27 energy filled Hackney GoodGymers ran 6k to attempt to help Gillett Square Kids play project. After a Key drama, we turned our attention to getting fit with a top fitness session in De Beauvoir Square.

We started the evening on chip watch as Ros teased us mortals with feats never before seen at GoodGym Hackney. Eating triple fried chips at 6:55 is an unconventional preparation for the session but she backed up the big iron stomach talk by holding the food down and dominating the physical session, fair play!!

We welcomed some amazing new faces to the fold and had a DBS ID check done to get going helping vulnerable and isolated older people in Hackney! If you fancy going on Missions and/or Coach runs bring your ID and proof of address along next week!

We celebrated the achievements of our brilliant runners who had completed Berlin Marathon, Cardiff Half marathon and Hackney Marshes Parkrun in the last couple of weeks! Lots of amazing performances and so inspiring for the rest of us as we dream about our next running challenges!!

So the task didn't go to plan!! We ran the 2k (with slight detour) to Gillett square to begin the task of cleaning the oversized outdoor play equipment but the key holder was nowhere to be found! I can only apologise for this, the session was confirmed on Monday so not sure yet what went wrong. Instead of waddling home with our tail between our legs we decided to go dominate an extended fitness session on our favourite De Beauvoir Square track!! So we ran down there and split into small teams of 3 for a mass continuous relay! 7 minutes of scorching running action saw us run half a lap (150 metres) before tagging our team mate who sped off around the track! The laps tricked but and the pace remained high and serious effort from everyone was put in! As reward we had a 3 minute rest as I am nice like that before smashing out another 7 minute block of continuous relays!

As Peter had maybe gone a little too hard on the sprints we broke the running up with some physical preparation exercises! 4 groups completed minute efforts in Lunges, squats, press ups and plank holds. With our muscles throbbing there was just enough time to finish off the evening with pairs tag race where, in pairs, we ran around the track at 80% when we met our pair we turned and gave it Full Beans to beat them back to the start! Three rotations of this finished off a quality running fitness workout! A 10 minute jog back to base and static stretch-out rounded off a top evening!

Thank you guys for your hard work and huge efforts well done, hope you slept well!

Next week (have already been confirming task) we are off to a new task to create a Well Being Garden in a residential facility for people with mental illness. We have lots to do, so would be great to have you along! Sign up here and if you have one bring a head torch/bike light along with you!

We have a double dose of actities this Thursday! First the start of Fitness 4 All Camden where I will be taking a 4 week block of Running Fitness sessions just behind Kings cross station in Granary Square. Please sign up here. Also on Thursday is the monthly GoodGym social drinks, this month they are in Islington, check out all the info here.

Have a good week and look forward to seeing you all next time.

Smooth circuits

Joel

18 fleet of foot GoodGymers ran 5k to Gillett Square to flyer and poster to promote the amazing Rio in Dalston festival.

On a warm evening in Hackney we set off to work our energetic magic! It was lovely to have along a few GoodGym newbies!! Hope you enjoyed your evening and we see you for many more Hackney Fun Filled Group runs. We smashed out a top dynamic activation warm up on London fields followed by getting our skip on! This helped to hone our running techniques and condition our bodies for the ever important stretch shortening cycle. Fast feet, high skips saw as bound out of the park ready for action! Being slightly weighed down at the back of the pack a brilliant last minute lead running duo of Patrick and Peter guided the squad the 2k to Gillet Square where we met Marc from Hackney Roots who is the primary organiser of the festival.

While we were slightly mesmerised by the amazing world record holding hoola hoop action that was taking place in the square! Check out this page for the world record. After splitting up into teams we set off pestering the local area and flyering the local residential properties.

Flyering and postering techniques were on point and in no time we had delivered and put up over a hundred posters and 250 flyers!! Talking of timeing it maybe wasn't our strongest area of expertise this week!

We the first group of runners back we decided to split the run back to base into distances. So the first group lead brilliantly by Patrick ran a longer 4K loop back taking in a few extra of Hackney's sites. The direct running crew ran back and had a fortunate meeting with our wandering Coach Run Rep. Before the heavy bag duo brought the team home.

Next week we are off to Hackney Downs and the HUG garden to create some beautiful animal sculptures!! sign up here.

I am also running a great GoodGym running fitness session on Thursday evening in Islington for this that want to increase the fitness! sign up here.

Saturday sees a special Starter session in Gillett Square as we get ready for the children's obstacle race by setting up the course! If you fancy coming along and or bringing along a friend who fancies trying out GoodGym with a bit less running sign up here.

