Seven goodgym runners came to help the volunteers of Long Lane pasture. We all met at the reserve and had a quick introduction from Harriet who went through health and safety. Long Lane Pasture is a 1.1 hectare nature reserve in Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. It is owned by Barnet Council and managed by the Long Lane Pasture Trust. The council does not contribute any funds to the Trust and under a management plan it is managed to protect its wildlife and enhance its biodiversity. We introduced ourselves and stated our favourite colour. (Blue is the colour running is the game!) Welcome to Yanti on her first run with Goodgym and Charlie with his first run with Goodgym Barnet. Give them a cheer and we hope to see you again soon! We then set to work as instructed raking the brambles from the top end of the pasture and transporting them by wheelbarrow to a rather large pile.(presumably for burning at some point) We did this for about 50 minutes and then were invited to have coffee and biscuits. Thank you Harriet and the other volunteers! After our refreshments we put on our trainers warmed up and headed out on a short run to some local woods. Thanks to Charlie for back marking. We stopped once for some star jumps on a footbridge over the north circular and to enjoy the woods before heading back to the pasture. Thank you Abi,Laura, Agnes and Justine for supporting our starter event. Thanks for coming and doing so good!

Fourteen fearless GoodGymmers met at the Phoenix Cinema to brave the cold and spread some woodchip at Martin Primary in East Finchley.

We were joined by Veronique for her first group run and Liz touristing from Camden and fresh from celebrating 300 (THREE ACTUAL HUNDRED) good deeds last week. Welcome and well done!

It was a cold night but we agreed we would keep moving and get warm. A slightly elongated run there took us along the back roads and away from the traffic and got us warm.

Arriving at Martin Primary we were greeted by the Caretaker, Tristran, who explained our task. We would be shovelling and shifting woodchip before spreading it along the pathways in the open space outside the school. We got to work. Saba and Fiona too charge of spreading the woodchip, while everyone else grabbed a shovel, rake or wheelbarrow.

It was hard work which was good because it kept us warm! Some brilliant work shovelling mean the wheelbarrows got filled in no time, while the spreaders made quick work of it once it was delivered. After half an hour we had made brilliant progress and got through the pile of woodchip and spread it along the entire path! Brilliant effort which will make a good difference to the kids and the school's outdoor space.

After that it was time for our fitness session. Using the outdoor basketball court, we ran laps with slower ones for warm ups and then two back to back faster laps focusing on working hard and keeping the extra pace consistent. It was a marvellous effort with some GGB runners looking pretty speedy.

After that it was a short run back to the cinema and to the warm. Well done everyone!! See you soon.

Eleven good gym runners ran to help at Saint Mary‘s Church Finchley. A grade 2 listed building and one of the oldest if not the oldest building in Barnet with elements built from 16th century. We started off at the phoenix cinema (another building which is one of the oldest of its type in the country) gathering to chat , number up and state our favourite superhero. Jody won the day by revealing that her dad was a superhero. (Looks like she’s blown his cover but at least Barnet can sleep easy tonight!) There was a gentle drizzle to start but otherwise a nice night to hit the back streets of East Finchley by winding our way through quite roads and alleys. We stopped briefly to gather for a sprint up a short uphill section of alleyway. We reach the church dead on time to meet Helen who was waiting with tools to do the job in hand. We were to clear the path around the church of leaves and weeds. We set to work and in a short time had collected four garden bags which we loaded into Helens car. Helen then took some time to show us around the church and talk about its history, this included showing us some markings from the Norman era of the church! We also gathered around a church poster of Agnes ( one of our own runners) who had run the Eden half marathon for charity. A nice coincidence! ( see photo) We then started a more direct route back to the Phoenix escorted by a deluge of bangs and flashes. I chatted with Abdul who was telling me how much his fitness had improved by joining GGB. Indeed in todays news a vast study had proven a correlation between one run a week and improving life expectancy. Check it out Here Tell your friends! We soon returned to the Phoenix and had to sadly say goodbye to Marie on her last run with GGB before returning to France. Thank you for bring the crepes and Bon voyage!

Thanks for coming you were super heroes tonight!

Ps Two Christmas party dates for you Goodgym 6th ( party) 11th December ( GGB social meal) Let us know if you can make one or both!

Seventeen super Goodgymmers ran 5k to post flyers to help promote the Syrian Kitchen 🇸🇾

Meeting at the Phoenix we were joined by Clara for her first ever group run - welcome! Also by tourists from Haringey and Brent respectively Kapil and Beth - thanks for coming!

It was a massive weekend of running for GoodGym so there were cheers for Rob, who completed the Amsterdam Marathon, Abi and Beth who ran the half, Jodie who ran the Hertfordshire Riverside Half, and Katie who ran the Great South Run down in Portsmouth. Give them all a cheer!

Tonight we were helping promote the Syrian Kitchen. they are a brilliant charity that raises money for refugees by putting on supper clubs up here in Barnet with traditional Syrian food cooked by the refugees themselves.

after a quick chat and warm up we headed off to start flyering. dividing into two teams, Katie's team taking one side of the road and Shaun's the other.

we posted loads of flyers throughout East Finchley and stretching over into Muswell Hill. we kept moving at a good pace to stay warm and got through all the flyers in no time.

as we found ourselves in Muswell Hill, it seemed appropriate to have a hill session. Using St James Lane in Muswell Hill, we practiced some running technique using our arms and driving knees before some hill repeats. the hardiest bunch did three goes running hard up the hill, with a slow jog back down each time for recovery. there's no avoiding hills in Barnet and it's a brilliant way to work on becoming a stronger runner.

After that brilliant effort we had an easy run back to the Phoenix for high fives and stretches. well done team.

Next week is litter picking! see you then

D