27 people ran around 5k to help beautify a local estate garden. 4 ran on a mission to help an elderly couple in their garden

GoodGym Camden had 2 tasks to accomplish this week. The vast majority of people headed out on a short run to a local housing estate in Camden.

Beautifying communal garden.

We went to help Jon-a local resident who is looking to spruce up the underused communal gardens on the estate. He has started a residents gardening club but the soil is not in great condition so everything planted is struggling to take hold.

Fork-in hard ground

He wanted some help loosening up the soil and to spread sme compost around the raised beds. We went out at hard-first clearing any detritus from the beds then going at it with spades, forks and trowels. It was a tough upper body workout, especially for those lugging the big bags of rubbish and leaves around.

Green fingers

After 30mins we had prepared the soil and it was ready for planting. Jon had brought along a few plants- so we stuck 'em in and gave them a drink. In about 40mins we had turned some dry barren beds into a decorative rose garden. The idea to use stones we collected to frame the perimeter was particularly inspired!

Park Aerobics

We still had enough time for a run-so headed to Regents Park for a run. We ran some quick intervals-working on out aerobic capacity-the volume of oxygen we can take on and use when running. It should hopefully benefit our running at all speeds-it certainly provided a spectacle watching a few of the speedier runners dashing around the park!

We finished out with a nice sociable run back to the centre for a quick stretch before we headed home. Nice work all.

Another team headed for Swiss Cottage to help an elderly couple with their garden. The garden is becoming a little overgrown so they needed help chopping it all back so they could see out the window again. In a short 30min window they did their best Edward Scissorhands impression and cleared a nice gateway for the couple to see through. Brilliant