36 brilliant runners moved loads of garden waste for gardening social enterprise Streetscape before saying a sad goodbye to Vicki

It was finally a mild enough evening to meet outside at Papa's and this was good news as our numbers were big this evening. Katie would like to think it was due to her superior run leading skillz but in actual fact it was due to many folk wanting to say goodbye to Vicki. Our favourite New Zealander is heading back to live Down Under and, after three years of pounding the pavements across many London boroughs, we are all sad to say So Long.

Vicki managed the great task of earning her 100 wings last week and whipped off her top as soon as her t-shirt was given to her. Thankfully / sadly (delete as appropriate) she had another top on underneath. With wings newly donned, we were off to the basketball court with Beth for a lovely warm up.

We split into two groups, Tom Benson's group ran down the right side of the road and George and Elise's group ran down the left, so that we didn't mow down all of Lambeth as we sped the 1-mile towards Myatt's Field. We have been visiting Streetscape for over three years now and it is always a physical task. There was loads of garden waste that needed moving onto a bigger pile of garden waste at the back, to make space for more garden waste.

Move this garden waste onto that garden waste, said Alex

We also learnt from Alex that 75% of the unemployed young people who enter the Streetscape programme find employment upon graduation, which is a pretty awesome figure. Of course this is something that GoodGym wants to help, so we kept in our two groups and Tom's group went into the park to do some strength work with Katie and George and Elise's group got stuck in moving some gaden waste on top of other garden waste.

After about 12 minutes, the groups swapped over so that everyone got stronger bits (ankles and core to be exact) by the end of it and we had cleared a massive space ready for MORE garden waste!

I can't wait to receive more garden waste! Said Alex

And with our good deed done, we whizzed off into the night and George took us through some lovely stretches. We then presented Vicki with her leaving gift, which was a school-style tea towel with our faces drawn on it. A brainchild of the Lambeth crew, Tom Benson had set about getting input from all the Boroughs that Vicki runs with. Polly had made the lovely GG border and Emma had been kind enough to make all of the backgrounds the same shade of white. A true team effort and also an interesting psychological insight into the minds of each GoodGym artist.

Wow guys I love my tea towel! Said Vicki 'Now let's hit the pub!

We all know Vicki loves a drink and so how could we say no? Off we went and some people even had some food! Great work Lambeth and we shall miss you Vicki. We look forward to shots of you wearing your GG wings on the other side of the world.

Wowwwww the fantastic four ran an amazing 8 (and a bit) kilometres to help out again at St Dunstan's Allotments!!

It was a chilly night when 4 amazing Goodgymmers met including the wonderful Steph on her first ever GG run! We were heading back to St Dunstan's Allotments to meet the lovely Rhea and do what we do best...shovel the heck out of some woodchip!!

We started off with a nice warm up and some dynamic stretches to get the blood pumping and our muscles ready for the 8 (and a bit km) then set of at a nice steady pace. We reached the treacherous Ealing Broadway where dodging skills are tested to the max then we hit the Uxbridge road, staying in group and having a good chinwag...I learned that Martin speaks looooads of languages! Very cool!

Then we arrived at the allotments and got to work shovelling and well, I wish I had taken a before shot of the pile as 4 of us made quick work of getting all the woodchip into bags and into the allotments ready to be spread! We donned some face masks as the mulch was dusty so we looked even more bad ass. And it was quite a tough work out...squatting, shovelling, deadlifting the bags! Rhea filled us in on some of the amazing permaculture she has designed and is working on at the allotments, it sounds amazing and I can't wait to see it all in daylight. Then by the time we were done I for one was shattered! Everyone was amazing and we finished with a lovely group hug and said cheerio to Rhea then we were on our way! What a good days work.

We took a steady pace back, interrupted only by the trainline but there were some sweet choons to keep us entertained as we waited! Then it was a hop, skip and jump (by Mel) and we were back before we knew it. We did a few cool-down stretches including a nice forward fold, great for opening up the hamstrings and down through the back and shoulders (as long as there are no lower back issues) and boom! Another amazing week done. I can't wait to see everyone next week for a much shorter 3km so we'll definitely have time for some fun fitness sessions! Sign up here.

Amazing! 6 awesome runners braved the elements (ok the drizzle) to run a massive 8km to St Dunstan's Allotments in East Acton!

We had two GG noobs, Martin and Mel a huge welcome to you! You made 8km seem like nothing and were a massive help with the heavy bags! Super strength!

We set off at a nice warm-up pace, past the iconic Ealing Broadway station and battled through the crowds to Uxbridge road. It was here we encountered my arch nemesis, the puddle on the junction with the North Circular...yes I was splashed once, it was a harrowing time...there was rather a lot of pancake chat ( I hope you enjoyed the post run pancakes Ian!)and with just a quick stop off at the pub (sadly no drinks involved, just a quick toilet stop) we were there and the lovely Rhea was waiting!

We managed to take the straight route this time (what do you mean you didn't want a scenic tour of the A40?!) and, stops included, we managed 4km in a respectable 30 minutes or so. And then it was time to work! Looooads of woodchip had been dropped off and it was our job to put it into bags and shift it into the allotments. This involved perfection of the squat-fill-mulch technique (correct me if i'm wrong on that one Ankit!) and then there was a back and leg workout as we deadlifted all the bags from outside, into the allotments.

There were some mega strong efforts from everyone, the pile clearing was particularly impressive!

