We gathered at the Solutions Gym and after we took the group photo we headed towards the Peppermint center . Amatare and Karim kindly run at the front while I was running in between the 2 groups making sure no one is left behind.

When we arrived at the Peppermint Center we waited for the task organizer to come and brief us about the tasks we will do. After we waited for 10-15 min and the lady organizing the task still not coming and just before the runners start humming " Should I Stay or Should I Go" we took the matter in our hands and decided to weed the peppermint allotments

Luckily a few minutes after that the caretaker of the community center came to drop off some tools. My negotiating skills came in handy here as I managed to persuade him to provide us with at least a few refuse bags to put the weeds in.

After we filled the bags we headed back to our starting point.

At the Solutions Gym we did our stretching session. Every runner showed his/her favourite stretch and told us one interesting fact about him/her. I am sure that after that stretching session we not only have nicely stretched muscles but we know more about each other.

I would like to thank for the support from all the lovely runners that came tonight and hope to see you next Tuesday:)

Tonight 15 runners ran around 3 km to paint, water and socialise!

After a rainy respite at the weekend it was back to some sunny weather and a beautiful evening. 14 runners turned up at Solutions Gym tonight (and Matthew met us in the park). Tonight was my last run as Croydon Trainer and Conroy came along again to meet more of the lovely runners he will be leading from August onwards. I will be coming along to the runs though but you won’t be subjected to my pleas for puns and have to put up with some of the dreadful ones I’ve resorted to in desperation. We also welcomed two new runners tonight, Amanda and Linsday - hope you both enjoyed yourselves and see you back again soon.

Dom led the warm-up and the speedier runners up to Park Hill Rec while I backmarked and chatted at a slightly more relaxed pace. Once we got to the walled garden Josi and Catherine explained the tasks to be done. 10 runners opted for painting the mural in the shelter and the rest headed into the walled garden to water the Peace Garden, weed and root out the bindweed and Conroy climbed a tree to hang an ornament! I did have a fantastic fitness session in mind which involved hills and burpees but oddly enough the lure of painting and tea and biscuits meant we didn’t have enough time!

With it being the last Tuesday of the month it was of course our monthly social so we headed down to Matthews Yard for beer and burgers – although not everybody got a burger sadly as they closed the kitchen before we all ordered. Next time we will phone our orders before we head off. It was lovely to see Heather, Chris and Amatare at the social too and look forward to running with them again soon.

It's been a joy to be the GoodGym Trainer since it started in Croydon and I've met some wonderful runners, volunteers and other amazing people who are passionate about helping make their community a better place for us all and I'm looking forward to continuing running with you all and supporting Conroy in his new role.

South Norwood Parkrun are also looking for as many GoodGym volunteers as possible on Saturday 11th of August to help Julie, the Run Director, and Andy, her husband of 1 day, and the core team celebrate their wedding and 200th and 250th parkruns that morning. So if you can please sign up to their volunteer roster and help Julie and Andy celebrate in style.

Next week’s run will be off to a scout hut in south Croydon so better get practicing your dib dib dibbing and dob dob dobbing!

We ran around 5km to water, restore a path and admire our previous good work!

A beautiful evening with a lovely cool breeze made for a less hot and sweaty run than we’ve been having recently. We headed off to Addiscombe Railway Park’s community garden where we met Richard and Lauren to find out our jobs for the evening. The recent lack of rain has really affected some of the young trees in the orchard and also the bushes and lavenders further down the park. So our first tasks was to load up a trolley and a wheelbarrow with all sorts of water containers and head off to the far end of the park on our rescue mission. For some of the poor plants it was probably too late but hopefully we’ve managed to help rescue most of the others. We headed back to the garden and split into two groups – one continued with the watering task, this time in the orchard area, and the other loaded up with stones to help repair a path.

With both jobs well done we had time to admire “our pond” and all the tadpoles and froglets enjoying their home before we had a quick fun fitness session. An old favourite, Heads and Tails, although I’m not sure those who endured the burpees loved every minute of it. Andy performed well under pressure with his impressive press-up and the pressure he was under to complete “just another 10 then we can finish”

A comfortable run back to base followed by some stretches led by Ellie saw us finish a lovely evening and the we all headed home to reflect on a job well done.

Welcome to Marianne on her first run, hope you enjoyed yourself and see you again soon.

Finally…. Next week we are off to St Augustine’s Church in south Croydon to help in their garden. Sounds like they’ve got a few great jobs lined up for us.

Photos not wanting to upload so I'll get them up ASAP

This week 12 GoodGym-ers ran 4km to shift sawdust and sweep leaves in a local park.

