39 GoodGymers and their friends (two and four legged) came together for the first GoodGym London North vs South of the river rounders tournament.

Teams were split into roughly those from GoodGym boroughs North and South, but there were a few more Southerners, who in the end represented the winning team...but more on that later.

We had No Runs Northerners versus Southern Softies in the first semi, where Ed smashed all his shots for a rounder and posted a 13 1/2 score. Unfortunately, No Runs Northerners could only score 7 1/2 rounders before being caught all out.

The next semi final saw Ninety Nine Problems, but a Northerner ain't one play Southern Spitballers and this wasn't a close affair as the Northerners put 14 rounders on the scoreboard leaving the Southerners with a difficult task to beat them. They managed 5 rounders before the whole team were caught or were run out.

We came to the 3rd/4th place and Southern Spitballers batted first, but could only manage 2 rounders as the rules changed to five outs and then we swap over. No Runs Northerners had a bit of a scare as they were 1 1/2 rounders from victory, but the Southerns had to get two more out. With grit and determination, the No Runs Northerners pushed and ran their half rounders to eventually score 2 and 1/2 rounders to win 3rd place!

By the time, it came to the final, misty rain swept in to make the surfaces slippery as a few players found out... Ninety Nine Problems, but a Northerner ain't one smashed 7 & 1/2 rounders. Which ended up being enough to secure the tournament as Southern Softies, even with big hitting Ed could only manage 5 rounders before five team members were caught out.

The team celebrated their victory with a "Champagne shower". Well done to Paul, Claire, Laura, Anna, Sam Smillie, Aaron, Maia and Jake (all Sam's friends) for winning with Ninety Nine Problems, but a Northerner ain't one!

We're on for the next rounders social in Victoria Park on the 16th of July! Sign up if you can make it. Watch out Northerners...the southerners will be practicing ⚾👀

While everybody else was taking shelter from the high winds, nippy temperatures and driving rain that storm Ciara brought with her, 21 water-resistant GoodGymers met to lend a hand at a community garden and knock out a drizzly 5km. Well done, storm troopers!

We delayed the inevitable moment we had to face the weather as long as possible with a run through of the news. In case you missed anything:

• On 17th May we’re doing a GG aid station at Hackney Half again this year. You can sign up to volunteer at our water station here. Aside from doing a lovely thing for your fellow runners, you will also be rewarded with a free place in the Asics 10k, the Oxford Half or the next Hackney half. They're not cheap so it's well worth it!

• Now that the January challenge is over, it's time for the Extraordinary Task award. The award will be given to a group or individual who showed extraordinary effort in doing good in their community. If you would like to nominate a task or a person, you have two more days to do so, and you can do it here

• The Big Six races have been announced - these are events happening all over the UK where, if you fancy it, you can join loads of other GGers. Loads of them are multi distance, all of them will be a lot of fun. Check out the details here.

We welcomed Lisa to her first group run - give her a cheer! - and then headed outside for our warm up. It was pretty chilly, but we were happy to see the rain had stopped. A little bit of GG magic right there! After getting our heart rates up and discussing the last film we had seen - all the new one including Star Wars, Uncut Gems, Little Women and some classics like the Matrix - we set off into the eye of the storm. Which actually wasn't that bad.

After 2.5km we arrived at Bramford Gardens. This little community garden in the middle of a green space in Wandsworth is run by Sha, a volunteer who dedicates her time and energy to growing plants and creating a healthy little ecosystem in the middle of a huge junction. Our jobs for the evening include picking the leaves out of the flowerbeds to let the plants breathe again, tidying up the twigs scattered by storm Ciara, sorting out the compost and doing a litter pick.

After half an hour of work we had stopped being able to feel our fingertips, we downed tools, and instead of doing the conditioning session we had originally planned, opted for a heart rate raising and body temp increasing tabata work out! It featured high knees, the dreaded frogs, lateral lunges, powers squats and much more. It was a high intensity, but worked well getting us warm again after our task.

