26 excellent runners face INCLEMENT WEATHER on way to Vauxhall Foodbank, before completing the stock take in record time and running (swimming) back again

Another Tuesday in July where the weather was against us. The train station warned of inclement weather and they weren't wrong. There was work to do in Lambeth, however, and luckily 26 runners pulled on their running macs and got on board. One of those runners was Victoria, who hit her 50 good deeds - NICE!

We ran the 2.5km down to Vauxhall Foodbank where we were quickly organised into 4 teams. Two teams went with John and Katie to do some core exercises and the other two got to work taking crates off the shelves and getting them weighed, before taking them back to the store room. There was a lot of stock to weigh and we got it done in record time!

On the run home, there were some lovely comedy moments where coaches drove past us and splashed water up to our heads!

It's like being on the log flume! Said Katie

On return, we gathered up our belongings and squelched off into the night, happy with another great week of running.

5, 6, 7, …14 steps (That's what it took to build a table tennis table).

Wake me up*

After a warm-up we set off on a riverside route to Transforming Lives for Good (TLG for short). Our run to the river was almost as long as the queue to see Evanescence* at Hammersmith Apollo.

Deborah and James greeted us once we arrived and gave us a rundown of what TLG do. They provide support, care and education to children in need. The TLG school we had come to help out at offers holistic 12 week programmes to help excluded teenagers aged 11-16. These centres are a lifeline, giving them the chance to catch up on missed qualifications, raise their aspirations and provide building blocks for a better life.

Divide and conquer

Our tasks for the night were to put together a new ping pong table and clear a store room of old furniture. A team of four took on the table and the rest quickly demolished the other.

Keeping out of mischief

Both Deborah and James were blown away by the speed the store room was sorted in. James then set about finding other things for the team to help with. This included fixing a shelf to a coffee table and starting to organise another cupboard.

I had planned to take this group off for a fitness session, but suddenly the table tennis team needed extra eyes and hands to find stray screws, washers and attach the table top securely.

Finishing later that usual, but with a brand new ping pong table finally complete we dashed back the short way to home and had a warm down.

Thanks to Debs and Jo for your GG touristing, it was lovely to have you along!

Happy running,
PSB out.

22 brilliant runnners brave the storms to complete TWO tasks in Lambeth

It was a typical June Tuesday - gale force winds and torrential rain. This can only mean one thing: there's work to be done of the gardening varierty.

After a lovely warm up involving drama-based games from John the ACTOR, we headed off in two groups.

Team 1 went to a nearby estate that Loughborough Junction Farm have an outreach programme at. We wiggled our way in to a fantastic allotment space. They needed a path digging from the back to the gates and loads of woodchip spreading over the path. We got to work and managed to finish the whole pile of woodchip and spread it across the whole path. It looked great!

Team 2 headed over to Clapham Common and the friendly Bandstand Beds. We have been clearing an area between the fence and a shipping container over the last few visits. This time the end was reached and a new storage container got put down by a smiling Rich and George - apparently this container used to carry art to the Tate Modern - ONLY THE BEST FOR CLAPHAM COMMON!

With a return to base and some stretches, we all went home to dry off, happy with an excellent and productive evening.

While some Croydon runners take part in the Lloyd Park parkrun regularly, there was a good turnout this week; a couple of regulars, someone new to GoodGym and parkrun, a couple of PBs and a double 50th celebration for one runner!

Lloyd Parkrun regulars Jordi and Matthew both ran amazingly. Rachel made her 50th parkrun (ahead of her 50th good deed a couple of hours later!) and got a new PB. Andy joined us for a first parkrun (after his first group run with us on Tuesday), and was absolutely brilliant. We were also joined by Stephanie, who also joined us for a group run for the first time on Tuesday, who did a sterling job! Also along today after a starter session last week, was Samantha. We look forward to seeing you guys at our Tuesday group runs, where we can put some work into getting even better times next time!

Juliet and I weren't racing today; Juliet was at the start/finish point as she's writing the parkrun report for the week, and due to a bit of recent overexertion I decided to try marshalling for the first time. I would like to think I channelled the Race Team's penchant for super enthusiastic cheering; given that I was at the top of Lloyd Park's notorious hill, I hope it worked!

After the race, a few of us popped for some coffee and brunch before heading off. With 4 of us heading to a fantastic mission a couple of hours later, and a Croydon GoodGym Olympics flag session, it was a brilliant, exhausting, and productive day!

Things don't always go to plan and sometimes tasks fall through at the very last minute. But with some quick thinking and a bit of improvisation, good things always come. We did not run to BFC this week. Luckily, Hazel and I both had a bunch of GoodGym flyers in our bags. Quickly, Plan B was hatched.

As ever, the gang met at the Phoenix ready for the run ahead. We were joined by GG newbie Jack who had spotted us running about and decided to come and see what we were all about. Give him a cheer!

We congratulated Hazel and the other Jack for their great running in yesterday's 10km and gently ran down to Cherry Tree Woods to warm up. There was jogging, running and bear crawling. Nobody likes bear crawling, but I promise they're really good for you! In terms of efficiency, they're right up their with burpees – and you all know how much I love those.

We then headed off out of the park for a big ol' loop up to Muswell Hill before stopping for a few tricep dips and press ups at the top of the road while Amanda and Hazel caught up. The perfect spot to split into teams and flyer hard. In traditional GG Barnet style, we speedily flyered the whole road using our honed leap frog technique, making a huge loop.

Once the two teams joined back together, Nicola lead us up to Highgate Woods for an extended return to Cherry Tree Woods. The team were promised 7km today, and without the run to BFC, we wanted to make sure we still got close. We managed just over 6km in the end, including a really lush run through the woods.

I had to run up the hills in the woods as it was way to hard to scoot through the mud and can happily report that it didn't hurt! This is very exciting news indeed. (I will be testing out the running on Sunday for the first time in AGES – wish me luck!)

Once back at Cherry Tree, after six whole kilometres of hills, it was time for the fitness session. The group reported a knackered rating of 8/10, so I decided to be nice and stick to floor work. Everybody likes lying down, right? Abs it is. Shawn came out victorious with some very speedy ab work, winning him the honour of first dibs on the Barnet Biscuit.

This week Barnet Biscuit was the mighty Jaffa Cake, courtesy of Freya, who was with us in spirit.

Thank you for all your hard work tonight team. See you next week when we run back to Dell Fields to paint some garden furniture. Sign up here