We had a monster Monday GoodGym group run last night, with the longest run yet and a great big task!

Here comes the news...

Next week we have the first of our regular Wandsworth socials immediately after the group run. Sign up here for all the details.

Well done to Helen who ran in the cross country league at the weekend, and to Beth and Chris who both smashed the Worthing half marathon - plus all you parkrunnners last weekend. Stars, each and every one of you!

Scout and about in Wandsworth

Thanks to everybody for turning up on time and ready to get out the door before 7pm last night - we had the challenge of a long run ahead of us so it was great to get on the road quick smart!

So after a brief warm up, and in honour of impending Valentine's Day, our weekly question was all about the people and things we loved. Answers ranged from garlic bread to our family, and everything in between...

We had a 5.5km run to get to our task last night, which was at a local Sea Scout's HQ. The 4th Streatham Sea Scouts was founded in 1913 and provides thousands of local young people, regardless of faith or culture, with an opportunity to enjoy adventures which they might not otherwise benefit from, and aims to provide a framework to help its members to take a constructive place in society through mental, physical and spiritual development. The group operates out of a boat house in Putney right on the river - but this HQ needed a bit of love so organiser Louise got in touch to see if we could lend a hand with a lick of paint.

After a twisty route down to the river, and a very dark jaunt through the park, we finished off the run with a beautiful stretch along the embankment. There we found Louise and the other volunteers waiting for us, super organised with paint brushes, rollers and buckets and buckets of paint.

We quickly nabbed various sections of the wall and got stuck into the job at hand, either painting, cleaning or sanding down various sections. After half an hour of hard work, the place was a completely different colour - check out the photos for the before and after shots!

There is still half the HQ to do, so we will be back either to finish the job as a community mission or a group run - watch this space.

After a jog back down the road, there was the option of jumping on public transport to get back to the BAC or taking the challenge of the full 11k back. Well done to everybody, whatever you chose to do, for a very fun, paint and running-filled Monday evening!

Next week we have a new challenge - painting and measuring a daily mile track (plus lots of other jobs) at a local school - (sign up here) [https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/run-with-purpose] for all the details. Have a lovely week, GoodGym!

Last night 39 runners turned Blue Monday GoodGym Red, running 4k to dig over an outdoor learning space at a local school, to take on a fitness session and to beat the January blues!

Good News

A huge welcome to Hugh, Roisin, Caitlin and Hazel who all came for their first group run tonight - give them a cheer when you see them!

GoodGym has some £10 community entry places for the Big Half happening in London on Sunday 10th March. If you're interested please email bighalf@goodgym.org. Deadline for applications is Wednesday 30th January. Names will be drawn at random from those who want a place. It's a great race, and very well organised, so if you're after a goos half marathon, whether it be your first or if you're chasing that PB, then why not give it a go.

We're getting closer and closer to that January challenge target! We've done a massive 168 good deeds out of a target of 220, and have 1192 kilometres under our belt out of a target of 3000km. There's still a little way to go, but well done for being part of the massive wave of good happening across the country at the moment!

A big round of applause went to Sarah who reached that magic milestone - 100 good deeds. That's a huge amount of digging, cleaning, planting, sorting, and general good-doing and who knows how many planks! Brilliant.

We dug our task last night

After all that good news we were ready to head outside for our warm up, and kicked off our third run of 2019 with some high knees, heel flicks, fast feet and, given that it was rubbish old Blue Monday, a discussion about what makes us feel happy. Food, hugs, rest, burritos, our friends, wine, books and of course GoodGym were all sources of joy for us!

Our job last night was at Chirstchurch school, a local primary school which has an enormous project they are undertaking. So after a speedy 1.5 km run down the hill stopping only to do some toe taps to keep our heart rates and body temperatures up, we arrived to find Barry the site manager with a whole load of spades and a big job for us.

The learning space is going to be for all the kids and visitors, and will feature hives, composting, teaching areas and lots of other fun elements, but the area first needs to be prepped for such a large endeavour. They've raised the money for this incredible project themselves, but need a hand from volunteers, and GoodGym is always happy to help out! So after putting on gloves and grabbing tools, we got stuck in digging over the soil, picking out stones for repurposing elsewhere and getting rid of weeds. After 40 minutes of work we called it a night - but we'll be back soon to help with the next stage!

We nipped across the road for our fitness session, which started with a game of clusters, and then moved on to a more intense workout which featured repeated inchworms, vertical jumps, shuffles, plank knee taps and more. Conditioning is important to protect against injury, increase strength and improve overall fitness, so well done on working hard last night.

