18 runners ran 3.5km to dig holes at Lettsom Gardens

News

• The next GoodGym Social will not be happening in Brent (my bad!) but somewhere TBC in Central London. It's happening next week on Thursday April 5th. There will be International Pun of The Month and much merry making. It's always a blast! Sign up here.

• Last night the unstoppable Helena ran her ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH good deed. Give her a big old cheer for that!

• SAVE THE DATE for GoodGym Olympics. It's happening on 30th June at Parliament Hill Athletics track. We have an egg and spoon race title to defend. We'll be having a flag party well in advance so get your thinking hats on. It's a wonderful day - there will be silly races and not so silly races and guaranteed hilarity. Sign up here.

• A big hello and welcome to Celia and Tom who joined us for the first time tonight!

And onto the good stuff... Last night 18 runners gathered whilst it was still light (thanks Deepak for the precision timing input) to run to Grove Park Allotments and Lettsom Gardens for a two-pronged task. We set off on the more scenic route and arrived 2km later happy as Larry.

Half of the group stayed at Grove Park Allotments and got busy weeding plots and scraping moss from the walkways whilst the other half went round the corner to Lettsom Gardens to start digging 70cmx70cm holes for sapplings that will be planted next week. Digging holes is no mean feat! Two groups worked on their holes with ground-looseners working up the turf and diggers making headway on the holes themselves. Those at Grove Park also had the chance to admire the new Bee Area that the group worked so hard at clearing. It's unrecognisable! Great work team!

After fifteen minutes the groups swapped around and after 35 minutes time was called and Liz came round to inspect the quality of our hole digging.

Holy Moly! 3 beautiful holes in 35 minutes!

A sterling effort made by everyone. Liz was delighted. She's very excited to have us back next week for a big task moving manure orders onto plots. It really will be a military precision exercise and we need as many hands on deck as possible. Sign up here.

We bid Liz farewell and headed back to base. Excellent work team and a great last task for Hanna who's come full circle - Grove Park was her first ever task!

See you next week! Lucy

For our first group run of the year 16 runners arrived at old spike, ready to get 2018 off to a really good start. While people signed in we chatted about the 10 things Rich had been advised to do on moving to London, one of which was come to GoodGym so he can already tick that one off the list. We also chatted about GoodGym’s January challenge and how Southwark is ready and willing to play our part in reaching an impressive number of good deeds and kilometres in January.

A last minute change of task meant that our journey there was as simple as walking through a door. The area behind the roastery is being converted into a community yoga studio so there’s lots of building work going on at the moment. Out the back there was quite a considerable pile of rubble that needed to be bagged up and moved round the corner, ready to be taken to the dump. With such an array of items in the pile it did bring back memories of a late nineties TV show but none of us really had the skills to make a functioning machine out of a lot of plaster board, hundreds of coffee cup lids, some discard chip paper and an old toilet. After half an hour or so we felt like we’d all had a good upper body work out and set off on our run. Half the group came with Tom and I to do a 3km circuit of Peckham Rye and half went with Matt on a slightly extended 5k.

What a year it's been. We've seen the group go from strength to strength, have helped countless charities and community organisations, covered many, many miles and had a pretty great time while we did it. We've seen the first ever 50 milestones reached in Hounslow, cheered our members through races and PBs and celebrated our first birthday. 2018 is shaping up to be a truly brilliant year.

Our last run of 2017 was a very festive one - not only were we feeling very Christmassy, but we also had Hanukkah to celebrate. Double the fun! So we jingled all the way outside to warm up, and to hear about each other's favourite points of 2017. Reaching 50 good deeds, joining GoodGym, traveling to exotic places and simply that it's almost over were our highlights.

'Borrowing' the lovely Ealing group's idea, our run to the task tonight was accompanied by a festive quiz, which included questions like how many good deeds have been done across the whole of GoodGym (73 112!) and who is top of the Hounslow leader board for good deeds (Remy and Andy). Each incorrect answer resulted in a fitness-based forfeit for the team, and there was one unfortunate moment when the roles were reversed and the questionmaster was punished with a mean old set of tricep dips. That wasn't supposed to happen!