We took a slightly shorter route back at only 2km, putting on a bit of speed at the end of the run. Next week I'm away so you'll be in Chris' more than capable hands and hopefully be put through your paces with a good old fitness session! You can sign up for the run here Until then, run happy, GoodGym!

We started off our run last night with some stats from our month of doing good to kick off 2020. You did an incredible job in Wandsworth, racking up a brilliant 188 good deeds, and covering a huge 1821 kilometers. Seriously impressive. As a whole, the numbers are even more amazing - the GoodGym community managed 8646 good deeds, and ran 98521 in the process. What an incredible wave of good happening across the country!

• Welcome to GoodGym Christina, Emily and Karen. It's all about getting fit and adding purpose to your run, and we're really happy you've joined us!

• Well done to all of you who got out there at the weekend, including Caroline who ran her first parkrun, and to Kate and Diego all spotted covering the miles at parkruns across London!

The Venue is a community centre we visit fairly regularly to support - it is run by Hadas, who organises the Waste Not Want Not , the first project in Battersea which collects surplus food from nearby markets and distributes it through local community . The community centre is run by volunteers, so we were happy to run the 2km down there to lend a hand.

Before we set off we did our weekly warm up, and also discussed the objects in our life that bring us joy. Top of the list were bikes, food, our beds and of course, cheese. What more could we need?

After a quick stop to knock out a wall sit, we arrived at the Venue and split into groups to tackle the jobs. While one team set about giving the community kitchen a deep clean, ready for another week of cooking for local people, a human chain was quickly formed to transport crates of mushrooms and compost to the roof garden around the corner. Meanwhile, several GGers got to work emptying the storage room to be able to fit in some beds which will be going to a refugee family. There was also a spot of tidying up to do outside the centre, as well as window washing and hoovering. What a lot of elbow grease!

With all the jobs ticked off it was time for our abs blast, and we kicked off with a core triathlon, before moving on to various planks and other abs focused moves. Great for keeping our form in good shape when we run and preventing injury, it's good to make this sort of conditioning part of your weekly training. Hello abs of steel!

We finished off the session with a run back to base, a bit of a hill sprint, and some nice stretching. Great work everybody! It was off to the pub for the monthly social for some of us - watch out for March's post-run fun on March 2nd, and in the meantime why not sign yourself up for next Monday's run here. Hopefully see you then. Until then, run happy!

Yesterday was Blue Monday - apparently the most depressing day of the year. In Wandsworth last night there was zero evidence of that, with 46 happy GoodGymers running 6km to lend a hand at a children's adventure playground. We even started off the night discussing what cheers us up when we're feeling down; food definitely came out on top along with running (of course), dogs, cat videos, rum and sunshine. If last night is anything to go by, we can most definitely add GoodGym to that list!

With the BAC being shut for the night we were lucky enough to be given a temporary home by the lovely people at Share Community, a brilliant charity that supports local disabled people. Thanks Share!

It was really lovely to see new faces, familiar faces, runners from different areas, from central office and even from Wandsworth council. Everybody is welcome at GoodGym, and always will be. A special welcome to Sara, Alex, Alexa, Becky, Rachel and Jessica who all came for their first group run last night. Give them a cheer, GoodGym!

We started off with a run through of the news - here's a recap:

• The January challenge is in full swing. In Wandsworth we racked up 129 good deeds and run a total of 1,176 kms which is pretty great. There's still a way to go though, so get yourself to as many group runs and missions as possible and don't forget to strava the heck out of every run!

• Looking for a community mission? Then check out this brilliant one next Tuesday lunchtime. The job is shifting furniture for a LGBTQ+ charity which supports young people locally, so not only will you get a great upper body workout but you'll be helping out an important organisation too. What's not to love?

• Like burgers? Feeling social? Want to catch up with other GoodGymers while not trying to trip up on the pavement or elbow deep in mud? Then our monthly port-run social is for you. Every first Monday of the month, just round the corner from our starting place at the Four Thieves. And it's even two for one on the burgers!What more could you ask for? Sign up here to join us at the next one.

