Rising to the challenge of winning our group in the January Challenge 18 wonderful GoodGym Croydon runners met this evening at Solutions for Health & Fitness to dig trenches to help lay some railway sleepers.

It was a bit chilly so we headed off for a quick warm-up then split into two groups with *Ellie and Amatare *leading the first group swiftly to the task while I enjoyed a chat and catch-up with the second group - well we didn't chat too much on the final hill though. Once we arrived at Birdhurst Community Garden we were told more about the task and got straight to work. It sounded pretty straightforward - dig a trench 4 inches wide and around 2 inches deep - that was before we encountered, rocks, roots and juicy worms! Still by the time we'd finished we'd made great headway and had even managed to lay some of the sleepers.

After we’d finished we headed off to a nearby street for some relay races where I kindly made sure none of those waiting for their turn got cold by making them do many variations of squats - they just loved the burn!

Welcome tonight to Jess who was brought along by Holly. She said she'd never run before and did fantastically well.

As it was the last Tuesday of the month we headed off to BoxPark for our social and bumped into one of our regular runners Rob and spent our time waxing lyrical to his friend about the wonders of GoodGym. A new recruit possibly?

This evening we ran around 4km to dig turf, weed, plant and litter pick in a local park

After promising an indoor task this week I had to break the bad news the evening before that the warm indoor task was cancelled and replaced by an outdoor task. The Croydon bunch are hardy runners though as we still had 22 amazing runners turn up for some running and hard physical labour

So after the group photo we headed off to White Horse Park via Tescos for our warm-up. Tonight the speedier runners were led by Ellie and Andy who did a fantastic job with their looping too and we all arrived safely. Charles was our task master for the evening and he explained the tasks we could help him with. The Friends of White Horse Park are planting round the sides of a large circular raised bed so he demonstrated how to dig the turf out neatly round the edges – he did make it look very simple – turns out it’s quite tricky! Others did some weeding and planting and the reset went rubbish hunting around the garden area. When we arrived it actually looked really clean but then we found the “beer can bush” - only 5 feet from a bin but an entire rubbish sack was filled!

By the time we finished it was bitterly cold so we headed off for a warm-up slow jog then to a quiet street where we practiced the art of accelerating -always useful for that last minute sprint to outpace your friends! There were some impressive increases in pace especially once the arms started driving back with real power. On the way back Ellie and Andy’s group headed off for a slightly longer run so we all managed to finish around the same time and cool-down as a group.

While we were stretching they were reminded of an extra session this Sunday – meet at Heathfield Gardens at 10.45am to help build a garden for the bees. We will do the task first and then go for a run in the woods if it’s not too muddy or locally if it is. It’s a great chance to do a deed in the daylight and also to bring along a friend or family member who might be worried about the whole running thing but would like to give GoodGym a try.

Don’t forget to log your runs during the week so we can stay at the top as all your runs count towards our total. If you set it up yet then go onto your account, go to profile, settings and finally Strava/Runkeeper and follow the instructions there.

Next Tuesday evening’s run will see us heading to Lloyd Park

This evening we ran around 5km to move coffee grounds from a mushroom farm to a community garden

25 runners tonight!!! Fantastic to see some of the new runners from last week back as well six new runners so a big GoodGym Croydon welcome to Helen, Sarah, Tim, Claire, Iljeet and Kerry - look forward to seeing you all again soon.

We started with our customary group photo – needing to huddle together nowadays as my camera doesn’t have a wide enough lens to take in the whole group. Then off we headed for a warm-up in the nearby car park where we had to dodge a surprising number of workers heading home just as we got started – no collisions luckily. We headed in one large group, ably led by Ellie, Amatare and Andy and back marked by Sally and Rob down towards Reeves Corner to the Reuse Centre where mushrooms are grown and furniture made from pallets. Andrew met us at the corner and explained a little bit about what goes on in this well-hidden plot and then got us to work loading up the van with many many bags of coffee grounds which were heading to Wandle Park Community Garden to help fertilise the earth there. So with 25 runners in a chain(gang) formation we made very light work of moving the coffee and as soon as we’d finished we headed down to the park to help unload. Slight glitch with the key to the park gate not working and with discretion being the better part of valour we decided not to try and climb the fence so carefully threw the bags over for Andrew to sort in the morning.

Lots of time for a fun fitness session in the relative dry of the underpass. Amarate kept the group warm and moving while a few of us laid out the circuit – hopscotch, squats, hill sprints, lunges, chest presses and many more “fun” activities were done for 2 minutes each. We worked on strength, balance, speed, coordination and having fun which they were all very good at.

With burning muscles we finally headed back to Solutions gym for our stretches and a chat about next week’s task and also the GoodGym January Challenge – hope we are still leading at the end of this week. Don’t forget to log your runs during the week so we can stay at the top as all your runs count towards our total.

