On a dry and mild Monday evening, 7 Goodgymmers (including new runners Laura and Daniel, and Camden Area Activator Pete) met Islington AA Simon outside Elizabeth House Food Hub for a smashing group run to Caledonian Park. We took in some decent climbs (Highbury Hill) and some fun descents (Aubert Park) on route, covering 1.7 miles to meet with Miriam and the Friends of Cally Park outside "The Gin Palace" (a former public house opposite Market Road Gardens).

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the rest of our group (including our Archway and Highgate based running crew), and we moved an array of wheel barrows, shovels and spades into Caledonian Park.

Our project for the evening involved preparing a green patch on the north west side of the park for Spring gardening flower beds. Group 1 were designated the task of digging 6 inch trenches around the space, ready for soil and bedding to be added over the coming weeks. Group 2 took on the responsibility of wheelbarrowing and shifting as much of a large pile of crushed concrete as possible from one side of the park, past the beautiful Victorian clock tower, and on to a protective sheet of tarpaulin near the digging site.

Over the course of 40 minutes, we completed a huge amount of work between us all, especially with the trench digging and concrete moving tasks. Many hands make light work! Miriam was thrilled to have our Goodgym team back after almost 2 years (a slight pandemic interruption), and we will certainly return in March, if not before!

Our crew departed off on their separate journeys (walking, cycling and running), and a small group of us ran back to Elizabeth House together, before enjoying some delicious noodles at Au Lac restaurant on Highbury Park as part of our monthly social meet up!

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NEWS

Calendonian Clocktower Junior parkrun volunteering

If you enjoyed your trip to Caledonian Park tonight, Goodgym Islington frequently help out at Cally Park Junior parkrun, at 9am on Sunday mornings. Junior parkrun is a free weekly timed 2km running event set up for youngest aged 4-14 years old and parents to run safely and independently. The volunteer team are always on the look out for course marshals, timekeepers, barcode scanners and tail walkers to support our future running enthusiasts!

Check out this link for more info: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/volunteer-at-caledonian-junior-parkrun-4dea58aa-0566-49b8-a4bd-2206df017152

Track Attack Victoria Park Time Trial

Area Activator Simon has been hosting a regular social meet-up and running time trial in various locations over the last year or so, and this weekend, we will be returning to Victoria Park, East London!

On Sunday (11am), we will be leading an open open time trial event for the 1 mile and 5km distance on Victoria Park track. This is a non competitive event, and we thoroughly encourage runners of all abilities and paces to come and join us! Always followed by coffee and refreshments at the Park Café post run.

Click here for more information:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/track-attack-february-2022-back-to-victoria-park

Headtorch Group Run- Highgate, Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace edition

Over the last few months of dark evening running, we will be continuing to host our headtorch group running sessions along fun routes in North London.

On Friday 25th February, we will start our run by the Boogaloo Pub in Highgate, and will cover about 8-10km of mixed terrain social running along the upper section of the Parkland Walk and Capital Ring routes. Expect some incredible night time views from above the city skyline!

Sign up here to get involved:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/headtorch-group-run-highgate-muswell-hill-alexandra-palace