We ran around 3km to weed and litter pick for ECCO

A bit windy tonight so it was a good job we had an energetic task planned for the 16 runners tonight especially as the run itself wasn’t too long. Off we headed to Addiscombe Road via East Croydon station – for maximum GoodGym t-shirt exposure ably led by Amatare. We called in at Jerry’s to pick up the tools – shears, garden scissors, loppers, bags, brushes and a wheel barrow and then he led us to the @Boulevard@ which was in urgent need of a thorough weeding ald litter picking. The litter picks were brought down by Alex who was then persuaded by his mum to join in and help out – such a well brought up young man! We were also joined by a few of the ECCO gang who live locally and spend time helping make their community a prettier place for everybody.

We worked hard for almost an hour and managed to fill around 25 large bags with green waste and another 3 bags with rubbish which would all be collected the next morning by Veolia. We even got a few thank yous from commuters heading home for the evening.

After returning all the tools to Jerry we had the Pringle Challenge - strictly speaking it was the Walkers Stack Challenge but that really didn’t roll of the tongue as well. The story behind this drill is that a few of us spectating at the London Marathon noticed how people started tensing their shoulders and hands when they started getting tired and we discussed ways of reducing this. It got us to talking about the trick of pretending we were running with Pringles between our thumb and fore fingers with a gentle grip to avoid crushing them So tonight we used the actual crisps and not just our imaginations. There was a choice of Sour Cream and Chiles or Paprika to run with and the bonus of reducing the result of the times lap by 10 seconds for each crisp that returned unbroken. This was obviously far too easy as none were broken so next week it might have to be burpees while holding the crisps!

The was a big GoodGym welcome for two new runners, Emma and Louise - hope you enjoyed yourselves and hope to see you both again next week.

With it being the last Tuesday of the month it was time for our monthly social in BoxPark which was a bit louder than normal with the Liverpool game on very very loud – we were glad we were in the right colours though.

Next Tuesday evening’s run will see us heading to Park Hill Rec for another fun task with Josi.

We ran around help Saffron Central return its original condition

A sad night tonight as we headed over to Saffron Central where we have helped out on a number of occasions. Saffron Central is the baby of Ally and his many helpers and is the largest pop-up saffron farm in Europe. It's been on the site of the old Croydon council building (Taberner House) for over two years but sadly has to be handed back over this weekend for development. In addition to planting crocuses there has been a Pride flag created from flowers, artwork, herb growing and even yoga in this space and we will be sorry to see it go.

So off we headed from Solutions after the obligatory group photo ready to get down to some hard work. Our main task for the evening was moving pea shingle into bags for residents to take at the weekend. Two teams were formed and armed with spades, wheelbarrows, bags and elbow grease we got stuck in and bagged up around 2/5 tonnes - pretty impressive I thought. Once we'd finished we said goodbye to Ally with a promise to help him on any future ventures he takes on. His daughter (who was really the boss of the evening) came out to join us in the fitness session.

As the run was fairly short I sent the group to warm-up again around the new council building and back to Queens Gardens where Sally and I had set up the fitness session. Tonight we worked on agility by fast stepping along the ladder and also hopscotching - some with more grace than others! While one runner was scampering along the ladder the others were squatting, balancing, lunging and jumping - well we wouldn't want to get cold would we! We finished off with a quick game of Duck Duck Goose - lots of giggling and no slipping on the slightly wet grass.

It was lovely to welcome two new members tonight Daniel and Jonathan and hope to see you both back again very soon.

Next Tuesday evening’s run will see us heading towards Ikea to help Unique Roots in their community garden. It is a slightly longer run but don't be put off as it's pretty flat and there is the tram option for the way back if you need.

Finally... the monthly London GoodGym social in May will be hosted by our neighbours in Bromley so why not sign up and meet some other runners.

T'was the last Tuesday in November, which meant it was Shit Prize of the Month (SPOTM) time...who was to bag the goodies such as a notebook in the name of Steve Jenkins, some trolley pound things, a pen, an oven timer and a compass? Why, it was none other than task force member and good deeder extraordinaire Vix, who was on her 11th deed of the month and counting. WHAT?! Top work and may your good deeding be recognised by Father Christmas this year.

It was a chilly evening and so after some lovely warming up, we split into two groups.

Team one conducted Operation Rustle - led by Tom Benson....

