Nineteen bouncing Hackney GoodGymers ran 5.5k to Hackney Downs to plant flowers in the HUG garden and clear the Old Park keepers lodge of 10 bags of rubbish.

On a Wild and Windy night in H- Town we welcomed 6 new faces to Hackney GoodGym and showed them how we do things.

We began the evening with a mobilising dynamic warm up where we got our lower body joints and muscles primed for action! We then bust into a series of strength building and core stabilising body weight exercises to get our muscles and joints robust and strong. We then bounced into action with some testing plyometric drills to activate a few fast twitched muscle fibres.

After the action packed start we headed off onto the Hackney back streets weaving our way 2k to Hackney Downs where we met Myra from HUG (Hackney downs User Group). We split into two groups the first began by ferrying watering cans to the garden to soften the flower beds for planting while group 2 headed to the Old Park Keepers Lodge to begin the first stage of regenerating the derelict building to hopefully being a community centre in the the not so distant future.

With both groups in full flow Christmas trees were being planted random single shoes were being bagged up. There were many weird and not so wonderful things found and removed in the Old Park Keepers lodge, a very satisfying task where we made a huge difference in a short space of time! With fence panels uncovering shoes and scorpions while suitcases didn't uncover any body parts but instead more single shoes. A fast and effective clearing pace was maintained and in 35 minutes the whole area was looking virtually pristine!!

In the garden holes were dug and soil was turned while an impressive number of plants were planted to brighten up the garden. In 40 quick minutes all the watering, soil turning and planting was complete and after a quick tidy up we were on our way!

The group chose to run a longer 3.5k route back to base so I added in a few loop de loop missions for those that wanted to increase the pace and distance! Special mention to Chris who was on fire and went on every special mission and lead the group home with a huge sprint finish across London Fields!

As I mentioned Saturday sees the GoodGym Parkrun Tour come to Hackney Downs and with so many of you in great form and fitness it would be great to see you there with many other GoodGymers from all over London and beyond! All the information is here about the Parkrun tour.

Next week we will be heading to Eco Active for a great task in their garden! We will be Digging up bushes, levelling off the ground, topping up raised beds with soil and making woodchip paths with so much to do it would be great if you came along and we had a monster turn out!! So please sign up here.

Silky Smooth Running

Joel

Twenty One inspired Hackney GoodGymers ran 4K to the HUG garden on Hackney downs to dig flower beds, rescue the vandalised Williow tunnel and fill the dug flower beds with soil.

On a warm and muggy evening in H-Town it was great to see so many new GoodGym faces both touring and starting out on their GoodGym adventures. The timing of the session could not have been better as we managed to squeeze the group run into the only dry patch of a drizzly day. There were a number of runners with slightly stiff and sore bodies after everyone's magnificent efforts at Run Hackney Half Marathon on Sunday so we eased our way into the session with some gentle mobilisation work to get us all going and flush out the muscle soreness for those that needed it. A few high fives and a skip and a hop later we were on our way on the 2k run to meet Myra at the HUG garden. We split into 3 groups first got to work returning the Williow tunnel to it's former glory after it had been vandalised at the weekend. April showing some amazing core strength to hold herself in the air while digging a hole. The tunnel was soon back to its former glory after some seriously tough work plunging and bashing a pole into the ground to create the space for the Williow to go back into then some overhead knot mastery to knit the tunnel back together. The second group were busy cutting into the turf and creating 6 more beautiful pieces of landscape art or flower beds. The group worked in 3 pairs with one digging the turf out while the the other runner speedily carrying the turf to create some more landscape art surrounding the Williow tunnel with elevated shapes and a tear drop shaped flourish. The third group had their hand full with a 500kg huge bag of soil! The group got a slick production line of diggers and pushers going. With the diggers piling the soil to the Wheel barrows at a super rate while the pushers charged to fill the beds to the brim then stamped the soil down to get all the air out. Even with a poorly barrow the group stormed ahead and finished filling the beds with time to spare after I final push carrying the whole bag over to dump the last of the soil into the beds.

After 40 minutes of top quality action we had completed our tasks and look forward to returning next week for some more adventures!

We said our goodbyes to Myra and then got stuck into a 10 minute circuit blast with one group running while the second group dominated a series of conditioning upper and lower body exercises then switching when the lead runner returned. Seems like the half marathon has had only a very positive running effect on Clare as she stormed the running section leading her group powerfully back each time.

After the big energy expenditure of the circuit we had chilled 2k run back to base lead brilliantly by Chris B where we rounded the session off with a series of static stretches.

Obviously after monumental efforts of Sunday a celebratory evening out was in order so was great to have 15 of the crew head out to our favourite Tuesday refuelling venue for a well earned feed.

Look forward to seeing you all again next week for another addition of running fun! Please sign up here.

Stay Silky Smooth

Joel

On a beautiful clear Hackney evening 26 Hackney GoodGymers ran 5k to the Food Growers Group to help maintain there garden or 3k to St Luke's Church to deliver flyers.

We started an action packed evening with a supersonic start! With all 26 runners getting mobile with a series of mobilising warm up drills, some hopping and skipping got us prepared to walking lunge and side squat into 5 explosive flying 30 meter sprints with active jogging recovery. With the legs turning over an a scorching rate it was time to split into two groups for the evenings tasks. 19 runners being brilliantly lead by The brilliant Hackney Task Force members Cecilia and Jack who guided the squad to Dalston to meet Joy at the Food Growers Group community garden.

Here is Cecilia's report; After a smooth run over to the Dalston Food Growers site in Crosby Walk, we were met by Joy, who had a list of tasks for the GoodGym team. She asked that a couple of GoodGymers shovel compost in to two wheelbarrows and manoeuvre them to the cafe site in Abbot Street, as many times as possible, in order to fill some wooden planters in readiness for new greens. We walked over to the cafe, where four Goodgymers donned protective suits and got to work painting the internal walls, others rolled metal barrels of soil in to the courtyard around the corner and then a large group got to lifting/ shifting heavy grow-bags of soil up to the roof garden of the Print House. This hefty work initially involved wheels - in the form of a trolley - but then required manual loading in to a lift and carrying up a flight of stairs. The lift could only take so much weight before the automated voice announced that it was "out of order" (!) so it took several goes. A fantastic team effort, Joy was really pleased with the amount achieved in such a short space of time. The roof garden bar officially opens on the 1st of May. Joy invited us to attend the opening event on the 29th April, where you will be able to enjoy a drink while admiring your good work

While all the lifting and shifting was going down in Dalston 7 runners ran down to St Luke's Church to meet Keli and deliver leaflets about an upcoming course to the local residents on the estate surrounding the church. With clinical efficacy up and down stairs over 500 leaflets were delivered in 9 tower blocks over 44 floors in 40 minutes of consistant and sustained letter box stuffing action! 🏃🏽🏃🏃🏿🏃🏻 With some of the most stunning views over London in our memories we headed back to base playing a little loop up and back action to add a bit of distance and speed for those that wanted it. With the two groups meeting up for some cool down stretches and a big round of applause for two very well done tasks we headed on our way into the clear and beautiful night.

Next week we are running back to meet Bruce and his Team at Daubany Fields to finish off our clearance of the park getting it ready for the Parks authorities to regenerate the space in the coming weeks. Please help we keep what little hair I have left and sign up here nice and early if you know you are coming along. Next week we will be having our monthly social visit to a local eating and drinking establishment after the group run, so please come along and have a drink, get some food have a chat.

Until next week

Have a smooth sunshine filled time

Joel