See you all very soon

Silky Smooth

Joel

On a gorgeous golden evening, twelve pacey Peckhamites pushed through Rye Lane to get to the Surrey Docks Farm, for some sh*t shovelling, apple picking, leaf lopping, pig feeding fun. A total of almost 12km were run (yes, 12!) and we all left happy, safe in the knowledge that no animals were harmed in the making of this run report.

A very big thank you to Beth, for tonight's Old MacGoodGymtastic pun

As regular Southwark trainer Jo was away this evening, I popped over from Lewisham to have some fun with some stalwart regulars and some eager first-timers - hello and hi-five to all of you ( I won't name names here because I kind of lost track of who was new and who wasn't, sorry!). Thank you to Beth, who was the key-holder tonight and let us all in, so we could enjoy the smell of coffee and leave our belongings safely during our run. Once we had all assembled, it was time to run through a few introductions, go through the evening ahead and chat about coach running and missions (and maybe mention a little relay race this weekend, that is set to rival the Olympic Games themselves!).

Before long, we were ready to warm ourselves up before what would be a pretty long run. Some name-checking (and double-checking, using not a ball, but a 'thingie', fashioned out of a handy buff, GoodGym trainers are resourceful folk you know). We checked our form with a few drills (walking high-knees, fast high-knees and so on, you know the kind of thing, made to give you super strong cores, light landing and that all important powerful sprint finish).

Lead the way!

As this is not my usual area, but I do sometimes dip in and out of here on my bike or long runs, I am sort of familiar with the area, to a point. Thankfully I had Michael to reinforce my belief in my carefully learned directions and we took the lead together towards Surrey Docks Farm. Well, I say 'together', he is FAST! 'Come back!' I shouted, 'Slow down!', 'Steady!'. With Beth kindly offering to back-mark, we knew that nobody would be left behind, but made sure we regrouped every so often and kept a regular head-count going to ensure nobody ended up going the wrong way down the Old Kent Road, urgh!

You know you're approaching the farm because you can smell it before you see it. I say this in the nicest possible way: after last night's rain and due to the pruning and weeding that was going on, the air was fresh and country-like, right here, in the heart of our city. We were greeted by Gemma, who had already set out our tools, wheelbarrows and various containers. She quickly directed people to tasks: lopping back the stray branches overhanging the fence to the orchard, crouching down amongst the trees, picking up fallen apples, some of which would be used to make chutney (mmmm) and some would be fed to the pigs (more of that later). Alongside the orchard was a pile of sacks...containing well-rotted manure, sh*it basically. This didn't deter an intrepid few, who got stuck straight in, re-bagging, tying and relocating the sacks, using a combination of wheelbarrows and sheer might.

So little time!

Sadly, as our run was quite a long one, we had a quite short amount of time at the task; we would love to have stayed longer, but had to get back. Some last minute shifting, shovelling and grabbing was done. This anxious trainer did the rounds, counting down, promising an opportunity to meet the piglets and reminding the volunteers that we still had to get back to our start point. Combining a number of final activities, we wheeled greenery to the compost heap and carried crates of less-than-perfect apples to the pig pens. The pigs!

Last time GGSouthwark visited, Esther, the sow, was about to give birth. Since then she has had fourteen piglets! After we had admired the rasta sheep, given a nod to the donkeys and stroked the resident cat, we got busy chucking the apples at the pigs (this is allowed, they love it). Out they wandered, one by beautiful one. Tiny ones, pink ones, spotty ones, bigger ones and proud mum Esther, popping out to see what the commotion was about, giving a tired snort whilst snuffling a few apples to herself. What a wonderful treat to finish off a rewarding task.

It was such a shame to hurry people along, but we definitely did have to get going. I really hope people go along one weekend and spend some time enjoying the farm, there's so much to see (a personal favourite is the snoring goat...and the cafe, obviously).

Ee-ay-ee-ay-oh!

At this point there was the option to catch the train back or make it an 11k run. All but one ran both there and back (one challenged knee taking the overground option). A couple of people peeled off en route, heading homewards, but the rest of us kept up what was a pretty speedy pace, this time choosing a more scenic route along the old canal path, over the busy and polluted main roads. All sorts of chatter could be heard on this leg, sculpture, ultra running, half-marathon aspirations, but our conversation was suddenly interrupted by one of our party legging it after the ice cream van, which pulled over. Seriously, if this was nearer our start point we would all have been up there, stocking up on 99s and bubblegum ice lollies! (Whams, do they still sell Wham Bars? we wondered...).

We continued our run, ice cream fantasies pushed to the back of our minds, dodging in between the pedestrians on the still busy main stretch of Peckam, to our start point and a whole load of stretching. Thank you Southwark for having me, it was a real pleasure running with you!

Adele x