This afternoon was a special run, and a special event that 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed.

We met in our usual beautiful hotel reception, where welcoming Town Hall Hotel staff showed us to this week's room, the divine De Montfort Suite, where we were hosting our London Marathon 2019 partnership event with the hotel.

This was the most fabulous space, and we had great fun even signing in, while speculating whether the grand piano was actually a Steinway. And then we tore ourselves away from this majestic space to enjoy a leisurely run to meet our very dear Friends of Meath Gardens, undoubtedly one of our most popular tasks. Here Tunde, Asia and Julia greeted us and wasted no time in dispatching us to the borders, already well populated by volunteer gardeners busy at work tackling stubborn nettles, dandelions (the toughest roots of them all, FYI), all while carefully avoiding daffs and shrubs.

We settled in, and were joined by Ellen and Will, whose first run it was. Not that you'd have known. Will took to productive weeding on a blustery Saturday afternoon like a duck to water.

After nearly 90 minutes of serious work, it was time to head back to the hotel for this afternoon's fitness session, leaving Tunde and the team still weeding. These guys don't stop!

And so we arrived back at our palatial home for the afternoon, and greeted Rachel and Lucy, our lovely marathon runners, joining us from the hotel. We enjoyed 50 minutes of mobility exercises, some very light stretching and several body scan exercises. The team participated in earnest, working so hard at focusing, and really seemed to switch off. No mean feat for soon-to-be Marathon runners and busy gardeners, so well done.

And then it was a wrap, and what a wonderful time we had.

Thank you to you all, for such a productive, enjoyable, friendly and welcoming afternoon for everyone. And we hope to see you again very soon.

Multi-tasking it

A good sized group of runners gathered on the hotel steps this evening to head to Oxford House, the large community arts centre around the corner, to help task owner Sarah prep-and-paint, shift furniture, scrub, and remove signs!

After a short warm up in the glorious April sunshine, the large team headed through congested Bethnal Green streets, cheerfully dodging commuters, and made their way to the vast community centre where Sarah met us, quickly assigning runners to tasks.

4 teams were soon dispatched to all areas of the building: the prep-and-paint team wasted no time getting stuck in with masking tape, brushes and rollers while a second team were dispatched to the basement for some heavy lifting of desks, painting and, er, statues. A further team hit the stairwells and corridors for sign removal (tougher than it sounds), while a fourth team headed to the upstairs dance studio landing for some industrial scrubbing. The runners worked tirelessly getting through three rolls of masking tape before the first half hour was up; completing the furniture removal way ahead of time, and racing up and down stairs looking for mops and hoovers to complete the upstairs scrubbing. Their efforts put every prime time TV makeover to shame and it wasn’t long before the stairwells were littered with forlorn looking runners desperate for new tasks (nothing a GoodGymer hates more than to be taskless). And so people were reassigned to fetch Henry Hoovers from the basement; assist in Project Pristine on the upstairs landing, and empty paint trays in sinks.

Interesting inversions

And then it was 8.05pm before we knew it and we gathered in the theatre for Christina’s Vibrant Vinyasa session. What a treat. The runners started by lying on the floor, catching their breath for the day, under the watchful eye of this highly experienced teacher we’re lucky enough to have in our team! 25 minutes later and the runners had all stretched, flexed and eased out every last little knot for the night, all to the most beautiful background music.

Runner recognition

And we finished a really unforgettable night with a cheerio from Sarah, who explained how much we’ve helped fill a renovation gap withour decorating efforts – the perfect end to a thoroughly lovely Monday evening.

Big shout out’s tonight

A big warm welcome to tonight’s new runners – what a treat! Hello and welcome to Ellen, Joanna, Cristina and Shelley whose first run it was, and to Frances and Rosie, absolutely not new to GG but new to Tower Hamlets. It was just wonderful to have you all on board, and we hope to see you very soon.

Thank you to task force member Lieke for lovely steady backmarking this evening, and the biggest thanks of the night goes to our very own Christina, for planning and delivering the most wonderful yoga session.

But you’re all amazing - our task owner confirmed tonight what we all really know anyway: that you’re absolutely brilliant, for showing up on a Monday evening, getting stuck in and really making a difference in our borough. It’s quite something.

Easter Monday means TWO great tasks to choose from!

Next week, it’s our Easter Monday fun run! Yes, we’re lucky enough to be housed at two tasks: choose from litter-picking around the lakes in Victoria Park, or heading to the Glasshouse Community Centre, by the park, for a spot of gardening and filling some big planters. And then we’re all going to meet for an EGGcellent (see what I did there) fitness session in the park. You can check it all out, and get yourself signed up, here.

Until then, have a great week: enjoy the sun, squeeze in a run AND HAVE SOME FUN!