After a rather squished warm up, we set off for our task at Oasis adventure playground. This wonderful place is a local charity that has fun facilities and learning opportunities for disabled and non-disabled young people enabling them to lead happy, fulfilled lives and play positive roles in the community.

We arrived to find David, who manages the place, waiting for us with tools and a pretty inspiring welcome. We were only there for 40 minutes, but he reminded us in that time that we would be playing an active role in improving the lives of young people. With that feel good factor, we got straight to work shifting old pallets from an area that needed to be dug over. We got a nice little chain gang going, before the real hard work began digging over the area, as well as creating a firepit. Which sounds about the most excellent and dangerous thing to introduce in to a children's playground.

Meanwhile, some of the group were treated to an extra conditioning session (lucky!), before getting on with weeding the enormous area - as well as testing out the facilities (which GoodGym trainer was spotted having fun on the trampoline cough, Beth?).

After just over half an hour of hard graft, we downed tools and headed over to the neighbouring park for a very short fitness blast. We warmed up with a game of clusters. While I wouldn't like to fling around any wild accusations of cheating, there was definitely some interesting counting going on! We then knocked out a little conditioning versus high intensity drills, with Chi encouraging everybody to work harder as we squatted, lunged, balanced and high kneed.

All that was left was to run the three kms back to base, and stretch out those tired muscles. Well done on working hard for a brilliant charity, getting a good run under your belt in the process, and giving blue Monday a smack about the chops. Next week we're off to clear leaves in a community garden, you can find out all about it right here. Hope to see you, until then, run happy!

Great to see new faces and some familiar ones too at the Wandsworth starter session today! Well done on making it out in some seriously chilly conditions to get fit by doing good.

If it was your first time, welcome to GoodGym. It's a great way to add purpose to your run, support the local community, get to other people who live in the area, and have a good time while getting your workout in.

We do this in four main ways:

• Group runs which happen every Monday night from the BAC (apart from this coming Monday, when we will meet here at 6:45 ready to leave at 7pm. You can find all the details of the next run here. Hope to see you then!

• Missions - one off runs to an elderly and isolated person's house to help out with a job they can't manage themselves. We move in hospital beds, mow lawns, change lightbulbs, and put up furniture. Every job makes the life of the person you're helping so much better! Check out the upcoming missions here to see what's going on and get yourself DBS checked.

• Coach runs. This is a brilliant way to combat loneliness in the elderly. We pair you up with an older person who may not see anybody else from day to day. You visit them weekly for a chat - not only is it a wonderful thing to do for somebody who is lonely, but you get an incentive to head out there for your run and you could form a pretty great friendship in the process. That's why they're called your coach!

• Finally we have community mission, where a group meets up to do a task to support a local community organisation. For these you don't need to be DBS checked, everybody is welcome, and you don't even have to run there (although it adds to the fun if you do!). You can see all the community missions happening here.

16 of us met today at an estate in Battersea to lend a hand to the Kambala Cares organisation - a group set up to support the local people living in the area. Well done to those who had already managed a parkrun immediately before - very impressive! After a quick briefing we handed out the litter pickers and gloves, and spread out over the area to do a massive litter blitz. Bags were quickly filled up with bottles, plastic, takeaway containers and other nasties. We got some lovely comments along the way from a couple of local residents who were really happy to see the estate getting a good clean up.

After 10 bags of litter collected, we decided to call time on the session. We took a group pic, and then headed over to a green space in the sun (finally!) to do some fitness. We started off with a circuits session - dividing up into groups to do lunges, squats, jumping jacks and one legged squats while one pair acted as our 'clock' to time each station. We then managed to fit in a quick game of chase the hair, with Diego as our speedy target!

Some stretches and cool down saw the session come to an end. Great work everybody - you did a brilliant job collecting litter and got a little fitness taster session in too!

It was lovely to see you all, and don't forget, if you have any questions or fitness goals, come and speak to me. Hope to see as many of you as possible on Monday - until then, run happy and welcome to GoodGym!