We soon arrived at our task, which was to pick up and deliver a pile of leaflets for a community Christmas concert happening in Brentford. We're well practised at this particular job now, and so as soon as we got the leaflets in our chilly little hands, we set off into the local streets, stopping only for a quick snap in front of Brentford FC's home ground.

We still had a two mile run back ahead of us, so after we had had got rid of all the leaflets we set off in the direction of home. The drizzle started not long after, putting the future of our fitness session (the 12 days of Fitmas) in peril. By the time we got back to Turnham Green it was coming down pretty badly so we decided to do the festive thing, and head inside. A good job we did for two reasons. The first was that shortly after the heavens opened and the rain became apocalyptic, and the second was much much nicer. Thank you so much team for all the amazing words and treats - you are a brilliant bunch. We saw off the night drinking prosecco and toasting the year we've had, before retiring to the pub to spin the dreidel and eat the incredible spread of delicious things that Remy kindly brought us. It's been a wonderful year, and it's all down to the people that every week dedicate their time to make other people's lives better. That's you! Here's to 2018 xxx

There was so much good news last night, we barely knew where to start.

First all hail team (Tom) Cruisin' About, Doing Good for they reign supreme as winners of the inaugural Mission Possible. That's right, Remy, Andy and Michelle saw off all the competition to complete two great deeds and a whole scavenger hunt on Sunday. Way to do good! You should have seen their human pyramid.

We had some fabulous running as well as good doing this weekend, with Remy smashing her 24th and last half marathon of the year. Some of the Hounslow team were lucky enough to be there to watch her do it, and can confirm that she powered across the line in fine form. Well done Remy, a fantastic challenge completed. Will 'PB' Yates also showed us how it's done this weekend, with not one but two personal bests over 5k and 10k at the weekend. Fantastic stuff, keep it up!

Yes, we were unprepared for some of the biggest news of the night, but that did not stop us being massively impressed by none other than the gorgeous Vix who casually rocked up for her 100th milestone. You total superstar! 100 good deeds is an incredible achievement and shows huge dedication to making other people's lives better. Give that lady a cheer, she deserves it!

Our task last night was a slightly different one, but we did our warm up as usual, finding out at the same time what the best winter drinks were. Peppermint mochas, black forest gateaux lattes, Baileys, mulled cider, mulled gin, mulled wine (anything mulled) and Harvey Wallbangers were all top of the winter pops.

We then ran around the corner to the library to pick up two huge sheets of aluminium which are going to make up the beautiful new mural under Turnham Green Bridge - the very bridge we had scrubbed free of graffiti a few weeks ago. We divided up into two teams, and after a very thorough health and safety briefing plus demonstration (ahem), we set off down the road to deliver the new artwork ready to be displayed in local schools.

Past the beautiful Christmas lights we went, under the underpass and along the A4, attracting a few odd looks as we went on our merry way. Precious cargo deposited, it was only a short run back to Turnham Green, doing some extra and unexpected good on the roads along the way. It took until this point in the run to discover that Andy had spent the day hobnobbing with royalty, having a very interesting discussion about chip fat with Prince Charles. WHAT! Two crowns in a matter of days, Andy, you are so regal.

After a short run we had plenty of time to do a lovely fitness session, which started with a game of Chase the Hare. Remy was our sprinting hare, just pipped to the post by Andy and Will. After that warm up we launched into everybody's favourite test of speed, the bleeping Bleep Test. This is a really hard but effective exercise, and great for speed and endurance building. If that wasn't enough, we finished off the evening with some conditioning exercises to build up strength to support all that lovely running we're doing. After that, it truly was job done, and we finished with some stretches and a chat about next week's task. Well done everybody, a task well done and a tough session to boot. Same again next week?!.

It was a blustery evening in Chiswick last night, but that didn't stop the 13 runners who knocked out a speedy 6.4k to help out a local charity that supports those with longterm mental health issues.

But first of all we welcomed three whole new lovely members to the group, let's hear it for Ieva, Aysha and https://www.goodgym.org/runners/emmanuel-oyelowo. Give them a cheer!