We started with intros at the Phoenix as always. I mentioned that there are 10 coaches in waiting for runners - so if you're interested in visiting one of those people, please do complete your coach runner training so you can get the ball rolling!

Shout out to our two new Task Forcers: Nicola and Paul – Give 'em a cheer!

Damian lead us to the Northway Gardens while Graham was our trusty back-marker.

Brian was waiting for us with two cars full of tools and leaves, ready for shifting. We split into teams to grab all the things and head through the park to our drop off point. Luckily, there were many of us with lights, as the gardens had no lights. We are now running in full-blown darkness, so I really recommend getting yourself a head torch. My fancy hand light was from Morrisons - £7. My head torch from Poundland no longer stays on my head – but still makes light and fits in my palm.

We shifted many wheelbarrows full of sawdust from the chopped down trees from around their stumps so the people could come back and finish the job. We also swept many leaves into buckets for compost.

We'll be back on 7 November to do the next bit. Be sure to sign up!

We then played Duck Tag and Squat Runs on the tennis courts, where we discovered Paul and Nicola are incredibly spry.

We soon ran home, with a little sprint finish UP the hill. Props to Graham and Jack for being so speedy!

Next week we've had a change of plan - We'll be running to the WDP not Community Focus. 3km each way.

Ten tremendous GoodGymmers ran 6 kilometers to deliver flyers for the Phoenix Cinema.

(that pun? Yeah, I went there https://open.spotify.com/track/4IYKjN1DrYzxKXt0umJqsG)

For world mental health day, GoodGym has partnered with Thrive LDN, a new charity that is promoting health and well being for Londoners. Being GoodGym, we know all about getting fit and doing good. Here in Barnet, we don't normally need any encouragement for a good chat, but we decided that we'd be extra chatty tonight - it's good to talk guys - while doing lots of running and delivering our flyers.

Meeting at the Phoenix, we were joined by Fati and Ina, both joining us for their first ever GoodGym run. Go give them a cheer!

Every two months or so we deliver flyers for the Phoenix (themselves a charity doing brilliant things in the local area) so tonight we gathered up bundles of leaflets for the cinema's October - November season. Graham and I stuffed our bags full, while everyone else gamely took bundles in their hands.

After a quick warm up, we set off. As we were flyering the local area, we decided to do a 2k loop to get those legs moving. Jack and Graham were joining us from their exploits at the Oxford Half Marathon (it looked so great, give them a cheer) while Jacqui had run a casual 10k on Sunday in the Adidas City Run, after I saw her in the pub on Saturday night: love it.

Once we reached our targeted roads, we split into teams. Paul took the right side of the road with his team, while Nicola led on the left. (Nicola and Paul are our two new recruits for the Barnet task force: welcome!)

Guys, we posted so many leaflets.

Using the tried and tested relay method, we quickly covered 4 big residential roads and delivered all of the leaflets, with hills and some absolutely giant driveways not putting anyone off.

From there, we headed back to base, but not before a couple of running drills. Firstly, we used the end of Southern Road, closed to the traffic, to run in pairs at a nice fast pace to pick up our heels a bit. After that, we attacked Indigo Walk, a tricky alleyway that seems to go on forever, getting steeper as you go. The team did brilliantly and we celebrated with an easy run to base from there.

After a stretch and some high fives, we ate biscuits. Tradition.

This week's Barnet Biscuit was Jammy Dodgers.

See you soon!!

D

What a wonderful evening

It started out with a task briefing in the fitness centre. This night we’d be delivering flyers for Wand UK again. Wand is a fantastic charity that provides support for vulnerable and isolated women in the communities. Their services include mental health and wellbeing support, computer and English classes, advice with domestic abuse and parenting. They have also put on an extra project called ‘Holding Hands’ to help those affected by the Grenfell disaster - providing free emotional welling and holistic support, tai chi & yoga classes and massages.

Meet me in Norland Park

After a warm-up we set off together toward Norland Open Space. There, the group was split into two (gender balanced ;) teams. Then armed with maps and new highlighters, they set off to deliver the flyers in different areas - one lead by Polly and the other by Jason.

They navigated successfully and did a speedy job, meaning we could all meet back at the park at 8 for a core workout.

Round the tree Goosey

Our fitness session was a was like a game duck duck goose with a detour. The group did a series of core exercises whilst one member race out to a tree across the park and back. This made the timing different for each exercise. Star jumps, burpees, legs raises and more.

Once everyone had a run out to the tree we wrapped up and headed back home whilst discussing the best local park runs.

Congrats to Esther for making it along to her first Goodgym run. Give her a Cheer!

Next week is our 1st birthday! Join us for celebrations.