This week saw @GGSheff run to a new location with the fantastic REGATHER to help Friends of Lynwood Gardens with the upkeep of this city centre gem.

WELCOME

We welcomed a new runner to the group this week who mucked in really well with the group and is a real chip off the old block. Give a big CHEER and follow for LUKE

LETS RUN

With a bit of a longer run than usual everyone did a fantastic job of getting to the task site. On reaching the site we were given a fantastic and thorough brief of the nights task by GORGEOUS GARETH who even brought some posh moveable lights for the task to make the task doable in the dark of the wooded area and made for some very arty lighting for photos.

TASK TIME

Our tasks for the eve was to shift cut down weeds into a compost pile and shift as much woodchip into the muddy grounds of the park as we could to make the area more useable for the public and the kindergarden on site. By the end of the task we had covered a massive area with very little beating around the bush. The team really stuck with the task throughout with everyone chipping in!

PHOTOS & TREATS

At the end of the task we gather for a great group photo taken by MAGICAL MARTIN and had time for a quick drink before heading back to base with bags of treats provided by GORGEOUS GARETH of REGATHER in the form of honeycomb and fudge - DELICIOUS!

SPRINTS & SITS

On the way home as it was a bit of a longer run put in some sprint and returns with everyone doing a great job and really giving it a go when they saw the sprint go off the front and the hands go up for the loop back to 'THE KING' as the back marker. We formed a great wall sit tunnel in the underpass to give high fives and cheers as people came through and get a great group photo.

Back at base we used the wall for some stretching and headed inside for liquid refreshment, pun suggestions and talk of a GG climbing session this week - watch the WhatsApp!

Until next week,

Happy Running :)

Tremendous Tom had work commitments (hobnobbing with the likes of Chris Boardman!), so I took over run leading duties.

16 courageous Goodgymmers took to the streets of Sheffield to help CADS with a sticky situation at the Abbeydale Picture House, running 6.5k in the process.

Special mention goes to new GG Sheffield member Brilliant Becky - who has been doing good with GoodGym since March 2013. Tonight's run was her 500th good deed. Awesome Becky - here's to (hopefully) the next 500.

After the usual obligatory group photo & safety briefing, we headed for our destination via a little fartlek session down the quiet (in the evening) pedestrianised Moor.

On arrival at the Picture House we split into 2 groups, tackling different parts of the building. Our main aim during the task was to scrub down and then seal the walls with a PVA glue water mix, which the intrepid groups did after suiting and tooling up. Various puns related to scrubbing were mentioned!

We then said our goodbyes to the lovely CADS lads (we'll be back, and it's lovely to see things progressing so well there) and headed for the U-mix Centre park where we got straight into a set of box jumps before doing laps of indian running round the park, 2 at a time. Suitably fortified against the cold and peeling off layers, we then ran back to the Showroom via Stevie G's Segment for some stretches.

A few of us even tackled the mystique of the short and sharp Howard Street Segment, as has become tradition.

We then headed inside for the usual briefing & drinks, where Tremendous Tom awaited us. He'll be back on his regular run leading duty next week.

NINETEEN NINJA @GGSHEFF RUNNERS RAN 3KM TO HELP A FAMILY OF SIKH ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM AFGHANISTAN PREPARE THEIR BACK GARDEN FOR GROWING FRUIT AND VEG WITH REGATHER

As the rain began to fall, we set off from our base of the Showroom Cinema after giving a warm and hearty welcome to two new runners this week; LIZZIE & HELEN.

Give em a Cheer!

With SENSATIONAL STEVE as our back marker we set of into the damp eve toward our destination; the back garden of a family of Sikh Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan near to Regather who will be helping them to grow their own fruit and veg in the coming seasons.

After an entertaining brief from GORGEOUS GARETH we got tooled up including the necessary PPE (gloves) and got to work moving wood, bricks and slabs, digging out roots and leveling the ground ready for the planting that will come next.

We finished in the dark, making it a little harder to see the impact we had.Rest assured it was huge and we were kindly rewarded with tea and cake from the family before setting off back into the drizzle of the night.

On route back we took advantage of the underpasses of Sheffield using them as shelter for our fitness session which this week involved runners working in pairs with one person wall sitting whilst the other sprinted to the other end of the underpass and back to tag their partner. We went hard for 3 rounds.

GREAT WORK TEAM!

On return to base we found a sheltered spot to stretch and saved all announcements until we were inside in the dry and had a drink in hand.

Note to all. as we saw last night the seasons they are a changing so next week please do bring a jacket and a head torch if you have one.

Seventeen Sensational @GGSheff runners ran to Sharrow Community Forum to help sand and assemble chairs for a wood CNC workshop!

After welcoming @HelpSheffield Phil Vintin to the team we headed off to SCF. On arrival and after boosting our team numbers by two we headed into the workshop to meet Marvelous Marie.

Marverlous Marie gave us all a fantastic brief explaining the plans for the workshop and how @GGSheff have helped to get it to it's working state it's in now.

We got straight to it with 2 grades of sandpaper to ensure a quality finish on the edges before gluing and bashing the pieces into place.

We even had a chance to try out the shop made balance boards with some impressive results.

After a quick drink to quench our thirst we headed to a near by playground and got straight to business with some:

• Box Jumps
• Tri Dips
• Press Ups

We then finished with a straight arm hang where Magic Mike & Tenacious Tim impressed all with their gorilla grip!

Until next time, happy running!

Tom :)

18 excellent @ggsheff runners ran 3km to help the CATHEDRAL ARCHER PROJECT tidy up their community garden.

After hearing about the teams efforts on Sundays run at DIG DEEP we set off into town taking on a few obstacles on route to the CATHERDRAL ARCHER PROJECT.

