Carlsberg don’t do group runs, but if they did…

…they would start off in the astro-turfed hills and bridges of the childrens’ play area at the BAC, include cheering an amazing weekend of races, one incredible charity, a super tough fitness session and – of course – the brilliant Wandsworth runners.

It was a great start to the run this week as we all crowded into the magical play area. We found a spot in the rolling green hills, on top of the little bridge and even in the tunnel underneath it. With everybody sitting comfortably, we began. It was a huge well done this week to Tom, David and Sophie, who did the first park runs when they joined Mattthew and Sarah down at Peckham on Saturday where GoodGym was pacing. It was a cold start, but they warmed up with a few bellinis afterwards. Now that’s a great race incentive. Next week a Wandsworth contingent is going down to Fulham Palace park run, so it’s a great chance to meet up with some friendly faces and chase that 5k PB. We also said a huge welcome to the lovely new Mable, Yewande and Nicola - so happy to have you with us guys.

After a nice little warm up with the luxury of being indoors, we set off out into the freezing night. It was only a short run this week, so we started with a quick Indian file drill round the common to get our hearts pumping. Then Dave led the way to the Devas club, an incredible resource for young people in the borough. The centre aims to engage and educate people up to the age of 25, and is committed to making a positive impact on their lives. It offers a huge variety of activities to support physical, mental and spiritual growth in its members. It has, amongst other thing, a rooftop pitch, dance studios, a massive kitchen – and a basketball court on which we learnt that runners can’t dunk (although Jack was close).

We set about shifting a huge pile of equipment and furniture to different rooms and to the carpark outside. It was a fantastic upper body work out and, with some of David’s expert rigging direction, we managed to clear the lot in record time. Check out the photo of David, Sophie, Hannah and Penny managing to carry a box big enough to fit them all inside down three flights of stairs. Impressive work!

Thanks to Devas’ Sheila, we had our first task where we were given biscuits as a reward. Thanks Sheila – although you’ve set a dangerous precedent! After a quick sugar hit, it was back to the common to smash a brisk and very tough fitness session. We started off with some strengthening exercises, and because Wandsworth loves a good old element of competition, we split up into teams. Well done to Mable and Yewande‘s team, who raced through it. Then it was on to the brutal Paarlauf. The idea is that you partner up, sprint to tag your team member, then cut across the circuit as a recovery to meet your partner and start the whole endurance-building exercise again. It is a really tough but effective drill, because although you get a chance to recover, your heart rate is kept high. With five minutes of tagging, it was time for a plank off. Two solid minutes down and there were still a few strong plankers going, so we all took turns trying to destabilise them. Cruel, but effective.

Then it was back to the warmth of the BAC, where Tom was crowned CoRUNdrum winner by correctly identifying Martin Bashir as the answer to this week’s Wandsworth ‘who am I?’

Well done to everybody who braved the cold this week, you should all feel really proud of yourselves. Don’t forget about the Wandsworth Christmas party this Thursday. Next week we’re going to try and form a human chain to clear junk from a community centre in Balham, so we’re going to need as many helping hands as possible! Sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/run-to-a-local-primary-school