17 amazing runners ran 5km to help at Age Exchange in Blackheath!

After a miserable rainy day, it actually turned out to be quite a lovely Wednesday evening down in Greenwich. We had two new runners with us, paramedic student Sara and Parkrun obsessed Richard from Sunderland! Welcome to the gang!!

We were a bit tight for time so we headed off with a nice easy jog to warm us up before we attacked the hill! Our new task was over in Blackheath, which made a nice change, we haven't been over that way for AAAGES!

We took a group photo along the way and carried on running over the heath and down into Blackheath Village. We were greeted by Rebecca the CEO of Age Exchange who explained a little about the organisation and the tasks that needed doing! If you want to find out more about the lovely work they do then check out their website!

10 people were needed for the mail out, putting letters into envelopes and labelling them up. Channie was on franking duty, Gareth on shredding duty and there was some cleaning to be done as well! So lots to be getting on with and everyone got stuck in!

I was hovering back and forth between the two buildings and everyone was progressing nicely! Half an hour later and all the shelves and glass had been cleaned, 430 envelopes had been sealed and labelled and the shredding was complete!

We said our goodbyes and set off back the way we came and stopped to appreciate the amazing view from the observatory. Greenwich is definitely the best borough!!

Down the hill we went back to the uni. It was time trial day but we were a little bit pushed for time so everyone got their stuff from the room, we said goodbye to a few runners and then the hardcore ones stayed for one extra km of pain!!! Steve came whizzing through in an amazing 3:13, super speedy! And Andy managed to get his sub 6 km! Awesome work! A few stretches and it was home time :)

Great work everyone! You got so much done, it would have taken them hours to do themselves so you should be really pleased with what you've achieved! See you next week for another new task!

22 awesome runners ran 18km to help tidy up at the Royal Hill Community Garden in Greenwich!

You were all a part of history last night as we ran our longest EVER GoodGym group run! A whopping 18km in the bank... not bad for a dark & cold Tuesday evening eh!!

London 2018

The vast majority of you guys are running the London Marathon this year, and for many of you it will be your first marathon... which is SO exciting!! The aim of last night's run was to spend a decent amount of time on your feet and to learn to keep going when you're tired, because you will get tired at some point on the day! But all of you absolutely smashed it. It was cold, the run was long but we all made it back and no one sneaked back on the train... SUCCESS!!!

Our run

So we set off from The London Marathon store after a quick little warm up outside. Our route took us out of central London, down Commercial Road and towards Canary Wharf (where you'll be at around Mile 15 of the marathon!). We came off the main road and joined onto the Thames Path and 5 miles later we had found the lovely Greenwich Foot Tunnel!!! For those that weren't too keen on the tunnel, just be thankful it wasn't the Woolwich one!!

We arrived at the Royal Hill garden and were greeted by Jonathan. Everyone grabbed some rakes and other various tools and started tidying up. We moved bricks, plant pots, compost bags and before we knew it we were done. With 22 people it doesn't take long! Even though there wasn't a huge amount to do, hopefully it was a welcome break after your 9k run!

It was getting pretty chilly so after the film team were done with their interviews, we set back off again! South of the river this time, via the Cutty Sark (probably the most iconic landmark of the marathon which you will see at around the 10km mark!). After 4 miles we reached Tower Bridge with some spectacular views of our awesome city! This is when you'll get a huge boost from the deafening roars of the crowds and it also signifies the half way point of the marathon (or thereabouts!).

We arrived back at the London Marathon Store to pick up our stuff and called it a night!!!

GoodGym near you

If you enjoyed the run last night then be sure to check out your local GoodGym area as we do these group runs (but slightly shorter!) every week in pretty much every London borough and up and down the country, so there's lots of ways to get involved and run to do good with your community! You can see all the events here!

Top tips for the final weeks!

One of our GoodGym Greenwich runners and 2:36 marathoner Ben has written up a great list of things to focus on in the last few weeks leading up to the marathon so give it a read here.

Amazing running last night everyone! Hope you had a great time! See you on April 22nd! Good luck and most importantly have fun!!! It'll be a day you will never forget!