Fourteen keen runners returned to Kingston Mencap. Mencap is a local charity which supports adults with a learning disability and their families and carers. It is active in its support for initiatives to improve services for people with learning disabilities.

Before heading out to the task we were treated to another of Mark’s great warm-ups by the coronation stone in front of the Guildhall. Coordination was briefly tested and cores engaged with various exercises. We had such a great time with it all we ended up rolling around in the grass (because that is basically what was demonstrated for us to do right?). Oblique muscles were strengthened by pushing arms against a partner and then partners hopped in squatted box steps to get ourselves all set for the run. Once warmed up and muscles ready, we ran off towards Kingsmeadow weaving and dribbling through the crowds of football supporters heading to watch a game.

The sweeper was behind the leaves! #footballpun #kingston #goodgym #runninggroup pic.twitter.com/6ptOOIeYwt

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 21, 2018

We were cheered on as we entered the car park and the crowds of supporters in the stands beside the Searchlight Centre applauded us as we set to work. At least that’s what we chose to be-leaf even if they were all wearing football tops! We came to kick some grass and ran away feeling like winners! We had a ball without needing to go near one! Our first task was to clear the car park of all the leaves that had taken over and become a nuisance. We were given a couple of brooms, a rake and some bin bags. Sweepers got behind the leaves and got them all piled up. With our whole group taking handfuls, we managed to fill the bags and clear the lot very quickly. There was more than just standing broom only by the time we’d finished with the lot. We were practica-leaf-inished when we’d run out of time. We hope we were able to leaf an impression!

We had BAGS of fun tonight! #goodgym #volunteering #running #mencap #searchlight #autumniscoming pic.twitter.com/R4nPE3JILc

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 21, 2018

Some of us then went around to the front garden while others continued with gathering leaves. The front garden needed some mowing, pulling up weeds and digging, cutting back leaves and general tidying up. With renewed mow-tivation, Goodgymers set to work. Fionn and Toby had no mowns about cutting the grass! But unfortunately we had run out of time before we had run out of tasks! We fought the lawn and the lawn won so we’ve vowed to return again in the autumn for some more leaves. Everyone made it back safely for some nice cool down stretches as the sun set. Thank you Toby for the great back marking.

@goodgym brings "shear" joy! pic.twitter.com/yyzx2w35EC

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 21, 2018

"We fought the lawn and the lawn won!"

Well done to everyone who came out to join us for another Kingston good deed done in the community. Special welcome to new runners – Jennie, Holly and Michelle from Mencap who joined us on our run!

Mark reminded us about the taskforce set up that is getting set up for us in Kingston. Once you’ve completed ten runs you’re welcome to join the taskforce to help organise things that are happening with our group runs in Kingston. Some tasks include welcoming new members, back marking on a group run, promoting on social media, writing the run reports and marketing.

In other news, there is a Park Run take over being set up in Richmond Park this Saturday and if you’d like to volunteer please contact Jane. Following that there is a community mission listed under Hounslow at 11:00 this Saturday to do some gardening to support the NHS services centre in Isleworth. You can sign up on the website or please speak to Samia if you’d like more details.

On one scorcher of a Tuesday evening in Kingston a fantastic 14 GoodGym-ers turned up to brave the heat and excessive sweating for a fun-filled evening of running and doing good! Mark was away on holiday so I had the pleasure of leading his wonderful Kingston group. It was great to see the familar faces of Nicola and Xander and Bill from my last Kingston run, fab to welcome Luke to his second Kingston run and the bonus of my 4 tourist friends, Andy, Michelle, Morag and Steve from GoodGym Houslow, Wandsworth and Lewisham - what a team I had!

