WOW, WOW, and WOW. What a brilliant evening at Goodgym Bexley last night. Not only were all distance running records broken it was possibly the most unusual task we have done to date. As deadline for arriving at Crooklog arrived, 13 Bexley Goodgymers were on the start line. Some looking a little nervous, some ready to get out there and conquer. By conquer i mean we had a mountain to climb to get to our task. That mountain being Shooters Hill!!! Big hi 5 to Ashley for joining us for the first time. We hope you had a blast. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite the feeling of belonging as you head out in our group weaving in and out of the commuters and shoppers all eager to get to our task at the Oxleas Apiary That belonging became really important when we reached the bottom of Shooters Hill as we coached and encouraged everyone that needed it to the summit.

That belonging became really important when we reached the bottom of Shooters Hill as we coached and encouraged everyone that needed it to the summit.

On arrival we were greeted with massive smiles from John and friends and shown to the Apiary and the big task at hand. After a quick drink it was down to work. We were all offered bee suits but everyone declined. I'm not sure if that was due to not wanting to put people out, or just bravery on everyones part but we started working suitless. It wasn't till around 4 minutes in when Neil took a sting that everyones bravery subsided and it was suits on, hahaha.......... I would just like to say that this wasn't just a brilliant task, it was an education lesson. John couldn't of been a better host as he filled everyone with knowledge about the bee world. It is really so fascinating and we left the task with a massive new insight into the world of bees. Thank you. Well just as we were finishing the heavens decided to open up and after getting 16 people into a shed (another task conquered :-) ) to try and keep a little dry it was decided it was time to brave our run home in the rain. Before i sign out bee fact Bees have around 3 to 5 days of life left when you see them flying around. When you see them exhausted on the floor they are coming to the end of their life. Giving them sugar water etc will not make them better or live any longer. Well thats was it. We all made it back in one happy peace. All very chuffed we had run up and back down Shooters Hill. Well done Bexley Goodgymers, you rocked!! Tonights Heroes........ JANINE, NEIL, LIZ, LUCY, PETER, TANYA, SHARINE, SARAH, SUSAN, ASHLEY, FIONA, ROSE and ME.......

17 awesome athletes got a litter bit more than they had bin expecting in BRENT this week.

Twas a beautiful sight indeed to behold, when 17 lovelies up to THE QUEENSBURY strolled YES!! Full squad in place, ready to race, down Walm lane for some tasking and of course fit, fun and games!

First up was the run, but it didn't take long, for high jinx was in the air and all of our usual GG Flair. Running and funning our usual route, smiling at passers by and giving salutes.

Next, we arrived at our base for the night, but poor Rosa from St Andrews was in for a fright. For she had forgotten the required equipment, plastic gloves and bin bags for a lot of litter pickin'.

NO FEAR!, said I, with a glint in my eye, While you go and collect, the task can come next... We can begin with a hop, skip and lark and run a wee bit further down to Gladstone Park!

So off we cantered, with plenty of banter and not before long, were ready to crack on! Wasting no time, onto each others backs they did climb, for piggy back races, making haste with their paces. The winners were easy to see it was simple, girl power all the way, with Zara carrying Dimple.

Following swifty, 100 squats bashed out nifty. Then Core on the grass, before back to the task!! Speeding along each step taking us closer and in no time at all, we were back to meet Rosa.

Ready and raring to begin our task and to - pass the bin bags was our only ask. So with latex gloves adorned, although some were too small and in no time were torn, we embarked on our mission, of speed litter picking.

Not 15mins in and it was all drama in the street, for what I'm about to say, I hope we'll never see a repeat. Drunken locals fighting and throwing cans.... QUICK Said Nicola HIDE BEHIND THE VAN Thankfully for us, quick to arrive, the coppers appeared, phew, we weren't scared, only the brave cower in fear!!

So then we could complete the rest of the night, with no further distraction, of crazy men in sight. We continued until the end with determined action, filling up the rubbish bags in quick succession. In no time at all, the bags were all full, so we said our farewells and turned on our heels.

