15 GoodGymers were not deterred by the earlier rain and came out to dig for The Ealing Youth Engagement Programme at their allotments in West Ealing!

Two new runners were in the midst as Michael and Jennifer joined us for their first GoodGym run, big welcome! We also had Jay here for his first group run after taking part in GoodGym Ealing's Super Saturday with us at the weekend!

🎉 But the big news tonight is that it was Lauriane's 50th good deed! 🎉

^{Lauriane first joined GoodGym in April 2018 when she was looking for volunteering opportunites as a way to get to know new people and get involved with the community, she wasn't that interested in running but that all changed when she joined GoodGym. She's since gone on to run 5kms, 10kms, half marathons and triathlons! Well done Lauriane, we feel very lucky to have you!}

So about that task!

After a little warm up we all raring to go and grateful that the earlier biblical rain had passed! Given that our task tonight was digging I actually think we were all a little thankful of the earlier downpours as it certainly helped our cause! After a mile and a half we found ourselves at the allotment where Karen was ready to show us the ropes (and the spades!).

Our job was to turn over a big plot that the programme will be using to make a growing space that's more accessible for wheelchair users and people with mobility issues. The allotment works to bring different generations and those with mixed abilities together, tackling isolation through volunteering.

With the dark night now fully upon us we headtorched up and worked in a line moving backwards over the plot to cover all the ground efficiently. There were definitely patches that were tougher than others but I think we all got a pretty good upper body workout! Kudos to Shan who definitely got the raw end of the deal on his patch, he had to work twice as hard on his section as the ground was a little firmer there!

It didn't take us long to get the whole job done so then it was just a case of scrapped the mud off our shoes, packing away the tools and running back off into the night.

We finished up back at base with a quick 5 minute glute burner before some stretches and cookies to celebrate Lauriane's 50th good deed!

Don't forget this Sunday is Ealing Half Marathon, it's too late to sign up to run or volunteer but do come down and give the runners a cheer if you're around! Good luck to everyone who is running!

19 turned out to be the perfect number of people for last night’s task to help St. Mary’s get their ivy under control!

In honour of The Great British Bake off returning to our screens we did a quick warm up with a chat about our favourite cakes whilst welcoming four new runners into the fold. Great to have Chris, Lizzy, Zoe and Sonam with us for their first GoodGym run! Now about those cakes, sticky toffee pudding (is it a cake or a pudding?!) and lemon drizzle were clear favourites which was good news as Alex had baked a lemon cake for the group to enjoy after after the run. Something to work for!

The long or short of it

We had two route options last night, Chris led a lovely longer park route and Jenni led the direct route to the task. Thanks to Harvey for back marking the longer route while I led a walk run on the shorter option. Tell your friends, we have options for everyone!

Arriving at the task we were met by Vicar Steve who was all set up for us to get straight to it and the task today was all about battling the ivy to the front of the building.

What lies beneath...

Many hands make light work and we were soon uncovering grave stones that hadn’t seen day light for some time, along with pulling back ivy from the walls and trees in the garden. It’s a tough job as ivy really does like to hang on for dear life but by the time we had left the difference was amazing!

Raking it in

The last job was to scoop up all the ivy and deposit it for composting, after initially struggling to collect it all by hand the magic rake appeared to make the job a whole lot easier!

’That would have taken me 10 hours worth of work on my own!’

As Steve pointed out that’s a lot of time and an overwhelming job for one person but with us there it’s all mopped up in one night. Go team!

We finished up by using the church gardens for our fitness session where we worked in pairs to practice some good high knee form with resistance bands and some partner core exercises too.

After all the hard work we had definitely earned a trip to the pub so after a jog back we headed to one of our favourite Ealing pubs and shared some baked treats. We also toasted to Alex’s 100 good deed and Michelle’s 50 good deed achievements from last month!

See you all next time!

Another balmy evening in Ealing saw 15 GoodGymers out for a night of sweeping success at The Log Cabin!

Get your buts in gear!

We started with a series of warm up drills including some glute activation exercises, lots of runners (very much myself included) don't activate our glutes when we run so we did some simple glutes squeezes to see if we could wake them up before the run! I mentioned a kneeling hip flexor stretch you can do that's great for activation too - check that out here

On with the run!

Chris led the group on a slightly longer run around Walpole park while Alex expertly back marked a shorter route through the middle. Myself and Jenni led a run 1 minute / walk 1 minute group for those of us who are building back up from injury or are new to running, so many options available to get involved!

On with the task!

We arrived at the The Log Cabin to find a whole host of tasks that needed doing around the playground. Lots of weeding, sweeping, trimming and general tidying needed doing so we wasted no time in getting stuck in. We split off each taking on a section to make look tidier and nicer for the children who use this amazing facility.

Harvey, Jesse and Madiha all took on the task of rearranging the storage area and I must say it looked so much better when we were done with it! Milie and Tash took on some nasty nettles, while others worked to smarten up the edges and clear debris from the playground, great work everyone!

There was just time for a quick photo on the swings before locking up and heading to Lammas Park for the last of the evening light where we blasted through a fitness session. In teams we did sprints and a series of leg exercises for an extra workout before heading back to base for stretches and goodbyes.

See you all again next time!

Tonight we once again ran the long 10km to Acton to continue to support Old Oak Community and Children's Centre with their fight to get the garden space revamped and also stepped in to help with some food prep ahead of their community BBQ tomorrow night.

We had 16 of us out tonight including Alex who despite hitting 100 good deeds isn't resting on her laurels and came straight back this week to start totting up the good deeds towards the next big milestone! We had the lovely Tash back with us after starting with GoodGym a couple of years ago, that's the great thing whether you come once a week or once a year, you've still made a huge difference and we always having you no matter how often you can make it!

After some quick introductions getting to know your fellow runners through some Mexican wave squats (yes, that's a thing!) we set off on what was a lovely evening for a run, bright and sunny but not too warm, perfect weather!

Our help is grately appreciated!

At the centre we were met by Elly who always has lots of great tasks for us to help with. These small tasks between 16 of us on one evening save her and the team lots of time and resources so well done team! Tonight we split into two groups, one outside continuing to weed and clear the garden space and one group inside doing some food prep for their community event. Tash definitely helped speed the grating process along and utilised her food technology experience to pump up the indoor team to complete the task at hand.

Meanwhile outside the garden was really taking shape and the before and after was really clear to see! Loads more crates of garden waste removed and a clean sweep for the playground, cracking effort all round!

After that it was just a case of getting the 5km back under our belts, well done to everyone who pushed themselves tonight on the distance. 10km is a long way and everyone got it done! After some stretches back at base we were done!

See you all next time!