Before we set-off to tonight’s task at the YMCA Allotments in Surbiton we gave a big round of applause to the following runners for their achievements this past week:

1. Andy and Morag for completing the Swansea Half Marathon on Sunday. Despite no swans being seen, Andy got a fantastic PB and Morag completed her first (of many?!) half marathons.
2. Samia and Nicky for completing the first Kingston mission. An incredible amount of tree branches tackled! – have a read of their wonderful mission report here.
3. Last but not least, to the hugely energetic, speedy, stretchy, and wonderful Richmond and Kingston Trainer Mark on completing his 100th good deed on Monday night and earning his wings. In honour of this the group re-created the 100 wings which provided the wonderful cover photo with only minor Photoshop assistance!

Well done guys!

What TFL?!

Unfortunately due to the severely delayed South West Trains many of the group were unable to make it down in time and some decided to meet us at the task – a wonderful service provided as always…

Hot runs faster as you can catch a cold!

Following a quick warm-up the team set off on the 3.3km run down to the YMCA Allotments. The 3.3km run down ended up being a 4.3km due to me taking the team a slightly ‘scenic’ route down and Mark I even got in a small hill for them….sorry team! The traffic lights provided the perfect pause for hydration stops and regrouping, with the fun of a few wall sits for the speedier ones at the front. We were nearly at the task when Lesley took a tumble after a small slip on the kerb but thankfully no limbs were badly bruised, and the iPhone screen was intact!

We had a fun stay at the YMCA, we digged’ the allotments

We were welcomed at the entrance by the markedly less sweaty '(wo)man about town' Michelle and YMCA Community Activities Team Leader, Sarah who explained the vision of the YMCA allotments for the community and what we were going to help out with tonight. Sarah led us down the path towards the plot of land that some community residents and YMCA staff were already tackling, they provided us with some bright new gardening gloves and an array of tools to tackle the weeds and overgrowth. Everyone chose their tool/weapon of choice and quickly got stuck in, Bill even managed to obtain some additional tools through some expert hand explanations from a kind woman working on her allotment. The team worked like a well-oiled machine and there were weeds and big green bags being quickly filled. Some extra hands were provided by Morag and Steve who completed some great unintentional Strava art and sight-seeing of the surrounding area...

Much was achieved in our alloted time

As always the half an hour quickly passed and there was a marked difference from when the team had started. With the tools and gloves tidies away and returned there was time for a quick post-task group photo with Sarah and the community residents and YMCA staff – the lovely summer sun and the fabulous team made more one beautiful photo! Following a brief final chat with Sarah who reiterated how much she’d love to have the group back in the near future, we all said our thank yous and goodbyes, and the team headed back to base on a less scenic and more direct route back.

No hot shots!

Sadly/luckily (delete as appropriate!) there was no time for the fitness session of ‘shot up, shot down’ but we did ensure a good stretch before we all headed off home to re-hydrate.

Thank you for making me feel so welcome and for all your hard work on a very hot evening, stay hydrated and make sure to as the Aussie’s say ‘Slip! Slop! Slap!’. Big thank you to Samia and Kate for their navigation help and to Jane for back-marking and helping me not lose anyone, success! Have a fantastic week and see you again soon.

Mark’s back next week and the task is “Ball Pond Cleaning"! Sign-up here - sounds like you'll have a ball at this one!

And a quick reminder that it's the GoodGym Olympics 2018 on Saturday at Parliament Hill, all are welcome to come watch, have a picnic and a cheer! Pritesh and Steve are also organising a fab post-Olympics social too.

We really got into the swing of things tonight.... pic.twitter.com/B1JU5F8F5z

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 12, 2018

What a night!!! "Young men" and young women gathered....22 of them at the Guildhall tonight.

After some fancy running drills and LOTS of laughter alongside , we ran along the river to the YMCA Hawker Centre who are a buzzing family centre in Kingston offering children's activities, soft play, group exercise classes, a great gym and much more. YMCA is a global charity and provides support and accommodation for those vulnerable in our community as well as offering so many activities and education for youth and families.

