9 GG Brent Familia, hit up a couple of K, to; Break up old beds, manovoure matresses, lift chairs, move massive mounds of old furniture & whack some weeds. All For the community regeneration of the Old Police HQ in wonderful Willesden!!

Intrigued.... yes it was a weird and wacky one I can tell you!! Read on for the full report

Delighted to be back with my west London fam, the GG Brent brigade didn't disappoint, with a courageous crew of nine, ready to rock the roads and pound pavements for Willesden Town Team's Police Station regeneration project. POW POW!

Back in the mix for a second week in a row was the absolutely awesome Coralie, one of the GG Brent originals back from her travels, all gorgeous and brown. Joining Coralie was our gaggle of gals: Sisters Beattie and Rachel, Debs and Tabs, Clairey-bell and Awesome Amy. And holding down the fort for the Brent, brilliant blokes was always jubilant Joe!! YAY.

So wasting no time..... OKAY We did waste a bit with catch ups and banter We stepped out to run the short distance to our destination for the eve on Walm Lane! On route we heard some very exciting news indeed that our very own beautiful Debs, received a proposal at the weekend...!!!! Amazing and we were so delighted to hear her wonderful wedding news! x x x

The run was fairly short, so arriving on time was no problem at all! Meeting us a the door was our ever brilliant host Colin, who, like the stray cats he fostered lurking all around the yard, has had nine lives himself! Which we heard all about over the course of the evening The being swept out the sea escape being the most dramatic swerve of death story he told! WOWZER and there's you thinking cool-cats didn't like water!!

Wanting to maximise the time we decided to stay for the duration of 60mins as there was plenty to do!! Most notably the smashing up of old bed frames and mattress stacking as this old station used to be haven for a very large community of squatters and copious amounts of sleep aids were not needed for what was in store for this place's future! FYI - You couldn't stop the enthusiasm of Beattie and Tabitha as they launched straight into the bed-bashing and wielded their hammers until the final stopwatch chime! Girl Power Hour for real!!

Rachel, Amy, Coralie, Claire and I focussed on the chair stacking and heavy lifting of the debrit varieties from the shed to the yard, while Joe became Colin's right hand muscle man! And despite his looks of dismay and self doubt, turned out to be quite the handy-man, spending some of the night perched on top of a van!! LOL

Although it's fair to say this was definitely a physical task of the highest decree, in order to get in some legit fitness fun, I integrated some leg circuits into the mix, with break-out squads tackling: Split squats, sumos and jump lunges X10 Reps for 3 rounds and I'm hoping there's gonna be some well toned, aching muscles waking up in West London this morning as a result!!

Although it seemed like only a few moments passed, the time had unfortunately etched away and once more we had to bid farewell to our excellent host and worthy task. However, this one is one where there is much to be done and we will be back for a visit in the next coming weeks!

Fast feet took us back to base with speed demon Debs (as always) pushing pace at the front and giving me a sure-fire run for my money! Stretches to finish and with a genuinely pooped possey we called it a night! but we'll see you next time Brent brigade!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE!

Awesome run report written this week by the epic Enrique who we wish a very happy birthday to as well!!

Tasked this week to help the beautiful people of Harlesden Community Garden with a clear away of an overgrown perimeter walkway. It would be a 2.5k chase from base to clear a path, with this lot it’s bound to be a laugh. There were even some excited high kicks upon arrival (Well it was my Birthday) relieved to be notching up ever more years of survival!

So, the middle of May had us in sartorial muddles with her insistence on spots of rain, even slippery puddles. Powering through a well paced 2.5k, we dart through traffic and people on there way. But eventually We’ve arrived. . .

GoodGym Brent we are all relevant! . . .Ordinary people from all around, coming together to pound the ground, running to achieve something sound! The team are smart, funny, kind, some of the best GoodGymers you’ll ever find! Through the naff weather we were wielding spades, or being careful with razor-sharp clipper blades, even taking turns hauling rakes - Ah, the gift of back-aches!

Ellie our Captain, Drill Sergeant and all round amazinger thought (as usual) that this perfect scene was not quite right - not quite LEAN!

Bottom obsessed in a brilliant way, we were taken in two sets PAY! Commanded to complete a cunningly complex combination of crippling SQUATTT exercises!! All set and timed to the beat of J Lo!? Loads of fun - Mo power to yo Bun!

Our valiant efforts for a path of clear view would have been easier without the stench of Nettle Stew!! - That’s a powerful eco-friendly stinky brew!!!! Designed to repel all manner of pests - It’s a genuine wonder the birds don’t flee their nests!

NOTE Harlesden Community Gardens have an open day this Sat so get on down to say hello - Might even be some BBQ food you know!

So, after running hard then working harder it was back at base - A quick tidy then outta the place. With exhaustion causing the group to split we stopped to regroup as we neared RoundWood Park - About ½ way back. Rest time we thought: YAY! Ellie said: NO - NO WAY!

WALKING LUNGES x2 sets of 30 Now this was a real li-Berty!

Genuinely tired - Oh so hurty, what a great way to celebrate being 8 + 30!

See you next time!!!!

