On a cold January night 19 of us met in Hackney to get fit and do some good. Goodgym Hackney was ready to rock and roll!

After a quick brief from Cory on what Goodgym is all about and the tasks we were doing we set off for a gentle jog to a local estate where we were helping to plant some bulbs…sorry, did I say some bulbs…I meant 27,000 bulbs!

David, Will and Patrick left us when we got to the estate - they were on a mission run to help clear a garden for a local resident who couldn't manage the job on their own.

We were given instructions by the local group that were trying to spruce up the area in front of their estate. They had already started which was great as it gave us an example of what we were to do. We were digging trenches around the edges of the grass areas to be filled with the many bulbs that we had. We split into groups and began to dig the trenches. With the help of the others we started to fill the trench with bulbs! We clearly all had hidden talents when it came to digging and planting as we received many compliments on our digging! Wanting to keep us from getting cold and to liven things up Cory then decided to add some shuttle runs to our exploits - run around the whole green area at full pelt before tagging your neighbour and setting them on their way.

At this point I had a strange moment when it turned out we were digging these bulbs just in front of a friends house who I had been trying to join goodgym for ages - she spotted me on her way home and I introduced her to Cory who decided that an extra pair of hands was definitely in order and suggested she get changed and come join us - she did and so we were up to 20 runners for the night!

After digging around 150m of trenches and getting them filled and covered we were ready to go. Amy from the local group gave a bit of a run down of what the group were up to in the future (much more planting to go) and led us in a strange squat based exercise to keep us warm whilst we chatted. There was some comedy chanting - we were promised this would help the bulbs grow. Cory decided to help by videoing us and then we were all done!

Well, we thought we were done - this is goodgym and this was a Cory-led goodgym! Time for some paainnnn! We ran a short distance from and Cory found a suitable block and then explained what we were about to do. Mainly there was running and big scary dogs! Cory had us doing intervals that were going to get gradually harder - 4 laps, first lap - 3 sides gentle, 1 side max effort, then 2sides gentle, 2 sides max until one whole lap at full speed. To really get us going at our max speed Cory told us to imagine a growing number of big scary dogs chasing after us! It was a really great exercise and everyone put a fantastic effort in. To finish Cory had us doing 60 seconds of speed kerb stepping so we could really feel that burn! We all put max effort in and got through it (not without disturbing one local resident though - “I am trying to listen to a radio 4 drama!” We apologised and quietened down).

A gentle jog back to base followed before a quick session of stretching and that is another GGHackney done - fantastic effort from everyone tonight, great task and great exercises from Cory - till next week Hackney.

Pritesh