Peeling off home, the group soon diminished, with only a few left to race me back to the finish. But with stretches and hugs and goodbyes complete, it was homeward bound, now everyone can eat!!

Another brilliant event, in our beloved Brent. See you next Monday for another chance to play!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE

POW POW!

A dozen GGers got down to some shifty business at Willesden's Old Cop Shop and did some hard time, smashing out a serious plyometics session to boot. Pow Pow!! All in a days work for Brent.

Beautiful scenes down in Brent this week where twelve familiar faces came to pay their dues at our on going mission to regenerate the Old Police Station, into a fabulous community base and artistic Hub. Hurrah!!

With housekeeping done and dusted, it took this swift crew of bandits no time at all to jog the short distance of Walm Lane to the task for the eve, of course with much merriment and catch ups chats along the way. YAY!

Greeting us as always with his usual flair was our fav host colin and all of his magical energy and crazy antics, this week included stopping traffic to achieve the ultimate team pic outside our task base!!

After the matrix style vehicle vanquish, the usual catch up tour got underway and the group were led around the site to be shown the already incredible achievements that had been continuing and ones that we of course had contributed to.

To our delight, the many rooms of the building were now clearing of of debris and rubbish and starting to resemble spaces fit for artists studios and community art education spaces! We were also informed by one of Colin's delightful helpers that there would be a screen printing press available for use in only 2 weeks, so fashion bods in the area too could come and get creative for affordable printer rental prices. Amazing!!!!

After the catch up it was quickly down to the tasks at hand which this week consisted of painting walls and floors which Sabina, Debs, Sean and Tabitha tackled with relish. While the rest of the gang took on a massive shifting operation of the last random bits of debris up in the top rooms.

Just to clarify, when I say random I really am not kidding!!!! There were chairs, boxes, tools, sofas.... Of course there was the odd moment of reflection, where Dinesh and I managed to maximise the fun to be had with a mirror. But for the most part it was game faces on and this motley crew got down to some serious shifty business up and down stairs for 30mins of hard-core graft!!

Holding my breath at one point as I witnessed strongman Simon, although as cool as an icebox, shuffling past me, down 2 flights of stairs with a FRIDGE!!! Forget the gym, that's what I call power-lifting!

After a back breaking 45mins the group reconvened together in the courtyard for some final fitness fun to finish the night.

• Crab Walks
• Tuck Jumps
• Comandos
• Burpees
• Partner pistol squats

Workout complete and were even rewarded with some delicious Colin Specials - His homemade banana shakes, sweetened with the honey made by bees on the roof!!! We were buzzing!! You can't get more organic than that!!

Final farewells wished we turned on our heels and flew back the mile run to base, fuelled by our fruity tooty tastes (but Tabitha trying her hardest to forget the dubious equipment it was made with)

Back home and it was stretch and reflect.... No we didn't steal the mirror! But look back and think of how much we'd really achieved in the Police station. It will be so awesome to see the finished base and delight in seeing our contributing names etched into the memory wall as well!!

See you next time fitness familia!!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE

Wow, a whopping 12 first timers this evening! Take a deep breath... welcome to Ryan, Cherith, Rhys, Ranald, Liv, Ben, Eva, Kirsty, Pauline, Isabelle, Ksenia and Amel

They joined another 22 of us for a trip up to Whittington Park Community Association where there were loads of little jobs to do. We cleaned windows, we weeded in front of and behind the nursery, we weeded around the main entrance, we had a bit of a clean up in reception, we removed old plants and bulbs from a planter and we planted a new plant!

But all that doing good didn't tire us out too much. Oh no! On the way back to the pool we did our amazing "monthly" Emirates time trial. 641 metres around the stadium.

Fastest lady tonight was Lies with a 2:44 and fastest gent was Hugh with a 2:10. Well done to everybody. Some top efforts.

And a rather popular debate question tonight: who is the most attractive person in the world? Forget personality and character and intelligence and all that other rubbish. We wanna know who's the sauciest celebrity!

