'Definitely made the Heart Grow Fonder'. It was a great task, a great run and great company.

The final note goes to Anita with her ode to Valentines (a #RunLOVE and summary of our night)

Roses are red, violets are blue Whitton youth zone is weedless and the ivy's gone too!