It was the penultimate Wandsworth run of the year (and the decade!) last night and it was a goodie....

It all started with a lots of nice news:

• There was some great parkrun tourism going on, and some good long racing from Rosie - well done guys

• Don't forget that it is our last run of the year next Monday when we'll be singing carols for Paul's Cancer Support Centre, followed by our Wandsworth Christmas social - join us for the last session of the year and get ready to get your Christmas on in a big way.

• If you want to warm up those voices and do your bit to support the local community at the same time, then there is a great community mission this Thursday when Kambala Cares community organisation will be hosting their annual local event. [Sign up here for carols, mince pies and a nice good deed]

• There was even more to celebrate last night as it was Morag's 100th good deed - what a superstar! Give her a cheer for all those good deeds and many, many kilometres along the way. Shout out to Matthew who hit 200 good deeds last night- getting ever closer to that 500 tshirt!

Our task for the evening was at Spear, a south west London based charity that helps get people off the street and into secure accommodation, supports young people and helps them move into education or work. They had asked us to come and paint their training rooms, which were in need of a little love.

So after a warm up and a brussel sprouts referendum ( 23 to 6 in favour...with some caveats) we headed off on a short run to St Mark's Church, Spear's base. When we got there we found all the equipment we needed waiting for us, and got straight into the job. While most of the group got painting, James and Hanna took on the challenge fixing the broken cupboard. Half and hour of work later and we were done - the walls had a good lick of paint, the cupboard was put together and replaced, and the brushes were washed up. That was the true definition of many hands making light work. Well done guys.

We took a short run up to Clapham Common for fitness, which kicked off with a squat waterfall, before moving onto Chase the Hare - with a very strong hare performance put in by Morag. Then we moved onto flying 30s, where we knocked out some good sprinting concentrating on different technical points.

A steady run back to base and some stretching and we were done for the night. Just one session left - hope to see you there! Until then, run happy everyone.

ps thanks to Helen for the punspiration and photos - photo credit also goes to Sian!

• Welcome to your first group run Graeme and Amber, great to have you join us!

• A big well done to Frances for doing a sunny weekend of trail races in Ibiza!

• Don't forget it's the GoodGym Christmas party this Friday, and we also have our own Wandsworth Christmas social on the 16th after our last run of the year. Don't miss out!

The chill factor was high last night, but that didn't stop us heading outside after saying our hellos to warm up (a lot) before our task. So after some exercises to get up our heart rates up, we talked about what we hoped to find under the Christmas tree (all the dogs/cats/animals, all the chocolate/wine and trainers. Hope we're all on the 'nice' list!).

After a brisk run down to a Battersea Estate, we were met by Andrew from the Kambala Cares project, an organisation set up to bring residents together and make life better for local people. He had three bags of Christmas cards to deliver, maps to tick off our progress and special keys to get us into all the buildings - that was the theory anyway! We divided up into three groups, each taking a separate section of the estate and got to work like the helpful Christmas elves we are.

While Morag and Sophie's group set off in a highly efficient manner, our group had a bit of a false start and a few issues actually getting into buildings, but as soon as figured out the magic key that let us in, we were flying. As one of our group put it

This must be the key Santa uses to deliver all the presents!

It turned out to be a great workout as well, as all those stairs put our muscles to good use and before long we had delivered most of the cards we had. Shout out to Sophie's group who managed to get rid of all of theirs - amazing work! The Kambala Cares project was really pleased with how much we got done - it would have taken so much longer with just a few of the volunteers delivering them all. We waved goodbye and ran over to the local park with Phil plotting how he could get his hands on one of the magic keys that opens all the doors in the world.

Once we arrived at the park we worked on our ABCs first before moving on to a tough progression run which worked on our pace. Don't forget, sometimes its a good idea to leave your watch behind so you get to know how different paces feel when you're running and helps you control your speed.

Next week we've got a lovely warm inside task helping paint the training rooms for an incredible charity. Sign up here and until then, run happy!