A crack team of nine of us decided one task was not enough, so decided to double up our duties. First things first we busted into 4 teams and hit Brixton with loads of flyers to spread the word for a cracking homeless charity who believes everyone should get to open a gift on Christmas day.

After operation flyer was done we regrouped and all agreed it was flipping Baltic, so decided to peg it quick sharp down the road to Hillyard House to meet Julie. She had a special mission for us. In the main garden of this residential home she showed us a large pile of twigs and leaves that required moving into a compost patch. Now for technical reasons outside my knowledge, Julie had been told she was not allowed to move them and wait for someone to decide what to do with them. Well Julie was having none of that and so she may have showed us what to do and somehow all the pile ended up moving, as if by GoodGym magic. A lot of it involved piling leaves into a large pink plastic sheet and moving them that way. After we dusted ourselves down and had a group shot we hopped on our good feet and pegged it back to papas. Well done team, Operation Rustle was a clear success!

Team two conducted Operation Hustle - led by trainer Katie....

We split into two groups - those who wanted a 5km round trip to reach Brixton Youth Club and those who wanted to take the shorter 1-mile stretch down Brixton Road. Once we arrived at the youth club, we all knew what to do! There were many, many leaves to be gathered and bagged ready to be taken away. Armed with an assortment of rakes and brooms, we gathered SUCH LEAVES!

With momentary jumping jacks warm up breaks we finished the job and headed back to base for some stretches and then home for a hot shower to warm back up again!

TOP WORK LAMBETH!

9 GoodGymers ran 6-7km, delivered 150 leaflets for Syrian Refugee & smashed a fitness session!

Lovely to be leading GG Barnet again, you guys are great! The weather was getting wetter all day, thank you for coming along and doing good - means a lot.

Of course a massive well done to Pennie who conquered New York Marathon last Sunday, absolutely amazing work! Give her a cheer when you see her next Tuesday. In other news:

1. It's the last GG Monthly Drinks of the year tomorrow (Thursday 9th) in Stratford - come along!
2. There is gonna be a GG 2018 Calendar, check it out here on the facebook group.
3. GG Raceteam are taking part in Cross-Country this weekend, three more fixtures in the season if you want to join #RedThunder

Right onto to last night, after our intro and chat about upcoming Barnet missions, like this one, we headed off into the night - taking to the back streets to Muswell Hill and into the residential area close to Ally Pally. Splitting into pairs we covered roads in the area to spread the word about a new Syrian Refuge Charity in Finchley.

The event we were promoting was a Syrian Kitchen fundraiser on 30th November, a lovely local event to help a brilliant cause. With all the leaflets distributed we took a group pic before heading back into the night.

Ally Pally fun!

Running over to Ally Pally the rain was getting a little harder but of course that doesn't put off these hardcore Barnetites. Fitness session included:

• Two sets of shuttle runs using lamposts as a marker
• Squats & balancing exercises
• Distance shuttles, for 10 seconds & then 5 seconds

Always brilliant to do speed sessions in groups! After our 2km run home we stretched out and said our goodbyes. Well done all, lovely wet evenings running & good-doing.

Sign up for Barnet next week here, Pennie is back!

PB out.

After a speedy intro chat we got outside for a warm-up. Thinking about warming up those ankles, shins, calves and hips.

Following that we headed off on the 1.4km run to Star road and Maystar Estate. The Hammersmith and Fulham Goodgym has been back here a few times this year to help out in both the communal areas and some private gardens of older people who aren't able to care for them. This time we were there to dismantle some broken office furniture that had been left in the community hall and plant some daffodil bulbs in the flower beds around the estate.

After leaving a team of 4 to get going with the furniture lead by Jason; Pauline, the lovely task owner took us on a walk through the large estate to pointed out the flower beds.

Unfortunately, the estate's trowels had gone AWOL so the planting crew had to use the handle end of the rack and hoe to make holes in the ground. The method certainly didn't slow them down.

Actually, both the planting gang and the furniture team got their tasks done in no time, which left us enough time for a nice run back via the river. Thanks for wearing your headtorches!!

After getting back to base and doing a warm down, we all trooped down to The Distillers for our October social. Cheers to everyone that came! Sorry to those that got stuck at work, you were missed!

Helen suggested we do the 10k in Putney on 3rd December. Will you join us? Details and RSVP here

Next week, is Halloween and we're helping paint garden furniture and plant MORE bulbs. Sign up here