Amazing Meath

27 runners headed to one of our favourite tasks at Meath Gardens, this evening, just a short run from our meeting point at the lovely Town Hall Hotel.

We were met by brilliantly organised task owners Joanna and Jane, who had everything prepped for our two main tasks: a litter-pick of the park, and a big watering operation! New young trees have been left a little parched due to a decent British summer, and without any watering points in the park currently, getting the trees watered is a labour-intensive operation, managed solely by the small team of Friends of Meath Gardens.

A canalside operation

And so the biggest crew headed to the canal to load up trolleys with buckets of water, while a team of 3 used the tap by the small Community Centre. And a further team headed to all four corners of the park to gather every last bit of litter.

As always the team worked tirelessly until gone 8, when every last thirsty young tree had been tended to.

Over to The Mystical Fitness Tree

And so we met for our cheerio and pics, before making our way to The Fitness Tree, a favourite fallen tree that acts as a wonderful base for some Bulgarian split squats, to kick our fitness session off with. Then we whizzed through the scorpion push up, some seated core exercises before moving on to some standing balance and strength exercises. The team are strong and focused at the moment. You could have heard a pin drop in the park as they balanced on one leg, putting their bodies through its resistance training paces without so much as a squeak of protest.

We completed our session with a couple of stretches before heading back to the hotel, and onto the pub for a quick drink to say cheerio to our beloved Becky J , whose last run it was with us for a while, as she pursues exciting career opportunities in another part of the world!

So long, Becky J!

Which leads me nicely on to offer a very big thank you to Becky all she has contributed over the last two-and-a-half years to Tower Hamlets. Becky is an active, regular Task Force runner, who shows up early at nearly every Group Run, welcoming new runners with a big smile; helping to plan tricky runs and Community Missions behind the scenes, and just generally offering smiles and support at every opportunity. You will be much missed.

Other Monday shout-out's

Thanks to Liz and Kat, and Jo, for back marking this evening.

And thanks to Dave for tonight's wicked pun - it's a cracker.

What's coming up...

• Next Monday we celebrate GoodGym's 10th birthday with TWO of our task owners, the wonderful Barts Volunteers and Tower Hamlets' Council's Big Clean Up as we head to the Royal London for a clean up in and around the beloved John Harrison Garden.

• And also next week, on Sat 21st, it's SuperSaturday, the biggest day of GoodGym activity, when our very own Kat has organised a variety of activities with the Mile End parkrun team, so you really should check that out here.

Right, that's me for another week. Well done all involved tonight - what a thoroughly splendid night. Thirsty trees are hydrated; the park area is pristine, and your hip flexors are that little bit stronger. I mean, it's official now - you really do rock.

Have a wonderful week, enjoy the start of Autumn, and we'll hopefully see you very soon.

A big old to-do list

26 runners gathered tonight to head back to Oxford House, to our first visit after the summer break, as the weather on our first September run didn't disappoint.

We were looking forward to an evening of varied tasks, as Deborah, our task owner for tonight, had warned us there was plenty for us to get stuck into...

On arrival at this beautiful community arts centre, we were split into four teams:

• One team headed onto furniture clearing
• ...another to window shining
• ...and another to stairwell cleaning,
• ...while another crew went to clean and clear the dance studio
• ...and two groups headed outside for weeding and litter-picking

There was plenty for us to do, but as usual, highly productive and industrious GoodGymers finished most tasks early, and so it was a big crew who headed outside to finish up with an almighty litter-pick.

Lots was accomplished and by the end of the task, a very grateful Deborah was saying her cheerio, expressing heartfelt thanks at all the runners had achieved, explaining that the furniture that needed moving from one storey of the building to another was a job that had needed doing for ages.

Indeed we were pleased with what we accomplished, not least because as we waited in the cafe for the final furniture-removal runners to finish, we focused on some balance moves. Nothing like a bit of active recovery.

And so to Weavers Fields, for our fitness session of the week. I had promised the runners that The Weavers Workout would be a total body workout, and so it was. Scorpion push-ups were blitzed along with MMA sprawls; prisoner lunges beautifully performed, as were the cycling crunches. The runners were on fire. And before we knew it it was 8.25pm and time for us to head back to base.