All that was left was a quick run home and that last hill, before stretches and lots and lots of cake. Nice work everyone! Next week we have a great new (indoor!) task and a choice of two runs. What are you waiting for, sign up here!.

We also have the first of our monthly socials coming up soon - check out the details here and sign up!

We had a huge task ahead of last night - four tonnes of topsoil to shift - but that didn't put off the 32 intrepid GoodGymers that turned up ready to add purpose to their run!

News!

A massive welcome to Matt, Sam, Izzy and Joanne who all joined us for their first run last night - give them a cheer!

There is a community mission going on for Evolve Housing, a housing and support charity, this Friday. This is one you don't have to be DBS checked for - it's on at Roehampton Vale's Asda - keep an eye out on the GoodGym website's mission listings for the sign up page!

Helen, John and Emily are putting on a fundraising Christmas lights run on the 11th and 19th December, check out their page here to sign up for what will be a Christmas cracker of a run!

An absolutely huge well done to James who reached a colossal milestone lastnight - his 60th month group run streak! That is five years of GoodGym. James, we salute you and all the good you do!

Festive Fitness

Our task last night was for a community organisation called Bandstand Beds, a volunteer group which runs a community garden in the middle of Clapham Common, aiming to provide an area for the local community to discover the joys and benefits of growing and cooking their own food. They have started a wildflower project,which involves a lot of topsoil - four tonnes to be precise. They needed some serious help with such a big job, and so asked us to come and give them a hand.

So, after heading outside to warm up, we did a quick head count and discussed what our fav thing about the festive season is. We're all about the food and drink, it seems, as mulled wine, chocolate and all the food topped the list, along with Christmas movies, putting up the tree and parties (of course)!

We were meeting Adrian and David from Bandstand Bed by the community garden on the common, so after a brisk run and a - ahem - small detour, we found them with a four enormous bags of soil, wheelbarrows and spades. Our job was to spread the soil ready for planting.

Four tonnes is an absolutely huge amount of soil, but it is no match for the sheer grit of GoodGym, and it took under half an hour to clear the lot. Amazing effort GG! If that wasn't enough, it left us loads of time to do a grueling fitness session, which started with getting our heart rates up with a game of clusters. We then moved on to a really tough pyramid interval session which focussed on our speed, change of pace, and endurance. To finish the session off, we did our weekly plank - this time starting with 30 seconds on each side.

After all that, we took a steady run back to base to finish off with stretches. That really was an epic job, team, well done for putting in so much effort!

Next week we have not one, but two, tasks for you to choose from. Check out what's on offer here and go for your fave on the day!

It takes extra special effort to lace up your trainers and get out the door when it's freezing and raining, so well done for making out tonight lovely Wandsworth gang!

There was a huge amount to celebrate tonight, but first let's a give a massive to cheer to our first time group runners:

Nick

Emma

and Anwen - who is the new trainer for Oxford.

Give them all a big welcome!

There was so much good stuff happening this weekend - a huge well done to everybody that took part in a very successful parkrun takeover on Saturday - it couldn't have happened without you. Yesterday was the Fulham 10k where so many GoodGymers put in great performances, cheered on by an amazing squad of supporters. Well done especially to Sian and Morag who both got brillient PBs!

It was also a big congratulations to Jessie for reaching that magic milestone - 100 good deeds!

Our job tonight was at Doddington & Rollo Rooftop Garden - a formally disused carpark roof which has been transformed into a beautiful community garden for local people to grow their fruit and veg. They rely on volunteers to keep the garden going, so when they got a giant 75 litre bag of compost delivered to the street below the garden, they knew who to call! Cue an increasingly damp GoodGym team turning up tonight, primed and ready to shift that soil.

Meeting Hadas, a regular volunteer, we grabbed tools from the shed, and headed downstairs to start the process of ferrying bags of soil up to the garden. If you've ever wondered how ong it takes 31 people to shift 75 litres of soil up two floors and across a garden - and of course who hasn't - then the answer is (drum roll) 20 minutes. Great work, team - a job that we got down so quickly would have taken the volunteers the whole day to do, so it was definitely an evening well spent.

The job was perfectly/terribly (delete as appropriate) timed, as just as we waved our goodbyes and started our fitness session, the heavens opened. So we took an almost unanimous decision to abandone of glute-based session and keep warm with a run back to the BAC. By the time we had stormed up the hill, there had been a short reprieve which we seized upon, furiously bashing out sumo squats, before conceding our defeat. Rain 1 - Wandsworth GG 0.

