Another magnificent night last night chaps. 37 of us… really good. We took a whopping 93 kg of food to the task.

We also celebrated Maddy and Jitendra doing 50 good deeds and getting their highly sought after black T-shirts (Jay, yours is on it’s way)… well done guys!

We also kicked off the GoodGym Lambeth Great British Bake Off sweepstake. To recap the rules, the Tuesday after your contestant goes out you have to bake something from the theme that week…. We will have cake for 12 weeks… I am most excited.

OK, on with the report. I have decided to make this week’s report PUN-tastic… see if you can spot the theme.

We were all JAMmed into Papa’s for a PEACH (slices) of a task. We knew where we were going because we’ve (baked) BEAN to Vauxhall Food Bank many a time so it was a case of getting on the road with our food and getTINg going. Running up Brixton Road, on a mission in Lycra I felt a bit like Anneka RICE (pudding)…

Once we got there Faith weighed up all the food we’d taken and we had managed to take 93kg of food…. That’ll give us muscles.

Get TIN (s)!!!

Next week I’m away so I will PASTA baton onto Axel who will be leading the tasks.

See you in two weeks x

21 runners ran 5km focus on hip position to shift a tonne of Compost for Dalston Curve garden.

This session focused on hips. Good hips means good running.
We had to shift a mound of earth for Dalston Curve Garden. Home of Becky Greenwood's Pizza oven.

We jogged over to Dalston at a nice steady pace lead by Mark. Mark has great hips, and a nice light running style.

When we arrived they were not quite ready for us so we strengethed our cores and hips on the sand, in front of a band who played us some delightful music.

purple tunnel of "buddleja"

By this point we had a lovely load of spades and shovels ready for us to start shifting the mound of earth hidden behind the purple tunnel of buddleja.

Those not digging did more work on their hips, strengething with some flutter kicks, planks and mountain climbers on the sand.

"Space for a van"

By the time the reps were over the mound of earth was moved leaving ample space for a van.

"hip partners"

We headed to Hackney Downs for some more hip interrogation . We got ourselves some hip partners who kept their eyes on our hips to give us some feedback.

HIP INFO

If you're interested in little bit more hip stuff, here's a short video of Americans talking about good hip position, and here's a longer article about why it's important.

MISSION REPORT

While the rest of GoodGym Hackney headed to the Curve Garden, Ros and I did our best Charlie Dimmock / Alan Titchmarsh impersonations at a Groundforce-style mission in Stokey.

"rolls of astroturf"

We ran 4km to visit the friendly Rachel, who was ready to meet us in the front garden with rolls of astroturf and a selection of paving slabs. It soon became apparent Ros had been a Landscape Architect in a previous life, as she talked Rachel through her “vision for the space”.

"climbing into the brown bin"

We set to work clearing the space of garden waste, with Ros climbing into the brown bin to maximise capacity. With light rain falling, we laid the astroturf, pinning it in place with carefully arranged slabs.

"a very generous round of applause"

We all agreed the finished article was a lovely sight – and if Groundforce were rebooted, Ros would be top pick. We said our goodbyes and made a speedy run back to meet the others for a very generous round of applause and some much needed stretching.

20 Runners ran to dig up roots for a community garden in Hackney. 2 went to clear an older persons garden.

"some mid road planking"

Well, well, well. Firstly, the taskmaster enforced some mid road planking. With 22 men and women strong, we moved at breakneck speed weaving through the backstreets of Hackney towards the idyllic Wilton Estate. Greeted by the lovely Debbie, she dished out a multitude of tools as there was lots to be done. The plants were gasping from the summer sun, so a group of good gym'ers carried endless watering cans to relieve them of their thirst.

"count to 3 whilst sprinkling"

The correct way to water plants is to count to 3 whilst sprinkling. Whoever knew?!

Witness the fitness, the root digging system, one hope, one quest. Meanwhile, there was a small army of strong armed gents swinging their pic axes, spades and sharp implements to remove the toughest of all roots.

"ripped"

Miraculously no one was damaged during this challenging task, aside from the roots, clearly, which were ripped from the ground successfully. Whoops and high fives followed, victorious. There were however, other troublesome weeds and ivy lurking in the gardens, attempting to rule. But, not for long. We were on hand to tear them from the ground. We piled them high into a bag large enough to fit at least 6 good gym'ers.
Witness the fitness, the root digging system, one hope, one quest.

"casual hustling"

After our quest was done, we summoned up the power to run to Hackney Downs for some casual hustling, relay style. We hustled so hard you could hear the beats of our feet on the ground. Then, basking in the glory of our achievements we ran back to our start point, E5 Bakery. Excellent work team, until next time. Witness the fitness, the root digging system, one hope, one quest.

