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

This week 12 GoodGym-ers ran 4km to shift sawdust and sweep leaves in a local park.

We started with intros at the Phoenix as always. I mentioned that there are 10 coaches in waiting for runners - so if you're interested in visiting one of those people, please do complete your coach runner training so you can get the ball rolling!

Shout out to our two new Task Forcers: Nicola and Paul – Give 'em a cheer!

Damian lead us to the Northway Gardens while Graham was our trusty back-marker.

Brian was waiting for us with two cars full of tools and leaves, ready for shifting. We split into teams to grab all the things and head through the park to our drop off point. Luckily, there were many of us with lights, as the gardens had no lights. We are now running in full-blown darkness, so I really recommend getting yourself a head torch. My fancy hand light was from Morrisons - £7. My head torch from Poundland no longer stays on my head – but still makes light and fits in my palm.

We shifted many wheelbarrows full of sawdust from the chopped down trees from around their stumps so the people could come back and finish the job. We also swept many leaves into buckets for compost.

We'll be back on 7 November to do the next bit. Be sure to sign up!

We then played Duck Tag and Squat Runs on the tennis courts, where we discovered Paul and Nicola are incredibly spry.

We soon ran home, with a little sprint finish UP the hill. Props to Graham and Jack for being so speedy!

Next week we've had a change of plan - We'll be running to the WDP not Community Focus. 3km each way.

Ten tremendous GoodGymmers ran 6 kilometers to deliver flyers for the Phoenix Cinema.

(that pun? Yeah, I went there https://open.spotify.com/track/4IYKjN1DrYzxKXt0umJqsG)

For world mental health day, GoodGym has partnered with Thrive LDN, a new charity that is promoting health and well being for Londoners. Being GoodGym, we know all about getting fit and doing good. Here in Barnet, we don't normally need any encouragement for a good chat, but we decided that we'd be extra chatty tonight - it's good to talk guys - while doing lots of running and delivering our flyers.

Meeting at the Phoenix, we were joined by Fati and Ina, both joining us for their first ever GoodGym run. Go give them a cheer!

Every two months or so we deliver flyers for the Phoenix (themselves a charity doing brilliant things in the local area) so tonight we gathered up bundles of leaflets for the cinema's October - November season. Graham and I stuffed our bags full, while everyone else gamely took bundles in their hands.

After a quick warm up, we set off. As we were flyering the local area, we decided to do a 2k loop to get those legs moving. Jack and Graham were joining us from their exploits at the Oxford Half Marathon (it looked so great, give them a cheer) while Jacqui had run a casual 10k on Sunday in the Adidas City Run, after I saw her in the pub on Saturday night: love it.

Once we reached our targeted roads, we split into teams. Paul took the right side of the road with his team, while Nicola led on the left. (Nicola and Paul are our two new recruits for the Barnet task force: welcome!)

Guys, we posted so many leaflets.

Using the tried and tested relay method, we quickly covered 4 big residential roads and delivered all of the leaflets, with hills and some absolutely giant driveways not putting anyone off.

From there, we headed back to base, but not before a couple of running drills. Firstly, we used the end of Southern Road, closed to the traffic, to run in pairs at a nice fast pace to pick up our heels a bit. After that, we attacked Indigo Walk, a tricky alleyway that seems to go on forever, getting steeper as you go. The team did brilliantly and we celebrated with an easy run to base from there.

After a stretch and some high fives, we ate biscuits. Tradition.

This week's Barnet Biscuit was Jammy Dodgers.

See you soon!!

D