We then sped back to Bodyline Studios in about 25 minutes, a quick stretch and we were done!! It was such a fun evening and the work we did would have taken one person absolutely ages! So nice one for being such a bunch of legends! I'm already looking forward to next week, hopefully see you all then! Sign up to next week here.

This week 21 glorious GoodGym-ers ran 2.8km/5.2km to sort through a local carehome's DVD collection

This week (the 25th week of GG Barnet) marks the largest ever number on a group run since we started (not including launch day)! Massive shout out to all the new faces this week, helping us smash our PB: Catherine – who actually came last week too, but I wasn't here so still counts as new! Ciara, Jo, Madeleine and Nadia. Give them all a cheer!

Also give a cheer to GG tourists Jessica and Emily! Let's see if we can smash 21 next time!

After a quick warm up by the cinema and several attempts at a number circle, we were off to the Hammerson care home to take on their DVD collection. Damian lead the group up the hill, while I back-marked. It was a real short run but a real steep hill, taking us 1.4km to the home. Once inside, activities co-ordinator Chris offered us water, biscuits and chocolate before telling the team the task. With multiple stations to work through, the team split into groups. Jody took the opportunity to mentally extend her To-Watch list as she sorted through the care home's goldmind of classics.

With such huge numbers we were able to speed through the collection in record time! Heather kindly volunteered to take the team photo as we posed behind our mountain of CDs.

It was then time for the fitness session. Chris let us use the rec room again, which was such a pleasure. Doing the fitness session indoors is wonderful – especially on that soft carpet! A few of the team opted to help some of the residents organise some jewellry, while a couple of the others sat down for a chat. Everyone else joined me for what I like to call the Animal Olympics.

We started nice and gently with the Inch Worm, then worked our way through several different animals, incorporating matching bodyweight exercises at the other side. Chris and Heather were the speediest of the bunch. They picked up some incredible pace on some of those animal walks. Paul requested we include the Aligator Walk (which was actually more like the Spider-Man, if you ask me) and the Shrimp – and even suggested the team all do some burpees. I love when you all request burpees of your own accord. I knew you were learning to love them! Paul also had some smashing plyo pushups, which definitely deserve a cheer!

We soon finished the animal races, said our goodbyes and headed back to base. I took a group back the way we came: 2.8km in total. Damian took the others the scenic route: 5.2km in total. Massive props to Nadia for choosing the long run – today was her first ever run! Super impressive!

Two trusty favourites crowned as this week's Barnet Biscuit: Oreos and Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Thanks, Freya!)

See you next week when we run to Archer Acadamy to build a pond

Pennie

P.S. Thanks for the headline this week, Damian!

18 LOVEly GoodGym runners gave up their St Valentine's evenings to run c8km for a date with a paintbrush at the Barnet Furniture Centre but were stood up so decided to fly-er on the wings of love instead.

Pennie was still nursing an injury so it was up to another biscuiteer from Islington to look after the evening. I'm one of many people who admit they #runtoeat !

First dates, long-term relationships and blasts from the past

First to arrive was Del who'd I'd not seen in a while and then newbie Jacqui. Then we had LOTS more first-timers: Shawn, Catherine, Hayley AND Lilian; regular Barnetians and a few more familiar faces (Danica, Chris and Ollie) who I'd previously only seen in Islington and Haringey. Great to spread the love.

News

We welcomed the many newcomers, talked about the many ways of doing good, shared the news of our sibling's award in Wandsworth and talked about races.

We almost had a record turnout: some sources say the record is 19 and alternative news sources said 21. I haven't fact-checked this but I was tempted to still say it was a record turnout for my inaugural Tuesday run with GG Barnet.

Leg wax on, leg wax off

It was much milder than Monday but it was still important to warm up the heart and activate the leg muscles in preparation for a long run.

We marched, we lunged, we warmed up our calves and opened up our hip flexors with leggy versions of Mr Miyagi's wax on, wax off technique (or more conventionally we visualised mounting and dismounting a bicycle).

Squat's love got to do with it? Another great way to warm up the heart and soul is to do squats. Lots of them!

Fast or slow

GG Barnet stalwart, Damian, led a faster group and supported by Hazel at the rear. Heather made sure the philosophers and I made our way safely to the furniture centre with Del acting as backmarker.

It was a long run and Heather took Jacqui at the front and wanted more, more, more (that's how she liked it). They were not waiting around and threw in some push ups, loopbacks and sneaky ninja-like detours then seamlessly rejoining the group.

Tainted love

It was supposed to be painted love but alas our host was also injured so:

• we couldn't do our painting :(
• OR have the rest for our legs (sorry newcomers!!!) :(

Divide and conquer

However, we were left with a lovely note and a mahoosive stack of flyers so that we could tell the local Barnetians that they can find a new home for old furniture rather than throw it away.

We divided and conquered the many residential streets on the way back to the cinema and even left a few flyers on car windscreens. Wonderful work!

After around 15 minutes of high-flyering action we regrouped by the local nature trail and ran back as one pack-ish before meeting back at the base for a stretch of our muscles and a stretch of our stomachs with delicious chocolate wafers courtesy of speedster, Heather.

Thanks for having me, Barnet, it was a real pleasure and a massive thank you to the wonderful TaskForce and Graham, Dorian, Briony, Sarah and Nicola. You can sign up for next week's run here which is sorting DVDs for a care home and very on trend with BAFTA and OSCAR season: enjoy!!

Much LOVE

Patrick

PS: Thanks to Hazel for the run report title; I was going to go for Painted Love but that didn't work out!

PPS: Danica achieved her double wings of love with 200 deeds. Awesome!