LOADS of excellent runners tackled THREE tasks across Lambeth and did loads of good whilst they were at it

First up, hooray to Dee and Jim who finally got their black t-shirts after weeks of waiting. Another big hooray to Steve for hitting his 100th run and getting his wings t-shirt (on time and everything). BIG CHEERS for the excellent running all of you!

We had a nice big crowd along for some running and supporting community projects and we had a lot to do. After a nice warm up led by John we headed off to three brilliant tasks:

Group 1 was led by Sarah. They went back to the Moorlands Estate allotment and finished digging and woodchipping the path. We've been there a few times over the summer and this visit saw the path finally complete. Great stuff!

Group 2 was led by Katie. This saw another return to the BAGS OF SOIL at Loughborough Farm. They need to move some massive planters full of soil literally about 2 feet. Soil is heavy. Very very heavy. So we need to dig it from one bag to another. Rose was part of the group who made headway a few weeks ago and this time she was back for revenge! She totally smashed it in a neat little team of three, entirely emptying one bag into another before heading off to do some weeding. Katie, Beth, Nelly, Jim and John took on the fearsome task of a massive, super compacted bag. After a seemingly endless dig and shovel, they had still not transferred all of the soil. HOW IS THERE SO MUCH SOIL? Still, a top effort and a job well done by all.

Group 3 was led by James and John. They headed 2.5km down to Kennington Park and the lovely Bee Urban project led by Barnaby. There were three teams, one on watering, one on weeding and one turning compost. Dee also got handy with a saw DANGER KLAXON John did some fitness with them and everyone got tired.

And with that we all returned home and went to the pub, where we valiantly stayed outside because it's August even though we were all freezing. That's the GoodGym spirit!

This week 9 marvellous GoodGym-ers ran 6km to paint garden furniture at a local care home.

First on the see was Danica, who arrived as I was picking up this week's Barnet Biscuit. She took on the tall task as Biscuit Garder, placing the biscuits in her bag so I didn't have to risk crushing them on the run.

After a quick warm up in front of the cinema to get our joints and muscles ready for the task ahead, we made our way to the care home. Damian was my trusty leader, while I was tail running. Jennie and Eleanor kept me company on the way there.

3km of hilly Finchley later and we were at Dell Fields ready for the task ahead. We hadn't been left any sandpaper, so we did a coat of finishing oil on the chairs we did last time to protect against the weather. Hopefully we'll be back soon to finish off the other chairs!

We then gently jogged to the nearby park for some burpees and sprints. Doing burpees on a regular basis will improve your running drastically - it's been proven to shave minutes off your PBs. So we're testing it out. Jody suggested today be Day One – so we're introducing the GG 15-Day Burpee Challenge. You have to do 30 burpees a day for 15 days. If you haven't already done then, quickly do them now!

We then ran back to base for stretching and biscuits.

This week's Barnet Biscuit was Hobnobs

We finished up with some Ice Tea at the Phoenix before saying our goodbyes. Next week we're heading to BFC for more furniture painting. Sign up here

This week 16 incredible GoodGym-ers ran 2km (ish) to dig a moat around a pond and chop some sticks.

As ever, the team met at the Phoenix for intros and sign-ins. Thanks to an unexpected level of traffic along the North Circular, I was running a little late. Luckily, Freya and Damian were on hand to welcome the gang until I got there. Two new faces this week: Ves who works with me in Finsbury Park and Anja who is new to Barnet but not to GG. Give 'em a cheer!

After a super speedy intro and headcount, we gently jogged to Cherry Tree Woods to warm up in the park before heading off on a little loop to Archer. The Hammerson Nightingale care home we were supposed to be helping wasn’t ready for us yet, so Maaike at Archer came to the rescue with an extra Archer Task. This week was all about digging a moat around the pond to tuck the lining in to.

The team quickly got to work, with several people taking a go on the mattock. The ground was hard as hell today, so the mattock was the only thing to break past the solid upper layer of mud. Louis let me have a go, so I could demonstrate how to generate more power and Damian made a Buffy reference (where I was Buffy), which basically made my day.

Kim and Paul arrived slightly too late at the Phoenix and ended up running to the other Archer by mistake, meaning they ended up running an extra km. They sure made up for it on site though, with some super speedy digging.

Once the moat was dug, we tucked the pond liner in and filled the gap with mud. I even added a ceremonious branch to kickstart the decoration phase. Chris did a wonderful job filling a particularly deep bit and Phil did some great stomping.

It was soon time for finisher photos and a game of football before heading back to base.

Barnet Biscuit of the Week: White chocolate chip cookies AND Jaffa Cakes courtesy of Freya.

Thanks to Jody for this week's pun.

Next week we are running back to BFC for more upcycling of old furniture. Sign up here