15 runners REFUSED to let the weather stop them as they filled 8 bin bags full of litter on a 5km plog around Hammersmith & Fulham

There was snow in the air and subzero temperatures but this didn’t stop 14 other GoodGym’ers from joining me to do good in Hammersmith and Fulham last night. It was lovely to welcome back Kat for her second group run and the four GoodGym tourists, Jen, Michelle, Africa and Rachel from GoodGym Hounslow, Richmond and Westminster. Thank you all for coming along on a bitterly cold night!

You snooze you news...

Despite some convenient last minute shoe lace ties to delay the inevitable, we braced ourselves for the cold weather and headed outside for the intros and a quick round-up of the week’s news:

1. JANUARY CHALLENGE 2019! - As a group we have now hit BOTH our 2019 targets for good deeds and distance run and have a nice trophy to show for it here. We're also sitting nicely at the top of Division D. Awesome work H&F team, great team effort! Big shout outs go to the impressive running machines, Johnny and Catriona who have both run well over 100km this month already, and the good deed machine, Helen who has done 10 good deeds in 6 different GoodGym areas!
2. Morden Hall Park - Trust10 Trail Run - Sunday 27th January. Sign up & meet at 8.30am near the White Bridge in Morden Hall Park. It is FREE - there are no admission charges at Morden Hall Park.
3. The H&F Gymuary Social: Pizza Par-tay - after the group-run next Tuesday (29th January) - come eat pizza, drink beverages* and be merry with your delightful GoodGym Hammersmith and Fulham friends *eating and drinking are optional, merriment is not. Please sign up for the Gymuary Social here. If you cannot access the event, then please join the H&F socials group here.
4. The Vitality Big Half (10th March) - GoodGym has some £10 community entry places for the Big Half. If you're interested, please email bighalf@goodgym.org Deadline for applications is Wednesday 30th January. Names will be drawn at random from those who want a place.

And a big WELL DONE done to Catriona for her amazing 10km PB at the weekend!

Plogging - a rubbish way to get fit or litterally the best?!

For tonight’s task we were going to be litter picking in 3 areas for 5-10 minutes, a quick speedy litter pick in each so as not to get to get too cold! Following a quick name and number count we launched straight into the warm up to get the blood pumping and temperatures raised. With the warm-up and dynamic stretches completed we headed off to our first litter pick area, Normand Park.

I'll litter you in on a secret, no one likes trashy!

The group split up into four small groups so as to efficiently cover the largest area of the park as possible. It transpired that Normand Park was pretty tidy aside from the odd big bits of rubbish stuck in the flower beds and the annoying little cigarette butts that were found under many of the sheltered areas. The biggest piece of rubbish ended up being one of our four litter pickers that was defective and was condemned to the rubbish bin. The same was also true for Lille Road Recreation Park, the second area that we litter picked in. Aside from the odd Lucozade bottle and wrappers that had become entwined in the bushes along the paths.

Litter bugs me

With everyone regrouped we set off down to the Thames towpath and to our final litter pick area on the riverbank below the Crabtree Pub. This was by far the most lucrative area in terms of litter and provided a a shocking reminder of all the litter that is being unresponsibly disposed of and as a consquence is ending up in the Thames. Litter ranged from cans to plastics, from plastics to tennis balls, pretty much every type of household item was found and bagged up!

The litter end

In just 10 minutes the group had filled 8 bin bags full of litter washed up from the Thames, awesome effort team! Following a quick group photo around the bin bags we responsibly disposed of all the big bags, Sarah even managed to pose for the money shot - one with her beloved bag!

Just a litter pick to go before we got back to base

With numb fingers and shivering bodies, in order to both warm-up and fit in some much loved fitness work, we completed a short lamp post interval fitness session down the towpath towards Hammersmith Bridge. As the speediest ones waited at the meet point they completed some exercises that included some jumping jacks, spotty dogs, one legged squats to keep temperatures raised. Luckily it was only a short run back to base for the cool down and stretches. Nicely cooled down and stretched off everyone headed their separate ways no doubt back for a hot shower and drink.

Next week we have an INDOOR task! We're heading back up to St Mungo's Reconnection Post to (hopefully!) finish off the sorting and tidying of their room full of donated clothes. Sign up for the run here.

Have a great rest of your week and good luck to those that are racing this weekend!