Great to see the GoodGym gang out in force last night, doing good and working hard despite the drizzle in Wandsworth. We had so many reasons to be cheerful last night, including having some great new people come for their very first GoodGym run. Say hello to Rosie, Ellen, Katie and Alice and give them a cheer!

Lots of exciting things coming up, starting with a lovely long training run this Saturday. There are two groups going from Cheshunt leaving at 10:25 at two different speeds. 9-10 miles will be followed by pizza so sign up here to start your weekend right.

If you're doing the London Marathon don't forget to put your name down on the spreadsheet so we know to cheer for you. Speaking of cheering, if you're up for giving team GoodGym and all the other amazing runners your support on the day, details of our cheering stations are here.

We talked about volunteering at the upcoming Hackney Half, for which you will be rewarded with a shiny free place at future races. You can sign up on the virgin sport volunteer portal here, then let Alyx know on alyx@goodgym.org so she can add you to the GG water station. You don't need to select a role when signing up.

It was a special milestone run for one of our runners last night - give Sophie a cheer for reaching that magic 100 mark. That shows an awful lot of dedication to making Wandsworth a better and kinder place - well done Sophie!

We had a big task at the beautiful Doddington & Rollo rooftop community garden last night. This special place was once a disused carpark roof before it was taken on by a bunch of volunteers and run for the use of all the local residents who don't have access to a garden themselves.

Before we set off we did a quick warm up, and a Dog v Cat debate. There was one abstention, several who voted for both, but the overwhelming result was Team Dog. They do make very good running companions after all.

After a short run down to the garden, stopping along the way for a quick superman competition, we arrived at the garden and got stuck straight into the jobs. While one team got cracking shifting several dozen heavy bags of compost up the stairs and across the garden, another group took several fruit trees to plant elsewhere on the estate. There were also weeding and mulching jobs to do, and before long we were a hive of activity. Great work everyone!

If you can't get enough of the green stuff, don't forget that they're hosting a big dig event here at the end of April, during which you will be fed a fine free lunch.

Jobs done, it was starting to rain harder, so we took ourselves off to the square next door to tackle a tough tabata session. The idea behind it is that, with 20 seconds of high intensity work followed by 10 seconds of recovery, your body burns fat and increases anaerobic and aerobic capacity in a short window of time. 10 minutes later we had worked hard, and split up into two groups to run home.

Lovely running last night, and a big pat on the back for the top effort you put into a huge task. Next week I won't be there but you will be led by King's trainer extraordinaire Alyx for the coming couple of runs - don't miss out on some fun tasks by signing up here.

Things couldn't have been more different from this time last week, when we were wrapped up in hats, scarves and gloves and had the coldest task yet. But last night, 38 of us turned up in shorts and tshirts ready to celebrate the start of spring in the lovely light of early evening.

We had some lovely new runners to welcome to the group - hello Sarah, Anne-Marie, Josefin, Ed and Rob! Why not give them a cheer, GoodGym?

It had been a very busy week of running, well done team. Shout out to Beth who put in a great performance at the Colchester Half (and also provided punspiration this week!), David who smashed the Sri Chimnoy 10k and Paul who had a good run at the Frank Harmer 10k - in between doing a huge 11 good deeds so far this month!

There are loads of races coming up - good luck if you're racing and let us know how you go! There's going to be a great turnout from GoodGymers at the London Marathon this year and we'll have a cheer team out in force. If you fancy joining us, just let me know, and don't forget to wear your GoodGym tshirt!

We were giddy to find that it was still light as we did our warm up, and in celebration, we listed our favourite things about spring. SUN, light evenings, wine in the garden, easter eggs and beer gardens are all the lovely things we have got to look forward to in the next few weeks.

Tonight our task was back at the lovely Paradise Co-Op garden to shovel a big pile off woodchip over the paths, and after a nice 2.5km run there where we made a new friend in the shape of Rob, we arrived happy to see the place in daylight! Organising ourselves with rakes, spades, buckets and other tools we got stuck in, and with 38 of us shifting woodchip, the job was done in no time at all. This community garden was once an overgrown and derelict site next to Wandsworth prison, but the hard work of volunteers has transformed this into a beautiful small-holding including an orchard, poly-tunnels, raised vegetable beds, a fish-pond, bush-craft area and community celebration area with pizza oven and running water.

