22 GoodGym'ers did some school runnings, watching their (Flora) Garden footprint as they ran 3km back to school

Despite tonight’s run following a bank holiday Monday, and the continued thoughts of another ‘so what day of the week is it today?!’, and a certain Liverpool match you may have heard about, it seemed that loads of runners were eager to run and do good in H&F on our first May run of the year.

There were lots of new faces amongst my regulars tonight - a big welcome along to Connor, Elder, Finnegan and Quilan, hope you all enjoyed your first (hopefully of many!) GoodGym group runs. Lovely to have you all along tonight!

Weekly news not for the weak...

Well done to Matt who got a parkrun PB at the weekend, the highlight being his surprise that I knew...🕵🏽‍, to Tom for his Tough Mudder and to Mo and Jonny for completing the tough burpee-filled Spartan race.

1. GoodGym 'UK-wide' monthly social - this Thursday at Batch Bar in Peckham - join Pritesh & other GG'mers to celebrate heroes of the months, April's IPOTM (International Pun of the Month) and lots of other fun. For all the details, click here.
2. May London Long Run - on Saturday 18th May, led by GoodGym Lamber Trainer, Mark around a number of South London parks (10km & 19km run options available), for all the details, click here.
3. Fulham Palace parkrun GoodGym takeover - Saturday 29th June! - Our friends at Fulham Palace parkrun will celebrate their 300th parkrun event...and the best news is that GoodGym will be helping out with a BIG takeover event! - Sign up here & please fill out the spreadsheet on the sign up page with your preferred volunteer role or pacing time.
4. GoodGym Olympics 2019 - represent H&F on Saturday 3rd August in events from the Egg & Spoon to 5000m! Sign up here.

And good luck to those that are racing on the weekend in Sofia 🇧🇬 and Ealing 🦅 - we look forward to hearing all about them next week!

Gate minds think alike...

Following a quick warm-up which included an amusing/awkward (delete as appropriate!) 'opening the gate' standoff between Catriona and Katie, we headed off on our short 1km run down to Flora Gardens Primary to see one of our favourite honorary GoodGym members, Jeanette. Pausing only briefly for the weekly wall sit it wasn't long before we arrived at the school gates and were buzzed in by Jeanette.

With us all passing the big Flora Gardens sign before we reached the entrance of 'The White House' and with it being wonderfully light, I decided to mix things up and go 'backwards' as I asked the group to gather for the team photo before we got started on the painting 🎨 tonight.

Brush hour...not for the paint-hearted!

Since there wasn’t much appetite to test the "can 22 GoodGym’ers fit in one small room and paint?!" question, so half the group headed inside with Jeanette to paint while the other half stayed outside for some 'fitness fun' which tonight comprised of circuits and the mysterious ‘destiny cards’ game. Everything was ready to go with the painting side of things so the team quickly got kitted up in their oversized L'Oreal t-shirts, armed themselves with paint brushes, and began transforming the white walls to a bright 'gilbert green' and 'heavenly horizon' colour.

No short circuits

While half the group were painting the other half got stuck into a tough circuit session which included: leg raises, frog jumps, jumping jacks, plank tap shoulders and burpees. These were all smashed out by everyone, with extra enthusiasm for the burpees from Jonny and Mo after their Spartan escapades at the weekend, and rumour was that Tom even willingly chose an upper body exercise!

Having met 'scouser Jonny's' (so many Jonny's in H&F!!) lovely friend from Uni, Helen at GoodGym Sheffield on Sunday, I passed on 20 bonus burpees to him which he duly completed, and in true team spirit, everyone joined him for his final 5 burpees. Great work all! 💪

The race of spades ♠️...it was good in hearts ♥️

Now I’m not sure if it was because the group were in a playground but the ‘destiny cards’ game led to a few friendly ‘scuffles’, and one card that magically became two smaller ones not due to being ripped in the midst of battle.... The simple aim of the game was to run out to the middle circle and collect all the cards from the teams chosen suit, obviously there was a catch, the pack of cards were face down! I’m going to declare an honourable draw for both games.

With the painting completed in double-quick time and the fitness session completed, we said our goodbyes and thankyous to Jeanette, and Sarah led the group back to base via the scenic route along the river. Following a quick stretch-off the class were dismissed for another week.

Next week's task is TBC, so please keep an eye on the WhatsApp group and weekly email for all the details. Please sign up here. Most importantly it's the monthly H&F social after the run, there will be drinks, food and friendly chat as always! See you then, have a great week!

Oh how the lighter evenings are so much nicer for running...if only the warmer weather would follow suit!!! Tonight we were a smaller but perfectly formed group on a very fresh April evening. Amongst all my brilliant regulars, it was lovely to welcome along Helene and Mia for their second H&F group run, welcome back Lucy and GoodGym Lambeth tourist/mole (delete as appropriate!) Frances - thank you all for coming along!