Mission report

Antonia and I (Paul Bown) both volunteered for the mission to help Catherine in Clapton clear an overgrown bush in her front garden. So we headed north on Mare Street, were directed around a Police cornered off area and weaved around the busy streets of Hackney. After 3.3km we'd arrived and were mission ready.

The situation was that ivy, vines and bushes had become overgrown in Catherine's front garden so the council had requested her to cut it back off the street and take the routes out. However due to the fact Catherine had a stroke a few years ago she is reasonably immobile and unable to do this.

"good tempo pace"

Armed with shears and black sacks we were able to cut back around 1/4 of the ivy growing into the street (at least 1.5 metres deep) before we had to set off. We got rid of the bin bags and then said our goodbyes to Catherine. Our return run was at a good tempo pace as we needed to make sure Anthonia got on her train home.

Yesterday I was tired and I didn't have a great amount of energy. Yesterday was my Everest. Then I turned up to GoodGym and all sorts of wondrous things happened that turned the whole day around.

39 people showed up. Mega effort. That’s only one less than 40 you know.

There were brand new runners to GoodGym; Josiah, David and Emma…. Make sure you’re all extra lovely to them all next week. They are lovely people. I’d like to keep them.

It rained. We all got a bit wet. But that was cool.

Judy got covered in paint and there was cake thanks to super baker Beth to celebrate my first anniversary at GoodGym Lambeth… hooray.

Here are the reports from what you all got up to. The challenge was four lines, eight words per line, preferably rhyming… here’s what we’ve got.

Brockwell Park Greenhouses By George

At Brockwell's greenhouses we met Tom, who meant For us to shovel compost until we're spent Spreading, tossing and raking Until arms were aching And rewarded with fresh veg, what a gent!

Loughborough Junction by Jitendra

Gardening at Loughborough Junction farm's on the menu.

So a group of us went, almost flew.

They grow black tomatoes and loads there y'know?

Now in place of beans, chard will grow!

Papa’s Park by Alex

In need to some speed work, I was put through my paces doing 5 x 1 mile reps in between sanding the Papa's Park Railings. Although they didn't get easier, by the 3rd the route was known and could start to get an idea on a consistent pace. By the 5th rep the smokers out side The Duke had got used to my screw face. Loosing 21 seconds between the first and last rep, I was gifted delicious cake. Cake more than suitable to celebrate a year of Rebecca at GG!

Holland Estate -

44 of you. 27 degrees. 5 tasks. Over 150 miles covered. Painting, digging, lifting, weeding, watering and of course running.

Here's the round up;

Team Papas were the magnificent three. And they were bloody magnificent, they might not have run anywhere due to injuries, but the girls laid down some serious work at Papas with as we commenced painting on the fence… harder than it looks with a brush the size of an Argos pencil. The flowers and plants of Papas also got watered, and given the weather I’m pretty sure they gave visible sighs of relief when the water hit their pots.

Team Wyck Garden ran a mile each way to help Loughborough Junction farm to do some serious digging. Lovely Anthea worried that the ground would be too hard, but our crack team made light work of the task much to everyone’s amazement. That was some serous muscle work kids… grrrrr

Team POP Brixton took a central run down to Shakespeare Road to pick up trees that had been donated to POP Brixton. They carried the adult trees (that means BIG) a kilometre to Brixton’s newest hot spot ready to be planted. In fact they did it so quick the new home wasn’t even ready for the trees. BEASTS… great work.

Team Portico Gallery took on the vixen that is Brixton Hill and a 5 mile run as they headed down to The Portico Gallery to help our wonderful friend John to move tables and put gravel into ballasts. When asked what the ballasts were for John explained they were for runners to put around their legs for strength training… then swiftly demonstrated. Oh John.

Team Nature Garden also got a good run with four miles in order to take on the jungle with some serious weeding and general tidying of the garden ready for a fate in a couple of weeks.

Great work guys… send me pictures!! (of the task. Not nuddy pics.. although…) in the meantime here's some Glastonbury shots of out runners and the lottery ticket that failed to pay out... next week kids.. next week.

Make sure you get your red T-shirt here … http://www.goodgym.org/membership_flow

37 runners and Molly the dog met at Papa’s on a magnificent Tuesday evening – it was a night where we completed 4 big tasks, covered the length and breadth of Lambeth, celebrated Rebecca Nellis’ big 100 good deeds, ate some cakes and drank cheap fizz. It was perfect.

