A team of 20 tough runners braved another melting Monday to head into Tower Hamlets and really get up a sweat.

Team 1: What Lies Be MEATH

16 of us headed to Meath Gardens where we returned to help Tunde, Joanna and Julia of Friends of Meath Gardens water the new young trees, which need a bit of TLC in this warm weather. There’s currently no water-point in the park itself, which means the water has to come from the canal, an arduous process involving trolleys, buckets and a lot of manpower.

Dave headed up the canalside operation, loading vats and buckets of water onto the trolleys, as well as into smaller vessels for the runners to carry back to the trees. Running and walking mileage soon added up - new trees are dotted all around the sizeable park - but we got it done. Every tree received the much-needed two buckets of water. Phew.

Team II: Strim and vigour

Meanwhile, Becky headed up the Cranbrook team, who had been requested as a last minute SOS to head to the estate’s Community Garden for some urgent lawn-mowing and strimming. After a speedy run to the task, well navigated and led by Steve, the team arrived at Cranbrook to be introduced to two strimmers and the task for the evening: weeding the planters, ahead of a garden inspection on Wednesday.

A new (thankless) task soon reared its head, however: an unruly extension cable, knotted in a manner even the best Boy Scouts would have been in awe of, hindered the team’s speedy start. Steve took on the tangle, while the remaining runners donned gardening gloves and declared war on the proliferation of dandelions. Eventually the strimmers buzzed into life, with the team tackling the majority of the mowing, making a respectably-sized addition to the Cranbrook compost heap.

30 degree time trial

After our obligatory end-of-session S&C exercises in Meath Gardens, we headed back to base with a time trial (to celebrate this new, nationwide 1K GG challenge, inspired by the GG Olympics - all the details are here). Our time trial was led by Yesh (PBs are easy to achieve when your goal is simply to keep Yesh in sight…).

Hot, satisfied and ready to hit the beer, we exited our lovely air-conditioned room and made our way to Mother Kelly’s where Bryon greeted us with a Stanley Knife (in the best possible way) to begin crafting Leanne’s beautifully designed Tower Hamlets Olympic Torch. Thank you to Beckys J and G, for all the planning, and to Sarah and Becky J and Becky G for supplies, and to Bryon, Dave, Becky and Becky G for building. We look forward to the end result.

Hello’s, welcome’s – and thank you’s

A very big GG welcome to Hannah, Yas, Chrisanna, Anna and Bea, who joined us for their first TH run. It was great to have you on board - thanks for all your hard, hard work last night and please come back soon.

Lovely to see Dave and Nina (by no means new to GG but new to me) and please come back to TH soon!

Thank you to our utterly fabulous Task Force members: Leanne for her beautiful torch design; Bryon for supporting the GG Olympics and coming well-armed to the pub; Becky G for her Olympic input and for receiving the torch at gone 10pm; Becky J for all her GG Olympic planning, leading up the Cranbrook team, for some great pics and her report-contribution; Sarah for her pristine plant pots and for being such a great New Runner Rep; Dave for heading up the canal team and a great pun; Alys for a wicked pun (and sorry for being such a slow-coach); Si for getting on board the Olympic-craft spirit, Mother Kelly’s suggestion and for encouraging us to get down the pub together a bit more.

Next week, we’re heading back to the Royal London to meet Nancy and the team for more hospital fun, so do join us if you can. Details and sign up are here.

And, if you fancy joining us at the GoodGym Olympics on Saturday, either sign up here, or drop me an email (laura@goodgym.org) if you fancy meeting and travelling there together. There are a few of us going: some of us racing, some are cake-making; some are simply sandwich-eating and beer-supping - so there’s something for everyone.

I can’t WAIT to do it all again then - have a great week in the meantime.

No spectator sports for us tonight

It was a respectable group of 18 who shunned the TV for some tyre-painting and mulch-moving on a beautifully balmy June evening. And thank goodness as a two-task evening requires many pairs of able hands. We left an air-conditioned hotel room, complete with England game on the screen, for a brief warm up before heading our separate ways...

A two-task evening

Leanne led the Hollybush crew over to Margaret at Hollybush Gardens, where a big pile of mulch and multiple wheelbarrows awaited. It was a workout heavy on the lower body, lats and obliques as the team shovelled mulch and even formed a wheelbarrow relay to get the task done in double-time.

Meanwhile, over at Weavers, the bulk of the team were moving, stacking and painting tyres to form a fabulous-looking tyre ‘fence’ on the go-kart track. Meanwhile Heidi planted new pot plants in a brightly coloured wheelbarrow – her finished work was quite the jolly affair. Our very grateful task owner Alex supplied much appreciated post-task snacks and water – perfect fuel for the subsequent Metaburn workout that the team went onto complete in Weavers Fields.

Monday’s Metaburn

The team went on to work even harder at tonight’s workout – a top-to-toe affair that covered plyometric squats, lateral lunges, plank jacks, single-leg side planks and the ferocious, old-skool Pilates Leg Pull Back. Well done everyone for bashing out lots of beautifully executed reps on already weary limbs.

Back to base – on time

And so we headed back to base on time (for once… You heard it here first) where the team patiently went through their post-run stretches before heading inside to our room to catch the last few minutes of the game.

Thank you’s, welcome’s (and apologies…)

Thank you to you all for a really busy, industrious evening. Massive thank you’s tonight to task force memberLeanne for task pre-planning, beautiful pics and report contribution; leading the team to Hollybush, and back-marking. Thank you to Becky for backmarking and for being her usual, brilliant addition to the task force team, arriving early and welcoming new runners AND for this week’s lovely pun. Thank you to Dave for navigating and leading the run to Weavers with me, and to task force member Bryon for co-navigating and leading the return run.

And massive apology to Keri who followed (my) incorrect Hollybush location info and rather than give up, made her way to Weavers instead –thank you for your patience and perseverance.

A massive GG welcome to Rajand Sam who joined us tonight for their first run. It was great to have you on board – thanks for all the hard work and for your phenomenal fitness efforts in our post-task workout. I really hope you join us again soon.

And so to next week...

Talking of which, next week we’re back to Meath Gardens, for more canal-action, helping to get those young trees off to a great start for the summer, and we’ll be popping to Mother Kelly’s for a quick drink after too. Don’t miss out – sign up here. I can’t WAIT to do it all again then.

Until then, have a great week.