Not to worry, we'll have another crack at it next week when we'll be back to finish off planting bulbs at an estate in Battersea. Get your thermals ready, and let's get planting!

It's always brilliant to see so many lovely runners meeting up on a Monday ready to devote their evening to making Wandsworth a better place to live, and last night 37 excellent faces were eager to run 5k and lend a hand at two community spaces. And please give a special cheer to Claire and to Alice who came along for their first GoodGym experience last night - welcome to the gang!

A big well done to James and to Hanna who took on the Hampstead Heath Duathlon on Sunday, swimming all the ponds and pool, and running over 5k between each swim. Amazing stuff!

If you want to hear more of the incredible good deeds racing that the GoodGym crew across all areas has been up to in the last month, then come along to the social on Thursday. This month it is going to be in Hammersmith at the Rutland Arms pub. Everybody welcome!

Fitness First

We turned our session on its head last night - our task owner couldn't make it to meet us until later, so it was fitness first, doing good second as a one off. So after a warm up where we found out all the nice things that had happened to us over the weekend - booking wedding venues, dancing, lots of great meals, racing and puppies, puppies puppies - we set off for Battersea Park. A short run later, we kicked off the session with a couple of technical points. Important things to remember are:

Run as though you are falling forward slightly and by bringing your legs through quickly stops that

Your legs should mimic the movement of a cyclist

Your arms drive your cadence, not your legs

Next we moved on to a tough fitness session which saw us alternate between sprints and conditioning exercises such as planks, diamond press ups, sump squats and supermans. Is anybody feeling it today? ;)

Finishing up in the park we took a gentle run over to a local garden where we got stuck straight into the first task of shifting compost into raised beds, while the second group went over to the Venue - a community centre for local people that feeds the homeless and manages an amazing zero food wastage program. After half an hour cleaning windows, the kitchen and bathrooms, it was time to hit the hill on the way back to the BAC and to stretch it out.

Most of you will remember the huge fire that ravaged the grand hall of our beautiful meeting place, the BAC, in 2015. Well, the amazing news is that the Grand Hall is about to reopen and will be celebrating next Thursday. More details to come, but let's support and celebrate this wonderful place that is our home every week and allows us to go out and do our thing!

Next week we have a big run and a massive task. A local community association has asked us to come and help them plant 100 trees. It's a longer run - don't let that put you off because it's only half way in one go, and the good news is that there will be no fitness session! Sign up here to start your week off by making a huge difference in the local area.

Another Monday night in Wandsworth, another chance to meet up with some ace people, make a real difference in the community and to knock out a few planks.

And it was a extra special one because we celebrated the 50th good deed of one Ms Morag - that's a huge amount of doing good and commitment to others. Way to go!

Hannah, Karen, Zoe, Emily, Hannah and Charlotte all came for their first GoodGym run last night - people, give them a massive cheer!

Before our task tonight we popped outside to knock out a warm up which fired up our muscles and got us thinking about coordination and balance ahead of the run. We also did a quick poll to find out which object we simply could not live with out. It quickly became apparent that food and drink topped the list (with beer, wine, cheese and peanut butter the hot favs) and as well as our indispensable phone, Helen's hugs, and trainers, we had a very sweet moment from one corner of the group who decided they could not manage without eachother. Ahh!

Our job tonight was at Bramford Community Garden, which is managed by volunteers and especially Sha - a tireless lady who can often be found gardening into the night with the aid of a headtorch in order to make the garden a nice place for everybody to be. So, after a 2.5 km run down there we found her waiting for us with gloves and a list of jobs.

While a big group got stuck into picking up the many, many cigarette butts (non-biodegradable!) and scraps of plastic around the garden, a few people used troughs to fetch water from across the road for the desperate trees and plants. Other jobs included crushing cans for recycling - universally agreed to be a great stress reliever and perfect for a Monday!

After half an hour of hard work, we got stuck into our fitness session, which last night focussed on conditioning exercises for three main parts of our body - arms, legs and core. Many press ups, plié squats, planks and bridge lifts later we left the garden behind and made our way back to the BAC. Great work everybody!

Next week is a bank holiday, but we will still be running to a local rooftop garden. What better way to spend it?! Sign up here to do good and get fit on your day off [https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/lending-a-hand-at-rooftop-community-garden]!

OK, Wimbledon is over, the football is done and the hot weather continues - the rest of summer is all about running!

