London's community half marathon went red this year! 🔥

A huge congratulations to the oodles of GoodGym folk who caught well-earned happy mornings under a hot-hot-hot late summer sun ☺️

It was the biggest joy seeing you all!

Please send me your photos (!) and I will pop them up here (alexmurtough@goodgym.org) ❤️

9 Goodgymmers delighted in a plethora of prismatic arcs as they lent a hand at the tiny forest in White Hart Rec.

Snatching victory from the soggy jaws of defeat

In what was thoroughly wet, wet and... wet day, our Goodgymmers headed out to Blue House Yard undeterred, ready for a soggy run under the inclement weather. However, proving the old adage right, that if you do good, good things will come to you (and you will get fit?), as soon as we had congregated at the start line, the skyes were tentatively clearing and we ran to White Hart Rec mostly dry. Victory!

We were welcome by Michael from the Friends of Woodside Park who entrusted us with giving this lovely wild space a thorough clean up ahead of an Earthwatch scientific survey that is taking place in the next week or so.

Our Goodgymmers were keen to get started before the rain returned, but we got momentarilly sidetracked by the treat of not one, not two, but (allegedly) three rainbows above us. Either nature was showing off or someone up there is really into our lovely red GG t-shirts and impressive squat form.

There were loads of Insta-ready posing and they were really a beautiful sight to behold.

Alas, the promise of half-drunk cans of G&T and discarded Lime bikes awaited us to remind us that not everything that is green is good for the planet, so our Goodgymmers tore themselves away from the rainbows and litterpicked to their hearts content.

Paul, Mark, and Dave were our most intrepid explorers and headed deep into the heart of the (tiny) jungle, while the rest of the team concentrated on the meeting square area of the site - covered as it were on a large tapestry of cigarrete butts. In true do-gooder syle, we even collected all the detritus that could be recycled on Michael's trusty wheelbarrow and Paul and Veronika made their way across the rec to put it all into a recycling bin. Heroes.

After about 45 mins, and with the heavens heavy with imminent rain, Michael brought our proceedings to an end by thanking us and leaving the door open for us to return whenever we want. A good days was had.

Join us next week as we pay a second visit to the Hornsey Medical Centre to help them create a pleasant space for their patients to relax.

7 Goodgymmers got a clean bill of health at the doctors this week as they lent a hand at the Hornesy Central Nrighbourhood Health Centre

Doctor's Orders

Our wonderful host for the evening kindly sent the list of tasks we achieved at our mission tonight. He says: "sheet mulching open soil with corrugated cardboard, mulching paths with woodchip, reusing a surplus pallet collar to create an instant raised bed, part filling the raised bed with part broken down oak and softwood logs, filling up the bed with part composted brewery waste, planting a selection of mint plants into repurposed Haringey Council Recycling bins, rehoming a beautiful Sedum or Ice Plant, watering in all of the new plants with rainwater."

Can you believe we managed to do all of that in an hour? Never mind the limited access due to the car parked uncomfotably close to the gardens entrance. Highlights of the evening included Julie and Sarah becoming de facto elevators to help get the many wheelbarows used tonight onto the garden, and poor Sam and Gramps in a race to outretch each other as they worked on the massive pile of composted brewery waste. Ooof, what a smell!

In the end, an evening that had threatened to be a damp squib turned into a lovely sunny evening full of fun and games.

I love it when a plan comes together.

10 Goodgymmers were suckered into lending a hand in Wood Green for a spot of tree maintenance, getting rid of epicormic growths on the plane trees along Lymington Avenue.

Finger-watch Galore

Big up for Maddie, our newbie at this task, who bravely announced she is a professional violinist just as we handed her sharp tools that could cut through fingers. Cue, of course, an evening of very stressful finger-watching. Maddie was a pro and took it all in good spirits. And no fingers were harmed in the making of this report. Phew. You can come again, Maddie.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

This is a task that we enjoy coming back to every year. As Summer goes on, the suckers on the plane trees in London get a bit out of hand, and we are always happy to lend a hand keeping them under control in this corner of North London. Did you know that London Plane Trees are technically known as plantain trees? No, me neither.

Anyway, while the bulk of our Goodgymmers got on with the task of giving the trees a nice haircut, Neil and Sheril were in charge of a thorough litter pick along the same route. Our litter pickers' conversation was wickedly murderous in their contents which spread through the group like wildfire. So suffice to say it was a lot of fun but probably libellous so unprintable. But it did set us right in the mood for the one bloody incident of the evening when good ol' Gramps failed to spot a very thick and dried up bramble and got a massive cut on his head. Luckily, Latoya jumped into action, got a bunch of splinters out of his noggin, and patched him up real good. Not before giving him a comprehensive telling off, mind. Eeeshka.

Just before 8pm, newbie Maddie made the mistake of saying she was still full of energy, so we all endured a few minutes of wall sits, followed by a session of Sally (iykyk). None of our Goodgymmers even put up a fight, proving that we are all indeed suckers for punishment.

All in all, a lovely evening was had, if i say so myself.

Boom