We also had a another special reason to celebrate last night as it was Will's 50th ever good deed! What a superstar. That's a lot of running, and a whole load of doing good. Well done, Will.

After all that cheering we headed outside to warm up with some dynamic exercises, during which we found out which animal we would all be. There were a couple of cats, a squirrel, a grasshopper, a bird of prey, a rat and a, erm, dragon.

For the first leg of the run we set off at a good pace, stopping only for a few jumping jacks and squats to keep the group together. With an 8 minute mile, we were doing well, so pushed it even faster in the second and got to the Friends of Cathja shop in record time. Waiting for us there was terrifying Bruce the Dog, complete with natty red kerchief, and Karl and Rin who run the shop, which raises money to be able to support local people with mental health illnesses that rely on their help.

Our job tonight was to shift a load of mattresses and furniture from the front of the warehouse to the yard outside, and we got straight to it. Ieva and Emmanuel moved furniture and swept, Matthew, Adam and Andy got those mattresses moving, and Ross could be found teetering on top of a pile of boxes and tables sorting out all the stuff the shop could sell. Meanwhile the rest of the team was efficiently shifting and carrying things to the yard and bin area. 20 minutes later, we were done.

Apart from the grueling HIT session ahead of us, that is. We waved goodbye to Bruce and the shop, and ran the short distance to Waterman's Park where we found a nice spot to work hard. Five hard exercises each for 20 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of high knees, a short rest, then starting again. It was tough going, but the idea is that short, high intensity, high effort bursts of exercise are fantastic for burning fat, increasing cardio capacity and endurance. While that was enough for most of the group, Andy, Adam and Will stayed behind to complete Will's 50th challenge, which involved three sprints, 25 push ups and 25 press ups, before running to catch us up on the way back.

It was getting windier, which as Michelle pointed out was just good resistance training, and after a good steady run back to Chiswick Town Hall, we stretched out what was a fantastic but tough session. Then, because we had truly earned it, and it was a celebratory night after all, pub. Well done everybody, and welcome to the group for those whose first run it was. Hope to see you all next week for some more doing good, a shorter run, and of course a whole load of squats.

Last night in Hounslow started with party rings, marshmallow cakes and by welcoming lovely new runners Audrey and Saule to the group. Give them a cheer, Hounslow!

After a run down of the week's news, a reminder that the Christmas party is going to be on the 8th December at the Battersea Arts Centre and a quick talk about the task, we moved outside to brave the cold and do some dynamic warm ups. And also to find out what everybody's favourite crisps are. All the important stuff.

With our heart rates up, and having discovered that we love skips, kettle crisps, vegetable crisps for the health conscious, and tortilla chips, we were ready for the off. Tonight's task was just over 2.5 k away, and we took the outward leg nice and steady, just stopping for a few wall sits and quick jumping jacks.

We made it to Ealing Road Baptist Church, which also acts as a food bank and homeless shelter, in no time at all, and were greeted by one of the men who uses the shelter. With Jeremy and Saule taking on the toughest job in the very dusty cellar, Andy, Natasha, Will and Audrey started on the various tasks in the food bank. Jo (whose high point of the night was discovering a chocolate unicorn - did anyone actually see where that went?), Jennifer, Remy and Alex tackled the cleaning jobs in the kitchen, hall and bathroom. There was also clothes to sort for the community, including a rather nice cape (we think) and lots of other little jobs that the team smashed through super quickly.

Which meant more time for the core blast. Hurrah! We were lucky enough to be able to take advantage of the lovely warm room to do our fitness session tonight, rather than yomping about in the mud outside. So we thought we better make it count. With two sets of five exercises aimed at working our abs - essential for efficient running and helping to prevent injuries - we spent 15 minutes doing planks, crunches, reverse crunches, Russian twists, bicycles and much more. Who is feeling it today?

With another 2.5k run in front of us, we hit the road and used the long straight section to the half way point to do some fartlek. This speed work is tough, but great training. We ran the last section as a team to finish off the night with some stretches and a well-earned pat on the back.

