HAPPY NEW YEAR GOODGYM WANDSWORTH!

We really started off 2019 with a bang - no less than 46 amazing runners ran 5k, smashed out a whole range of jobs for a community garden, and took on a tough fitness session all in the name of getting fit and doing good.

The January Challenge!

As some of you know, every year we take part in the January challenge. This is a bit of (friendly!) competition between GoodGym areas to see who can rack up the most good deeds and distance in the gloomiest month of the year - it's a really good motivation when it's a bit dark and cold outside. This year our goal is a biggie! We have no less than 220 good deeds to reach, and a whopping 3000 kilometres. We can do it! Just make sure you're connected to Strava so all your training miles are counted, and come along to as many group runs and missions as you can squeeze in - everything counts towards our target. Go team!

Well done to everybody who did races and parkruns over the festive season - don't forgt there is a parkrun every Saturday morning at 9am. It's a free, timed 5k and a great way to get fitter, improve your times and also to meet up with your GG buddies - wear your red tshirt with pride!

Need for Speed

After a quick intro and catch up in the BAC we headed outside for our warm up which got our muscles ready for the run ahead. We also found out about eachother's resolutions for 2019. There were a happy number of running and GoodGym goals (hurrah!) as well as promises to cut down on plastic, drink more, drink less, remain fabulous, eat less meat and read more books. You are an inspiring bunch!

Our task tonight was at Doddington and Rollo rooftop garden, a space which has been transformed from a neglected multistorey roof into an amazing community garden for local residents to grow their own fruit and veg. So after a stead run down there, stopping only briefly for some conditioning reps, we arrived to find the volunteers waiting for us with a list of jobs.

Tasks included cutting back vines, weeding, shifting heavy pots, sorting compost, turning over soil and we quickly divided up into teams to tackle them. It was incredibly seeing you all work so hard - looking round the garden is was a buzz of activity and so impressive to see what a big team of people can achieve in half an hour. That work would have taken the volunteers a significant chunk of time, so well done for making such a difference.

Tools down, we jogged over to Battersea Park for our fitness session. We kicked off the first one of 2019 with everybody's favourite/worst challenge - Sally Squats. This is a serious bit of thigh-burning conditioning, and we all found ourselves how blimming long Sally was going to be up and and down - was it the extended version? Was it on a loop? Finally it came to the end with everybody gritting their teeth and nobody giving up. If hat wasn't enough we then did a total body workout circuit, which sadly (I can tell you were devastated) had to be cut short because we ran out of time.

After a speedy run back to our starting point we paused at the bottom of the hill at the BAC for a final tough sprint before Danny kindly led us though our much needed stretches. What a brilliant way to kick off the year, team. Next week we're back doing the same and edging ever closer to reaching our January target! Hope to see you - until then, happy running!

We had a huge task ahead of last night - four tonnes of topsoil to shift - but that didn't put off the 32 intrepid GoodGymers that turned up ready to add purpose to their run!

News!

A massive welcome to Matt, Sam, Izzy and Joanne who all joined us for their first run last night - give them a cheer!

There is a community mission going on for Evolve Housing, a housing and support charity, this Friday. This is one you don't have to be DBS checked for - it's on at Roehampton Vale's Asda - keep an eye out on the GoodGym website's mission listings for the sign up page!

Helen, John and Emily are putting on a fundraising Christmas lights run on the 11th and 19th December, check out their page here to sign up for what will be a Christmas cracker of a run!

An absolutely huge well done to James who reached a colossal milestone lastnight - his 60th month group run streak! That is five years of GoodGym. James, we salute you and all the good you do!

Festive Fitness

Our task last night was for a community organisation called Bandstand Beds, a volunteer group which runs a community garden in the middle of Clapham Common, aiming to provide an area for the local community to discover the joys and benefits of growing and cooking their own food. They have started a wildflower project,which involves a lot of topsoil - four tonnes to be precise. They needed some serious help with such a big job, and so asked us to come and give them a hand.

So, after heading outside to warm up, we did a quick head count and discussed what our fav thing about the festive season is. We're all about the food and drink, it seems, as mulled wine, chocolate and all the food topped the list, along with Christmas movies, putting up the tree and parties (of course)!

We were meeting Adrian and David from Bandstand Bed by the community garden on the common, so after a brisk run and a - ahem - small detour, we found them with a four enormous bags of soil, wheelbarrows and spades. Our job was to spread the soil ready for planting.

Four tonnes is an absolutely huge amount of soil, but it is no match for the sheer grit of GoodGym, and it took under half an hour to clear the lot. Amazing effort GG! If that wasn't enough, it left us loads of time to do a grueling fitness session, which started with getting our heart rates up with a game of clusters. We then moved on to a really tough pyramid interval session which focussed on our speed, change of pace, and endurance. To finish the session off, we did our weekly plank - this time starting with 30 seconds on each side.

After all that, we took a steady run back to base to finish off with stretches. That really was an epic job, team, well done for putting in so much effort!

Next week we have not one, but two, tasks for you to choose from. Check out what's on offer here and go for your fave on the day!

First up, a massive hello and welcome to Asa and Sinead. Give them a cheer, because tonight they came to their very first group run. Hooray!