We then ran over to Wandsworth Common to take on a fitness session that focused on some speed work and at the same time working on our cores - which is important for an efficient running form and to prevent injury. Alternating sprints with ab drills including v crunches, planks, mountain climbers and elbow to knee crunches, we got both a high energy, fat burning workout and a strengthening core blast at the same time.

All that was left was a run back to the BAC and a good stretch out. Don't forget that next week is Easter Monday, but that won't stop us! We have a lovely task helping to plant herbs and other jobs at a much-loved local youth centre, followed by our annual Easter social. Sign up here for a hoppity happity Easter run!

Last night we started our run with a super positive vibe by finding out all the things we like best about ourselves. A few of our favourite things included our little fingers, feet, cooking skills, singing voices, legs and the ability to take the mick out of Lewis. Lovely stuff.

We had some great new faces along for their first ever GoodGym run last night - everybody give a cheer for Simon and for Mark!

And while you're there, why not extend that cheer to David, who took on the Inverness Half marathon on Sunday (and still made it to GoodGym last night - amazing) and to Simon who smashed the Milton Keynes 10k in a great time.

Our job last night was for the wonderful Scope charity. This organisation exists to make our society a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else by providing ongoing support. They have a shop in Clapham Junction and are on the look out for more donations and volunteers with their campaign 'The Great Donate'. Our job was to deliver a few hundred bags so that people could easily donate, and some information on how to get more involved.

Clutching our pile of leaflets and bags we set off, dividing up into two teams and taking on one half of the street each. We're pretty well practised at this method now, and it only took around half an hour of running to get the whole lot delivered. Hopefully the shop will be inundated with lovely donations. Great running, team.

With the job done, we headed over to Battersea Park to do our fitness session. In groups of around six, we tackled a series of different stations, keeping count of the number of reps for each exercise. Each drill was separated by a short recovery run, and at the end, the winning team had an incredible 192 reps! After a short jog to the benches, we finished off the night with an upper body and core workout before heading back to the BAC. Half a mile from the end we divided up into the sexy and steady group and the speedy group, but we all had to tackle that last little chinscraper of a hill before reaching the BAC for stretches.

Well done everybody! Next week we're washing the mobility busses for a disability charity in Battersea. Keep your fingers crossed for a nice dry evening, and sign up here. Have a brilliant week of running, team.

Heroes in subzero

The Beast from the East didn't stop a lovely lot of regular GGers and some great new faces meeting last night to do some real good in the community. Well done everybody, and a huge welcome to Stephanie, Lewis, Simon and Emily!

We had a last minute cancellation for our task last night, which wasn't ideal in sub zero conditions, but we found ourselves a good job to do spreading the word about a new residents association being set up in Battersea to give a voice to the local community there.

But before we left we had a warm up and some cheering to do for our weekend racers. Well done to George who smashed a super tough trail run featuring ice slides and barbed wire (wow), and to John who competed in the grueling National Cross Country champs on the weekend, and despite losing a shoe, still soared over the line. If you're thinking about racing but not sure how to find the right one for you then just let me know. In the meantime, there is always parkrun, which is a great way to improve your times.

We got wind chills, they're multiplying

Our warm up this week had to be a good one, because the temperatures last night were dropping quickly. After some fast feet and high knees, we went round the group and sought inspiration for comfort food to keep us warm. Mac and cheese, hot chocolate, mashed potato and, err, ice cream all made the list.

We had a short run down to the Venue community centre, a space which is used to cook food that would otherwise be wasted, for hosting events to bring residents together and for other general community building events. Our job tonight was to deliver information to the local buildings about a new residents association that is being set up.

We set off into the night, encountering a few issues with access, but managing to get rid of a big pile of letters and a bonus work out on the many, many stairs. Before the cold could claim the tips of our fingers, we rushed back to the Venue where Hadas kindly lent us the use of the building for a quick abs blast. Then it was just a short jog over to the park where we took on a partner challenge which, after a mammoth 10 burpees, 20 sweetheart squats, 40 jumping jacks and a sprint, saw the dream team of Stephen and John storm in first. Nice work, everybody.

A nippy run back to the BAC, a proper Wandworth finish, and, as a special treat, a nice indoor stretch finished off the evening. Next week we're off to a community garden to shift a massive load of woodchip - something which would take the volunteer who manages the garden ages, but together we'll get the job done in no time!

ps Puns this week come courtesy of Jordan - snowbody does it better!