Bexley News!!...

• It was great to welcome Lisa tonight! We hope you enjoyed your first run!
• Some of us are running the Poppy Run at Avery Hill on Sunday. You can find out more and sign up here
• Next week we are heading to Welling Library to help tidy outside. Wrap up warm and if you have lights/head torches make sure to bring them along!

Tonight 13 GoodGymers met at Crook Log ready to embark on a brand new task at Welling Salvation Army!

Upon arrival, I thought we had not 1 but 3 new members...only to realise that Matt and Emmanuel were sporting their new black tees! Nice one guys, they looked great! ⑤⓪

We headed outside for our much needed warm up since it was a bit nippy outside. We begun with a slow jog before playing the 52 card pickup again. We changed up the exercises a bit with squat jumps, lunges, star jumps and twists. This week there were a lot of lunges on the cards and less squats compared to last week.

We also had a new running route to get to the task.

The runners went on a loop which took in the bridge over the train line and a very long road to take us to Welling Corner before turning the corner back to get to the Salvation Army. We had a good view of some fireworks en route to the task 🎆🎇

The walkers took the direct route straight up Welling High Street to arrive at a similar time to the running group.

We seemed to time it just right and everyone arrived at the task pretty much together.

We were met by Tim who showed us what was needing to be done.

There were some donations which needed to be sorted into boxes and stored away.

We all grabbed some donations and began organising into boxes, putting aside anything which was 'rubbish'.

After what seemed like no time at all, we were done!

Everyone took a handful from the pile of rubbish to take out to the bins.

Finishing slightly ahead of time, we grabbed some brooms and a dustpan and brush to give a quick spruce up!

We said our goodbyes and headed back to base!

Great work tonight guys!

Until next time...

Happy running!

Sarah 🏃🏻‍♀️

Glorious evening in Bexley tonight. Tonight we were heading out to our friends at The Danson Youth Centre where we've got a lot of gardening work to get done. We had two groups heading there this evening, runners and walkers. The runners set off first. They headed out to do a longer loop whilst the walkers set off on a smaller loop. My idea was that we would hopefully meet up towards the end of the run / walk and arrive at the centre together. Well, let me give myself a pat on the back, it worked out just right...........

WELL LET ME GIVE MYSELF A PAT ON THE BACK, IT WORKED OUT JUST RIGHT

With lots to do on arrival we split into two teams again, one group for the front gardens and a group to the back gardens. Oh, we also had an apple tree that needed trimming. I didn't let them trim it back to much though as last year i got some great apples for apple crumble from that tree. With everyone getting stuck in, within 45 minutes the team had swept, pruned, weeded and turned over soil. Yep we are pretty amazing.

With time now running out it was time to start packing up. With so much more still to do we re booked with Joy for a few weeks time.

Guys, thanks so much for another great week. I couldn't do it without you. Big shout out also to Kim who visited us from Sheffield Goodgym, thanks so much for all your help and have a safe journey home. Thats it for this week guys. Make sure you sign up for next weeks run and task, its going to be fun. unyil then, have a wonderful week.

What a great turnout for Bexley Goodgym tonight. The running conditions this evening were mear on perfect. With a last minute change of task we were now heading over to our friends at the Danson Youth Centre to help them our with a lot of gardening and clearing up. The team split up into two groups, the runners and the power walkers. After our usual warm up loop it was time for the off. As Nick was away on holiday Susan and Sarah looked after the runners and i looked after the walkers.

We arrived at Danson Youth Centre to a warm welcome. Its been a little while since we had been here last so the list of jobs had been growing, so we split into two teams to try and get as much done as possible.

In the short time we had we cleared and swept the back car park, trimmed back the bushes in the main car park, and finally tidied up the side gardens the best we could with the time we had left. Running a little over our time it was then time to make a fast run back to Crooklog. Last one back buys the coffees ;-) always gets people moving.

LAST ONE BACK BUYS THE COFFEES

This was a brilliant task tonight. We had loads to do and everyone worked awesome together. Thanks everyone for hard work tonight.............. Tim

As the warm, Easter bank holiday weekend was coming to an end, 7 GGers met at Crook Log ready to embark on our run to the task. It was great to have Sarah and Johnny join us again from GG Hammersmith and Fulham. There was a lot of catching up to do...talks of which parkruns we had toured at on Saturday and how the marathon training is going before we made our way outside for a warm-up. It feels a bit strange leaving the cold, dark nights behind us and still being not quite sure what to wear. Is just a GG t-shirt alone enough?!?

We had a short run out to Adelaide Care Home where we had a painting task. Upon arrival we were offered hot drinks and then were shown to a storeroom cupboard where the inside needed painting and was told that there was another which needed painting upstairs.

