Monday night, trainers laced, the BAC, and 30 runners raring to go….it can only mean one thing: GoodGym Wandsworth! It was a big one last night - by the end of the evening, we had covered almost 7k, smashed three tasks at a community garden, completed 2 time trials, and been shouted at by an angry runner. What a Monday whopper!

Cheer we go

We had three lovely new faces to welcome to Wandsworth HQ last night – hello Alice, Laura and Kathryn, great to have you with us! There were some park runners to toast, well done Sophie, Tom and Matthew. Don’t forget Mile End park run on the 4th February has GG pacing, it’s a fantastic chance to get that elusive PB. What better way to prepare for it than to meet your GoodGym buddies from all the boroughs on the 2nd for some drinks (venue tbc)?

Check out the heroes board to indulge in some healthy competition – hooray Jack for running the greatest distance (closely followed by Luke, Matthew and Danni), Sarah, Dave and Matthew for being good people and doing the most deeds, and Matthew for doing the most cheering. You legends!

A Monday record was set almost immediately last night. Our CoRUNdrum – which founding father of the United State conducted the famous oil on water experiments on Clapham Common ponds in the 1760s? – was solved by Sarah before we had even left the BAC. Surely that’s the fastest answer yet?

Running like we stole it

We were off to the lovely Wendelsworth community gardens last night. David knew the route like the back of hand after running it most Mondays, so ably led us through the least crowded roads, with Will marshalling the team round corners (and getting a few extra sprints in too, way to go). Our friend Martin was waiting for us at the gardens, and, organised as ever, had no less than three great tasks for us to complete.

The first team buddied up to hand out a pile of flyers letting the local residents know about the garden, while team two were charged with digging seven holes for a circle of trees shortly to be planted. The third team transported huge stone slabs from one garden to another – with the usual GG element of competition creeping in and the winning team managing eight in one go. What a workout!

“Trolley racing (with optional paving slabs) is a fantastic workout and should be a weekly GoodGym event” confirmed Jordan.

At the same time, Luke and Dave were doing drills by racing up and down the flights of stairs, Sarah dug a hole so big she almost hit a water pipe, and Jessie worked so hard that she broke her spade. Now that is dedication, people.

Witness the Fitness

Jobs done, we said our goodbyes to Martin, and arranged a mission on the 28th to plant our GG tree, as well as moving some more slabs and giving some bulbs a new earthy home. See the GG website for more details, and to sign up.

Off we merrily trotted to Wandsworth Common for a speedy fitness session, only to be shouted at by a rabid runner with flailing arms, yelling at us to get out the way. You know what he needs? To work out his stress at a GoodGym session. Hopefully we’ll bump into him again and invite him to join us.

A quick time trial revealed some very nippy runs, and before trying to beat our times we did a few arm drills and exercises to activate our muscles – such as ‘squatting like a baby’ – and to run more efficiently. It worked, with the vast majority smashing their previous time.

Back to the BAC we split into two groups, one running steady, the other pushing the speed a little more. There were happy, hot and sweaty faces by the time it came to stretches. That was a tough session, so well done everybody. You’ve not only made a stronger borough, but a stronger body too! Sign up for next week’s run here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/back-to-granard-primary-school