Weather it’s rain, sleet or snow, Goodgym Wandsworth will always shine in the show. A big shoutout to the Team who made it because yesterdays weather should never be underestimated. It was a a humble size group according the to Wandsworths numbers best but I am was confident that we was might enough to put the job to rest.

7pm came and we all looked nervously outside to see if the rain will ever subside. Luckily it did, and with a quick warm up with a little introduction to everyone’s job, we set off quick.

Over hearing some people speaking sounds like the introducing everyone and the jobs they are into became a nice little greeting. We took the scenic route to the site but Beth told me there is a shortcut and we got there avoiding all matters of traffic lights.

The first task involved some muscle work with moving the compost from one site to about 100 meters away into the garden. Some opted for the teamwork option while others showed their confidence by carrying it themselves. Beth had an interesting bear hug tug technique that got her through to the finish lines. As it was still raining, I suggested the group to try and keep running so they don’t get to cold.

Once that task was completed, we crystal mazed it to the other end of the garden to hear what else Helare had in store for us. The group got split up into teams. We had one team cleaning the green house. They were enthusiastic and very efficient. They green house looked dirt free afterwards from what I could see. Another group was making a path with some soggy chip wood. As it was cold I can see they were doing it in haste, they had no time to waste because they wanted to find heat in that place. The final group was on bathtub duty. They had to move the bath tub from one place to another. As easy as that sounded. They had to take the soil from the bath tub before its new home was founded.

With all the task done we headed back the way Beth suggested, we got much quicker and was ready to feel rested. But before I let the group go, I had to do the final tradition and putting them through a abs workout that will have them near submission.

The group deserved the treats that were laid out, the help they gave today definitely helped the estate out.

Don’t forget to look out for news on the Goodgym Games, The free Hackney 5k and The Spartan Races.

It was the last run of the decade in Wandsworth last night and we saw it out with some proper festive spirit!

Before we headed out for a very Christmassy run, we had a look back at the year and everything we've achieved together.

A massive well done for notching up

• an incredible 1906 good deeds in just 12 months

• visiting 68 individual elderly people, along with 214 coach runs

• running a whopping 22 779 kilometers

Those are some seriously impressive stats! If it was your first run last night (hello and welcome to Amy who joined us for her debut group run - a huge welcome to you!), or if you're into triple figures, you've all made a difference to your community and to yourself. Roll on 2020!

Our task last night was our annual running and carolling session to raise money for Paul's Cancer Support Centre. This small independent charity in Clapham Junction enables people affected by cancer, through community-based care and support, to find strength and resilience, and supports them through therapy, counselling and complimentary treatments. It's an incredible lifeline for those living with cancer.

So after a warm up where I shouted snowman, snowflake, super santa and Christmas tree a lot, we headed off with our song sheets and collecting tins to our first stop. And then after our local supermarket turned out to be a humbug, quickly on to our second stop to start our night of singing. We got a few contributions there, so moved on to the massive Christmas tree to try our luck.

That was a bit more successful, but we really made it big at our fourth stop at Clapham Junction. We were quite the hit with lots of passers by, one little boy that really wanted to join in, and a man who lived in the flat opposite who wanted us to sing as loudly as humanly possible. Our next pitstop was the pub and it turns out that tipsy people are also generous and appreciative of festive singers especially the running kind, which was good, because our final destination at Clapham Common tube wasn't quite as lucrative. Where was everybody? Nevermind, we just had time to knock out a few of the 12 Drills of Christmas for our fitness session before heading back for stretches and to our festive pub social. Pace your bets on how much we raised last night - final figure coming soon!

We're back on the 6th January to do more good and get even fitter after mince pie season. Enjoy your break GoodGym, but keep an eye out for the missions happening over the next couple of weeks. Happy holidays and here's to all the good stuff that we're gong to make happen in 2020!

xx

Last night 31 runners shifted and spread several dozen bags of compost, sorted and composted the contents of a community kitchen and smashed a very tough fitness session - just another Monday night in Wandsworth then!

Welcome to the group, (David, Alice and Sara - great to have you run with us!

It's an exciting week for GoodGym. Not only do we find out

• who got a London marathon place in the ballot?

but it's also

• The monthly GoodGym social this Thursday. It starts at 6:30 at the Islington Townhouse and is the perfect chance to meet people from other GoodGym area and hear about what everyone has been up to.

• Well done to Oliver who earned himself a massive half marathon PB last week!

Fancy a long training run this Sunday?

• Then check out this 16k training run along the Thames - everybody welcome.

After a quick warm up and a headcount with possibly the dullest transport related question (sorry guys - will up my game next week!), we headed off for Battersea and our task for the evening.

The Venue is a community centre run by Hadas, who manages food waste programs, food for the homeless and lots of other community events. There's so much going on that Hadas could do with hand from us, and there were lots of jobs to get on with it.

One group headed into the kitchen to sort out the food that couldn't be used and took it for composting, before giving the space a good clean. Meanwhile the rest of the group were outside shifting huge bags of soil onto the beds around the centre, before turning their hand to recycling and sorting crates. What a lot of jobs got done!

After saying our goodbyes we headed off to lovely Battersea Park to do our fitness session, which after a fairly short run was a biggie. We alternated sprints with a choice of three levels of intensity - squat jumps, press ups or burpees going up in number each time. Well done on a supreme effort!

We took the run back at a good steady pace and finished off the night with some good stretches and a cool down. Same again next week?. Until then, have a happy week of running!

In a day that started off with blue skies and high hopes, and ended with a complete soaking, it is great to be reminded of just how far people will go to support their local community. The heavens opened just as we were starting our warm up last night, and the heavy rain didn't stop . It didn't stop when we ran down to the community garden, or when we worked cutting back and shifting pallets for half an hour, or when we ran back to base...or even when we finished the night with hill sprints! Yet all that time there were smiles and laughing at soggy trainers, and splashing about and a some good natured complaining - all in the name of doing good for others. GoodGymers - you're brilliant!

Welcome to your first run Charlie and Emily who came for their first group run. Give them a cheer!

Don't forget that...

• There is a community mission coming up for Wandsworth Foodbank Thursday - this vital organisation needs a hand with their annual stock take. Expect lots of heavy lifting, sorting food and other important jobs, and as this is a community mission, you don't need to be DBS checked for this one.

• Clapham Common parkrun is cancelled this weekend so if you're hoping to run your closest options are Tooting, Fulham Palace, Brockwell and Wimbledon.

After a high intensity warm up and a quick discussion on the best things in our life (family, cheese, our beds, the Japanese rugby team), we set off at a quick trot towards Doddington community roofgarden, a local space which has been transformed to be used by people living in the area who might not have access to a garden to grow fruit, veg and flowers and run entirely by volunteers.

Hilaire, the lady who manages the garden, met us with a highly organised list of jobs on the blackboard, loads of tools and the conclusion that 'we were all mad'. Probably!

Jobs ranged from weeding and moving pallets, to more technical jobs such as cutting back loquat and fig trees and vines. We learned what all these things meant before we were let loose with loppers - every day's a school day! The rain was still not showing any signs of letting up so we cut the session a little short and opted to run back to the BAC and do a little bit of fitness there. Partnering up, we tackled three hill sprints mixed with some conditioning exercises, and everybody did a thoroughly good job in the best of the British weather. Let's hope Paul was joking when he told us we could expect snow in two weeks' time!

We finished off the night with some stretches, and headed back into the warm. Well done on putting in the effort on such a miserable night gang - next week I'm sure it will be back to sunshine and rainbows over the BAC. Sign up here for more Monday fun.

Last night despite the drizzle and the arrival of Autumn that very afternoon, 32 runners met to tackle two tasks to support communities in Wandsworth!

Welcome to GoodGym Chris, Sarah, Emily, Hazel and Sophie!

We kicked off the night fresh off the back of Super Saturday, where, to celebrate a whole ten years of GoodGym, there were a huge 50 community missions taking place across the UK and over 350 good deeds. Well done to everybody who took part, sterling work!

• If you're looking for a weekend challenge, there are two runs happening on Sunday, both 10k, both free. Check out the last Sunday trail run at Morden Hall Park and the time trial starting from Chiswick Bridge on the same day.

• We also have a longer, mixed pace training run coming up on Sunday 13th October in south London - you can find all the details and sign up here.

It was a two tasker last night, so after a warm up and a vote on our favourite comfort foods when it's cold and rainy (soup, pasta, and all of the chocolate came out top) we divided up into two groups.

Chris' group headed down to the Falcon Estate Residents Association, an organisation set up to improve the lives of local residents, to help sort out some of the planters. Senia, who runs the group, was happy to see so many eager volunteers, and the group got stuck straight in with moving trees, weeding, tidying and other jobs to make the estate tidier. If that wasn't enough, Chris treated the group to an extra long fitness session featuring sprints and conditioning to make up for the shorter run.

Meanwhile, the second group had headed over to Wandsworth Foodbank, a vital organisation which was set up to support families in Wandsworth struggling with hunger and lack of resources. Sadly people are relying on the foodbank more than ever, with a rise of 75% in the past six years. Our job last night was to paint the office , and we arrived to find Natalie, who works at the foodbank and is a regular GoodGym runner, waiting for us with the most organised painting set up ever. With the floor lines, masking tape on, and rollers and paint all set up, we could get straight on with the job. Which meant that 45 minutes later, the task was done! Check out the brilliant time lapse video that Dan, the manager, took here.

If you'd like to help out more with this incredible and vital organisation there are two ways you can do it! Sign up here to help with the biannual stock take. The Foodbank relies heavily on volunteers via physical help, food or monetary donations, to see how you can help local people in crisis here.

We then headed up to Clapham Common to do some serious speed training and then knocked out an intense plank session before we ran back to reunite the group! Great work from everybody. Next week the task is still to be confirmed, but you can sign up here if you're up for a surprise on the night! Until then, run happy.