There was one problem...we only had one pot of paint!

Some of us went in search of something we could use to take the paint upstairs and came back with a plastic popcorn container. We made do with one paintbrush and 2 small rollers, allocating the equipment between the 2 floors. What we didn't know was that the upstairs store cupboard was 3 times larger than the downstairs and was still full up.

You've missed a bit!

While the team downstairs were busy painting and helping the keep the door propped open, the team upstairs emptied the cupboard and then rotated between painting and shining our mobile phone torches onto the bits that were missed.

It was then time to pack up tools and reassemble the shelves into the cupboards. We said our goodbyes and then accidentally enlisted the help of a staff member who became our GG photographer for a quick photo session before our run back to base.

We had a quick cool down stretch before nearly getting locked in the car park as it was shutting early because of the bank holiday!

Well done everyone for joining us on Easter Monday! See you next time 🙌

Tonights good deed saw us heading up to Welling to help out our friends at the Greenwich and Bexley Hospice shop. We set off at seven sharp (as always) with two groups, the runner and the power walkers. Tonight i was looking after the walkers and Susan lead the way for the runners.

One arrival at the shop we were greeted by Lorraine who always has a big smile and a glass of water waiting for us. Tonight we were taking on the children's toy department. The whole room was in need of a Goodgym special and thats exactly what we did. With cleaning cloths and polish in hand we took everything off the shelves and gave it all a spring clean before redoing the whole display again. With the weather we've been having calling it a spring clean was by no means a lie. The weather has been awesome over the last few days. Once the displays were back up and looking dapper we grabbed a broom and got on with the finishing touches. If i say so myself the whole area did looked mighty fine.

IF I SAY SO MYSELF THE WHOLE AREA DID LOOK MIGHTY FINE

With no more to do it was time to say our good byes and thank yous before saddling up and heading bad down the hight street for home. Big shout out the the Mencap crew who had me looking after the walking group this evening, You were awesome. Especially Chris and Emanuel who i pushed into a walk run technique so we could reach our destination quicker. Well done. Last but not least, a massive knuckle touch to all those who come and Goodgym week in and week out. Monday evenings wouldn't be the same without you. Until next Monday, have an awesome week.............

Yay!!! We are back. It was great welcoming everyone back to a brand new year of goodgyming. Our first good deed was to Welling Library to make sure it looks the business. After our warm up we split up into our two groups. One walking and one running. Nick led the walkers, whilst Susan, Sarah and myself looked after the runners.

This evening was a nice steady 4K run. I didn't want to make our first outing of 2019 to hard. You've got to break them in slowly (snigger, snigger) On arrival at the library we split into three sections, front garden, side alley, and back car park and got straight to work. Its just amazes me how quickly we can transform an area in such a short time.

Being on the high street its also very encouraging when we get great comments from the public, some asking us what we are doing, and others saying how good its all looking. However this evening we were also asked if we were doing our community service (haha).

With all areas now looking spic and span it was time for the final photos and tidy up before heading back to base camp Crooklog. Theres always a sense of satisfaction on the run back. Everyone chatting and pushing each other to the finish, its just a brilliant feeling.
Next week we have an awesome educational task. We'd love to have you join us, so go check out our listing and get your name down. Until then have an awesome week. Tim

Tonight was always going to be a group session close to my heart. I have suffered with mental health issues and still do. I also know i'm not the only one within our group either. I have learnt that talking about it and keeping fit is also a great way to combat it, so thats exactly what we did this evening.........

Now completely dark at seven o'clock i set up my lights for our warm up. This was followed by our circle of doom fitness session. Closed knee squats were on the menu today, and to my delight some high numbers were being thrown on the sponge dice. YAY!!!!!!!!!

With legs now like jelly we handed out the litter picking sticks, head lamps and bags and got ourself into teams. There wasn't going to be any great running distances covered this evening as the main topic was to talk more to each other about absolutely anything you wanted.

WITH LEGS LIKE JELLY..................

We started with the gardens and green areas of the sports centre then jogged, power walked and litter picked our way to the Danson Youth Centre car park for a swoop of area. It was then onto the adult education centre before heading down towards the rail bridge. It was here we re-grouped for our fast dash run. Those who wanted to do the dash headed off down Brampton Road and back. It was their goal to catch the walkers before they reached to Brampton Road tunnel footpath. And a couple of you did, well done.

Well we never go through the tunneled walk way with out a sit off drill. So thats exactly what we did!! With legs once more jellyfied it was time to head back to finish for the evening. Thanks so much everyone for coming along, chatting and helping to keep our local Goodgym area looking fab. You are all awesome!!