The winner with two votes is Ryan Reynolds

Other mentions:

• Clare Grogan (Steve insists that it is the Claire from about 1981)
• Jensen Ackles (the correct answer! He has saved the world several times for crying out loud!)
• Bruce Willis
• Cillian Murphy
• Monkey Bones
• Zooey Deschanel
• Ryan Gosling
• Rachel Riley
• Lily Cole
• Levi Roots
• Sean Bean
• Louis Theroux
• Bananaman (Thanks, Caroline)
• Las Ketchup (I had to watch Patrick and Claire do the dance)
• Heinz Binz (Kike met a real bloke calle Heinz Binz!)
• Lloyd Grossman (ok)

Started feeling rather ugly reading that list, but things picked up again near the end.

Great deeding all. We will see you next week for some FROGGY goodness.

Until then,
Simon

Welcome

Welcome this evening to Olivia, Charlie and Amanda. Great to have you along helping out.

Graham

Massive news! Graham did his 100th good deed last night. Give that man a cheer! Graham's a member of our taskforce in Islington and also en route to becoming a run leader. A specialist in scenic routes, he's led plenty of groups and often writes mini reports and supplies us with photos. Despite going against GG Islington's wishes and shaving his 'tache off we still love him. Hero!

So, three tasks tonight! Caxton House, Single Homeless Project and Barnsbury Community Centre.

Barnsbury

The Barnsbury contingent's main task was to assemble two hose carriers. We thought we'd have this wrapped up in no time, but forgot that instructions for self-assembly kits are usually written by drunk people. Richard F. decided it should be girls versus boys and we split into two teams.

As if dodgy instructions didn't make it difficult enough, about 5 minutes into the task we started getting bitten by little flying gits. So itchy today. Soooo itchy! Nobody's ever been this itchy in the history of GoodGym. Those wearing tights looked on smugly.

We declared it a draw when neither team quite finished thanks to some very stubborn wheel fittings. We got very close though and somebody will be along today to steal our glory by giving them a good smack with a hammer. Those hoses will definitely be appreciated. We know from personal experience how long it takes to water the garden with cans.

Before heading back we did a bit of speed-weeding before we were just too bitten-up and itchy to carry on and had to escape. On the way home we stretched our legs out with a game of secret surges and had a couple of sprints. Speedy!

Caxton

Another group headed up to Caxton House. Aidan explains:

Lots of GoodGymmers took the Caxton House run this week, so many that we could split into two groups!

Patrick took a group doing a medium pace and Graham led a faster paced group. Graham's group started with a lap of Highbury Fields onto a trip up Holloway Road with Lucy and Graham racing the finish to Caxton House, whilst Patrick blasted the tunes taking the steady incline up to Caxton House. Rose was ready for us with some much appreciated water.

We've been doing some great work at Caxton House over the last few weeks and today was no different. The benches needed a final coat of paint and the battle against the weeds continued. The benches were looking fresh and pristine by the end and we are sooooo close with the weeding. One more week and we'll be ready to fill in the gaps with sand. The end product will be awesome.

Patrick's group set off first leaving the others to brush and tidying up. After a quick goodbye we were following them into the sunset to Highbury Fields and a well deserved biscuit. Great work as always everyone!

Aidan

SHP

Yet another group went over to SHP. Caroline tells us what went down:

5 of us had a nice jog up to Single Homeless Project. We have been there a few times recently and it was really nice to help there again.

The team did full mission weeding in the garden and collected leaves from the front (Autumn is coming early this year!). On the way back we got nicely distracted by cute kitties but we did an extra lap of Highbury Fields. Well done team!

Caroline

Boring Biccies

We had our cheapest ever biscuits: 34p from the corner shop that's closing down. They were also the most boring ever biscuits: Morning Coffee. Won't be getting them again. Can anybody find a cheaper biscuit?

Muppets

Our big debate question was about the biggest muppet in athletics (track and field). So many people voted for Ryan Lochte that we made him an honorary track and field athlete. But let's not forget Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad who, when not beating up 14-year-old mascots, can be found stealing bronze medals. There were a couple of other votes, but these guys are too nice to put down in a run report.

We'll see you next week for more cheap biccies, red-hot debate, fitness fun and glorious goodness,
Simon