What a start to the week, perfect weather, great company and a tonne of hard work completed in the name of GoodGym!!

3 new runners joined us this evening and I’d like to offer a huge GoodGym Wandsworth welcome to Ellen, Kimberley and Melanie, go ahead and give them a cheer

NEWS

There's lots going on at GoodGym through August, here’s a recap of last nights news

• The GoodGym Olympics are on Saturday 3rd August and team Wandsworth are aiming to better last year's silver medal. Whether you’re competing or would like to come down and support, it would be great to have as many GG Wandsworth faces there as possible, details here

• For those that cannot make it to the GG Olympics, there is an Olympics National Race which you can get involved in via Strava, all details for getting involved are here

• Next Monday, 5th August is GoodGym Wandsworth’s 3rd Birthday and we’ll be celebrating after next week’s group run with a picnic on Clapham Common

• Anyone looking for a race? The next GoodGym race team event is the Bath 2 Tunnels race which is coming up on the 18th August. The race also coincides with the GG West Summer party, details and sign up here

• 2 new areas will be joining the GG family in August. Exeter starts on Tuesday 20th August and Trafford on Wednesday 21st August

• If anyone has any tales of inspiration from Team GB athletes and would like to share them, please email rebecca@goodgym.org and tell us who inspired you the most and why

DO GOOD

This week’s task was helping at a local charity called Leonard Cheshire Disability, who work to support individuals to live, learn and work independently whatever their ability

So, with building work in progress outside BAC our usual warm up area was unavailable. We relocated to a small car park opposite and went though some low impact warm up drills. Our warm up was cut slightly short when we were interrupted by a slightly disgruntled neighbour who took exception to us being there. With that we swiftly set off for the first leg of our run. We covered the first 1.5km of the night in good time and even managed some wall squats along the way

On arrival we headed to the back entrance of the centre and were greeted by a huge teddy bear guarding the gate. Once inside, our tasks included washing the mobility buses, weeding the car park area, cleaning the windows, a general tidy of the garden area, clearing plant pots at the front of the building and replacing old with new plants. We quickly split into 5 smaller groups and 40 mins later we’d satisfyingly ticked every item off our task list, leaving the buses gleaming, the garden raked and tidy, the new plants potted, the front area weeded and windows shining. Great work everyone!

GET FIT

After a quick tidy up, we jogged a short 0.5km distance over to Battersea Park, where we completed our fitness session.

This week’s fitness required 3 teams, each working through either a run, a core exercise and a body weight exercise then rotation through each of the 3 stations to complete a round. The soundtrack for our workout was provided by some quite interesting park users and 5 rounds and 15 sets later, all that was left was our 2km journey back to BAC, with a final set of wall/fence squats on the way

The night was capped off with a sprint up our favourite hill and Strava segment. Well done to everyone for that final push at the end and great work on the technical running points!

So, we completed our tasks, ran a total distance of 4km, completed a tough fitness session and a hill sprint. Amazing work all round team Wandsworth!!

COMING UP

Next week we head to the Salvation Army in Balham, to help with various tasks, as well as our 3rd birthday celebrations which is not to be missed, sign up here

Have a great week and thank you for all you hard work!

Happy Running!!

It was GoodGym Monday Magic last night in Wandsworth as 48 runners covered just under 5km, helped out at a residential home for hearing impaired, talked about our happy places and did a mexican squat wave to the sound of bagpipes!

A big GoodGym Wandsworth welcome to all our first time runners tonight - put your hands together for:

• Ali, Joanna, Rachael, Steve and Tal!

The night began with some bits of news, including

• Cheering Helen after her epic 80 mile night ride from London to Eastbourne and still found it in her legs to come along to GoodGym!

• And all the parkrunners smashing that 5k across the city

• Fancy a lovely trail run in a National Trust park? Then check out this event in Morden Hall Park this Saturday. It's even free!

• If you fancy a free timed 10k from Chiswick Bridge, then check out this race which is held every last Sunday of the month. There are even spot prizes!

We then crowded into the nearby carpark to do our warm up while our normal area is having something complicated done to it, and got our heart rates up ready for the run ahead. We also had a discussion about our happy places - there are a lot of nature lovers among you - the forest, by water, the beach and gardens were very popular. As were beds, Tooting Lido and the pub!