See you all next week.........

It was finally time to dig the lights out. Noooooo, the dark evenings have finally arrived (tears down cheeks). Hey, but meeting up with the Bexley gang is all we needed to lift our spirits and get our headlamps on (big smiley faces).

After our signing in chat it was straight into our warm up. Tonights task is always a busy one and we wanted to give it as much time as we could. I personally love running up to the library as it becomes a dodging game with the commuters heading home. It also brings a lot of interest to the group with passers by definitely paying attention to the red bluuuuuur passing by them ;-)

On arrival we split ourselves into three groups. Front garden, side path, and the back car park. We then grabbed our tools of choice from the shed and got stuck in to the job at hand.

ON ARRIVAL WE SPLIT OURSELVES INTO THREE GROUPS.........

Weeding, shoveling, clipping, and bagging rubbish is one hell of a workout. Trust me, you really start to feel it, but watching the transformation of the area is just the boost we needed to keep going. Its just so awesome watching everything come together.

ITS JUST SO AWESOME WATCHING EVERYTHING COME TOGETHER.........

With everything done and tools safely packed away, the only thing left to do was our mandatory group photo. We then headed home chatting about the transformation and the great work everyone had put in.

Yay!!! Another Goodgym Bexley memory made.........WELL DONE TEAM (high five hands).

Wow, another great turnout tonight, you guys are just awesome. Last night Bexley Goodgym were delivering leaflets for the Greenwich and Bexley Hospice advertising their up and coming Big Bike Ride which a few of us have already signed up for.

Lasts nights fitness session was all in the hands of the Goodgmers. It was leg night!! Everyone formed a circle and i handed a big dice to number one in the circle. The aim was to throw the dice into the middle of the circle and what ever number it landed on was the amount of squats we had to do. Sounds easy. Not when theres twelve of you in the circle and the dice never rolled under the number three!!!!!

With heart rates up and legs definitely warmed up we split into two groups. The fast guys were heading out on the longer route clockwise whilst the slower / walkers were heading out anti clockwise eventually all meeting up back at Crooklog for the finish. For those of you thinking that leaflet dropping is an easy run, think again. You cover more mileage than you think. There's loads of stops and starts, mixed in with faster, then slower running speeds. It really does turn into quite a good run session without really realizing it.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THINKING THAT LEAFLET DROPPING IS AN EASY RUN, THINK AGAIN..............

By five passed eight the slow runners / walking team were on their way back to base camp. It was at this point reality kicked in. Yep, no matter how much we had tried to wish it away the dark evenings have finally arrived. For next weeks run we are definitely going to have to blow the dust and cobwebs off our head torches.

FOR NEXT WEEKS RUN WE ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO HAVE TO BLOW THE DUST AND COBWEBS OFF OUR HEAD TORCHES

Before i end this weeks run report i would like to thank everyone for joining us every Monday evening. I know it sets me up for the week ahead. I also want to give a special shout out to the guys from Bexley Mencap who have been joining us every Monday. You guys are smashing it!!!!!! WELL DONE.

Well sadly thats it for another week. Next weeks task is the Welling Library clean up so all hands on deck please ;-) Have an awesome week..........

Yay!! We turned a negative into a positive last night.......... Yeah i know everyone was really looking forward to messing about on the Danson lake, no one more than me. But due to Blue and Green algae humans and dogs were told to steer clear of the water.

With very little time to turn things around i put pen to paper and organized an 'out and back' run followed by a 'fun team fitness' session on our return to Crooklog sports centre. What i love about out and back runs is they give the faster fitter runners a chance to push forward but still keep within the group environment, and the slower newer runners the good feeling that they are also within the group. Remember at Goodgym Bexley no matter what your ability you will never be left behind.

On return to Crooklog it was straight onto the field for team games. This involve sprints with obstacles, burpees, movement and cardio. I told you it was great fun.........

ON RETURN TO CROOKLOG IT WAS STRAIGHT ONTO THE FIELD FOR TEAM GAMES..........

It was during these games that the earlier nights really dawned on me. Wow, 8pm and it was dark. How short has the light night period been. In a couple of weeks it will be back to head lamp running (yay). I secretly love running in the darkness. I just want to finish this write up with a big thank you to everyone that comes and joins us every week. You guys are just awesome. Remember its our Goodgym so if you have any ideas for task, or want any help with your fitness goals i'm here to listen and help.

Next week we've got the important task of getting the "Big Bike Ride" Leaflets distributed locally. It going to have to be a team competition event so make sure you sign up and join us for another fun filled Goodgym run.