It was also great to see Sapphire sporting her new shiny red GoodGym tee and weird to see Will in a GoodGym tee that didn't have his name on, how Will we know his name?! Good news, he'd like to be called "GoodGym"!

Without further ado, the news:

Firstly, a BIG BIG well done to Catriona and Jonny who both ran their first marathons in Manchester at the weekend and absolutely smashed it, both finishing in a sub-4 hours time and giving their legs a well-deserved rest tonight. Well done to Frances for got a parkrun PB at Dulwich parkrun and well done to Arba who ran the adidas 1-hour race. Some superb racing all round! 🙌🏼

1. Take the Bridge on Friday 26th April - the idea is that you hit a certain number of checkpoints throughout the city with your team on a 5km run - there are some great cash prizes on offer and a lot of fun to be had!
2. April London Long Run - Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath join Catriona on Saturday 27th April from 10.30am as she leads a scenic run loop around Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath followed by lunch.
3. Bath Two Tunnels Races 2019 and GG West Summer party on the weekend of 17th August we're looking to get a big group of us down to camp and run in one (possibly two!) GoodGym H&F 50km relay teams - post in the Whatsapp group/speak to Catriona if you're interested in being part of a relay team (other races are available if you don't fancy the relay), come along & join the fun, we'll also be celebrating Sarah's birthday month!

Two much of a good thing

Tonight we were going to be helping out TWO community organisations that provide wonderful and valuable services in the Hammersmith & Fulham area:

1. St Mungo's Reconnection Post - deliver the 'No Second Night Out' service and provide 25 beds to vulnerable and homeless adults with complex needs. They also work with the residents to get them reconnected in the community or repatriated back to their country.
2. Acknowledging Youths - a project that was set up to raise the aspirations and make a positive impact on the life of disadvantaged young people in London. They provide education and training to help prepare the young people for interviews and ensure they are ‘work ready’.

With the name and number count and short pulse-raising warm-up completed we headed up on our short 1.5km run up to St Mungo's Reconnection Post. Stopping briefly for our weekly walk sit where Johnny was very much ‘Johnny no mates’ on the wall he chose, we arrived in super quick time at St Mungo's Reconnection Post. Once inside we were met by one of the Reconnection Workers, Chris.

There were two tasks that we were going to be lending a hand with tonight:

1. Tidying & sorting a room full of unorganised clothes donations 👚👕👖👗
2. Revamping their garden aka weeding 🌳🌿🧤

To room it may concern...

The group efficiently divided up into teams and Chris led Team Room into the room that I can only describe as “the gift that keeps giving...” - those that have visited before will know what I mean!!

What do you weed to know...

Once Chris had gathered the gardening tools it wasn’t long before Team Garden were pulling up weeds from the flower bed left, right and centre, and clearing the moss from in-between the patio cement.

GoodGym didn't start the flyer...

While Team Room & Team Garden were getting stuck in, Team Flyering set off down Goldhawk Road to deliver some flyers for Acknowledging Youths 🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏻‍♂️📃 - they may have actually flown as they were all back, pretty much all empty handed in super quick time! In a case of 'many hands make light work' team flyering split into two and joined up with team room and team garden for the final ten minutes of the task.

Half an hour flew by as always, and with the light rapidly fading and temperature still dropping we decided to call it a night. Flyers delivered, a markedly improved and tidied room, and a wonderfully weeded garden, definitely a success all round! The group posed for the ‘much-loved’ jazz hands 👐🏼 group photo before we said our goodbyes and thank yous to Chris.

Running technique as per the brook

Once we were all warmed-up again (sort of!) we headed off on our short run down to Brook Green for the 1km time trial around the outer perimeter of the Green. We headed to the start of the Strava segment so that everyone's times could be logged and progress tracked. Andrew and Frances led the way, everyone displayed some excellent 'pockets to sockets' technique and good postures throughout, and post-lap everyone had significantly raised pulse rates, heavier breaths, with noticeably redder and sweatier faces. Brilliant effort all!

Off to our hoppy place

Time trial lap completed all that was left between the group and the monthly social (or home!) was a very short but gentle cool down run back to base, and a stretch off.

For most of the group post-run refreshments were in order as we headed to The Hop Poles to round off the night, where we joined by Catriona who was thankfully not hopping post-marathon. Great night all, thank you for all your hard work, energy and smiles!

Too cool for school?

Next week we’re heading back to Flora Gardens Primary to finish off the final coats of paint in ‘The White House’. Sign up for next week’s run here. Have a fab week!

19 GoodGymers ran 5km up to White City Adventure Playground for an Earth Hour Special!

The blossom is out and the nights are finally beginning to get lighter and warmer as we edge ever closer to some lovely outdoor tasks in the sun! Tonight was a special night in H&F as we were celebrating not one but TWO big 50th good deed milestones. A big CONGRATULATIONS to PB and January good deed machine, Helen and to the man who's often laughing and people recognise definitely not because of the fact he's got his name written on his GoodGym tee, Will for reaching their 50th good deeds last night. Will they both reach their 100th good deed together?!