News Round Up

Our GoodGym Tooting parkrun takeover happens this Saturday! We still need a few roles filled, such as token collector, run report writer and pre event set up, plus pacers for sub 20 and 30+. Please sign up here if you can make it and let's turn Tooting parkrun GoodGym red!

To finish off a lovely weekend of running volunteering, why not sign up to help out at the City Runs Fulham 10k this Sunday. As well as basking in a satisfied glow after spending your weekend helping other runners, you will also benefit from a medal, Adidas top and 50% off future City Runs events for your trouble! The only catch is that you have to sign up by Wednesday. Here’s the link to follow

Bus' a move

Tonight's task was at Leonard Chesire Disability centre - an organisation in Battersea which support individuals to live, learn and work as independently as they choose, whatever their ability. Led by people with experience of disability, they have a focus on community life here in Wandsworth.

But before we set off, we headed outside the BAC to warm up. It's particularly important at this time of year because starting to run without properly warming up cold muscles can easily lead to injury. It's just as important as the stretch afterwards -no excuses team!

After some dynamic moves to get our hearts pumping, we did our weekly poll. Tonight's burning question - with only six group runs left before Christmas what do you hope to find in your stocking (or other seasonal celebration)? You better be good boys and girls for the next few weeks if you want to find puppies, gin, a winning lottery ticket or Spice Girls tickets there!

It was a short run down to the charity, and we got there in no time at all to find tools, bags a washing equipment there ready and waiting for us to get stuck in. So, dividing up into teams, we took on three jobs:

Raking up the masses and masses of leaves around the building

Pulling up the weeds in the pathways and giving it a good spray with weedkiller

Washing the mobility buses (brrr!)

After 40 minutes of hard work, the place looked a lot tidier. Frank, who manages the centre, is always really grateful for the work we do here, and sends lovely emails to say thank you for our time and energy. This week he even left us a sweet treat int he shape of biscuits and water to "keep our energy levels up"!

With a sugar high imminent, it was a good time for us to run over to Battersea Park to knock out a tough fitness session. We started off with shuttle runs, which test both our endurance and pacing, before playing a quick game of 'What did you do this weekend?' - with either squats of sprints depending on our answers. It sounds like some of you had some very interesting Saturday nights!

After all that there was just time for our weekly plank minute before running back to the BAC to stretch it out. Brilliant work everybody, you all kicked off your week with some great running and a dose of do gooding too! Next week we have more of the same, so sign up here for more Monday fun.

With a backdrop of pretty colours in the sky and the smell of bonfires in the air, it was a cracking good group run in Wandsworth last night.

News, lovely news

So much good stuff to report on before our run! Here's a little roundup:

It was our very own Mr Christopher O'Driscoll's 50th good deed last night. That is a massive lot of gardening for elderly people, painting, shifting and lifting for community projects, and who knows how many miles covered! Give him a cheer next time you see him in his spanking new black tshirt for he is a GoodGym star.

Don't forget our Tooting parkrun takeover on the 17th November. We need as many eager beaver helpers as possible! There are a range of jobs to do and I'll be putting out the spreadsheet soon - sign up using the link above in the meantime.

Alyx told us about a great run she is leading soon from King's College. This women only run will be to the Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights, to sort and pack sanitary products, to be distributed to women via a charity that tackles period poverty. Sign up here

Don't forget it is the monthly social on Thursday - sign up here for more fun, puns and all things GoodGym!

Please give Peter, Alex and Andy a huge cheer - they came for their first group run last night! A huge welcome to the group.

After that bumper crop of news we headed outside to do our warm up, before running the 3k to our amazing task for the evening. But first, we did a poll on all things Bonfire Night - top of the pops came fireworks in our list of fav things about the night, then came bonfires (handily), all the goof food and hot alcohol, sparklers, hot baths and friends. Aaah.

After a nice steady run over to our task, accompanied by the whistle and pops of Wandsworth fireworks, we arrived at the Oasis Adventure playground charity. This is an amazing organisation that supports local kids, many of whom have disabilities. Oasis Play provides innovative and inclusive outdoor play and learning opportunities that enable disabled and non-disabled children and young people to lead happy, fulfilled lives and play positive roles in the community. It also has one of the areas most bonkers and brilliant play areas, and we had to stop ourselves getting stuck in for a good old clamber over all the fun stuff there.

We were met by David, who gave us a little background on the organisation and its history (and is well placed to do so after over 20 years at the charity!), and who had prepared tools ready for our big job that evening. Our task was to dig out a big area ready for swings and other play equipment. It was hard work - and a great upper body workout - but after just 40 minutes of work, the difference was huge. Check out the photos to see the massive hole we dug!

After all that digging we didn't have a huge amount of time left, but just enough to stop for a few minutes on the way home and knock out a quick but verrry intense tabata session. Nice frogging everyone.

Sweaty but happy we arrived back at the BAC for stretching - next week we're back to Leonard Cheshire disability charity to give them a hand with various jobs (including a wash down of those mobility buses, so wrap up warm!) . Sign up here for more Monday fun, good deeds and fitness.