Another glorious GoodGym evening. Well done everyone and thank you.

Big Monday shout-outs

• Thanks to Liz and Dave for backmarking.
• Thanks to Dave for topping up our pics.
• Thank you to Dharmesh for amazing tech know-how and helping the report picture process (you offered game-changing advice - thank you)
• Welcome to Rohan and Emma, our first time runners. We loved having you join us - thank you for tonight's vast contributions, and please come again soon.

What's coming up...

• This Thursday there's only one place to be - yep, it's the GoodGym social in town, so take the night off, come and join us here
• Next week, we're back for another glorious gardening task at beautiful Meath Gardens, so do come and join in next week's fun with us here.

Until then, have a wonderful week, everyone, and hope to see you reeeeally soon.

Rain, rain, are you gonna go away?

…No? Well we don’t care because we’re GoodGymers and we run and task whatever the weather.

Yes, a good sized group of 26 runners gathered together for tonight’s two-task effort…

Two tasks: two dedicated, resourceful teams

Task force members Bryon and Lieke had come to the rescue to head up a smaller operation, a new task brilliantly organised at late notice by our regular runner Nikki, helping to prepare and pretty a green space in advance of a new community fun day.

5 runners headed up towards Whitechapel to help offer a makeover to a little green space next to neighbouring Brady Arts & Community Centre, as local teams help to create a Dream Garden ahead of a Community Fun Day.

Meanwhile, myself and the remaining runners headed to beautiful Meath Gardens, where Joanna and Jane met us with the usual warmest of welcomes, and some beautifully planned tasks. We were staking shrubs, and litter picking, and moving mulch in a huge two-team operation.

The runners were dispatched to all four corners of the park working at usual lightning speed (no actual lightning, tho, as the weather had significantly improved, much to our relief).

Mulch was moved, litter picked, shrubs staked…step counts boosted. Yep, it was a calorie-burning, bone-boosting session too.

And before 8, the team from Brady Arts Centre had arrived, and, I’m guessing you’re gonna know their answer to this question I put to them: “Now, would you like to chill for a minute before we start the fitness, or do you want to join the litter-pickers?” And so we had a big crew finishing the litter-picking with not one un-used bin liner left by the end of the evening.

Hopscotch and single leg deadlift-time

And so we said our goodbyes and headed to the centre of the park for tonight’s balance and agility workout session.

This was a combination of agility drills and some balance moves, all doubling up to work lower body in preparation for the Autumn race season, and general summer mileage.

The runners were great. They blitzed all the moves, with seriousness and dedication, and this shows in their improved balance: a reverse-lunge-to-single-leg-deadlift following multiple hopscotch laps is no mean feat. Unless you’re a Tower Hamlets GoodGymer who’s consistently worked on their balance, in which case it’s a walk in the park. Literally.

And then we were stretching, tonight tackling in particular our tight ITBs and TFLs, to hopefully show hips and knees some TLC for the week.

Great big glorious Monday shout-outs

A massive warm GG welcome to our first time runners,Lucy and Hannah. You did so much! You worked so hard! And you were so much fun. Thank you both for your vast contributions and we hope very much to see you again soon.

Thanks from us all to Nikki for setting up and organising a brilliant new task, and for putting us in touch with some wonderful community partners over the months. And thank you to task force members Bryon and Lieke who came forward last week to lead this task and enable it to happen.

A big shout-out to tonight’s back markers Charlotte and Becky who kept us all together at great distance tonight, as we headed out at a speedy pace.

And a big shout out too to Chris who jumped in and led a faster group back to the hotel after our run.

We’re able to offer multiple running speeds, so we really can cater to all running abilities, thanks to wonderful runners like those mentioned above.

And thanks to Chi and Nikki for great pics, and, to finish today, a huge shout out and appreciative pat on the back to Si, who recently reached 50 good deeds, in a pretty short space of time and who contributes a lot to the Tower Hamlets group.

Right, nearly there… But before we head off, two things that must go on your radar…

• Next week, 19th August, on Monday’s run we’re a two-task crew again, heading to a wonderful new task at participatory arts and education charity Stitches in Time, while a second team will be returning to Hollybush to help Margaret and Michael with some more SOS summer gardening tasks. Come and join in the fun, we’d really love to see you!