We had a minor set back yesterday with our task being cancelled thanks to the hot weather and a bit of a drought, so there was no splashing about washing mobility buses for us. But we had another lovely task lined up at the local Omnibus theatre, just over a mile away.

It was lovely to have some new runners join us for the first time. Let's give a massive Wandsworth welcome to Arabella and Laura who came on their very first group run last night.

We also did some cheering for those who ran the British 10k on Sunday, like new PB-holder Emily, and those who gave up their time to volunteer there like Madison and Matthew - way to go gang!

There was also some very exciting news that GoodGym is going to join Monty Don and his lovely dogs on the inimitable Gardeners' World. NO WAY. Way. Keep your diaries free on the 1st August to appear on this iconic program, represent GoodGym and have a jolly fun evening out. More details and timings coming soon.

After a warm up outside, we discussed where we would choose to be if we weren't at GoodGym. The themes of the night were Love Island, the beach, watching Gardeners' World and, predictably, the pub.

With that decided, it was off to our task for the night, which was at the Omnibus Theatre. This amazing place was saved from closure by local people, and now keeps its doors open as a charity thanks to donations and volunteers. It offers loads of programmes and workshops to local communities, and is a really valuable resource in Wandsworth.

Our jobs last night were varied - washing windows inside and out, sanding down and painting tables and benches, and giving the theatre a good old clean. Dividing up into teams, we got straight in and with half an hour of elbow grease, Seb, who manages the place, had a massive smile on his face and let us know what a difference the hard work had made.

Waving goodbye to Seb and the theatre, we headed off for a very dry and yellow Clapham Common where we smashed out a tough circuits session, with two options at each station. You guys really worked hard, choosing the tougher of each. Thanks to those who gave up their shoes to weigh down the flimsy pieces of paper!

With only just over half a mile to run back to our start location, we took it at a nice clip, and arrived back sweaty, happy and having worked hard! For more of the same next week, sign up here!

With blue skies as far as the eye could see and not one but two tasks ahead of us last night, GoodGym was hot and ready to trot!

We kicked off the night getting cosy in a very warm room at the BAC with a lot to celebrate.

We had some new faces along for their very first group run last night. A massive Wandsworth welcome to Em, Jilly, Lucy - lovely to have you join us!

We were also fresh from our silver medal position at the GoodGym Olympics the previous Saturday - a huge well done to everybody that came along, cheered and raced. Go team Wandsworth!

Don't forget there's an unmissable chance to socialise and hear all about the amazing things everybody has been doing and the monthly social next week. It's an extra special one as it's the first time that Wandsworth will have hosted, so let's get as many of us together to welcome the rest of GG as possible. It will be at 6:30 on the 12th July, venue TBC.

With two tasks ahead of us, we headed outside to do our warm up. And also to discuss our favourite cocktails and mocktails, because that's important too. The winner was far and away espresso martinis, but we also love mojitos, dark and stormys, margaritas and, um, beer.

We started off the run together, with our first stop at Battersea Park Library. We've all seen many of our local libraries being shut or having their opening hours reduced as they suffer from funding pressure, so we reckon it's important to help out these amazing community centres when we can. Our job last night, under the watchful eye of James the Librarian, was to tidy up and weed the area outside the main building. It may have been a library with only one storey (sorry) but there was plenty to be done, so we left half the group there and the rest of us ran over to The Venue, a community centre which hosts loads of local events and community projects, to help out there. The job here was to empty two rooms of stuff that needed chucking out, so we immediately got ourselves into our fav formation - human chain - and got cracking.

Half an hour later the two groups were reunited, but our job was not done. The van that was meant to be there to receive all the bits from the Venue didn't turn up, so we ended up carrying it round to Space Max, a charity which helps families living with overcrowding in their flats.

With such a busy night we didn't have time for a huge fitness session, so we stopped where we were and smashed out a quick EMOM (every minute, on the minute). The idea is we started with 5 reps of three different exercises, increasing it every minute until we were trying to fit in 10 of each within the time slot. Tough! Luckily we had the self-appointed Junior League of GoodGym there to challenge us, cheer us on, count down the timings and generally act as our support crew. Nice work.

There was just a hot and sticky run ahead of us, and one little chin scratcher of a hill, so off we went to finish off our session. Well done everybody, that was an awful lot of good done in a short amount of time. Next week it's our final visit to the Grub Club, a local community café, to finish up the decorating job there ready for their big opening. Sign up here, gang!.