Twenty two tremendous GoodGymmers met at the Phoenix to help at a local park.

It was a night of celebration at GGB tonight: the heroic Abi Perrin was joining us for second Good Deed of the day making our group run her THREE HUNDREDTH Good Deed! A mind melting amount of good done across GoodGym - please go and give her a cheer and consider buying her a well deserved drink at the next social!

We were also celebrating Task Force Pesh's 30th birthday! There was a truly exceptional cake contributed by our resident task force member/unofficial social sec/baker/marathoner/ACTUAL DOCTOR/whatsapp queen Mumtaz! Seriously check out the picture.

It was also Paul's birthday on Monday! Which he kept VERY quiet about. HBD Paul. If that wasn't enough, it's also Task Force Vicki's birthday next week. Phew!

To the run! We were joined by Mary for her first ever group run (welcome!) and divided into two groups to set off to our new task at Albert Road Rec. This is a wonderful multi use open space near Muswell Hill that is almost completely managed by The Friends of Albert Road Rec. They asked for our help with some muddy pavement maintenance, which sounded very us honestly.

It's a 3k undulating run so we divided into two with Paul leading off a fast group to go and get started, while I led the second group with Abi back marking for us.

On arrival we were presented with edging tools and buckets and set to work. The verges alongside the pavements had overgrown the pavements, gradually making them very muddy indeed, whilst also obscuring the London red brick that lines the edges of the paths.

We worked for about 25 minutes digging away the edges of the paths, scooping up the soil, and ferrying buckets of soil to be emptied. Making good progress, it was time for our run back.

The return involved a solid uphill km into Muswell Hill, so we decided that this would form our fitness session. Abi led a small group off first, while I led the rest with Vicki backmarking. It was a tough hill but we were rewarded with some flat roads after and then a visit to the pub at the end!

Brilliant work, thanks everyone, and we'll look forward to continuing our work at Albert Road Rec soon.

D

Eighteen keen Goodgym runners ran to assist the friends of Northway Gardens. Northway Gardens is a linear park comprising three areas of gardens through which the Mutton Brook runs in a channel, lined in parts by weeping willows. The gardens have tennis courts,a cafe, woodland ,open grass and formal gardens. Worth a visit and great for a run. We gathered outside the phoenix cinema numbered up and played a game of would I lie to you. Some very interesting truths and some very cleaver lies! We welcomed Ellie for her first run! ( give her a cheer) and cheered Barnet's Gold placed finish in the January Challenge with notable contributions from Abi (54 GD), Kat (10GD) and Vicki(7GD) But thanks to all who contributed to the 155 (GD) from Barnet. Well done and give everyone a cheer. A great effort! It was a cool night made worse by the wind chill as we headed off with Abiback marking. On route we stopped occasionally to do paired exercises to stay together and keeping warm. We met with Brian at the venue and we set to work carrying the compost bags( of fun) from his car to the gardens. He also sent a team to scrape the path of moss and another repaired wind damage to the pedestrian footpath. When we had finished we headed back along Mutton brook (which forms part of the capital ring) with the wind at our backs. Before we hitting the streets again we did a short aerobic routine to music. (all the latest hits!) We then split into three groups of fast, faster, and quick. Thanks to Rob and Charlotte for leading the way back. Then a very quick warm down (called wind chill!) and a trip to the pub to celebrate Katiebirthday ( give her a shout out). Well done to Mumtaz for an outstanding cake in all senses! ( see picture)

Thanks for coming, running, doing some silly dancing and a lot of good!

We will have a prize draw next week just direct message me with the 'sentence yes please I'd like a prize Paul

Twenty-three trash hating GoodGymmers met at the Phoenix to litter pick around East Finchley.

We have some excellent equipment, so we try to make full use of it every few weeks to keep our local area tidy. On arrival we were joined by Jonah for his first group run. Welcome!

It was a cold cold night so we hopped to it: after a quick warm up and (shamelessly) stolen from GGI ‘what was your first job' game we ran up to Strawberry Vale armed with litter grabbers, gloves, torches and bags. We chose the location because: 1. It’s always gross up there 2. It is conveniently located at the top of East Finchley for a simple plogging route back.

We divided into four teams and got to it. There was a lot of rubbish: four vodka bottles (Jacqui always finds the booze, somehow), a load of tiles (?), and the usual assortment of crisp packets. Once it was reasonably tidy there we plogged along the High Road before ending up at East Finchley Station for a final litter pick and team photo.

Paul then took some chilly runners back with the equipment to the Phoenix to warm up, while I took a group off for our fitness session.

Tonight it was ‘track’ running using our little triangle of roads behind the station. It’s about 100m around, so working in blocks of four, the team worked on laps of warm up speed, hard effort, then active recovery. Julian was our fastest on the night, while Beth in particular has made massive strides in her running recently (keep an eye out for her upcoming races). It was a big effort by everyone with a noticeably less chatty group in the immediate aftermath.

Nice one team. See you next week!

Twenty four good gym runners gathered at the Phoenix cinema for the first run of 2020 to help Stephens House and Gardens. We had three first time runners,Jeffrey,Okan,Siobhan... and Eda tourist from York! Welcome and give them a cheer! It’s a very important month to get motivated and start getting into some positive habits so GG has launched the January Challenge. GGB is in a league table of 53 teams measuring good deeds done, mileage run and people involved. So if you know anybody who wants to get moving and get interacting with their community ask them along to one of our sessions. We have a starter event this Saturday at long lane pasture . Thanks to Rob, Simon Jackson, Rachel and Kat for being the first to start running miles and doing good deeds this year. We are top of the Bronze league so lets get promoted! (at the time of press) Details here We warmed up together shouting out our name, number and favourite colour. I think pink won out as the most popular colour amongst the group....find out more here We then headed off through the back streets of East Finchley heading north to the grade 2 listed house. We stopped occasionally to gather up and do some paired group exercises. This included squats, arm press and an up hill sprint. It was a mild surprisingly rain free night and we soon reached Stephens house (Avenue House). We were met by Melanie who is the charity coordinator for Stephens House and Gardens who advised us on what we would be doing. Built in 1859 by Rev. Edward Cooper and then enlarged and renovated between 1874 and 1878 by Henry “Inky” Stephens. Avenue House is a wonderful Victorian mansion with rooms overlooking the Gardens. Lived in by Henry Stephens from 1878 the house  originally included a library, school rooms and bedrooms. The house and grounds were left for public enjoyment by Stephens in his will and is now a charity. At the time of his death it was already in use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital and between 1919 and 1925 was the RAF central hospital before the grounds were formally opened to the public on 3 May 1928. The house was then used for many years as a public library, and as the offices of Finchley Borough Council after Council Offices in nearby Hendon Lane were destroyed by enemy action in the Second World War. It’s rooms are now used to help fund and maintain the gardens as a public park. It has a lovely little cafe in the old stables. here Melanie had asked us to work in the dinning room waxing the oak panelling . We started by applying wax and then while waiting for it to be absorbed we moved into the drawing room to do some gentle breathing exercises and knee bends. If you are interested to see more please see this great Ted talk on the power of breathing. We then set about buffing the wood to a beautiful shine. Once completed we started a more direct route back to the Phoenix completing a 5.5km circuit by 8.30pm. Thanks for coming and doing some good for a valuable community asset in Barnet. Hope to see some of you this Saturday to support our starter event at a nature reserve in Barnet. Here