We are ONE!

Last night we turned one year old! A huge thanks to all that have been involved with @GGSheff to make it what it is today a really great bunch of people from all sorts of backgrounds and running abilities that have come together to do good in their community and to get fitter. You are all truely a fantastic bunch!

Following a brief inside photo now the clocks have changed we set off to a brand new task in Kelham Island with In2Change a fantastic organisation that work with young offenders to avoid repeat offending and provide users with skills and education at the centre.

On arriving at In2Change we were greeted by MAGIC MARC & BRILLIANT BRIAN who gave us a tour of the building and the project and got us tooled up for the nights task.

As the planned paint job had already taken place we went for plan B which involved some painting of doors and some cleaning of the gym which needed some love to bring it back to sparkling splendor.

Both Brian and Marc were very happy with the efforts of the group and thanked all before we headed off to Craft & Dough for our anniversary celebrations where we were surprised with some generous Prosecco from 'THE KING' Steph Gilmer in his abscence and some fantastic GG cupcakes from chief organiser of the meal Kim Longbon. Thanks to both for your extra efforts and to all that attended for coming together to celebrate @GGSheff becoming one!

Here's to another fantastic year!

WELCOME!

This week we welcomed 2 fantastic new runners to the @GGSHEFF crew. Please put your hands together and welcome

• Elizabeth Townsend AKA BEANY
• Emily Stoker

Give em a cheer!

TASK TIME

This week we set off on a slightly longer run to another site under the supervision of Heeley Development Trust called ASH TREE YARD.

Finishing on a tough hill we met FANTASTIC FRANK who gave us a brief of the evenings task which was to fill 5 tonne sacks full of wood that has been sat in the yard roting away and creating access for a spate of break ins. Heeley Development Trust have secured funding to develop the site and are therefore clearing the space so it can be put to better us in the community.

The @GGSHEFF team got straight to the ROOT of the task, quickly forming a human chain to twist and pass logs from person to person creating a fantastic TRUNK workout! A small team quickly TWIGGED we had a few too many people in our chain and soBRANCHED off from the main group to tackle the big logs using some fantastic teamwork to lift and shift the heavier logs using a wheelbarrow. Did you CEDAR ammount of wood we shifted?

WOOD you BELEAF it, we smashed the task and managed to fill all of Franks sacks in the alloted time! A really strong team effort with no DEADWOOD to be seen.

Oaky kokey SYCAMORE jokes? time to move on from the puns and onto the...

FANTASTIC FITNESS

With a slightly longer run this week we had limited time for group fitness, however we did get some good work in with some on route loop backs with great efforts from SENSATIONAL SAM & DANGEROUS DAN.

Once we got to the light of a park we got paired up and did some JOHN PEEL PAIRED SPRINTS followed by a DEAD ARM HANG CHALLENGE with MAGIC MIKE taking the crown this week alongside his PUN MASTER title!

On return to the Showroom we finished with the HOWARD ST STRAVA SEGMENT SPRINT for those that fancied it, stretched off and headed inside for liquid refreshment and puntastic conversations.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

We will officially be 1 next Mon! To celebrate we are going to go out for some food after the run so won't be running straight back to the Showroom after the run next week.

You can let us know you are coming to the meal by completing the Doodle Link here

Until next time,

Happy Running!

Last night GoodGym Wandsworth started off the week with a record number of runners, a whole group of lovely new faces, some ace dance moves, a squat competition in the rain and lots and lots of delicious CAKE.

If Carlsberg did Monday nights….

It all began as usual at the BAC, where we started off snug and dry. Little did we know what was about to happen, but more on that later. We had some excellent new runners to say hello to – welcome to the team Judith, Hanna, Lizzie, Samantha, Sean and Ella. Thumbs up too to Deepak who joined us from Southwark for the evening, way to go! It was red laces for Alicia and Lizzie for being excellent GG recruiters.

Then we had some big ol’ well dones. Deep breath! Here goes: congrats to Sarah and Matthew for a great Mile End park run, to Tom for nice even park run pacing, to Sean for doing the Clapham Common Rabble games and still making it to a group run the next day, to Helen and Vicki for smashing the Winter 10k run on Sunday and joining us for a (not short) run last night, to Roshan for organising what sounds like the pub run to end all pub runs (more details coming soon!), to David Mathieson for dong the most good deeds, to Jack and Luke for running the greatest distance, to Matthew for supporting others by giving the most cheers, and to Sophie and Jack for getting the most cheers. What an amazing bunch of people you are!