After a very warm run to Harding House, a specialist care home in Wandsworth that provides 24-hour support to deaf and/or deafblind men and women over the age of 18. The people they support have a range of diverse and sometimes complex needs, including learning and physical disabilities, mental ill-health and low emotional confidence, and they have a big garden to enjoy which was looking a bit overgrown.

With such a huge number of us, we got started with all the jobs including cutting back bushes, weeding, sorting sheds and watering, and it didn't take long for the place to look a lot more welcoming. So after 25 minutes of work, we waved goodbye and headed over to Wandsworth Common for our fitness session.

Because it was sunny, and I'm not going to see your lovely faces for a couple of weeks, it was running games week, which started off with a truly epic game of British Bulldog. It was good natured and gentle but very real carnage out there on that common, which saw a few individuals battle it through to the final stage with Alexander M very almost making it to the finish line! Next up was Squat Squat Goose, with Matt valiantly sprinting but just missing his spot not once but twice! Finally we attempted a huge multiplying group squat which finished in an enormous squatting mexican wave - check out the video here! It was doing good and having fun from start to finish...

Next week run leader Chris is leading you guys down to wash mobility buses and other jobs at the brilliant Leonard Cheshire disability charity. Sign up here to get your weekly dose of doing good and getting fit! I'm looking forward to getting back to you in a couple of weeks time. Until then, have fun, do good and run happy everyone!

A beautiful summer's evening, lot of lovely faces both returning and new, and a task in Paradise (cooperative garden...!) all added up to a fantastic night of GoodGymming!

Welcome to:

• Emily, Imogen, Amy, Natalie, Ashlyn and Maurice, who all came for their first GoodGym run last night!

And in case you need a reminder of the news we started off the night with, then here it is:

• If you're looking for a beautiful 10k trail run then check out the Morden Park Trail Run - every last Sunday of the month in this lovely National Trust park - it's even free!

• We've got an aid station at the British 10K on Sunday 21st July from 7.30am - volunteers get a free place for the Oxford Half, Hackney Half or the next London 10K. Sign up here - today is your last day to sign up so get in there quick!

• Well done to Oliver who did the Shoreditch 10km on Saturday, to all those who volunteered there, and to all our parkrunners too!

After a warm up outside and a quick survey on our favourite breakfast dishes - eggs well and truly topped the pops, but there were also votes for waffles, rice crispies and of course bacon sarnies - we set off for Paradise Cooperative garden, and arrived 2.5km later to find chairman John waiting for us with a list of jobs.

This organisation aims to connect food, nature and people through sustainable urban farming and community gardening, and has transformed an overgrown and derelict site owned by Wandsworth prison into a beautiful space which includes an orchard, poly-tunnels, raised vegetable beds, a fish-pond, bush-craft area and community celebration area with pizza oven and running water. All this takes hard work though, so we are happy to lend a bit of GoodGym muscle!

The first group got straight on with shovelling gravel and woodchip, unloading bags of clay, shifting pallets and logs - all amazing upper body work! Meanwhile, the weeding team tackled the raised beds and paths and watered, while the third group spread the new pond liner and started filling it.

After 40 minutes loads of jobs were done, and John said that we had achieved a month's worth of work for them in our time there - many hands make light work! For all that effort we were rewarded with beautiful fresh basil, carrots and herbs which as well as being delicious, made for an unusual and highly fragranced run back!

But first we stopped at Wandsworth Common to do our fitness session - I had planned one that featured running drills, but the tasks at the garden had overtaken us a bit, so this was replaced by some high octane tabata instead. It was only 4 minutes of hard work split into 20 second segments, but it was tough! The idea is that you raise your heart rate during this time which increases aerobic performance and burns fat effectively. Those frog jumps though...

We finished off the evening with a motivational hill sprint led by Chi, and some stretches back at base. Next week we're going to Harding House, a residential home for deaf people to help sort out their garden. You can find out more and sign up here. Until then, have a week of happy running GoodGym!

We had so much news to kick off the weekly run with last night, but firstly

• Give a massive GoodGym cheer to all these lovely new runners who came for their first group run last! Hello Hannah, Sina, Rafaella and Kate!

This week's roundup included:

• The monthly social! This Thursday, on tour in Brent. Here are all the details - come along for pun of the month, to hear about all the good everybody has been doing, running achievements and all things GoodGym

• Did you happen to catch the Guardian magazine this weekend? If not check it out here. We had a Guardian journalist along for a run with us a few weeks ago, and this was the lovely write up. Share it with everybody you know!

