Wall of Honour

Pat on the back to Emma for being this weeks back marker and walk leader. High-five to Milena, George, Hannah, Rosie and Susie on their first group session in Southwark!

Let's have a recap

Last night 22 runners ran or walked 4km overall to the brand-new Crisis store in Peckham High Street for the national charity for homeless people. With the new store being right on our doorstep, we went through a quick warm up and a short loop up to the High Street. When we arrived we met Lauren the store manager who directed us to all corners of the store, with many staff making last minute display preparations we were able to add the icing on the cake and as Ed described it! We quickly got to work arranging rails in size order, collecting wipes and cloths to clean every surface of dust, Katie covered the entire floor with a cordless Hoover and Pauline followed up with a dustpan and brush. Richard and George added security lines to the jackets and Civ and Emma lead a group in the back room packing down six bags worth of cardboard! in 40minutes so much was covered, cleaned and re-organised ready for the official opening of the store at 11am.

Be sure to check out the items and artwork on display produced by women who have taken part in the 'Making For Change' programme. A collaborative training initiative for women at HM Prison Downview to learn new skills that could lead to future employment possibilities and break the cycle between prison and homelessness.

FACT OF THE DAY - Groundhog Day is celebrated this week in Canada & the US. It is a Pennsylvanian superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for 6 more weeks! If it does not see its shadow due to cloudiness, spring will arrive early. - Fingers crossed!

We finished the session with a 3km loop around Peckham Rye and a 500m lamp post time trial to test our paces and raise the heart rate!

Next Week we're running 8km overall to Stompie Gardens working with a local community group to help spread out some wood chip and clear up some weeds. It's getting darker so bring along a headtorch! Sign up here.

See you there Team!

Wall of Honor

Big Shout to Sally for back marking and keeping the group together High-Five to Kim, Baljit & Coral who completed their first GoodGym run with us!

Let's have a recap

Last night 22 runners ran 8km in total to the Crisis store in Elephant and Castle.

The good news was that storm Brendan had passed, but it was still a chilly evening so we swiftly made our way up to Wallworth Road via Burgess Park. Once we arrived we met Emelia & Daniella who welcomed us into the store and showed us our tasks for the evening. We had one team meticulously rearranging the clothes rails getting everything into size order. A second team set up a production line organising stacks of CDs and DVDs, checking the products were in the right boxes, then making and sticking on labels. And a third group had the task of separating and re-organising all the single lone shoes from a jumbled pile, into categories of male, female, smart, casual and healed!

FACT OF THE DAY High heeled shoes were originally worn by men! As early as the 10th century, many horseback riding cultures wore heels on their boots and shoes to help stay in stirrups. When the Persian cavalry wore inch high heels, they became associated with the upper class, since they showed the wearer owned and maintained horses.

Everyone attacked each task enthusiastically with an eye for detail, as well as a bargain! And in only 30 minutes we got through so much stock, Emelia & Daniella were delighted and ready to have us back again!

Next week we will be running 7km to support the Salvation Army in Camberwell. It will also be GoodGym Southwarks 4th Birthday!! So we will celebrating with a drink or two next door!

See you there Team!

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Dom & Helena for back marking and keeping the 2 groups together.
• Big Shout to Helen & Manny for completing their first run with us!
• Pat on the back to Anna for completing 4 Good Deeds at the weekend - including 3 in one day!!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night 21 runners ran 6km in total to the Crisis store in Camberwell. Crisis is the national charity for homeless people, helping them to rebuild their lives. Through research into the causes and consequences of homelessness and the solutions to it, they are committed to ending homelessness for good!

Despite the rain we began a quick warm up with a chance to learn some new names! Then we headed off in an organised group with Task Force members Dom, Helena & Sam in position to make sure as the pace of the group stretched no one was left behind. We ran along Lyndhurst Way to Peckham Road untill we reached the store in Camberwell Green.

Store manager Ross directed us through the evenings tasks, varying from dusting, cleaning rails and rearranging clothes into size order. With so many hands ready to help we quickly split up into different areas of the shop, whilst keeping a keen eye on some bargains! Kate managed to reserve a top and Allie even ran home with a candelabre!! Floors, shelves and rails were swept and mopped and Holly finished up with her favourite job of hoovering! After 30mins we said goodbye to Ross and left his store looking nice and clean!

FACT OF THE DAY A Candelabra Tree cannot stand the cold - anything below 10-12 degrees Celsius. However they do survive indoors, ideal for those living in a chilly climate.

On the way back we still had time for some Mexican Wave Squats, and a slippery but competitive Burpee relay in Warwick Gardens with Ian just about staying on his feet to lead his team to victory!

Next week we will be running 8km to support the Tabard Growers community group with some weeding at Stompie Garden. Come to see 'Stompie' a decommisioned Soviet tank!

See you next week Team. Stay dry!

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Emily for running back to retrieve my bag and keys for the cafe!
• Big Shout to Hayley, Imogen, Victoria, Olivia & Saoirse for completing their first run with us!
• Pat on the back to Dom & Emily for completing another Half Marathon in under 2 hours despite the puddles last Saturday!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night a whopping 27 runners ran 5km in total to TRAID store in Peckham, a charity whose aim is to stop clothes being thrown away reducing the impact on the environment.