After a quick CoRUNdrum – which is the largest borough by area? (Clue: it’s home to GG’s newest group) we set off…straight into heavy rain that pelted us without stop for the rest of the night. David led us down to the lovely Wendelsworth Community Gardens (with Will taking the corners) where we said hello to our GG tree, and then set about moving heavy paving slabs, bagging up wood chippings, and taking down flyers. It was a supertough work out for the slab-shifters who managed to transport the whole lot on a series of trolleys – even fashioning a ramp to make it easier (way to go Kylee). Team Flyer flew from building to building letting nothing get in their way, while in the wood chipping corner Roshan sung beautifully to us while Jim showed off his legendary dance moves.

It was too wet and too cold for a full-on fitness session, but we managed a mini one. Maximising on time and space we did a short stint of HIT, busting out power squats, power lunges and high knees. We even managed to fit in a squat hold competition which saw Tom, Jordan, and Deepak battle it out – with Deepak emerging as the supreme squatter. Good work everyone!

It was a soggy old run back to the BAC, but totally worth it for the surprise treats that were waiting for us when we got back. A massive thank you to Sophie, Vicki and Jack for spoiling us – Sophie with extraordinary banoffee pie (so good it saw somebody who shall remain nameless licking the dish), Vicki for a delicious and well-named Victoria sponge (much like the girl herself) and to Jack for bringing us back some amazing sweet pastries and nibbles all the way from sunny Malaysia. Such sugary goodness!

Well done everybody for powering through the rain. Wandsworth is a better place because of you all. For more (less damp) GG fun, sign up for next week’s run here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/doing-good-and-getting-fit

It was a proper whopper last night in Wandsworth! We had a very healthy group of 32 runners meet to run just under 6k to Paul’s Cancer Support Centre. This charity is a really important resource for local people living with cancer – it offers information, complementary therapies, groups and classes. They needed us to paint the office and give the rest of the place a really thorough clean, and we were only too happy to help!

First though, we met at the BAC to say our hellos. There was a lovely bunch of new faces to get to know this week. Welcome Hiliwona, Karis, Killian, Steph, Stu and Alice! And a big hello to ace Lambether Jitendra. Great to have Alex and Eva at their first Wandsworth group runs too.

Sarah, Sophie and Matthew all got a big pat on the back for racing (and missioning) this weekend. Mile End park run pacing next week, people! You can get happy by signing up here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/mile-end-parkrun-pacing. We also have fun drinks to look forward to for the whole of the GG crew on Thursday, get even happier by signing up here: https://www.goodgym.org/parties/spreading-our-wings-goodgym-2017. It’s been a rough old few days in the world, and there’s a never a better time to show a little love. So check out the website for local missions this weekend. London needs you!

Last week we thought the CoRUNdrum couldn’t be solved any quicker, but this week Will said he cracked it before we had even left. However, it was Dave who pounced quicker, cleverly knowing that it was William Wilberforce who was a member of the Clapham Sect who led the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. Joint prize goes to Dave and Will I think – but gets taken away again because they heckled their way through the fitness session later on that evening ;)

With a very smiley Sally backmarking for us, we set off to the charity to be met by Marisca who took us through our tasks. With so many of us, we got all our jobs done super quickly – Hiliwona in charge of hoovering, Jordan and Sally making the painting a work of art, and the rest of us wiping down walls, dusting, cleaning cupboards and generally giving the place a right good tidy.

Jobs done, we set off for Battersea Park where we worked on three major muscle groups; arms, legs and abs. These sort of exercises are perfect for strengthening our bodies which stabilises us when we’re running to give us a more efficient, and essentially faster, running style. First we did a round of squat holds, mountain climbers and steps ups – each for a minute at a time. After one minute’s rest we moved on to arms. Tricep dips, narrow and wide arm press ups, each for one minute. A short rest and we smashed out the abs, with a minute each of crunches, bicycles and planks. And then we repeated the whole lot. Who’s regretting getting GG Wandsworth a whistle for Christmas now then?

We split into three groups for the run home (discussing our big plans for Strava art on the way), and we had worked so hard that we didn’t even finish with a hill sprint. Don’t worry, there’s always next week. Speaking of which, you can sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/do-good-get-fitter. Go on, you know you want to! Well done on a cracking week GoodGymers, you’re making Wandsworth a nicer place to live. And getting abs of steel in the process – bargain!