Brrr, the cold snap wasn’t letting up last night, but that didn’t stop our awesome group of runners from showing up and getting straight to work! There was no time to hang around in the freezing temperatures, we were all eager to get moving, warm up, and make a difference.

We welcomed some new faces to the group this evening — a big GoodGym welcome to you all! We’re so glad to have you with us and hope you’ll be back for more fun in the future. Great to have you join us Hannah, Lisa and Benjamin

We kicked things off with a quick warm-up, and Catherine came up with an excellent Monday question - where is the best roast in the area to be found? It got us all thinking (and hungry) — there were some great suggestions but we decided we definitely need to find a good veggie option. Suggestions welcome!

Once we were all warmed up and ready to go, we ran down to the Venue, a community hub that serves as a space for healthy eating classes, kids' groups, storage for donations, and more. Our task for the night was a massive tidy-up. There was plenty of composting, cleaning, and clearing to be done, but the biggest challenge? A pool of dried, spilled cream that had made a sticky mess! It was a tough one, but there was no use crying over spilled, er, cream. With hot water, cleaning fluid, and plenty of elbow grease, we managed to get the job done. No more rancid spillage, just one big sparkling floor!

There was lots to clear away, but with so many hands working together, we got through it all in no time.

After the task, we finished off with a core session. We all got to know each other a little better as we squeezed into one corner and got down to business.Core work helps with stabilising your body when you get tired during a run, so you can maintain good running form. It’s a key part of injury prevention, so well done on some great efforts from everybody.

After a run back we wrapped up with some stretches after all that hard work. Next week we have a new task in Balham, which means we’ll be leaving sharpish to get there. If it sounds like too much of a stretch, you can always meet us there. After the task, we’re having a social at the Four Thieves with some board games — it’s going to be a lot of fun, and we’d love for you to join us!

Some more dates for your diary:

• On Saturday there is this great mission to help clear the paths at a nature reserve

• We have a new regular community mission helping out with a kids club at the Doddington community garden late Thursday afternoons

• If you're free on the morning of the 24th and have an hour to spare, this amazing organisation which is home to several charities needs some help moving two offices around

A group of 9 from GG Wandsworth headed to the west of the borough to help in a local church/community centre garden. We cleared walls of ivy, chopped back hedges and trees, and fought with bramble. With beautiful sunshine and tea/coffee on offer from the hosts, a good time was had by all, and lots achieved.

Finally December is here, which means that we can start talking all things festive! These included

• reminding everybody of our Christmas social on the 12th December - no task, no run, just all the festive fun!

• discussing which was our favourite carols during our warm up - all the classics got a mention with some lovely vocals from Isabel

• and our first gift of December was to be able to welcome Ellen to her very first session at GoodGym - great to have you join us!

After a steady run down to the garden for our monthly task at Doddington, we were tasked with clearing all the leaves to create a mulch bed where flowers will be grown. So without waiting to get cold, we grabbed brooms, brushes and trugs and started collecting all the fallen leaves we could lay our bemittened hands on.

There were plenty of other jobs to be done, including compost turning, jasmine taming and cardboard laying. The range of conversations going on round the garden was testament to what an interesting group of people GoodGymers are! There was chat about ancient burial techniques in Greece, how to make Christmas wreathes and we also talked about Dylan's amazing recent achievement of completing the parkrun alphabet!

Before long the garden was looking practically leafless so we moved downstairs to do a leg strength and conditioning workout which saw us challenge those hamstrings, glutes and calves through various exercises. If that wasn't enough we finished with the minute squat challenge - brilliant efforts everyone.

With a quick run to the pub the group saw off the evening with the monthly quiz and a strong result for team GoodGym!

Don't forget there is a lovely mission this Saturday helping to clear paths at a nature reserve - a great way to kick off the weekend!

It takes a special kind of people to make it out in the freezing rain on a dark Monday night to rake leaves and chop wood. Luckily GGers are made of tough stuff, and a group of 14 of the toughest were not put off by the conditions last night.

Special kudos goes to Stephen and to Veronica who came along to their first GoodGym session - give them a huge welcome! We also cheered Paul and Dylan for smashing the Fulham 10km this weekend. Amazing stuff.

We kicked off with a much needed warm up, discussing the upcoming missions such as this amazing one to sort donated coats for Wrap Up London on Thursday in Morden. There is also a great session helping make the nature reserve in Streatham more accessible on Saturday. Lots of fun stuff to choose from! We also debated the most important issue of the hour - what is the best condiment. It turns about we are passionate about our favourites, from mayonnaises including truffle and garlic, various mustards, olive oil and BBQ - and in a shock twist no one went for ketchup!

There was no time to waste before setting off in the increasingly heavy rain for Paradise community garden. Through the puddles we splashed, arriving not long after to meet even more GGers.

We divided up into two teams; one to take on the challenge of clearing the leaves that were clogging the pathways and transport them to be turned into mulch, the other to chop the wood into manageable sizes.

The leafers got busy, fueled by Steve and Dylan's kind contribution of sweeties, while the axers were contemplating the best method of effectively breaking down the wood. Ali and Pritesh copied what they'd seen in the films to great success, while Beth guided using her recent impressive axe throwing prowess!

It soon got too damp to continue, but we'd made a big dent in the jobs, so all that was left to do was vote on fitness (no surprise on which way it went) and then head off back into the night for warm cups of tea and hot showers.

Well done everybody! Next week you'll be in the super capable hands of our newest run leader Catherine, who will be taking you to help out at Waste Not Want Not for a warm inside task!