15 runners headed back to Hoxton Hall to continue the work in the basement...

15 runners had both brain and lower body tested when assembling Ikea bureaus for the youth arts programme at Hoxton Hall, combined with a tough tempo race back to base.

Working with local young people has been at the core of what Hoxton Hall does for over 150 years with activities including a wide range of art forms such as music, drama, dance and visual arts. The GoodGym team were on hand for the second week running, this time to assemble Ikea bureaus to be used as work stations.

One team worked solely on assembling the flatpack furniture while a second team lifted large wood surfaces out for recycling - an unexpected bonus for anyone wishing to work their lats on a Monday night in the run up to Spring . The team coped marvellously with devouring manuals at record pace (and were very generous with their time).

Then, as time had got away with us, we headed back to base with a tough tempo run, unusually thankful for the pedestrian crossings giving us time to catch our breath. We finished by grabbing a couple of extra penalty stretching minutes on the hotel steps to keep calves (and lower body in general) happy.

It was my first official night as the new Tower Hamlets trainer and the team were just amazing - thank you to Dave for awesome stats and co-navigation; David for brilliant back-marking, always keeping everyone in sight, and a very big welcome and well done to first-time runners, Louis, Constance and Kate. It was a challenging task as an intro, not to mention a tough run back, so congratulations and hope to see you again soon.

Thank you all for an unforgettable first week, and I can't wait to do it all again next Monday!

15 runners ran 5k to clear the basement at Hoxton Hall

15 runners came to blast away their Monday blues by running to do good in Tower Hamlets last night. On this particular cold and wintery night we were headed to a brand new and indoor task (double hooray!).

Hoxton Hall is a community centre and performing arts space that is deeply embedded in local history having been an East End landmark since 1863. We were there to help them prepare their new youth development programme. Working with local young people has been at the core of what Hoxton Hall does for over 150 years - offering unique creative learning and employment opportunities.

We split into three groups - clearing rubbish from the main basement room, sorting old costumes to go to charity and collate paint supplies. Boris and James were delighted with how much we got done in 25 minutes and set three people to work trying to remove a very stubborn fixture from the ceiling. Happily we'll be back at Hoxton Hall next week for stage 2 - putting together ikea bureaus for musical equipment. With some time to spare, Laura didn't waste a minute and introduced the group to some core work that those dealing with the ceiling fixture missed out on - don't worry, she'll get you next time!

A big cheer for Claire who joined us for her first ever group run and especially loud noises for Laura GoodGym Tower Hamlet's new trainer!

An awesome, brand new task success for Tower Hamlets last night. I'm sad to be leaving you but I'm off to be trainer in Southwark on a Wednesday, come by and say hello :)

Keep running happy, Lucy