I just had a quick flick back through some old run reports and apart from our very first run tonight was the largest run ever – Well done everybody.

Our next run is on Tuesday 16th of January - an indoor task!

This evening we ran around 3km to help clear up the litter from last year

At the weekend I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of a run on the 2nd of January especially as only 6 runners had signed up however………… the amazing GoodGym Croydon runners did not let the side down and on the night we had 17 intrepid runners turn up even although rain was forecast – well done everybody!

Off we headed for a warm-up in the nearby carpark and then headed less than 1km to the beginning of our task. Litter picks and bags in hand we split into 4 groups and started to clear the litter from the raised beds along Addiscombe Road where quite a few commuters returning home asked us what we were doing and thanked us too – think they may have been glad they were heading home to a warm house though as none offered to help!

With such a large and efficient group the task was finished early so we headed up to Parkhill where I’d planned a hill training session however with so much extra unexpected time on our hands there was time for a loop of the school (750m) even before the hill sprints. The aim of the loop was to finish as strongly as they started and not to collapse out of breath by the first corner. Everybody seemed to manage really well and still had enough energy for 3 hill sprints. We concentrated on form over speed and in particular using the arms to drive up the hill. There was even some imaginary Pringle action but that did seem to put some runners off – maybe they were hungry. Just as we were coming to the end of the fitness session the rain came down and we headed back to base where we lined the entrance hall and did our stretches inside for a change.

There were 6 new runners to GoodGym Croydon today so welcome to Tracey, Kate C, Reena, Ingrid, Kate P and Erin and we hope to see you back soon.

GoodGym has gone a bit “Facebook” and if you login and look at your profiles you wil see Your GoodGym year in review and see all the runs, good deeds and cheers you had over the last 12 months. Speaking of Facebook when I went on our open page GoodGym Croydon Runners there was a Your year in review post which is worth watching.

Our next run is on Tuesday 9th of January - the full details will be posted soon but it does involve coffee grinds, a van and muscle power!

Third time's a charm.

After our last two planned tasks for the night had got scuppered, we finally had a task no one could cancel. We had a bulk of leaflets left over from a previous week that still needed delivering. These flyers were helping promote Wand's Project that provides support for people affected by the Grenfell Disaster. Gladys at Wand was quick to think on her feet just hours before we were due to meet and asked us to visit the Charecroft and Edward Wood Estates.

Let the festivities commence

There was a festive fancy dress theme for the evening. Ellie worn some fairy lights around her head and Jason had a very striking outfit (see the photos). After getting a group photo in front of the Christmas tree we set off towards Charecroft estate.

We almost couldn’t get into the buildings at first because the don’t allow people in to drop flyers. However once the security guard had heard about the project he was very impressed and allowed us in.

Then with flyers the spare we headed over the Edward Wood Estate, where we managed to deliver throughout Stebbing house .

After that it was once round Shepherd's Bush park before heading back to base. There Jason was crowned best ‘fancy' dressed and was rewarded with a edible Santa trophy. We had a big Secret Santa swap and Justine got the perfect present... a head torch (that will help make the pavements be a bit less treacherous for her knees..).

Festive fun and farewells

There was more festive fun afterwards when we went on to Bill's for a lovely Christmas dinner// December Social. There were crackers, bad jokes and tasty food. Plus, and farewell speech for Will who was moving back up North. Will has been coming regularly to Goodgym Hammersmith and Fulham since he moved to London in April. He’s been a fantastic addition to the gang and will be greatly missed. Make sure you give him a cheer when he comes back for the London Marathon.

This week 16 wonderful GG-ers ran 4.5km (ish) delivering booklets for our fabulous hosts, The Phoenix. Most were kitted in their Santa hats / outfits, with Graham even riding a reindeer. Paul came armed with extra outfits, including a Santa dress – which Hazel wore with pride.

We were joined by GG newbie tonight, Heather – who moved to London to marry Shawn! Give them both a cheer!

After a quick warm up by the side, we ran off up the hill. After about 1.5km of running, we split into teams and began the leap frog flyering. Damian took one team, while I took the other. We had four bags full of the booklets – and as ever, made quick work of the lot!

Then it was time for a quick fitness session, starting with squats, burpees and lunges; and finishing with a race to 100 step ups on the curb. Graham was the speediest, very quickly followed by Sarah.

Damian then lead us back to base, while Freya and Rupesh took charge of the back-marking.

We then did all the stretches before heading upstairs at the Phoenix for our Christmas celebrations. There were many snacks, some even homemade, and a surprise appearance from Eleanor.

Tonight was Danica's last GG Barnet run before she leaves the country forever (or for ages) to go traveling. Give her all of the cheers and the virtual hugs

Thank you all for a wonderful year of GG Barnet-ing. Next week will be our final run - but I won't be able to make it. You'll be guest lead by the wonderful Camden Paul. See you all in the NEW YEAR!