It was the first run of Summer last night for GG Wandsworth, and we sure made the most of it. Not only that, but we are now set to become the stars of the silver screen that we all knew we were destined to become, as we had guests Ben and Holly there to film us throughout the evening. Action!

We had some new athletes to welcome to our merry band tonight- hello Jamie, Holly, Baz and James! Alos, welcome to your first Wandsworth run, [Alex] (https://www.goodgym.org/runners/alex-brown-accbd6d9-5534-4f50-85ad-7dab12ff159c] - give them all a cheer, why don’t you, they’re pretty awesome.

Well done to Jamie and Matthew for doing park runs, you superstars. If you haven’t done a park run yet, then you need to get on that. They are weekly 5k timed runs across London which are free, sociable and brilliant for charting your inevitable progress. The closest ones to us in Wandsworth are Tooting, Fulham Palace (although that is cancelled this week), Brockwell, Wimbledon, Richmond….you have so many to choose from. Why not try a little bit of park run tourism?

HEROES this week. Ooh, you are an amazing lot. Hat tip to Matthew for both giving and receiving the most cheers along with Jack. Running machine Sarah clocked up most miles as she continues to smash her marathon training, while David topped the table for good deeds done.

It was still light when we set off, which we all agreed was pretty marvellous. All the better for the camera to catch our moves on the tarmac – although camera man Ben did show us up by running pretty easily not only with his equipment but in jeans. Someone get that man a red tshirt, quick. With almost two miles under our belt we arrive at Balham Baptist Church where we were met by Pastor Jim, ready with a van to load up with junk from the basement. We pulled our favourite GG Wandsworth move, and formed a HUMAN CHAIN through the community hall from basement to van and off we went. Last time we did this we uncovered some incredible stuff. This time we did not find any mannequins or kitchen sinks, but a few pairs of oars and a radiator did make their way along the chain.

Van loaded, we waved goodbye to Jim with promises that we’ll be back to finish the job soon, and weaved our way to Clapham Common, trying to make friends with the other running groups on their evening run. We got some waves back, but have come to conclusion that GG is the most friendly bunch of runners you’d hope to meet. Keep spreading that GG word! Parking ourselves on the common in the dying light of day, we set about our fitness session. The group split itself into five lots of seven people, each doing either a squat hold, plank, lunges or mountain climbers in the time it took for one group to run across the common and back. It was tough going but as usual team Wandsworth rinsed those drills. Great job everyone.

We divided into two teams to run the last short stretch back to the BAC – speedy and sexy. Of course, we’re all simultaneously both of those things, but for the purposes of the run, we had to choose just one. Team speedy pipped it to the post on this occasion – possibly because team sexy were taken on a slightly longer route. Soz. Stretching it out, there were quite a few of you who solved this week’s CoRUNdrum (courtesy of lovely Vicki) knowing that Europe’s largest Chicken Cottage is indeed in Tooting – but the crown falls to Roshan who cracked it first. If you’ve got a good old head scratcher that you want to put to the group as our weekly CoRUNdrum, just come and let me know!

Next week we’ve (fingers crossed) got a great new project. We’re helping local group Food For All distribute free food to those in Wandsworth who need it most. Sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/distributing-food-to-the-isolated

ps as soon as I receive our cinematic debut, I’ll send it over. Maybe we should have a red carpet premiere at the BAC?

Learning from the best I stepped into the role of 'I wannabe a (Ana) model trainer' in wonderful welcoming Wandsworth tonight . After a personal debut welcome chat from me to 26 GG Wandsworth participants that included newcomers Christian ,Nikki, Daniel, Gemma and Caroline ( BIG cheer for all please !) we headed off on a shortish run to Christchurch Primary School where we were met by Head teacher Colette and 'shine the light ' Barry who tasked us with filling 8 beautifully handcrafted oak raised beds with a carefully measured layer of gravel , top soil and compost ready for the children to plant, grow ,pick, sell produce . 30 minutes of solid soil shifting together with grinding gravel and compost carrying to, and in, a variety of vestibules resulted in an astounding feat (peat)of just how much 26 people can achieve in a minimum amount of time with maximum amount of effort. Please do give a huge cheer to Vicki who celebrated her 100th and last task with GG today before she moves to Australia to work. I'm sure all of GG UK will give another massive cheer to Vicki for all the hours and effort she has been as a shining example of a GG member ( Ana - how can I possibly follow that cake ?!! ) As we waved Goodbye to our task/ friendly task masters, we ran to Battersea park (with a dead end included - Whoops sorry guys ) for our fitness session which was ' welcomed' and 'enjoyed ' by all! Finally we ran, in a mingling mashed up fashion back, with a final push up the hill to Battersea Arts Centre followed by stretches and a drink in the bar and Vicki cutting her cake ! Thank you for having me GG Wandsworth! I had a great time . See you soon in Worthing or Wandsworth I hope ! Julia xx