Amazing! 6 awesome runners braved the elements (ok the drizzle) to run a massive 8km to St Dunstan's Allotments in East Acton!

We had two GG noobs, Martin and Mel a huge welcome to you! You made 8km seem like nothing and were a massive help with the heavy bags! Super strength!

We set off at a nice warm-up pace, past the iconic Ealing Broadway station and battled through the crowds to Uxbridge road. It was here we encountered my arch nemesis, the puddle on the junction with the North Circular...yes I was splashed once, it was a harrowing time...there was rather a lot of pancake chat ( I hope you enjoyed the post run pancakes Ian!)and with just a quick stop off at the pub (sadly no drinks involved, just a quick toilet stop) we were there and the lovely Rhea was waiting!

We managed to take the straight route this time (what do you mean you didn't want a scenic tour of the A40?!) and, stops included, we managed 4km in a respectable 30 minutes or so. And then it was time to work! Looooads of woodchip had been dropped off and it was our job to put it into bags and shift it into the allotments. This involved perfection of the squat-fill-mulch technique (correct me if i'm wrong on that one Ankit!) and then there was a back and leg workout as we deadlifted all the bags from outside, into the allotments.

There were some mega strong efforts from everyone, the pile clearing was particularly impressive!

We then sped back to Bodyline Studios in about 25 minutes, a quick stretch and we were done!! It was such a fun evening and the work we did would have taken one person absolutely ages! So nice one for being such a bunch of legends! I'm already looking forward to next week, hopefully see you all then! Sign up to next week here.

WELCOME TO BARNET. You have to shout it cos it's so good. Tonight we welcomed Bryony and Jo along for their first GoodGym runs.

This evening we were delivering flyers for RSPCA clinic. Paul, Heather and Graham led groups around the Oak Lane area, and once we managed to find houses with letterboxes the doing good bit of our evening was done in no time. Which left plenty of time for the getting fit part.

First up it was CIRCLE OF DOOM. Well, circuit of exercises. Each of the 16 GGers in attendance chose their favourite exercise for the group to perform for 20 seconds. This included some classics such as press ups, some evils such as burpees with tuck jumps (thanks, Uncle Albert), and a set of squats in honour of the missing Pennie.

Next up, we got technical with some running drills. We did Leg Cycles, A-Walk and B-walk.

Finally it was time for a step-up challenge. Who can do 50 step ups quickest? While standing on the street explaining a window above us opened and a head popped out. Had we disturbed somebody? Had we annoyed somebody? Of course not, we're GoodGym. Local resident Tania just wondered who we were.

We explained the concept of GoodGym and she was so impressed she joined in the step-up challenge while cute little kitty "Humbug" looked on. She also knows a few folk around the area who might need out help for some missions, so keep your eyes peeled.

Right-leg step-up champion was Hazel and left-leg champion was Chris. Well done, both. These skills will come in handy if you ever have to run for a tube.

Biscuits were provided by Joanna, a deliciously sweet cinnamon mix. And there were plenty to go around. Nice baking.

Thanks for having me, Barnet. I really enjoyed myself. Pennie'll be back next week for a trip to Barnet Furniture Centre.

xxx,
Simon

P.S. did anybody leave a hat behind? Heather has it.

P.P.S thanks again to what is becoming my personal pun mascot Chris for pun report title :-D

11 very soggy GoodGym-ers ran 5km delivering flyers for the Barnet Funiture Centre

This week the bravest of Barnet runners came out to help spread the word about a fabulous local charity doing incredible things in the neighbourhood.

We were joined by special guest trainer Tom, the new Sheffield trainer, who lead the pack to the task with the help of Damian after a fab warm up by the side of the cinema. We were also treated to the return of Stacy, who's finally recovered from injury after her epic running of last year.

Once we reached our starting point, we split into two teams. Team Hazel took one road while Team Freya took another. In the end we covered about six roads then did two rounds of exercise before heading back to base: rocket jumps and 180º squat jumps. GG Barnet has cracked the most efficient of flyer jump-frog systems known to man.

Back at Base, Tom lead us through some very thorough stretching and we all congratulated Hazel on breaking the 100km mark this month – the third Barnet runner to break 100 in Jan. You're all bloody brilliant! (The other two being Damian and Freya.)

We were then treated to TWO sets of Barnet Biscuits. Jody made Jammy Dodgers and Eleanor made Ginger Bread Men. I'm very excited by how the group has really taken on responsibility for the Barnet Biscuit and by how fantastic everyone seems to be at baking. I hereby crown you both The Barnet Bakers of the Week. Because we all know how much I love alliteration. Joanna has promised to bring the Barnet Biscuit next week, which is very exciting! Tom loved the idea so much he'll be taking it up North. The Sheffield Shortbread, perhaps? Sheffield Sweeties. I'll leave the name of that one to you!

Next week we will be helping the RSPCA again with another run nearby to flyer. It'll be a short one: 3km total. Sign up here. And on the 14th we'll be running to the Barnet Furniture Centre in Frien Barnet to paint a wall for them. This will be a long one: 3.5km each way. Sign up here

Well done to Eleanor for bringing her docs along this week to get mission-verified. It's great to see so many of you getting this sorted! If you'd like to help out with missions or become a coach runner, bring your docs along to the next run. You just need some photo ID and proof of address (two of one and one of the other).

See you next week! Pennie