A lucky 13 ladies, hauled ass and grass and tons of mass, for the Willesden Town Team's tube Station Garden project!! HURRAAHHHHH

What can I say but WOOOWWWW WOW WOW WOW WOW The Brent team did not let me down this week after I sent out a call for help and requested many hands on deck for this show-stopping task!

Showing up to tackle the big project on hand was a fierce team of females, demonstrating all the girl power under the sun! Although we were missing our lovely regular lads; Dan, Enrique and Samuel, we had no doubt our girly grit would be enough to do the business!

After warm welcomes to newbies; Nic and Alba, the team prepared themselves for the epic journey..... ermmmm okay, it was literally across the street, however, that short stint did not phase me, as I knew what was in store!!

So the amazing community group - Willesden Town team are a collection of local residents who aim to give back and make Willesden a more pleasant place to live, much like us at Goodgym Brent. What a power-house team we make then! So when they requested our help with some heavy lifting and shifting, how could we turn them down?

The task Willesden Green tube station has 4 platforms, 2 for the Jubilee line, and 2 for the Metropolitan. The Metropolitan trains do not stop at Willesden any more. Consequently there are two platforms where the travelling public do not have access to. These platforms have brick planters on, where the town team garden. Last year, for the first time ever Willesden Green entered the TFL underground garden competition TFL in Bloom, and lo and behold, won the first prize, in the "cultivated garden" section. So with the competition coming up again this summer, they want to retain their position at the top of the league.

In order to do this they must develop the gardens and they currently don't have sufficient organic materials to keep planting. Therefore, Willesden Town Team had two dumpy bags weighing a ton each, one of compost/topsoil, and one of wood bark/mulch delivered at the top of the stairs of the tube!! Here's where we stepped in to help Our task for the night was to help them shovel, bag, lift and shift the compost from street level down the stairs to the platforms, ready for the green-fingered workers to set to planting over the next few weeks.

Now when I tell you these bags were big that is no serious understatement, in fact, they were enormous with a combined weight of 2000kg!!! So with the timer set and the girls ready to begin, we set to work and said Soil long to the streets and down to the depths we did run!

The girls worked tirelessly for a solid hour, shovelling, lifting and then running up and down the stairs to make sure we completed the task on time, with a cleared street at the end! And oh my goodness, did they put in some blood, sweat and tears..... okay tears were of laughter, but still!!!

On average each girl ran 10 trips, carrying 20kg a time down the 34 steps from ground level to the platforms!! All done in a perfectly timed hour. WOW!!!! Now that is some serious strength work right there!!!!

We watched as the bags got smaller and smaller and eventually the compost up top, was down below and the clean-up and sweep was the last thing to go! we were even treated to ice cold waters from Nest cafe next to the station, gifted to us by the wonderful owner Omar! Thank you!!!!

Now despite the incredible efforts, we still had some time to kill at the end of the session...... So, what better way to play out the rest of the day than Racing the train of course I'm not kidding!!! The girls steamed their way up and down the platform racing the jubilee line on the opposite side.... and yes.... of course they won!!! A train is no match for these wonder-women, who even had enough puff left to knock out some tempo runs street level to cap off the night!!!

With stretch and rest time upon us, we marvelled at the epic efforts and anticipation of sore quads in the morning because of all those stair runs!!! But hey hoe urban gardening ain't for the faint of heart, it takes real girl power to show this mulch gumption!

Until next time fitness familia!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE

Like spring flowers, eighteen runners emerged to the relatively balmy 14 degree temperatures of a fine Monday evening in their home patch of Brent, to run 4 miles to the Harlesden Community Gardens and back, bagging up an impressive collection of litter on their way.

It was lovely to see so many people out - we welcomed first time GG runner Sam whose sister had recommended GoodGym to her, keeping the family vibe strong were the Awesome Ananda's times three, Sisters Sledge Tabitha & Deborah, and yet another family affair - Eliza and Tania...

Not to mention the backstreet boys, Enrique, Vojtech and Sam, the girls next door Sadhana (radiant as ever in high-viz), Liz, Samina, Amy, Beth, Steph and Great Aunt Claireybell making sure the family stayed together and no feuds broke out...!

We set off on the two mile run to the Harlesden Community Gardens on a mission for litter, we got gloved up, grabbed some bags and swept the area like a swat team. With so many pairs of hands on the case, we had the place cleared in no time, which meant that there was some spare time for some fun circuits in the playground!

Four groups were formed and each group spent 60 seconds each on:

tricep dips using the benches

jumping jacks

jumping lunges

monkeying around on the climbing frame (not really - working hard on their biceps as they slowly lowered their body weight or swung across to the other side!)

Then it was time to head back towards base, but as we had some speedier runners, they went off ahead to blitz the area around the old Willesden Green police station, whilst the others made their way back at a steady pace, bagging an impressive haul of cans, bottles and other miscellany...

With the streets looking a bit more respectable, we jogged back to the Queensbury for a quick stretch out, and a chat about upcoming events:

A few of us in GG Brent have already signed up for the Richmond 10 mile run on Sunday 4th June, it's not too late to join, and with all this extra daylight for training, what more excuse do you need...?

Also Tough Mudder in May, and for those of you who just wanna have fun of the non-running variety, we will be arranging a post run drink shortly.

Thanks so much for your Bags of Enthusiasm and positivity which helped to make really rubbish night actually really great :)

Lots a love xxx