Next week we're tackling some tasks at a charity which supports people with long term mental health issues, Friends of Cathja. Sign up here to lend a hand.

200 flyers, 7 keeno runners, 6k and a whole load of guilty pleasures made up another cracking night in Hounslow!

We kicked off the evening with a few bits of news, including plans for our long run on the 3rd December and cheering Remy to half marathon glory on the 2nd December. Not forgetting of course that next week is our very FIRST birthday and we shall be celebrating with a great task (putting up flatpack furniture), a birthday-themed fitness game, and a pub quiz that we are going to smash. There will almost certainly be cake.

We then took ourselves outside for a warm up and to find out everybody's guilty pleasures. Although we should never feel guilty about pleasure, of course. TV shows (trashy and decidedly not trashy) featured quite highly in between high knees and heel kicks, including Outlander, Gilmore Girls, Made in Chelsea and Love Island. To which the latter particularly Ella had showed an impressive commitment. Sunflower seeds and bad action films we agreed were more noble pursuits.

We had a speedy run down to Waterman's Art Centre - a great independent charity that aims to inspire people of all backgrounds through creativity and provide art for all. Almost 2.5 k later and we arrived at the reception desk to find a pile of 200 flyers for an upcoming Digital Weekender waiting for us to distribute. This event in a couple of weeks is crammed full of fun and fascinating free sessions, so do check it out.

Now, we had done this before for Waterman's with mixed success, but this time we were going to do it better. We had already mapped out an area that we were going to hit up, so quickly made our way there. Splitting up into two groups to cover both sides of the street, we got ourselves into formation to put a flyer through every letterbox. Soon we were operating like (a bit rusty) clockwork. We covered about 2k in this way, encountering some menacing barking and some beautiful houses, and soon found ourselves empty handed and back at Turnham Green for our fitness session.

This week were CODE CRACKING. Yes, it was complicated, and no, it probably wasn't explained very well. The idea was that two teams had to each crack a 6 number code. Each number related to a certain exercise and could appear more than once. Each team had to guess the correct sequence but to find out whether they had, they had to do each exercise. A square bracket meant it was the right number in the right position. Phew. I said it was complicated. Still, it was no match for Ella, Andreea and Natasha, who just in the nick of time managed to crack that code and were declared the winners. I mean, there wasn't an actual prize. But they won an overall sense of satisfaction, and that is priceless.

After a few stretches and a cool down we revelled in our post-run, post-goodness endorphin high and called it a night. Great work team. Bring on next week!

15 awesome runners ran 4km to help out at the Royal Hill Community Garden!

It was a freakishly warm evening last night, it had rained on and off for most of the day and it looked like it was going to rain some more.. but it didn't stop 15 of you lovely lot from coming out to run and get a good deed done!

We were joined by 4 new runners last night! AMAZING!! Isabella brought along her friend Balazs, I managed to rope in my friend Sally from the gym I work at, and we were also joined by two more lovely ladies Aimee and Lexy! Welcome to the family everyone! Make sure you join our FB group to keep updated with races and other wonderful things that this awesome group gets up to!

We dropped off our stuff and headed over for a quick warm up and then set off through Greenwich town centre and up to Royal Hill! We were greeted by two lovely gentlemen, Patrick and Jonathan who explained the tasks that needed doing.

Ground force!

There was a flower bed at the front which needed some holes to be dug to make room for some plants so a few people got stuck in with that. Vickie took a small group to the dark outback to rake up some leaves and put them in the compost. And the final group were tasked with a little landscape design project of making a heather bed which involved building a DIY dry stone wall out of bricks and other rubble they could find... Apparently according to Emma, well, Emma's granny, dry stone walling is an actual hobby and you can enroll yourself in a course to learn how to build one as it is quite an art form! But these guys did not need a course in dry stone walling... oh no! They just cracked on and it looked BEAUTIFUL. Alan Titchmarsh better watch his back!

15 minutes later and the group at the front had successfully planted the plants! WOOHOO! Next job was some bulbs to be planted in and around them. Patrick showed them the first one and then left the rest to them!

