Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear Hounslow, happy birthday to us!

That's right, the Hounslow group is officially ONE. We have taken our first wobbly steps into the world of doing good, and have the quads to prove it. Last night was truly a night of celebrations. We cheered Andy who shares his GoodGymiversary with Hounslow, and Will who was also at the first ever group run. We welcomed the lovely Jeremy to the group for his first ever run - throw a cheer his way, Hounslow! A huge well done to Remy who tackled the horrendous-sounding Luton half and showed that race what for.

After a discussion on the best thing about birthdays - cake, friends, joy, cake, gin, gin and wine,having a whole week off work, cake and more cake - we did our warm up and set off for William Hogarth School. It was a short run there so we did it fairly nippily, looking forward to our indoor task. Unfortunately, when we got there ready to do some flatpack assembly, we found that Ikea had literally not delivered, so we were tasked with raking the outside area which was providing a nice home for many, many leaves.

Undeterred we got stuck in, filling up no less than seven black bin bags to the brim with those leafy pests. Great upper body work out, team. We stopped for a quick photo underneath the apt 'celebration of work' banner and then hit the road again. It was so nice of Hounslow to put on a fireworks display for our first birthday just as we finished the run, and it was only right that we stopped for a quick rest to enjoy them.

But not for long - we had a birthday fitness session to do! We divided up into three teams and played a game of Ana(erobic)grams. The idea was that everybody collects letters by doing exercises - one tuck jump for every good deed, high knees while naming Hounslow tasks, guessing the number of good deeds, planking if you were at the first ever run, high fiving someone whose name began with 'R' and many more - until all 15 were collected. Then came the great unscramble. It really came down to the wire, but it is my pleasure to announce that in first place, winning a round of drinks, was.....the Chizzee Rascals! Way to go Andy, Will, Natasha and Claudia.

All that was left that a trip to the pub for the quiz - kudos Team BetterGym for coming SECOND! - and to eat some cake. Except it didn't quite happen like that, did it? Least said, soonest mended - but check out the photos for the full story.

It's been a cracker of a year, Hounslow. Here's the the next, and the one after, and the one after that. And a huge cheer for all your brilliant personal achievements over the past week.

Wednesday are pretty good. You've got half way through the week and the weekend is just about in sight. What could make it better? A run. What about a run with a group of mates? And throw in a community task that makes you feel good about yourself. A fitness session? Go on then! Lovely stuff.

Firstly, a huge well done to Remy and to Will who both smashed the Royal Parks Half on Sunday. If you've got the need for speed, don't forget that GoodGym are organising a trip to the Bucharest Festival of Running next May - sign up for details. It promises to be a fun weekend of running, eating and exploring and everybody is welcome!

Tonight we were heading back to a local school - Strand on the Green - to help out with a list of jobs that needed doing. But first - the warm up and the weekly Hounslow headscratcher. If you were invisible, where would be the first place you'd go? The Whitehouse, the Pentagon, North Korea, Downing street - looks like we've all got a bit of the secret agent in us.

Sand-on-the-Green

It was only a short run to the school, so we set off, licketysplit , at a nice fast pace. One mile later we were there, finding Claire the caretaker waiting for us with a trailer of tools. Michelle got the work sweeping the bike shed and paths, Claudia took the scooter park, Remy, Will and Andy tackled the fenced play area while Ross, Adam and Jo dived into the huge pile of blocks that needed sanding.

Half an hour of elbow grease later, the jobs were done and dusted and we kicked off with our fitness session. It was a bit of a bumpy start with the flip a coin game, but eventually we got there, splitting into two groups with each side doing an exercise depending on the result of the flip. Next up was a timed obstacle course, which wasn't exactly plain sailing either and was eventually called off thanks to an apocalyptic shower of rain that came out of nowhere. Like a bunch of naughty school children we sheltered in the bike sheds under it had passed. Next week normal service will be resumed, promise!

We were just about to hit the road when disaster struck. It really wasn't our night. The code to the electric gates had mysteriously stopped working, and after several attempts at opening it from the outside and scaling the fence, it was hero Andy with super long legs who managed to hop the gate and release us. Well done Andy!

All that was left was a speedy run back to base, a few stretches and a bit of thawing out. Don't forget, Team Hounslow, that whatever the world throws at us, we all sand together.

Next week, we're back to school - a different one this time, for a spot of painting.

Ten tremendous GoodGymmers ran 6 kilometers to deliver flyers for the Phoenix Cinema.

(that pun? Yeah, I went there https://open.spotify.com/track/4IYKjN1DrYzxKXt0umJqsG)

For world mental health day, GoodGym has partnered with Thrive LDN, a new charity that is promoting health and well being for Londoners. Being GoodGym, we know all about getting fit and doing good. Here in Barnet, we don't normally need any encouragement for a good chat, but we decided that we'd be extra chatty tonight - it's good to talk guys - while doing lots of running and delivering our flyers.

Meeting at the Phoenix, we were joined by Fati and Ina, both joining us for their first ever GoodGym run. Go give them a cheer!

Every two months or so we deliver flyers for the Phoenix (themselves a charity doing brilliant things in the local area) so tonight we gathered up bundles of leaflets for the cinema's October - November season. Graham and I stuffed our bags full, while everyone else gamely took bundles in their hands.

After a quick warm up, we set off. As we were flyering the local area, we decided to do a 2k loop to get those legs moving. Jack and Graham were joining us from their exploits at the Oxford Half Marathon (it looked so great, give them a cheer) while Jacqui had run a casual 10k on Sunday in the Adidas City Run, after I saw her in the pub on Saturday night: love it.

Once we reached our targeted roads, we split into teams. Paul took the right side of the road with his team, while Nicola led on the left. (Nicola and Paul are our two new recruits for the Barnet task force: welcome!)

Guys, we posted so many leaflets.

Using the tried and tested relay method, we quickly covered 4 big residential roads and delivered all of the leaflets, with hills and some absolutely giant driveways not putting anyone off.

From there, we headed back to base, but not before a couple of running drills. Firstly, we used the end of Southern Road, closed to the traffic, to run in pairs at a nice fast pace to pick up our heels a bit. After that, we attacked Indigo Walk, a tricky alleyway that seems to go on forever, getting steeper as you go. The team did brilliantly and we celebrated with an easy run to base from there.

After a stretch and some high fives, we ate biscuits. Tradition.

This week's Barnet Biscuit was Jammy Dodgers.

See you soon!!

D