22 hardcore Hackney GoodGymers braved the threat of rain to run 6k to Hackney Elderly Caribbean Organisation and masterfully finish off a magical painting job with epic roller action.

On a drizzly evening in H-Town the weather fairy proved to be kind and held the rain away for us to get our roll on with some quality painting and mini circuit action. Great to see some super energetic new faces to Hackney GoodGym working hard and being helped along with our experienced core crew! A mini pulse raiser took us to London Fields for our warm up of duck walking and fire avoiding tip toe bouncing. Some skipping and leg swings got us nice and mobilised the action ahead. Setting off at a good lick weaving our way through the back streets of Hackney and out towards Stoke Newington in the close atmosphere we all certainly worked up a serious sweat!! The nearly 3k run zipped by in no time and great to see some big running fitness strides being made by many of the regular runners!! Running efficiency and speed are really improving with your consistent hard work well done!! 👏🏼👏🏻👏🏾👏🏿

With a pretty big group we split into groups to rotate through some physical preparation outside with some body resistance exercises and some super speedy painting. With 5 minutes rotations the pace was kept high both paining, taping up and beautifully executed exercises. We will flew through the task and had the second coat done in no time. To celebrate such a top task performance we finished off with a spectacular Static Squat Off where in a long line held a strong squat position for over 2 minutes!! Great way to Feel the burn!!.

We said our goodbyes and headed off for the race back to base. The Sexy group starting with a 3 minute cushion before being chased down by the Speedy crew great to see some of the Sexy group really pushing on in the last kilometre to really finish off the run strong!

A few static stretches and a mild panic to get back into the Bakehouse saw us end a very successful evening!

Be great to have you along next week as we work our magic at the Rio Olympic festival in Dalston please sign up here.

If you fancy some more running fun join me for a Running Fitness session on Thursday in Islington sign up here

If you are around on Thursday evening and fancy going along to the GoodGym monthly drinks all the info is here.

Big Good Luck shoutout to everyone racing this weekend in the ParkRun tour and in Regents Park 10k!!

Last but not least a huge congratulations to Cecilia on completing her 50th Good Deed!! 🎉🎈🎊🏆🏆🎉

Smooth strength

Joel

17 very sweaty GoodGymers ran 5k to help two Eco Active community gardens by shovelling, raking and sieving our way to glory.

On a tropical night in H Town there was a huge sense of relief that the furious Thunderstorms of the afternoon had subsided. The extra calories being burnt in the almost tropical conditions only added to the awesome workout!

We set off to explore some new Hackney back streets are we weaved our way to the eastern tip of Hackney. We stopped for a dynamic warm up and lower body conditioning after a little pulse raiser. Got everyone walking like ducks on our tip toes before dancing our way through a few rounds of the leg sapping box lunges. Keeping a steady pace we worked our way the just over 2.5k to the Kingsmead estate.

We were met by the guys from Eco Active where we fully tooled up and got to work! 4 tonnes of shingle was no match for the Team Hackney energy! In 20 minutes of incredible shovelling, raking and bag flipping action we had dominated the first task by levelling the ground of the garden so that people with mobility issues can now move freely around the space.

Not content with that the Team raced over to Patty's garden to hear some more amazing stories and sieve away all the stones from the main flower bed, while April got to work removing a very mean looking plant and the Root squad made another effort to free some of the deepest most clingy roots in all of Hackney.

Soon our time was up, aided by some amazing refreshments from Eco Active we ran off into the warm summers night. With the Sexy crew gaining a significant lead as the Speedies carried back the tools the race back to base was on! A top shift was put in by all on the slightly uphill return both groups arrived back almost together!!

A few static stretches and the obligatory ballet turn saw is finish off a very warm, successful and satisfying evenings action!

A lot of talk about races this week if anyone is after a little advise on good races just let me know!

Next week we are off to Bootstrap to get our paint on!! Be great to have you along for a fun task, please sign up here. As a special treat we will be heading out for our monthly social to get a drink and a bite or two to eat. Always fun and be awesome to have you along!!

Thursday sees the start of GoodGym London Running Fitness session in Lincon's inn field near Holborn. Be great if you would like to join me for some fitness fun! Sign up here.

Smooth striding

Joel