• And on Sunday August 25th, new Camden trainer Simon is leading a brilliant GoodGym run, a tour of the Docklands, with a pace that’s do-able for pretty much every runner, with a choice of distance. So, if you’re planning on some Bank Holiday mileage and fancy a bit of company, this one’s for you.

Have a great week, everyone, and hope to see you soon.

The more the merrier

What a busy Monday evening it was from the off. The sign-ups kept rising: I was keeping our task owner Nancy posted with numbers, as she has to plan carefully and ensure she has sufficient staff and those numbers just, well, kept on rising (“Yes, I expected it to be a small August group too, but, hey, what can I say…They love a litter-pick.”).

And so we gathered for hello’s and welcome’s at our usual lovely base. Thanks to our fabulous Task Force as always who are continually on hand to save the day: Kat saved the day from the off this evening, opening up the hotel room and offering a warm welcome to tonight’s first runners as I was delayed en route. Thank you.

It was such a treat to have Nicola, from new area Crewe, join us tonight too! Friendly, welcoming and managing the sign-in sheet like a pro, it was a real treat to have her visiting us here in TH.

We were also joined by first time runners Isabelle, Ivy Johnny and Lianne, who wasted no time in getting stuck in with everything from pre-run chatter to serious litter-picking and newspaper-delivery this evening.

No more tedious traffic lights

We’d decided to try a new route this evening, to cut down on traffic light delay, so Kat and Dave expertly headed up the run (route and pace) while I back-marked in full Dragon-PT mode, hustling everyone along Whitechapel streets as quickly as they could manage.

Three-task team

We arrived promptly at the Royal London reception area where our wonderful task owners Nancy, Bernadette and Richard were ready and waiting, tasks prepared.

One team headed to the wards to deliver newspapers; another to the front of the hospital to prune roses and collect a huge amount of litter, while a third, big team headed out back to the John Harrison Garden to complete another massive litter haul, filling bags and bags, picking up everything from discarded vodka bottles to unwanted umbrellas and…phone cases.

The time flew and just as nearly every last cigarette butt was removed, it was time to pack up, empty bags, return brooms, and make our way back to join our fellow runners to compare notes and say our cheerios.

Catch me if you can

We then raced back to base playing our usual greyhound-and-hare game: me leading the hares and Kat leading the greyhounds tonight. I just want to congratulate everyone on this part of the evening too: all runners pushed themselves speeding back to base in their own best times, and then cheering all the incoming runners in, right until the end. Massive effort, on all fronts, so well done.

What a marvellous night’s work. Well done to each and every one of you.

Check OUT what we have coming up…

Now I can’t wait to do it again next week. Talking of which, let me tell you what we’re up to: we’re heading back to our beloved Meath Gardens to join Tunde and the team for more watering, weeding and planting, and they’re really looking forward to seeing you, so sign up here.

Now, here’s some really good news: if you don’t fancy waiting that long for some more GoodGym fun and frolics the amazing news is, you don’t have to.

Check out what else we’ve got coming up this week:

• On Thursday our Lieke is leading the most terrific Community Mission at the very civilised time of 5.30pm for St Margaret’s House, a wonderful community arts centre located right by Bethnal Green tube, to help set up the garden with candles, blankets and furniture for their spectacular evening storytelling event! This’ll be a lovely, short, sociable Community Mission to join if you fancy it.

• …Which ties in very nicely with the next GoodGym Social, also this Thursday, so when you finish that task, you simply hop on the nearby Central Line, hotfoot it over to the Waterloo & City Line (yes, I’ve Google-mapped it for you) and in 29 minutes, you’ll be joining fellow GoodGymers at theMulberry Pub on the Southbank. What a way to celebrate our lovely summer.

• And last up for this week, we’re lucky enough to have Liv heading up the Pride 10K set-up and bag-drop this Saturday in Victoria Park. There are already a few signed up, so do join them and get your weekend off to a splendid sociable start by signing up here.

Phew! Well, that’s finally it from me for this week. Have an absolutely wonderful week everyone, and really hope to see you SOON!