Fresh from our QUARTER FINALS success at the Twickenham festival Tug of War on Friday night, Richmond GG had a buzz of excitement and a refreshed sense of energy. The news section took plenty of time as we relived the competition & the Goliaths us little Davids competed against. We were also filled in on several people's 10k runs they'd done on Sunday, with a good contingent from Richmond GG having done the Turks Head. Special mention to Elaine for getting through it whilst under the weather.

Then we were off out to Richmond Green, starting off with a nice jog round to find a space big enough for the warm up amongst all the picnickers. We were in, out & round about in a circle. We all got a little over enthusiastic with chasing the person in front, well before Mark said 'Go', but by the end we were certainly warm.

Were we given the Richmond run around?? pic.twitter.com/caeh0KeKtt

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) June 11, 2018

Despite the destination of our task being a stones throw away, we set off for our run along the river, over the bridge to the other side and back again. Once back we were well and truly ready to get started with the task.

We were all set to wash and rub down the fence that surrounds the Green but found the tools we'd been left were a little thin on the ground. With just 4 wire brushes between 15 of us we had to get a bit creative with our approach; in true GG style we set about doing what we are good at and making our environment a better place. Some of us used the brushes to rub down the paint on the railings and posts, whilst the others got cloths to wash off the mud and general roadside grime. The rest of us went on a litter pick around the Green. There were also a few trips to be made to The Princes Head pub to get buckets of water (not Pimms), which they very kindly supplied. THANK YOU PRINCES HEAD, would have been tougher without you! All that scrubbing was tough going on the arms, so we were glad to be able to swap tasks every now & then, especially those of us with Tug of War related aches!

Being in such a prominent position was a bit of a novelty for both us & the local residents. We caught a lot of intrigued glances and fielded several questions from passers by. Everyone was pleased to see us working hard to make the area look good; even getting a few congratulatory shouts from people in cars; thanks for the encouragement Richmond!

In the end we got one end of the fencing looking pretty well polished, litter free & sparkly! After a few pictures & a quick tidy up we made the short journey back to Whole Foods for a quick warm down. Congratulations to Emily on her first run, well done! And welcome back to some familiar faces, Aran, Hugh and Michelle too! Always happy to see you! All in all, a job well done everyone!

Great report thanks Kate - and also congrats on your own Castle to Castle 10km event at the weekend!

Here is a link to next week's run, we'll be met at ETNA by the Task Owner this time and I am told there is a "to do list"

Bank Holiday Monday right! Stay home, have some chocolate right….? Well for some and for 6 in Richmond… there were even more *GOOD TIMES!!! *

Spreading the Easter love out in the community and using some seasonal chocolate delight to tell some just what daily HEROES they are in our borough.

We welcomed Hugh back for his second run – Rock on Hugh (I think he is secretly getting the GG Bug.) Well played Laura for giving him the Nudge ; - )

So what exactly did we do… Well we warmed up, talked knee injury and hill climbing strategies then we created our own personal task to spread some chocolate and good cheer whilst having a good 6 km approx. run along with some hardcore rope and ladder tug of war training** (REMEMBER WE ARE IN IT – THE COMPETITION 8th JUNE/ SOCIAL AFTER TOO! More GOOD TIMES)**

So we worked quads/ biceps / glutes / traps and much more as we pulled and jump squatted before having a few rounds of tug of war which was so intense people were stopping on the hill to take our photos …. Lord knows where that footage will end up but we were clearly entertaining, so that much is already certain for the 8th.

After this the gauntlet was thrown down and we divided to two teams and split the HEROES Eggs respectfully so (Not all our...

EGGS WERE IN ONE BASKET

Each team had two drops to make before returning to the top of the hill to declare victory.

Eggs were wrapped in weather proof carriers tied with Goodgym Lace and handwritten by each runner was a GG tag (We def had the GG personal touch going on) … the race was on and well I can safely say, I as the run trainer lost … and all the rounds of tug of war….Sad??? Hell nope! It was the most fun I have had since I was on holiday last week and I can’t thank the fellow runners with me tonight enough for such a great time and from all accounts I heard those that actually received the egg in their hand tonight were smiling from ear to ear too! So job well done.

A good stretch – followed by some IT band stretch efforts and foam rolling advice rounded all the fun off and 'Mahmoud's pun was a cherry on the cake.

God bless guys and great to tell SPEAR, ETNA, The Vineyard and Lynde Care Home (I know there are so many more but there are only so many eggs us bunnies can carry in one evening) just how great they are and how they make our town a little better daily eh! Next week is BACK TO SCHOOL – It’s been a while and then food and a beer or 2 for our GG social at the Shaftesbury … Let’s catch up guys, sign up here

Good luck to Laura for her 10km this weekend

Have a great week all!

Flagging...No way just getting those last eggstra reps as @GGRichmon warm up for some tug of war and good deeds. Playing Easter bunny..run report to follow 👍 pic.twitter.com/KZKMQMJgZZ

— GoodGym Richmond (@GGRichmon) April 2, 2018

9 Brent badasses braved the cold, for a task they were told, would bring some positivity to the Brent community.

Now to begin this tale of a Monday night in Brent, to say it was cold would be an understatement.... My people, it was FREEEEEEZZZZZIINNNGGGG

But despite the chill in air, it was awesome to be met with such a warm reception at the Queensbury. Joining the rad regulars, was new to the Brent gang, Jorge and this four language speaking, salsa dancing, winner from Wembley, we sure were happy to have join the ranks!

So after a quick hello it was 3,2,1 GOOOO Down the one mile dash to our regular task master Colin and to finish our mural of all the Goodgym hardwork in the Old Police Station, turned art hub, for the community of Willesden.

As usual Colin had lots of work to be done. but namely the continuation of our Goodgym mural, which required sketches of Goodgym related scenes, the hard work and the hilarity. So it was down to our most arty threesome to get working on that.... Liz, Nisha and Saorla, who designed and sketched our scenes onto the wall.

The rest of the gang focused on some more manual labour; shifting debrit from the last few rooms that needed painting and moving very heavy bricks and debrit outside to clear more space for artist's to work.

The really tough and strong tasks were tackled by Debs, Pete and Jorge. Who worked tirelessly and in the cold too, slinging heavy loads into Colin's van for removal. Dinesh, Nisha and I, got busy inside, moving all kinds of heavy and interesting things from one room to the next; Including a full desk and draws and some extremely heavy storage boxes.

Our efforts of course cheered on as usual by the resident cats who thought our hard work was PUUURRRRfect

After a good 45 mins of arts and slinging crafts, I had to sadly ring the final bell. But the fun didn't stop there, oh nooo!!! There was just enough time for some Hill-arity to warm up and get our fitness on, before home.

So off we flew, chugging that hill in the old school train drill, followed by tempos down to finish!! No stopping the steam from this troop of train dodgers, as each one pushed hard for a HIIT session from hell.... no wait, I mean heaven!

Farewells were next, after we'd done our best. For Brent we did task, for a worthy cause who did ask. Using our legs to travel, then hills we did battle. Now back home for some dinner, Monday night, what a winner!!

See you next time!!!