9 intrepid Goodgymmers (including 1 new member- Hello to Lilly!) met up at The Emirates Stadium, Holloway for a impromptu running fitness session, led by trainer Simon (due to a last minute task cancellation). We made the most of a lovely (now officially autumnal) evening for a range of different fitness activities. Before heading out, we discussed our Goodgym Islington TV recommendations, which included the following suggestions:

• The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
• Mindhunter
• Sex Education
• Strictly Come Dancing
• State of the Union
• and "I don't have time for TV, I just like running and doing good"....or something to that effect! :-)

Free Fitness!

Upon leaving the Arsenal Hub, we started a few warm-up drills to increase our heart rate, and to get the blood pumping. These included high knees, can-cans, dynamic squat twists and open-close gate motions (whilst gently climbing a gradient)!

We then played a fitness game using the pillar surrounding Emirate Stadium. Our objective was to move from gate A to gate S, by playing "rock, paper, scissors" to progress from one pillar to the next. The winner moved to the next post, the loser sprints to a salt bin located about 100m away, and continues to play until they progress. Kike proved to be the overall winner, after a showdown with Steve Lee on the final pillar!

From here, we ran to Barnard Park, past Caledonian Road for another fitness game in a floodlit area. "Paarlauf" (Swedish for "Pairs Running") is a mixed speed session performed in pairs. Half our crew ran a loop in a clockwise direction at "some pace" (this could be a target pace that you can sustain for 5 minutes total running), whilst the other half ran an anti-clockwise loop at a relaxed recovery pace (easy jogging/walking). As the running pair meet in the loop, they "high-5", and swap speeds until they meet again. A really fun exercise game!

We continued back to HQ, using a different route via Liverpool Street, and ended our session with stretching, dips and Aldi Bourbon biscuits provided by Steve Coman.

#GGSuperSaturday

There was a great turnout at Hampstead Heath parkrun, with GG folks taking on volunteer positions and putting in some quality free weekly timed 5km efforts.

parkrun fun here!

Elizabeth and Natasha completed a mission on Sunday too, helping with regular gardening tasks with Mr J. He recently had some flooding issues in his garden, which has left the space to become overgrown, and in need of serious weeding. Congratulations on your first mission Natasha!

Read about this mission here

London in Bloom

Last Friday, trainer Simon was invited to the London in Bloom Awards by our local task owners Ramsey Flowers N1 to accept their "It's Your Neighbourhood" award for their commitment to maintaining their Islington garden space. It was a lovely awards ceremony held at the Arts Pavilion in Mile End, Tower Hamlets. Lots of familiar faces from our previous task owners too!

Headtorches

As the nights get darker and darker, we advise Goodgym participants to bring a head torch with them to future tasks.

If you don't currently own a head torch, I can provide you a really great Silva Ninox 3 headtorch for just £20 (trade price), provided by The Running Works for Goodgym Islington members. If you would like one, send an email to Simon Fitzmaurice.

Next week we have double tasks! Penn Road Residents have invited us over to help fixing their flower beds for an upcoming festival, and the Single Homeless Project has additional gardening tasks on Ashley Road Estate.

Sign up here

Happy Running!