• There's nobody yet signed up for this community mission in Merton on Saturday - this is one you don't need to be DBS checked for but it will really help out a local school so if you are free why not check it out!

• Congratulations to Beth who organised an amazing park run takeover for Fulham Palace's 300th event! A brilliant 38 of you turned up to fill all the volunteer and pacing roles. Check out the run report here

Providence House

Last night's task was at local charity Providence House - this amazing organisation is putting on a program of summer activities for local young people aimed at combating antisocial behaviour and social isolation.

But before we could set off we did a warm up outside and a quick survey on the best things to put on a BBQ - you guys are all about the protein, but also recommended halloumi, asparagus, shrimp and aubergine. Delicious!

With just a short run to the charity, we soon arrived to find a very cheery welcome from the kids who were waving and singing from the window! We got a short talk about the brilliant work Providence House is doing. For the last 50 years, Providence House Youth Club has been passionate about improving the lives and outcomes for young people from North Battersea, and has created a strong sense of belonging and heritage and is open to all. They had hundreds of flyers printed to spread the word about the work they are doing, but as they rely on volunteers, asked us to help.

We set off straight away clutching at least 400 flyers and started distributing in the surrounding houses. This was a real testament to the fact that many hands make light work, as it took us less than half an hour to deliver the lot over the course of 4km. Amazing going team!

We then popped over to a local community space to do a conditioning session which featured glute bridges, planks, single leg squats and other strength exercises that all worked on the important muscle groups for runners and focused on our ABCs (agility, coordination and balance). This sort of strength workout helps prevent injuries, improve form, increase efficiency and generally helps turn you into a better runner - so do try and get in one conditioning session a week!

You can sign up here for more doing good and getting fit next week. Until then, run happy GoodGym!

With two choices of task and distance last night, it was great to see 42 runners gather to do good and get fit in Wandsworth!

We had lots of lovely new runners last night - please welcome:

• Dave, Jennie, Alina, Kirsten, Abbie, Kathryn and Yvonne

Before we divided up the group and set off for our two tasks, we did a very quick run down of the week's news. In case you missed bits, here's a recap:

• GoodGym is looking after an aid station at the British 10K on Sunday 21st July from 7.30am - volunteers get a free place for the Oxford Half, Hackney Half or the next London 10K. Sign up here

• There's a GoodGym takeover for Fulham Palace's 300th run on Saturday - we still need a few roles filled! Click here for all the details

• Fancy a community mission? You don't need to be DBS checked, and it we're still looking for some runners to help. Check out the details of this event that's happening on Saturday 6th July.

• It's the last couple of days to enter the GoodGym Olympics - go on, you won't regret it! Here is all the info you need

Back to School

With a longer 10.5km run to Broadwater school to sort out an overgrown pond area and turn it into a science learning zone, and a 3.5km run to Bolingbroke School to turn a neglected outside space into somewhere inspiring for the kids, there was plenty to choose from. Our local schools are under pressure from budget so are increasingly rely on help from volunteers.

After a warm up where we also talked about what we wanted to be when we were kids - lots of tiny aspiring vets, dancers, doctors, missionaries, chefs and even one channel four continuity announcer - we divided up into two groups.

Chris' team set off to sort out the outside area, and after a conditioning stop on the way, arrived to find plenty to do waiting for them. They set about strimming, watering, digging, composting, and clearing and after 40 minutes of hard work still wanted to do more! However, there was a fitness session waiting for them on Wandsworth Common, where Chris took them through their paces with some intervals and technical points and even through in a core blast for good measure. This was Chris' first time leading a GoodGym run and I think we can all agree he is a superstar! Way to go team.

Meanwhile the second group were off on a very twisty turny long route down to Tooting, which even saw us do a spot of trail running (almost!). After a very muggy run, we arrived to find Naz waiting for us with tools and instructions to clear a very overgrown pond area so that it can be turned into a learning space for the kids. We got stuck in straight away, finding all sorts of treasures including a lost shoe and an ants nest. We didn't have long at the task, but after some serious elbow grease the area looked much clearer and well on the way to be able to be used by the kids. With such a long run there was no time for a fitness session but we still had that 5.1km to tackle on the way back.

What a lot of effort from everybody last night - 42 pairs of hands really making a difference in the local communities. Next week we will be helping the amazing Providence House out spreading the word about their summer program for young people. Sign up here for all the details. Happy sunny running until then - and make sure you rehydrate in the heat!