After welcoming all our new comers, we stepped out into the fresh winter evening and began a swift warm up learning everyones names! We took a back street route along Bellenden road and up to the store at the top of Rye Lane.

Jose the store manger was pleased to welcome us indoors and slightly shocked at the size of our group as the 27 runners descended into the store! Having arrived soon after the shop had stopped TRAID-ing we were able to assist their task of removing all of the end of season stock from the many display rails in the shop. Large boxes were placed nearby, and once we were shown how to pack and fold the items, it wasn't long before the boxes were filled and more had to brought out. In total 6 boxes were filled to the brim and carefully lifted and stacked using true GoodGym 'We can do this!' spirit, much to the surprise of the store staff who thought it might be too challenging! Whilst this was going on we had extra hands sweeping the floor, wiping shelves, polishing rails and cleaning the store from back to front. After 30mins the store was transformed and now completely empty, ready for the staff to restock the new season styles in the morning.

FACT OF THE DAY Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) often used to make the mid sole of athletic shoes can take up to 1000 years to decompose!! try donating your old shoes!

To finish the session off we ran back to Peckham Rye park and split into groups for some Kilometer loops, throwing in lamppost strides, out and backs and finishing with a sprint finish lead by Danny, and some Sally Squats lead by Dom. After a quick stretch it was time for our monthly social (walk to the pub)!

Next week we will be running 5km overall to Crisis Camberwell working with a local charity to help sort out their donations and tidy up stock.

See you next week Team. Wrap up!

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Emily & Sam for back marking and keeping the group together.
• Pat on the back to Rebecca, Ian, Emma & Dom for completing Half Marathons in London and Lisbon last weekend!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night 20 runners ran 10km in total to the former Daily Mail Printworks, now being turned into a fantastic community garden and education centre run by Global Generation.

A slightly strange ensemble of runners arrived dressed in prison outfits, capes, bandages and deadly makeup in true GhoulGym fashion! With a longer run this week we set off promptly armed with 'trick or sweets', surprising a few passers by giving us strange looks as we took to the back streets on route to Surrey Quays.

When we arrived at Printworks site we were met by Martin who guided us to a beautifully hidden garden with fairy lights and log cabins. The task ahead was to dig up a mound of soil and transfer a very large bag of logs to the inside community centre. With time being short a team of 4 swiftly began digging at the stubborn mound of earth clearing the area with expert speed. The rest of the team lifted, carried, and wheeled the logs inside until half the bag was emptied. Then a masterstroke decision was made to drag the large back to the storage area and a chain was quickly set up hurriedly emptying and piling the remaining logs in a safe pile ready for use indoors.

FACT OF THE DAY In Toraja, Indonesian, a ritual called Ma'Nene (Care of Ancestors) takes place each year in August when the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village!!

With our speedy gravedigging and logging complete we headed back along cycle paths and through tunnels making sure our group didn't get too stretched, thanks for your help team! After a good night of exercise it was time for a well earned drink!

Next week we will be running 6km overall to Theatre Deli in Burgess Park giving their hall a lick of paint! So don't wear your best running gear!

See you next week Team. Wrap Up.

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Emma for back marking and keeping the group together.
• Big Shout to Tom & Paulin for completing their first run with us!
• Pat on the back to Sam doing his 50th Good Deed last weekend!
• High 5's all round to Allie for finishing the Royal Parks Half as a Rhino last week!!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night 20 runners ran 4km in total to the nearby Cossal Estate Residents and Tenants association hall. This venue is used by many local groups for various activities from arts and woodcraft, circus training, choir practice and concerts. We were met by Jaki who directed us into 2 groups for the various tasks for the evening. One group swept up all the leaves, weeds and rubbish in the outside patio area, clearing a nice open space ready to use for their Xmas party! The second group cleared all 2 store cupboards full of unwanted items of all shapes and sizes! From paint pots to paintings, old stereos and camping beds everything that was no longer needed was carried out in a chain to the dump. We even managed to retrieve a piano that had been inaccessible and unused for 20 years, giving it a new home inside the main hall.

When spotting 4 swiss balls lying around there was only one way we could make best use of them...with a 4 team GoodGym relay competition!

FACT OF THE DAY in 2012, Neil Whyte completed the record for the fastest time 10 Swiss balls have been jumped across at 8.31 seconds! Imagine giving that a go!

First up was an 'over and under' through the legs challenge, followed by a swiss ball dive along the floor with varying levels of success! We finished off with a bear crawl and crab race challenging our coordination, core strength and flexibility. It was no suprise all 4 races were extremely close and fiercely faught!

Next week we will be running 10km overall to the former Daily Mail Printworks in Surrey Quays, which is now a community Paper Garden run by Global Generation to nurture creativity and community.

It's getting dark so bring a head torch. Bring your contactless/oyster card for the overground option home.

Well done team! See you next week.