Amongst all my wonderful regulars tonight, it was lovely to welcome along Helene and Mia for their first H&F group run - hope you both enjoyed it and hopefully see you again soon!

For what it's Earth! Onto the news...

This week GoodGym is partnering with the WWF as part of Earth Hour, the world’s biggest switch off event on Saturday 30th March at 8.30pm. Earth Hour highlights the changes needed at a global level, but also encourages everyone to take personal action. You could, for instance, change the way you eat, embrace reusables and buy less plastic, or help to restore nature in your community. You can share your pledge using #VoiceForThePlanet throughout March to show how you are making a difference.

1. Special Earth Hour GoodGym group run - Saturday 30th March - meet at 5pm outside London's City Hall for a 2.5km run down to Spitalfields Farm. For all the details and to sign up, click here.
2. Fulham Palace parkrun GoodGym takeover - Saturday 29th June! - Our friends at Fulham Palace parkrun will celebrate their 300th parkrun event...and the best news is that GoodGym will be helping out with a BIG takeover event! Sign up here - please fill out the spreadsheet with your preferred volunteer role or pacing time.
3. RunUK volunteering - Sunday 14th April - RunUK are offering a free place in any of their upcoming runs if you volunteer at the Putney & Fulham half marathon - if you're keen just drop me a line.

With the name and number count and short pulse-raising warm-up completed, we began the 2.5km run up to White City Adventure Playground. Pausing only briefly at the top of Hammersmith Grove for our weekly wall sit we arrived in record breaking time. When we arrived we were greeted by the ever enthusiatic and appreciative, Rob and Koj. They both welcomed us in and briefly explained to the group about the "can do" organisation that is the Play Association and the amazing projects and work they do at White City Adventure Playground - from delivering after school and holiday provision for local children aged 8 to 14 years, to specialising in providing play opportunities for disadvantaged children, and also teaching for children with complex special needs at weekends. Following on from our visit a few weeks ago, Rob and Koj gave the lovely feedback that other organisations and schools in the area had heard of GoodGym, and most importantly that the children and after-school clubs loved their newly painted kitchen and the work-in progress toilet transformation!

Koj explained the jobs that we would be lending a hand with tonight...

1. Finish the painting of the boys & girls toilets - in two shades of blue for the boys & yellow for the girls, and remove all the toilet tissue balls (also delightfully known as spit wads) stuck to the ceiling.
2. Paint a big graffiti wall - cover over the current graffiti in a nice fresh coat of white paint.
3. A surprise competitive litter pick in the playground.

With all the equipment layed out and ready to go, despite my maths and division leaving something to be desired, the team split into three groups: Team painting (/team toilet), Team Wall and Team Litter.

When you've gotta Van Gogh, you gotta Van Gogh

Team painting, led by Helen continued the blue and yellow job we started a couple of weeks ago. With many crouched round toilets in interesting positions and up ladders, the team worked tirelessly to get the job done. Many of the other team members also got involved with the final bits of the blue boys toilet painting so as not to leave it unfinished, plus it answered the age old question of "just how many GoodGymers can you fit into a small boys' toilet?"!

It's all white now baby, the walls all white now

Team wall, led by Catriona, overseen by Sophie and her helpful running lights, rolled their way quickly and efficiently to a fresh looking white wall. With a couple of inconveniently placed plants removed by Koj...no longer a sight for saw eyes. It didn't take long for the team to freshen up the wall ready for the youth club to graffiti away on a nice blank canvas.

A litter pick of this and a litter pick of that

Team litter, led by Sarah, who of course took charge of the bin bag, throughly combed through the grass and adventure playground. A plethora of litter objects were found and the bin bag full to bursting upon their scout round the entire outdoor area.

Nifty fifty

Before we headed off and said our goodbyes to Rob and Koj, we had a quick '50' based quiz while running on the spot to get the blood pumping again. Those that got answers wrong had to do either 10 jumping jacks, 10 squats or 10 press-ups, depending on the question. Despite, naming no-names, SOPHIE, Googling one of the answers there was impecable honesty from all. Fun facts learnt tonight were: the incredible Mal Law ran 50 mountain marathons in New Zealand not South Africa (check out FIFTY - The Movie), Tin is the chemical element that is the atomic number 50, and Jo Pavey will reach her 50th birthday before Paula Radcliffe.

Bake it happen...bake room, bake room!

With everyone nicely warmed-up again we headed off on our run back to base. Andrew and Catriona led a group of speedsters back while I attempted to stay in-between them and our wonderful milestone backmarkers tonight, Helen and Will. Once we were back at base we had a nice stretch off and the part of the evening many had been looking forward to....cakes and flapjacks! And oh what a fabulous array of wonderful treats there were, Bake Off eat your heart out! Great night all, thank so much for staying a little later to get the painting job completed. And well done again to Helen and Will Next week we are heading up to Wormholt Park to help build a loggery. Please bring a head torch if you have one! For all the details and to sign up, click here. Have a fab week all!