9 Brent badasses braved the cold, for a task they were told, would bring some positivity to the Brent community.

Now to begin this tale of a Monday night in Brent, to say it was cold would be an understatement.... My people, it was FREEEEEEZZZZZIINNNGGGG

But despite the chill in air, it was awesome to be met with such a warm reception at the Queensbury. Joining the rad regulars, was new to the Brent gang, Jorge and this four language speaking, salsa dancing, winner from Wembley, we sure were happy to have join the ranks!

So after a quick hello it was 3,2,1 GOOOO Down the one mile dash to our regular task master Colin and to finish our mural of all the Goodgym hardwork in the Old Police Station, turned art hub, for the community of Willesden.

As usual Colin had lots of work to be done. but namely the continuation of our Goodgym mural, which required sketches of Goodgym related scenes, the hard work and the hilarity. So it was down to our most arty threesome to get working on that.... Liz, Nisha and Saorla, who designed and sketched our scenes onto the wall.

The rest of the gang focused on some more manual labour; shifting debrit from the last few rooms that needed painting and moving very heavy bricks and debrit outside to clear more space for artist's to work.

The really tough and strong tasks were tackled by Debs, Pete and Jorge. Who worked tirelessly and in the cold too, slinging heavy loads into Colin's van for removal. Dinesh, Nisha and I, got busy inside, moving all kinds of heavy and interesting things from one room to the next; Including a full desk and draws and some extremely heavy storage boxes.

Our efforts of course cheered on as usual by the resident cats who thought our hard work was PUUURRRRfect

After a good 45 mins of arts and slinging crafts, I had to sadly ring the final bell. But the fun didn't stop there, oh nooo!!! There was just enough time for some Hill-arity to warm up and get our fitness on, before home.

So off we flew, chugging that hill in the old school train drill, followed by tempos down to finish!! No stopping the steam from this troop of train dodgers, as each one pushed hard for a HIIT session from hell.... no wait, I mean heaven!

Farewells were next, after we'd done our best. For Brent we did task, for a worthy cause who did ask. Using our legs to travel, then hills we did battle. Now back home for some dinner, Monday night, what a winner!!

See you next time!!!

14 run to Cheviot nursing home to clear more leaves It was a crisp cold November evening, and having returned from the Cyprus International 4 day challenge the night before, I really felt the cold! (Who am I kidding, I always feel the cold, even in August!).

Still, merry enthusiastic goodgymers met at LeisureWorld for our usual Wednesday evening do-gooding. Tav finally had his t-shirt. And Deb joined us from Goodgym Bristol! She's on tour, and this run was her 50th Good deed, so well done Deb, and you're welcome to come back anytime.

As it was so cold, warming up was mega-important, and we even did our counting off whilst doing some squats to make sure we didn't get cold.

Then we made our way to Cheviot, making sure to give Deb and Emily the benefit of our knowledge of Colchester. I even stopped at the top of Balkerne hill to tell them about the Jumbo water tower - this wasn't because I was tired at the top of the hill, or because it was named after an elephant... honest!

Off to the nursing home, and I was glad that the runners knew exactly what they were doing having cleared leaves for St Leonard's church last week. David found a fantastic contraption for picking up leaves and the task was completed very quickly. Eventually everyone had to move out to the car park, as the most leaves were there, and the work was going along great until a van drove in and scattered one of our piles!

This didn't dampen the spirits of our group though, and these leaves were raked up, put in bags and then we were all done. 7 bags of leaves collected.

This run was an extra special treat for us, as to thank us for our work, the nursing staff left us some cakes and tea and coffee - we felt like lots of Santa's helpers as we munched on mince pies and biscuits, and the hot coffee was certainly welcome after being outside in the freezing temperatures. We couldn't stay for too long though, we had our social to get to.

So, we made our way back through Lexden, and to the Essex County Hospital, and here is where we split our group. Some went back to Leisure World, and the rest of us went to our new favourite pub the Old New Inn. Thank's again to Ian for arranging our social.

Next week, we will be doing a bit more wombling for Rivercare. Make sure you wrap up warm, with gloves and headtorches. Sign up here

7 Brent Bandits, braved the cold, followed a Goodgym-paper trail, made it to the track and destroyed some laps!

It was by far the coldest run of the year, well and truly into winter now when 7 smiling faces greeted me at the Queensbury this Monday night. With Enrique and his ladies making up the ranks - Sister sledge (Tabitha and Deb), the ever hilarious Samina and brilliantly cheerful Liz, we also welcomed to the mix our 'out of towner' for the night - Delightful Deb from Bristol, who was completing her round of Goodgym bucket list jaunts.

So with our bi-monthly track session in sight we could tick one off the list for Deb as she had never ever stepped foot on an athletics track, or for that matter ran on one!!! EEEKKKKK A treat was in store.

The task to accompany our fitness fun, was the regular GG Brent leaflet drop, but this time with a twist.... Each member was also tasked with bringing an extra slice of Goodgym cheer to the mix by making their leaflet accepter smile while explaining what we were all about and how we supported our local area. Success was in the air and we recruited at least 6 new locals for next week! YAY

Speeding down the high road and over St Peter's Hill, it was not long before the red racer was in sight and this week there was only one goal in mind - SPEED Stop clocks at the ready our awesome athletes set to pace on their first 400m dash, followed by not one, not two but three more!!!

Timing is simple, clock how fast you can run the 400, recover for 2 minutes, then repeat. Little did the team know that 4X round = 1mile and so as they embarked on their smashing times, each one able to keep their laps within a 10second range (AMAZING!!) with huffing and puffing their efforts came to a close..... now time for the maths!

Calculators at the ready we added up the timings and so everyones shock and delight, there were 1mile time trial PBs all over the place. My ultimate favourite moment was when Deb from Bristol said in disbelief when presented with her 7minute mile achievement, "This can't be correct, I've only ever run 9minute miles!!" Well believe it sister you are more capable than what you think!

Track is an amazing way to challenge your speed and short distance recovery rate in the view that regular sessions will translate to faster speeds in your endurance pace. And despite the disbelief in my maths skills by the crew, the calculator doesn't lie YES You really are all that awesome!!

With joyful cheer at the accomplishments made and statue challenge shutterbug achieved, the team bounced out (and I mean literally about 5 minutes of mad jumping around) ready to run the cool down mile back to base.

Speeding the last few metres back into home territory, we ended with stretches, cheers, back slapping and clapping , of course we were clapping ourselves, but it still counts!!!

So proud to witness everyones dedication, ability and improvements. It goes to show, with a supportive crew around you, you can surpasses the limitations and impress yourself, beyond belief.

See you next time!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE