11 very soggy GoodGym-ers ran 5km delivering flyers for the Barnet Funiture Centre

This week the bravest of Barnet runners came out to help spread the word about a fabulous local charity doing incredible things in the neighbourhood.

We were joined by special guest trainer Tom, the new Sheffield trainer, who lead the pack to the task with the help of Damian after a fab warm up by the side of the cinema. We were also treated to the return of Stacy, who's finally recovered from injury after her epic running of last year.

Once we reached our starting point, we split into two teams. Team Hazel took one road while Team Freya took another. In the end we covered about six roads then did two rounds of exercise before heading back to base: rocket jumps and 180º squat jumps. GG Barnet has cracked the most efficient of flyer jump-frog systems known to man.

Back at Base, Tom lead us through some very thorough stretching and we all congratulated Hazel on breaking the 100km mark this month – the third Barnet runner to break 100 in Jan. You're all bloody brilliant! (The other two being Damian and Freya.)

We were then treated to TWO sets of Barnet Biscuits. Jody made Jammy Dodgers and Eleanor made Ginger Bread Men. I'm very excited by how the group has really taken on responsibility for the Barnet Biscuit and by how fantastic everyone seems to be at baking. I hereby crown you both The Barnet Bakers of the Week. Because we all know how much I love alliteration. Joanna has promised to bring the Barnet Biscuit next week, which is very exciting! Tom loved the idea so much he'll be taking it up North. The Sheffield Shortbread, perhaps? Sheffield Sweeties. I'll leave the name of that one to you!

Next week we will be helping the RSPCA again with another run nearby to flyer. It'll be a short one: 3km total. Sign up here. And on the 14th we'll be running to the Barnet Furniture Centre in Frien Barnet to paint a wall for them. This will be a long one: 3.5km each way. Sign up here

Well done to Eleanor for bringing her docs along this week to get mission-verified. It's great to see so many of you getting this sorted! If you'd like to help out with missions or become a coach runner, bring your docs along to the next run. You just need some photo ID and proof of address (two of one and one of the other).

See you next week! Pennie

This week 16 fabulous GoodGym-ers ran over 7km to recycle discarded Christmas trees in North Finchley

This week we were joined by two GG newbies: Chris and Darren – give them both a cheer! We were also joined by cousins Maya and Preety who joined us for the starter session on Saturday.

After a quick warm up by the Phoenix we headed the 3km to the Civic Recycling Centre. I lead the pack, while Hazel was my trusty back-marker. We did a couple of run-backs on the way out, where the speedier runners zoomed off ahead to the next bus stop and back to the group.

Once we reached the recycling point we split into groups and ran off in search of discarded Christmas trees. The team did a splendid job, finding a total of four trees – one of which was was still in the net wrapping! Madness.

The group then split into groups for a sprint relay. Some very impressive speeds were hit during this section. Top marks all round!

After a few lengths of road, it was time to run back to base for some stretching and some biscuits. I brought some chocolate bourbons and Chris brought some chocolate chip cookies. Graham says he knows a bakery that does great biscuits, so that'll be next week's treat if we're lucky!

Well done to those of you who brought your docs along this week for DBS checks. You guys are amazing! Don't forget you can bring photo ID and proof of address (two of one and one of the other) along to any group run to get the ball rolling on getting mission verified.

We have a mega mission coming up on Saturday. It's all hands on deck for this one, so if you can make it, sign up here.

Don't forget about our Starter Session on the 28th at Sweettree farms. Sign up here

Well done to Damian for coming up with this week's run report headline. That deserves some applause (or cheers).

See you at next week's run

Pennie

PS. Can we all please take a moment to appreciate that pop band photo!

This week 17 wonderful GoodGym-ers ran 6km to paint a carehome's garden furniture

This is a very special week for GoodGym Barnet. Not only is it our 20th group run! (Applause) But it's also Hazel's 50th good deed. Give her a cheer!

We were joined by GG newbie Thais tonight, who totally smashed her first run with us! Be sure to click her name and give her a cheer!

After a quick warm up and intro outside the Phoenix Cinema we were off on our journey to Dell Fields to finish painting the garden furniture. I stalled for a couple of minutes to wait for Simon who was visiting us from Islington (with CHEESECAKE), but we decided to text him the route so he could catch up. Damian lead the group out while Paul was our trusty back-marker. This gave me the opportunity to float about in the middle and talk to loads of you!

On the final stretch a man stopped me to ask GoodGym and seemed very excited to hear we ran regularly and did good. He promised to tell his wife, so hopefully we see her next week! (This is a great reason to make sure you're wearing your GoodGym shirt!)

As we arrived at the carehome, so did Simon, who must have been running behind us just out of sight!

The group quickly took on sanding and painting roles as we finished varnishing the chairs from our last visit. As GG-ers slowly finished their tasks, they were treated to some strength and mobility drills up the garden path. There were duck walks, bear walks, hops and squats, while the others put in those finishing touches. Then it was a quick tidy, before heading out front for a very brief round of exercise before our run back.

We split into two groups to head home, with Damian, Freya and Paul taking the speedy lot back, and me and Hazel leading the slightly less speedy group.

Back at base there was stretching, cheesecake and, of course, biscuits.

The Barnet Biscuit of the Week: HOMEMADE BISCUITS courtesy of super TF member Heather, who couldn't run with us tonight but still baked us cookies!

We also had a bonus #BarnetBiscuit in the form of cheesecake from Simon AND oreos from Del. There were so many post-run snacks this week we didn't get to the oreos, so Freya has been tasked with keeping those safe for us until next week. Biscuit-sitting is a tough job. Let's hope she doesn't accidentally eat them all after one of her many runs (she's already don't over 60km this month)... Be sure to link strava up with your GG profile so your runs get counted in the heroes section too.

Don't forget we have a starter session THIS SATURDAY at Community Focus in Friary Park at 2pm. It'll be less running than a usual GG run, so definitely one to tell your friends about if they're a bit nervous about keeping up on the group runs. There will also be some running drills and some gardening. And probably biscuits. Meet at the community centre. Sign up here

And be sure to bring along your ID to the next group run or starter session so we can get you mission verified! Just need to see some photo ID and an official letter of some sort with your address on it and a date within three months. Two of one and one of the other. So, for example, a passport, a driver's license and a bank statement from less than 3 months ago – or a passport, a utility bill and a bank statement. We need lots of runners to help Ms F on 22 Jan, so if you're already mission verified you can sign up here.

See you on Saturday!

Pennie

6 wonderful goodgymmers ran 4.5km to help promote goodgym in Ealing!

It was a sad day for many as it was the first day back at work after all the festivities! However this didn't stop this hardcore bunch from getting out there and smashing the first run of the year. A big welcome to Manvir who came along for the first time and did an amazing job especially with all the squats in the middle! And welcome back Gaia, so glad you are back and running with us again!

We started off with a jog along good old Gordon Street heading towards West Ealing and the Salvation Army building in a bid to introduce ourselves! Sadly they weren't open so we posted a flyer and got to work doing some squats...10 body weight squats, 10 pulse squats and 10 squats with a 10 second squat hold...a nice little quad burner for everyone and, of course, squats make you better at running!!

We then took a nice jaunt around West Ealing, flyering into all the charity shops and getting a bit of obstacle work through the busy streets! We managed to fit in a few 'round the world' lunges working on proprioception and unilateral training before arriving back at Haven Green for some final bodyweight exercises and balance work; single leg deadlifts, lunges, hip mobility and a few nice stretches. We discussed the merits of yoga as an aid to running (and life in general) and before we new it, boom, the first run of 2017 was over!

So if running with an awesome group of people and working on improving your form, balance and general fitness sounds good to you...join us on the next run! We have a starter session this Saturday and sign up to next Tuesday's run here I can't wait to see you there!

18 GoodGym-ers ran 9km to set up Santa's grotto

This was the last GG Barnet run of 2016! It was also the 18th run ever! (Sorry, I told you it was the 17th... my bad!)

This was also the most amount of runners we've had on a run excluding the launch run – tying with our run to Newstead to paint the walls. It was nice to see so many of you – particularly the return of Aimee from the Phoenix, who arranged for some incredible mulled wine, mince pies and popcorn for us for after the run. She definitely deserves a cheer for that!

Also a massive welcome to GoodGym tourists Sarah and Frances who joined the Barnet crew this week.

This week we split into two groups, with Damian leading the speedy group with the help of Sarah as back-marker; and Heather leading the less speedy group with Hazel's help back-marking.

Sarah and Jody ended up taking a little detour after a quick costume change at the trafic lights. Luckily they had a map and were together!

When we reached Community Focus, we were greeted by Danusia and the team – and Buddy the dog. 30 very speedy minutes and a tonne of GoodGym magic later and a plain white room was turned into a grotto Santa will be proud of!

The team did a great job decorating the grotto, whilst having a little dance to some Christmas tunes.

We split into two groups again for the run back and celebrated the end of 2016 with a festive Barnet Biscuit: mince pies. Plus some mulled wine and popcorn – all courtesy of the Phoenix. So wonderful I thought it worth repeating =p

We also had some Lindt chocolate balls courtesy of Jody – which is probably my fave chocolate of all time.

We'll be back on 3 January 2017 with a run to Dell Fields care home to do some painting. Sign up here

Have a wonderful Christmas ( / winter holiday season) and I'll see you all soon! Lots of exciting things waiting for us in 2017. Well done for all your hard work so far.

Pennie