19 Hackney GoodGymers ran a speedy 4.5k to the Wilton Estate community Garden to dig, cut, plant and water our way to a stunning running victory.

On a night of almost ideal running conditions we were lucky enough to welcome back a few regulars from holidays, 3 amazing GoodGym newbies and an array of GoodGym glitterati.

We started the evening after a pressurised head count and pulse raiser with a series of mobilising dynamic exercises to get our key running muscles and joints ready for action. Once the joints were fully WD40ed up we moved onto some running form drills mixed in with a range of important lower body strength exercises. With our form tight, our core engaged, strength amped up and our running efficiency off the charts we ran 1k to Wilton Estate through the Hackney backstreets.

Arriving we were met by the always amazing Debbie who tooled us up and divided a range of great tasks to help maintain the ever expanding Wilton Estate community garden. With groups cutting back tree suckers, watering entire gardens by watering can and a hose, lifting and repositioning huge wooden planters, filling them with compost, trimming the orchard and finally planting hundreds of bulbs.

The gardens were a buzz of activity with the GoodGym crew flying around get Good done well, completing all the tasks in 35 minutes of top draw action.

A quick tidy up and we were ready to head on our way, but not too far as we explored the Wilton nearly 500 raceway. Lap 1 we got our running legs back under is, Lap to we ran hard along the short sides, Lap 3 we worked hard for half a lap before collecting ourselves for a monumental full lap timed effort on a super speedy Lap 4. A top lung busting effort by everyone and hope that we can see some speed improvements when we go back the the Raceway later in the summer!

A short chilled floaty run back to base followed by a series of static stretches saw us finish off a top notch evening of running fun!

Next week we are off to Bootstrap to lift, shift and team manoeuvre some big barrels. Please sign up here.

As I said in the into be great to have you all along to Hackney Marshes ParkRun on 9th of July to test out our Saturday morning Speed! For all the info and to sign up click here.

Until next week

Smooth Sprinting

Joel

22 runners paint, dig and squash bugs for Lambeth, then run up some hills

It rained on Tuesday. A lot. Massive kudos to all those who made it down to the Lambeth run, where the rain stopped and the sun came out for a lovely evening session.

We celebrated all that was great about Race the Horse over the weekend, then split into two groups. Both had about a 2 mile round trip. One towards Loughborough Junction and one to Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses.

The Loughborough Junction lot did a solid job painting railings for Southwell Road Resident's Garden. Over at the greenhouses, we split into four teams. One turned over compost. Another wheelbarrowed woodchip across the site. Group 3 dug very thick clay mud out and the last group SQUASHED BUGS.

That's right, we killed greenfly in the name of community horticulture.

Taking advantage of Brockwell Park, we then ran a pyramid hill session. Nine 30 second runs up the hill at increasing speed, with number 5 being the big one, then slowing it back down again for the last 4.

How much do you hate me? Katie asked Leisha at the top of the hill. I LOVE YOU, said Leisha

That conversation is FACTUAL. People really do like running up and down hills. Who knew?

Then it was back to base as the last of the sun went down. Perfect.

For today’s Starter session we ran between 3 and 4km after helping restore the Brownies’ Millennial Garden in Shirley.

Today was a Starter session to give those who haven’t experienced a GoodGym task a taste of what GoodGym is all about and what we can achieve in a short space of time. We started at All Saints Church Hall in Bridle Road, Shirley where we met Brown Owl Christina and her husband Bert. She explained the background to the task and what we needed to do.

At the turn of the millennium some funding was given to create a couple of raised beds which were planted and maintained by the Brownies and there was also a commemorative wooden bench put in place so they could sit and admire the garden. However, over the years the grass and weeds took over the flower beds and the bench became worse for wear. Our task was to help restore the beds by weeding, mowing the grass and re-digging the four circles used for planting – Christina cunningly brought hula hoops to use as a template. The bench also had to be rejuvenated by sanding it down and adding a few coats of varnish. We were determined to finish the task to make sure the Brownies could get planting this Tuesday so we did stay a little longer but were kept well fuelled with juice and biscuits by Christina – thanks for that!

Once the job was done we headed off for a 30 minute run through the local streets before heading to Millers Pond where we did some work on leg strength and balance with lunges, squats, one-legged squats and hip flexor stretches. Thanks to Simon for demonstrating the lunges – not a wobble in sight!

We had one new member today so welcome to Jamie and also thanks to his brother Alex who helped him out. We were also joined by two regular GoodGymers – "Karate Kid" Simon who is the Islington Trainer and Beth who seems to have been to most of the London GoodGym runs. It was great to see Sam, Anna, Thandi and Neil give up their Saturday long-lies to join us again.

This Tuesday evening we will be litter picking in central Croydon while the Pearl Izumi Tour series (cycling) is happening in Croydon so we’ll get the best of all worlds; a run, some drills, a good deed and a chance to watch some super speedy cyclists in lycra. We will finish at our normal time of 8.30pm which will give you enough time to head back if you want to see the final laps and see the winning cyclists.