On arrival LOVELY LYNN welcomed us with cold bottled water and a brief about the project and the tasks for the eve which included a lot of cutting back of overgrown plants. The aim is to be able to use the garden as an activity for the project and its users who will hopefully take ownership of the garden.

After a good 45mins of hacking away the area looked a lot clearer and ready to be used once again. Lynn gave us a lovely thank you before we headed back off into the city for the fitness session.

This week we took advantage of the cities structures and landscape and focussed on some stair sets, box jumps and a killer hill rep session to finish off before heading into the SHOWROOM for a well earnt drink and natter.

Until next time.

HAPPY RUNNING

What a whopper in Wandsworth last night. With the muscle power of 41 runners, we were really able to make a huge difference at a local community project, and even got a special technical session from a guest coach. What's not to love?!

Before we set off, we had a run through of the week's news, which included saying a huge thank you and well done to all of those who helped out, ran, volunteered and paced at Saturday's Tooting Common park run. It was a brilliant morning, with GoodGym pacing 20-35 minutes, being the best (noisiest) cheering squad and generally making the event a big success. The report isn't up yet, but keep an eye on the Tooting Common parkrun page for when it does appear. In the meantime, check out these photos.

We also welcomed some lovely new runners to the team - give a cheer to Phoebe, Stephen and Kate. Fantastic to have you with us.

Well done to Matthew, Jack and Jim who also raced in Decathlon's Wimbledon 5k yesterday, and to Jessie and Luke for smashing the Race the Sun (or Rain).

While we did our warm up, we did a quick poll to find out what made people laugh. Answers included Fawlty Towers, when people fall over, Mabel's hamster and Trump.

With a short run of just over a mile, we set off at a nice speed and quickly arrived at the Doddington & Rollo rooftop garden, where a range of jobs was chalked up on the board ready and waiting for us to get stuck in. There was plenty for us to do - turning compost, cutting back the vines, a vast amount of watering, weeding paths, clearing beds, and cutting up garden waste ready for composting - but Team Wandsworth was up to the job. Within just over half an hour we had made some huge progress and the garden - which is on top of an old car park and is used by local residents who don't have access to outside space to grow fruit and vegetables - was looking even more blooming lovely.

We waved goodbye to the garden, and set off for Battersea Park where we were meeting a running technique coach from BodyLogic, a running school in Battersea, who was taking us through a series of drills and technical points for distance running. Seb led us to a nice quiet spot in the park before setting up cones and leading us through various elements that will make our running more efficient, concentrating especially on positive backwards arm drive. If you enjoyed the session, BodyLogic is offering GG members that attended 50% off a running video analysis here at Body Logic that expires at the end of the month. Just email for the details and code if you're interested.

We put what we learned to the test on the way back, when we split into two groups and raced to our starting point. I noticed plenty of good arm drive on the last hill up to the BAC (when it is really needed) -you were looking great, gang.

Next week we're off to a spot more gardening on a local estate, so join us for another fun session by signing up here.

Namaste, Wandsworth.

Last night we had a super zen session featuring a special one off yoga session.

It started, as it always does, in our well-loved Battersea Arts Centre, where we did one of our favourite things - cheer all the lovely new faces joining us for the first time. So please give a massive Wandsworth welcome once again to the excellent Rachel, Lorien, Charlotte, Anca, Leonie and Phil.

We also tipped our hats to Jack, Helen, (Jo) [https://www.goodgym.org/runners/joanna-aa3da551-638e-4194-823a-cd5d1da2b03a] and Matthew who all represented team GoodGym at Fulham park run on Saturday. A huge well done to Hannah who showed the very hilly Wimbledon half who's boss.

We also did a shout out for anybody who is keen to get involved in the Tooting Park Run TAKEOVER this Saturday - GoodGym is going to be all over Tooting common running the show this weekend and we need you. Sign up here to put yourself down for pacing or volunteering. They'll be a lovely breakfast social picnic afterwards, so join us for pretty much the best way to kick off the weekend.

After all that cheering, we headed outside to crack on with tonight's run, but not before doing some lovely warming up and hearing about what makes people cry. Because it can't all be butterflies and rainbows all the time, you know. The good job is that most people cry happy tears, brought on by puppies, runners getting medals in the Olympics, onions, The Notebook, adverts, goodbyes, and Ryan Gosling.

Our run down to the task tonight was a fairly short (and downhill) one, so we happily made it down there in record time. Our job tonight was to shift a load of furniture for the charity Spacemax - an organisation which helps families living in overcrowded properties maximise the area they have. It was a teensy bit chaotic as we attempted to clear a huge corridor of furniture outside, but in no time at all the area was clear and while we waited for the team to regroup, we knocked out a quick legs blast.

After all that shifting, we were ready to be centred again, so after a quick jog to Battersea Park, qualified yoga teacher Lorien kicked off our serene yoga session. We slipped off our trainers and socks and sat down on the cool grass, while Lorien took us through a series of stretches and moves to help us as runners. We saluted the sun, we downed our dog, and we king pigeoned. After 20 minutes we were truly zenned, and ready to tackle the run back to our starting point. It was amazing what a difference the session made, with many of us feeling bouncier and more limber for the return leg. A huge thanks to Yogi Lorien!

We split into two groups for the run back, with Sophie leading the speedy team on an alternate route that finished off with our favourite hill. All that was left was a few relaxed stretches and a good old pat on the back.

Next week we have another special guest who is going to give us some invaluable pointers about technique - don't miss out on this one-off session.

If that isn't enough good news, we also have a GoodGym social this coming Thursday for the whole of GoodGym - come along to meet lovely GGers, see who won pun of the month, and to have a jolly good knees up.