There seems to be an increase in numbers of the first Wednesday of the month....I wonder why? 😂

Every first Wednesday of the month, we treat ourselves to a GoodGym social after our group run. Tonight, we had something special planned, but more on that later.

It was not even 18:15 and Sam had just arrived at Old Spike Roastery and saw Joao with his bike looking lost. A Lambeth regular, he promised that he would check out Southwark's group run and did so today as normally he plays squash, but the centre he plays at is going through a refurbishment. But once you open the gates, everyone floods in and before it was 18:30, we had Lindy, Emma, Daryl, Gemma, Claire, James, Paulin and Nelly. Everyone came early as everyone was excited for tonight!

After some quick announcements, Sam gave everyone the chance to think about their answer for the ice-breaker question tonight, which was all to do with World Chocolate Day being on Thursday, so he asked: What is your favourite chocolate bar?

I'll be honest and this is a test for my memory after our social....but I think I can remember someone saying "Salted Caramel", Freddo, Crunchie, Lion, Fruit & Nuts, Lindt, Tony's, Dark Chocolate Bounty, Ritter Sport Peppermint and Kinder Bueno.

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Until the litter end

After our warm-up and finding out about our favourite chocolate bars, our group run was a short 1.3k looping around Peckham Rye Common to end up at the cafe.

It was a pleasure to finally meet Laura from Plastic Free Peckham after messaging her on the Gram for many weeks prior. She introduced us to Adam, the resident Plastic Free Peckham photographer and she had all the equipment provided. We paired up in twos and took a litter picker and two bags (one for rubbish and one for recycling).

The team had 45 minutes (40 by the time we set off) to find as much litter around Peckham Rye Common and the gardens. Laura advised us on the hotspots and she wasn't wrong when the team approached those areas and bushes.

The most interesting find over the course of the session came from Claire as she found a working umbrella that had been abandoned in the bushes. She ensured we were covered to find enough litter...

A light run to Peckham Rye Common meant one thing for Sam. He knew the team hadn't had their fair share of "fitness", it is "get fit and do good" at GoodGym. Thus, he prepared the resistance bands and had told the team of the six different stations for this quick six minute blast. Staying in pairs, everyone went through a minute of burpees, lunges, ab crunches/leg raisers, push ups, squats and standing lateral leg raise with a resistance band. Everyone felt the burn in the summer setting sun.

Our final 0.8k run back to Old Spike Roastery for a stretch was met with a special delight from Bo Kiri, who provided us with a drink - Whiskey Spritzer, which we took along with us to Bussey Building Rooftop bar for our mid-year social to celebrate the first half of this year! The drinks were flowing, the pizzas provided by Voodoo Rays were demolished and the spectacular views with a setting sun were provided. What else could you ask for?! It was such a great night that there was an after party at Four Quarters as Gemma and Sam tried and failed finishing Time Crisis 2.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Not a massive run and thus, we had that fitness session, which I hoped you'd enjoyed rather than dreaded. Thanks for to those who came to celebrate the first half of this year - you've all been amazing and GoodGym Southwark wouldn't be what it is without you! Here's to finishing the second half of 2022 strong, but first let's enjoy the summer ☀️

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Thank You Laura

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Laura for arranging this partnership session - the first of many. It's great to have you spearhead this cause and we will be happy to help over the months and years to come!

This sunny afternoon, David, Laura and I joined Plastic Free Peckham on their tidy up of Peckham Rye. As well as the usual glass bottles and cans, we found a full bottle of M&S Orange juice (what a waste! 😱). David also ventured into a particularly swampy area to rescue a plastic bag.

All in all, we did a good job, collecting over one bin bag full of non-recyclables, and one bag of recyclables. Well done us! 🙌