Unfortunately we didn’t win the lottery, but the round up of the night’s events tell me we are very much winners.

Team Papas

So the Papa’s park crew might not have run anywhere but don’t be mistaken by thinking this meant they got off lightly…. far far from it. These brave souls were rewarded for their excellent sanding and painting skills with 15 minutes of full body circuits. Burpees, press ups, squats, lunges, dips and sprints were banged out non stop. Legs wept and waved white flags begging for a ceasefire whilst upper bodies gave up hope and emigrated to Turkey . An impressive display of technique and grit ensured that these guys are one step closer to getting stronger and faster and injury free. It’s not just about running folks, make sure you train your muscles folks to condition that tank of yours. Just as we were finishing Jitendra turned up with the most wonderful cakes I have ever tasted (and I know my cake) instantly winning my “Man of the Match’ ,. Bravo

Team Myatt’s - errrr... In lieu of an actual report from anyone, and based on the photos I believe that the Myatt's team lifted some serious wood.... (not a euphemism).

Team Olive - By Beth

Lovely Dyfed (he remembered me from last year and even remembered that I'm 'some sort of doctor or scientist') definitely deserves a good deed, no way we would have managed to get it done without him.

After jogging just around the corner with Dyfed and his dog Molly, Laura and I arrived at Olive's house. I was really looking forward to seeing what it was like after coming almost a year ago to help chop down a massive bush that was taking over the whole garden. Pleasantly surprised that it was still under control we got to work. While Laura and Dyfed chopped branches and pulled up weeds, I did my best to bag it all up. I had the usual panic about two-thirds of the way in, with big piles of greenery in the middle of the garden I wasn't sure that what we were doing was actually helping but once we were done and had filled about 20 bags it was clear we had made a big difference. All that was left was to head back to Papa's for some bubbly and delicious madeleines in celebration of Lambeth's first wings, congratulations on reaching 100 good deeds Nelly!

Team Nature Garden - By Alex

On a warm balmy evening, five GG'ers tootled up Brixton Hill to visit Palace Road Nature Garden where they met the very calm Gerry. Splitting into two groups the lads took it upon them selves to move logs, and lay down some wood chip next to the pond. The ladies, wielding machetes, took to clearing nettles and prickly plant things from the path. Gerry pointed out the muriel on the back wall, which is well worth a look! And before we took out leave, we had time for a cheeky photo with him too! On the run back one runner had to stop and walk, but in good ol' GG fashion no man was left behind; and a rescue service on bike was soon to their aid. Meaning we all got back in time to celebrate in style!

Last night had more going on then an episode of Eastenders… we had 34 runners, three tasks, one mile time trials, killer circuits, cake, a black t-shirt for50 good deeds, a marriage proposal and even two old school friends reunited by pure coincidence at GoodGym Lambeth….

Whilst 16 runners stayed at Papa’s to help paint the fence of our wonderful meeting point they were not let off lightly with the running… each were sent out to run a mile (well just over) as fast as they could… a great effort was put in… there’s nothing I like more than seeing people come back looking absolutely spent.. and some very speedy times too. They were then rewarded for their hard work of painting and running with 10 minutes of brutal circuits afterwards… I just keep giving.

Here’s what went on at the other two tasks;

Brixton Youth Centre - Beth

We had two tasks to do at Brixton Youth Centre this week - one was the usual, brush and bag up the leaves to make the place look a bit more tidy and the other was to move all the stuff out of a garage, give it a sweep and put it all back a bit more neatly. It turned out this was the perfect task for new runner Kevin who’d actually bothered to read the bit on the website where it says you might want to bring a head torch. You’d be forgiven for thinking there might not be much need for it in June, but when Sarah shouted from inside the garage 'is there a light in here we can use?' Kevin became the hero with the flick of a head torch switch! With tasks completed we set off back to Papa's for circuits, painting and cake. Congratulations on reaching 50 Benson!

Holland Park Estate – Emma

A small group of us ran a little further down the road from Brixton Youth Centre to help Ameena with the Holland Park Estate gardens. After admiring the meadow that is now where we dug up all those weeds a few months ago, we were split into groups do some small weeding tasks (damn you, bindweed, we knock you back and you spring right back up again!). Once the bindweed had taken a good beating we moved onto some new tasks, weeding and digging areas on the edge of the main estate, near the road. Soil was turned, weeds were weeded, loads of really tall rapeseed was pulled up and some of us even managed to fit in planting new plants! Satisfied that we had done some good, we ran back in time for a spot of painting and cake made by Beth and Sarah. Delicious!