A cracking team of 35 runners met last night to tackle a new task, and take on a tough time trial. What a way to spend a Monday evening.

It all started at the BAC, where we first welcomed some lovely new runners in the shape of Helen, Tessa and Emma - give these GoodGymers a big cheer, everybody!

We also had a fantastic week of running to celebrate. Well done to - deep breath - Paul and Chris, who both smashed the Hampton Court Half yesterday, Helen, Emily, Paul, Davinder, Morag, Luke, Jessie and John who all spent a very romantic Valentine's Day racing either 5k or 10k (with all the ladies recording PBs!), to Rachel, who ran a very solid time in a half marathon on Sunday, as did Brian in the Wokingham half. Fantastic racing guys, you really are doing yourselves and GoodGym a credit.

We also had a special milestone tonight - one that we shall celebrate properly next week. A massive congratulations to the lovely Alyx who ran her 100th good deed last night, and got her wings. What a star.

We kicked off the run with a warm up and went round the group finding out what we each would take as our inanimate luxury to a desert island. Only one of us would pack our running shoes (GUYS!), but musical instruments were top of the list, followed by a lifetime supply of chocolate, wine, gin and books. Sounds rather lovely.

Our task tonight was just over a mile away, at the Leonard Cheshire centre. This amazing charity supports disabled people in the community, helping them to fulfil their potential and live the lives they choose. It is of invaluable support to local people, offering the opportunity to live independently, to contribute and participate fully in society.

We arrived after a speedy run down there, and immediately divided up into groups of three to tackle the list of jobs. They included several painting tasks, rubbish clearing, garden sorting and washing windows, and after a few minutes organising ourselves we jumped to it.

Just under an hour later we were done, and with a light decoration of red paint (nicely matching our GG tshirts) we jogged over to Battersea Park to do our fitness session. It was a tough one tonight, but everybody gave it their all. We marked out the route of a nice flat time trial, and talked about a few technical points to help us run efficiently. The idea of pushing yourself on the same time trial regularly is that you can get yourself a nice benchmark, and then monitor your progress effectively. Speed training is also a fantastic way to improve your running, practice pacing and get fitter.

Everybody smashed the run, all crossing the line in very respectable times indeed. Keep those arms pumping, people! Don't forget, it's all about the pocket to socket...

A short run back and that hill , and all that as left to round off another great Monday was a quick stretch. Sign up for some more GG fun, same time, same place next week. Nice one, team.