Mon 29th Jul 2019 at 6:45pm
Come with us on our first visit of the summer to this fun task!
Read moreMon 15th Apr 2019 at 6:45pm
Come and lend a hand to this fun indoor task at this wonderful venue
Read moreSun 19th May 2019 at 6:30am
Come and grab your free place to the prestigious Oxford Half or ASICS London 10K!
Read moreMon 11th Mar 2019 at 6:45pm
Tower Hamlets Report written by Laura Williams
25 runners met and mingled over a McVities this evening, before we all headed out to the Town Hall steps for a very quick warm up.
Regular runner Luke led the route to our task, leading a steady-but-manageable pace along one of our busiest routes, which was appreciated by several of our runners who had been racing over the weekend (we were just impressed you were out tonight).
Task owner Sarah was ready and well prepped for tonight’s leg of the big decorating task in this beautiful, big community arts centre: we were briefly briefed in decorating decorum (don’t start an area you can’t finish; beware the paint slosh; mind your clothes…) before two teams speedily formed in the office and corridor area. Door frames were taped, surfaces sugar-soaped – and rollers loaded. It was an industrious crew who blitzed both areas in super speedy time. And the precision! Scissors were requested (to cut tape tidily), screwdrivers summonsed (to ease nails out neatly) - no slapdash style for GoodGymers. And so after 45 minutes of solid work, it was time to dunk decorating gear into buckets to soak overnight and gather in the large theatre for tonight’s fitness session, our Glutecamp.
Runners motored through 5 of my toughest balance challenges. Although the biggest challenge was probably putting up with my endless glute-activation narrative (“Push through heel, push through heel: strengthening and activating are two different things you know.”) And just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, our fave guest fitness presenter, Chi, popped up to lead them through the Advanced part of the workout. Partner exercises and plyometric squats were just a couple of the glute goodies he presented to the now weary team. But they rose to the challenge as always, not only delivering beautifully executed reps of these tough compound exercises, they did it with cheeky smiles and cheers.
And then it was a wrap.
What a night. What another glorious, gutsy Monday run.
It was an absolute joy to have first time runners Shervin and Helen with us, both of whom wasted no time in picking up the running pace (and the rollers at the tasks), and joining the group with a real spring in their step.
Thanks from the group to Becky for backmarking both ways, and Luke for navigating and leading us to our task tonight. And to Chi for picking up the glute pace, and offering a fabulous, fun finish to the evening.
Thanks from us all for great report contributions to: Dave for getting some great pics, and for being creative with the angles, and to Chris for tonight's fun pun.
And a great big GG shout out to all the runners who participated in yesterday’s Big Half. Well done for getting involved with such a great race. Well done for all those weeks of training, and for battling through injury and twinges – and for being a regular GoodGymer during those tough weeks of training!
We have a great indoor, midweek task this Wednesday, from 6.45-8.15pm, decorating the windows for Artizan Street Library, while next week, we have THREE TASKS for you to choose from - check that out here.
Until then, have a thoroughly good week!
Mon 11th Mar 2019 at 6:45pm
Yes, we're back to two new 2019 tasks, with indoor and outdoor options!
Read moreMon 7th Jan 2019 at 6:45pm
Tower Hamlets Report written by Laura Williams
40 runners gathered in a rather warm hotel room tonight, eagerly catching up on news, meeting fellow new runners – and expressing a strong desire to head outside to cooler temperatures. And so we promptly gathered on the steps of the hotel to run through our intros, and to greet tonight’s new runners, and welcome Rob, our new Solihull trainer, who’s very excitingly set to launch GG Solihull in the next few weeks.
With tonight’s new task being just a short run from base, we soon arrived at Oxford House, a much loved, exceptionally well established community arts centre just by Weavers Fields. Sarah, our wonderful task owner, was well prepped for tonight’s task: a mammoth cleaning operation to prepare the entire centre for phase II, the decorating, of its extensive overhaul. Teams were dispatched all over the building: to the ramps for chewing gum-scraping; to the ramp railings for grime-blitzing; to the bar, gallery and stairwells for sugar-soaping walls and to the stairways for skirting board cleaning.
The work was tough going: cloths were left threadbare, walls were scrubbed (“We feel like we’re not making a difference, Laura”. “But you are, you are – there’s less grime, honest.”) It was a journey: of stoicism, strength - and sugar soap.
And then it was a task-wrap as buckets were emptied, cloths rinsed, floors swept and hoovered (thank you, Liam) and we were meeting in the beautiful theatre space for 20 minutes of balance and strength work. The runners’ faces were as usual a picture: the grimaces would make brilliant GIFs, let me tell you, but they got the work done – again. Obliques were obliterated; hamstrings hurt (in a good way); teeth gritted for glute-rinsing, and 2019 cores carved. Way to go.
And so we headed back to the hotel, for a final stretch and a cheerio, and chatting about the exciting things we’ve got coming up in the next couple of weeks...
What. A. Night.
Tonight we were joined by first time runners, Hannah, Matthew, Claire, Louise, Shweta, Jo, Emma and Rob.
Thanks for helping to make the night such a huge success – for all your hard work, and big smiles, and for getting so stuck in on your first run. We really hope to see you again very soon.
Thank you to Rob, obviously by no means new, just new to us, who was such an asset to last night’s task: for the chatter, the energy, the input, the ferocious guarding of the sign-in sheet and meticulous timekeeping.
And a massive thank you and big appreciation from the group to our utterly wonderful task force again this week. Behind the scenes of an operation like tonight, there’s actually a lot of careful planning, all assisted and supported by our truly wonderful task force, who are on board from the off, with everything from route-planning, backmarking, new-runner greeting - to reassuring a wide-eyed trainer just before the run…
Talking of which, our latest task force member, Becky G, is also our new parkrun co-ordinator! Big, big hip hooray. So don’t forget, on Sunday we’ll be joining forces with the brilliant Mile End parkrun pub quizzers, at The Coborn in Bow, from 7pm – the more the merrier, so do sign up here if you fancy swapping trainers for trivia this weekend, and hanging out with some friendly faces.
Don’t forget - we’re back at Oxford House next week, when we’re lucky enough to be finishing the task with a Yoga for Runners workshop led by Emma Hopkinson. I’d seriously consider being part of the fun if I were you, so check it out here.
Right, that’s it from me for this week. Have a really great week, everyone - I hope January has started well for you - and we’ll see you very soon.
Mon 7th Jan 2019 at 6:45pm
Come and join our first Monday run of the year as we lend a hand (on an INDOOR task) to this much loved community centre in the heart of the East End.
Read moreSaturday 5th January 2019
Amy Ho has done their first good deed with GoodGym.
Amy is a now a fully fledged GoodGym runner. They've just run to do good for the first time. They are out there making amazing things happen and getting fit at the same time.
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