And they are off! Great night tonight #Kingston pic.twitter.com/FzWitNcO4I

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 12, 2018

Our task at the Hawker Centre was to wash their gym windows, staff members Richard, Zoe and Memory were incredibly welcoming and had laid out buckets of water, cloths and sponges for us. We all grabbed tools and got to work recieving some interesting looks from the fitness crowd in the gym as we practiced our plyometric jumps to reach the top of the window pane....no pane no gain eh! As advised by Mark we were working anterior deltoid, pec major, quadriceps and ...I can't spell it so I will just write "Calves" (there were others too). So really, was the gym inside or outside tonight?

Because of "many hands making light work" some of us also did some weeding. We battled some evil looking plants in order to get the flower bed clear and make room for the summer flowers to bloom.

Richard and Zoe were delighted we came, stating they normally clean the windows by "waiting for rain" . They also gave us a sneak preview of a future task which just looks like AMAZING fun! (soft play area is all I am saying!)

As we ran back along the river a few talked about how in such a short time of Goodgym Kingston being set up they are already starting to feel the benefits. These ranged from feeling fitter, more toned but more than this was the feeling of mindsulness from engaging in a task and then also the social aspect of enjoying a good run with a great group.

It was a grear task and a great group doing good...as Toby stated..."we smashed those windows!" (is this the pun to finish?)

In news this week we celebrated some runners taking part in recent races as well as mentioning the Richmond Run Fest in September, places go fast so sign up quick, you can do that here.

Welcome to new runners Laura and Jacob , great to see those back for a second run with us - from memory - Anita, Kate, Fionn, Andrew, Nicky, Xander, Amy. Apologies if I have missed anyone.

Bored sitting in on a Tuesday night, watching the same thing on the TV? Why not come and have some fun and run with us!
Tuesdays 6.45pm, at the Guildhall, Kingston#running #volunteering #goodgym #kingston #doinggood #goodfun #makeadifference pic.twitter.com/b1FyqNamZW

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 12, 2018

Setting off through Kingston market square #kingston #Goodgym #doinggood

Tuesday nights, 6.45pm, meet at the Guildhall Kingston pic.twitter.com/axeNuC6paD

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 5, 2018

Kingston Goodgym hit our 4th run this week, and 19 of us got involved in helping out in a spot of gardening beside the river in the sun.

We started off, as ever with one of Mark's 'not too taxing’ taxing warm-ups making sure we were raring to go. Our first run was 2.9km through Kingston town centre and up and around a local park, stopping for a quick group workout of squats, push ups, lunges and some 'non’ Burpees (they were close, but not quite!)

They are not burpees, but rather a burpee variation #GGKingston #tonight #tuesdays #guildhall #activekingston #getfitbydoinggood #kingston #burpees #fitness pic.twitter.com/HpAG3TR7nt

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 5, 2018

When we arrived at Hogsmill Community Garden we were taken aback by the gorgeous garden hidden from the roads. Luckily for us they had a lot for us to do! From repotting sunflowers, to moving compost, moving topsoil, raking and even some old faithful weeding....at one point we even had 2 wheel barrows on the go (proper task!) We were lucky enough to have Julie and Brian meet and greet us, give us some great instructions and then "oh my" a cup of tea! How lucky were we (yes there were even biscuits!) They gave us a great insight to the challenges a community garden faces and it's a credit to them how well it is established now nestled snugly in the Kingston community. The intention now is to extend the use of the facility for therapeutic means to assist those that are under GP referral for such a form of therapy.

After the talk and a final dunk of my soggy biscuit, it was time to head back so just shy of 1km run back to Guildhall, we, had a thorough stretch and gave ourselves a high five (some even stretched to a beer!)

Our numbers are strong but we always want more people to run with us! Do feel free to suggest as potential task owners to Mark.

Next week sees us running along the river to the Kingston borders where we will help the might YMCA. A big shout out tonight for all of those on their second run with Kingston, good to have you back. Welcome to new runners, Anita, Xander and Amy as well as visitors Beth and Debs - what a team we have.

Oh what fun we had tonight! #jumpingsquats #plyo #fitnessfun #fitness #goodgym pic.twitter.com/CAAeWthbHw

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 5, 2018