Area Activator Simon met with 10 Goodgym folks from all across the boroughs last night for a sunny "plogging" run around a collection of Islington parks. After a short warm up on the slopes of the Emirates Stadium, we together along MacKenzie Road and Caledonian Road to the lovely Penn Road Gardens.

Penn Road Gardens is one of our long running community mission locations- Goodgym Islington have been helping the local resident gardening team with composting, green space maintenance and planting on the last Sunday of every month- our next visit will be on 30th April (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/penn-road-gardens-open-morning-april). This time, we scheduled a one-off litter picking task using sturdy gloves and folding litter pickers to scour the area within and around the park. This little green spot is surrounded by residential housing, busy roads and food outlets, which means that the hedgerows and flower beds are accustomed to being covered with debris from the street. This became particularly clear when we helped with a composting task last month, and all of the freshly mulched fertiliser was full of plastic wrappers and bottle caps. A 30 minute sweep of the park can make a huge difference!

Our next intended location was due to be Biddestone Gardens, down Holloway Road, a newly opened park with intended 24 hour access (also susceptible to littering). However, we found that a lock had been put onto all access gates! So we decided to continue our run down to St Mary's Church Grounds, just across the road from Freightliner's Farm for a final 15 minute blast of plogging! We focused in on clearing the areas surrounding public seating and picnic areas to maximise our impact towards the end of the evening- we could be litter picking for hours otherwise.

Upon our completion of the task, we had successfully collected 6-7 half full bags of rubbish within 45 minutes! From here, our group split off, and 5 runners returned to the Arsenal Community Hub to participate in our monthly "Emirates Stadium Time Trial"- a 700m sprint around the Emirates Stadium!

To finish off the evening, most of our runners made a trip to the wonderful Zia Lucia Italian restaurant on Holloway Road for delicious pizza and good times! Well done everyone!

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NEWS

Goodgym Islington Finsbury parkrun Volunteer Takeover

Saturday 22nd April, 8.30am, Finsbury Park

Area Activator Simon and the parkrun event team will be collaborating on Saturday morning to host their free weekly timed 5km running event- a special catch up before London Marathon tomorrow! Always on the lookout for:

Course Marshals Barcode Scanners Time Keepers Funnel Managers Token Collectors and many more vital roles!

We will be visiting the lovely Blighty Café on Blackstock Road for breakfast afterwards!

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/finsbury-park-parkrun-volunteering-pre-london-marathon-party

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Caledonian Road junior parkrun - looking for volunteers!

Sunday 23rd April, 8.45am, Caledonian Park

The junior parkrun team (a free weekly timed 2km running event for youngsters aged 4-14 years old) at Caledonian Park are seeking volunteers for marshalling, timekeeping, barcode scanning and generally supporting on Sunday!

Sign up here to get involved:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/volunteer-at-a-junior-parkrun-in-islington-255c9ec7-f440-4c52-af8f-a43ff58e2b89

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Goodgym Ofiicial London Marathon Cheer Station!

Sunday 23rd April, Somerset House, Embankment

It's back again! Come and support our incredible Goodgym runners out on the London Marathon course at Mile 24 for inspiration and an unparalleled atmosphere!

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-cheer-at-the-london-marathon

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Penn Road Gardens Open Morning

Sunday 30th April, 10am, Penn Road Gardens, Caledonian Road

Our friends from Penn Road Gardens will be out in force again for more wonderful green space maintenance tasks and cups of coffee! Always a pleasure!

Sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/penn-road-gardens-open-morning-april

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Track Attack- Victoria Dock- Coronation Weekend Special

Sunday 7th May, 11am, The Good Hotel, Victoria Dock, Newham

Our monthly social time trial event returns to its special Summer spot- the glorious pancake flat stretch of Victoria Dock and the Excel Centre!

1 mile and/or 5km distances available. All abilities and paces welcome and encouraged!

Followed by coffee and breakfast at The Good Hotel, or a really nice vegan breakfast place called Beans and Bubbles towards Canning Town!

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/track-attack-coronation-weekend-workout-at-victoria-dock

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100 Days of Action- Goodgym Islington x The Running Works Kit Swap

Friday 12th May, 6pm, The Running Works, Aldgate

Area Activator Simon will be opening The Running Works (London's largest independent running shop) for a special evening of sport kit swapping and recycling!

Bring your own under utilised kit and check out the options available for your next running, walking, gym, sports or Goodgym session!

More info can be seen here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/100-days-of-action-running-kit-swap-shop-the-running-works

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Night of the 10,000m PBs- Course marshalling team!

Saturday 20th May, 2pm-10pm (approx), Parliament Hill Track

Come and join us for one of the most exciting and important fixtures in the UK athletics calendar- The Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs.

The brainchild of Ben Pochee, this event has been created to make endurance distance track running accessible and exciting for the whole world! Top runners from across the country and afar will be competing for places in the Commonwealth Games and national tournaments, and we will be holding an incredible party to let this happen!

Sign up here for more information:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/night-of-the-10-000m-pbs-saturday-show-time-volunteers