Everyone was doing a killer job! The leaves had all been swept away. The bulbs had been planted and finally the heather bed was looking absolutely stunning! So it was time to say our goodbyes, have a group photo and head back for some more RUNNING! Yay!

We had a little jog back to the uni and had loads of time to spare! And since the run to the garden wasn't very far, there was more running on the agenda! But that's what you're here for right :)

Laps, laps and more laps!

As I always say, speed work is SO important. I don't do it enough myself. And chances are you probably don't either! If you run 3 times a week, you should try and aim for one of those runs to involve some kind of interval training where your heart rate goes up and comes down multiple times! It gets you faster over time and really pushes your lactate threshold so you can run faster for longer! Which is ultimately what everyone wants, right? So.......

On the cards was 4x 2 laps fast 2 laps slow. 1 lap is approx 300m so to run round it 16 times would be about 4.8km which is a long way! But instead of making everyone do this, we did it for as long as it took the fastest person to complete it. The key to this one is running the fast laps at a pace where you can maybe say about 2 or 3 words at a time so a nice controlled effort and then running the slow ones REAAALLLYY slow as an active recovery.

Long story short... everyone did AMAZING. It was great to see you all really push yourselves and put in so much effort! And of course so great to hear the cheers for our super speedy Amy so everyone could stop! Ha! That was a tough session, probably one of the hardest we've done so newbies please don't be scared off!!!!

We had a nice little stretch and called it a night :)

Thanks so much everyone! You got so much done at the garden and the task owners were SO pleased at what you all achieved so well done! Also great job with those intervals, I know it was hard but you absolutely smashed it!!!! See you next time!

It was a bit of a rocky start to the night when ten runners found themselves to be homeless after being kicked out of our regular room, but the evening just got better and better from there.

First of all we cheered the indomitable Remy who is getting ever closer to that PB with a cracking performance at the Great Scottish half marathon this week.

We then celebrated lovely Jo who last night reached the all important FIFTY milestone. It shows a lot of commitment to get there, so well done to Jo- give her a cheer!

After a quick warm up and a discussion about what age is the best - answers ranged from 7 to 67 - we set off on a short run to Turnham Green station where the incredibly industrious Karen of Abundance London and GGer Michelle were waiting for us with buckets and sponges. Our job tonight was to strip off the fly posters that were making a mess of the walls of the tube station bridge.

The bridge has been there for almost 200 years, and it seemed as though the posters started going up not long after. We got stuck in, peeling off layer after layer of paper. The aim is to clear the wall ready for a big project. Abundance London recently received permission from TFL, along with some funding from Hounslow and Ealing Council, to install a huge mural under the railway arches at Turnham Green tube. The plan is to create a large mural made up from a series of historical maps of the area from 1745 up to the present day. GoodGym Hounslow is to become a small part of Chiswick history!

Turns out that stripping off the posters is totally addictive, and we couldn't (ahem) tear ourselves away. So satisfying when a huge piece comes off in one go. We even had a hand from Paul, the lovely cabbie waiting at the taxi rank right by the station, and the flower seller from across the road helped carry our water. What a community job! After 40 or so minutes of work the wall was transformed. A note for an potential fly posterers in the Turnham Green area: stay away. We will find you.

After waving goodbye to Karen we were taken on a little detour by Remy who is leading us to victory in the Beat the Streets competition, did a few squats as we tapped our cards, then headed back to the park to knock out a fitness session. Last night it was all about the glutes. We started off with some walk outs to warm up, then started on an intense hit session that was aimed at strengthening our glutes in order to prevent injury and get ourselves some nice peachy bums in the process. We knocked out 40 seconds of ladder runs (hereby christened by Jordan as 'Beyoncés'), squat jumps and side shuffles and lunges, followed each time by 20 seconds rest. Feel the burn!

All that was left was to tackle the short run back to the Town Hall where much to our delight we found a birthday party going on and were generously donated slices of chocolate cake from the birthday girl. Much appreciated after a tough session, and to show our gratitude we serenaded the party with a nice rousing round of happy birthday. Then we headed to the pub to toast Jo. All in all a great night of running, addictive tasks, Beyoncé, cake and pub. More next week?