9 runners ran 10k to dig, lift and wheelbarrow concrete and soil for patchwork farm

Last night the Hackney GoodGym-ers were off on a 10km run to and back from Growing Communities Patchwork Farm in Stoke Newington. It was great to meet Drea and Vicky on their first run with GoodGym, who joined Simon, Ade, Thomas, Soraya, Barney and Lauren.

The nine of us set off at a steady pace and arrived at Patchwork Farm ready and raring to bag and shift some concrete. After donning gloves and head-torches we all mucked-in, tackling both the "pit of doom" (soon to be transformed into a far less ominous-sounding vegetable patch) and the main allotment space. We made great progress hacking and shoveling our way through the concrete, and got a fab core workout in the process. 

Ade had warned us in advance that we would be doing some speed work on the way back. We split into two groups to sprint back to the canal bridge - with Ade, Simon and Thomas giving the rest of us a head start of 2 minutes. Dodging pedestrians as we sped along the busy main road added an urban obstacle dimension to the challenge. We then slowed down to jog and chat along the final stretch of canal, arriving back at Coffee Is My Cup Of Tea to do some much-needed cool-down stretches.

Jenny Barrett