15 people cleared 19 bags of leaves from 2 tennis courts in 18 minutes.

Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant.

Three words that sum up my first experience of GoodGym this evening.

Arriving at the Arch Gallery 289 Railways Arches, Cambridge Heath Road, slightly flustered after first going to the New Life Bible church 289 Cambridge Heath Road by mistake. I was warmly welcomed by the ever smiling, run co-ordinator Mark, introduced to my fellow runners, (Hi Riccardo) given a overview of our mission and a put through a pre run warmup.

"Intrepid"

Braving the now dwindling storm force winds, and not so high seas, our group of 15 cheerful, intrepid and red T-shirted runners shot off down the road in the direction of the Bethnal Green Gardens and Tower Hamlets Tennis. Where we met Peter the manager of a wonderful community project which uses the fees from court hire to subsidise a range of drop in and outreach Tennis programs for kids.

"High Tempo"

Our specific goal was to clear the slippery branches, twigs and leaves strewn about the courts, in order to make the surface accessible again, and to clear the entrance and surrounding environment of the club house. And in return we were treated to a fun session of Cardio Tennis, run by the enthusiastic coach Fiona set to high tempo music. Which included everything from miming tennis strokes, short high intensity workouts and playing several competitive team games.

"Connection"

I loved it, running around like a crazy 6 year old, filling 19 bin bags full of leaves in 15 minutes, meeting like hearted Londoners and making a connection to a project I would never heard off otherwise.

Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant.

Chris Brennan