We had a Hounslow first to kick off the night yesterday evening - a massive congratulations to [Andy] who is the first of the group to reach that 50 good deed milestone! Give him a huge cheer for this achievement. To celebrate there was cake, lots and lots of cake. We were also treated to a fabulous honey cake made by Remy (who had also run a barnstorming half marathon at the weekend) to mark Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tova everyone!

We were also given our cards by Dave for our team to take part in Hounslow's Beat the Street, welcomed lovely GG ers Alex from Ealing, and Helen and Jordan from Wandsworth, and were very happy to have Jennifer back in the group.

We will rock you

With our task waiting for us just across the road, we had a quick topical chat about our favourite celebrations - Christmas, Passover, St Patrick's day, Norwegian national day and, erm, pancake day all topped the list - and then hopped over to Turnham Green to find Jan waiting for us with tools, bulbs, plants and gloves ready to get stuck in.

Apparently we have had lots of compliments about our previous job on the green where we cleared a huge meadow of thistles, so it was great to move onto the next stage of the job. With Alex and Jennifer tackling the central area planting some beautiful pots, two other teams spread out over the different areas to get to grips with the weeds. The light was fading quickly, but with some headtorches and sheer grit we cleared the rockeries and planted packs of tulip bulbs which we will admire next spring as we do our sprints.

Tulips, two legs

Job done, we moved on to our fitness session, kicking off with some Indian file round the park to get our heart rates up. We then had a quick game of 'grab the light' (the name needs some work) before moving on to the real session, which was a tough one. We concentrated on three areas - core, glutes and arms. Starting with glutes we did six exercises for 45 seconds, including lunges, squats, power skips and hip thrusts before moving onto abs. For that we used the benches to smash out planks, holds, plank jumps and side planks as well as, of course, dead bugs. Finally we tackled those difficult upper body drills with press ups, tricep dips and even an arm wrestle.

After all that, all that was left was to do a good stretching session and to eat cake. Ever run should end with some. Sign up for next week's run, where we will put those beat the street cards to good use.

So, I took over the monthly socials in September 2014, it was a great night and we celebrated Becky Greenwood reaching 100 good deeds as well as the other heroes of the month. I think about ten people came... fast forward nearly three years and yes the format has grown, but not only are we rocking exclusive venues but, a stupendous EIGHTY of you came out! I genuinely cannot thank you all enough, it brings me so much joy to see everyone coming together, and the fact you're still bothering to listen to me three years later... Anyway, before i get way way too gushy on to the report:

Heroes

• So last month we decided that we were all gonna work really hard and top spot fell to three awesome GoodGym-ers. Round of applause for Egg Cameron of GG York, David Guest of GG Bristol and Sam Needham of GG Sheffield with 16 good deeds in July. London...must do better ;)

• For the rest of the heroes have a look here till 31st August or have a look at the pic above!

• July saw 13 more people earn their black tshirt having done 50 good deeds and three more joined the exclusive 'GG gives you wings' club with 100 good deeds - congrats to John Shirley of Camden, Melanie Kramers of Tower Hamlets and Pete van Tongeren of Redbridge - give them a cheer!

• The first of the area heroes...for most new runners in July, with a whopping 30 goes to GG Norwich congratulations, only a month into existence and you're topping the leaderboards!

• It's the second month of our new feature and things are hotting up already! Another draw for July between some of GG's heavyweights… with 190 attendances it's GG Bristol and GG Wandsworth Great stuff - who is gonna be the first area to hit 200 in a month?

News

• Races! We have over 60 people taking part in our second trip to Race the Train in Tywyn, Wales. It's gonna be a great trip - technically not too late to enter as you can enter on the day - so keep an eye out on social media! #GGxTrain

• Upcoming we have the New Forest Races, September 10th, which you can very much still sign up for - all the details here! The last of the 'Big Six' on October 8th, the Oxford Half Marathon - details here, if you want early bird entry at £40 then make sure you sign up before August 22nd, it goes up to £45 after!

• Euro Trip! No, the gaudy C4 extravaganza is not back but GGxBucharest is here. The European trip is decided and the best Anglo-French pairing since we decided to build that there Channel Tunnel, Paul and Axel will be keeping you updated on details for that. Ensure you're getting those details by signing up here!

• Make sure you check out the race section of the website for details of all races and check out the Race Team if you want to get a singlet, a discount and get involved in the cross country!

• Media! GoodGym Birmingham are all over your telly boxes at the moment having made an appearance on BBC Midlands Today and ITV's Central News with their fantastic work. Ivo, the founder of GoodGym, also appeared on Radio 4's #FourThought with a wonderful piece on how GoodGym started - I'd recommend a listen no matter how long you've been with GoodGym.

• Finally, we are ever expanding so please spread the news that we are now operating in Barnsley on a Tuesday, Leicester also on a Tuesday and will be opening in Ipswich on Monday 4th September.

Boring Bit

• This month we talked about the GoodGym Shindig which is basically GoodGym's away day but with GG Central, trainers, run leaders and taskforces coming along. We were in the Peak District this year to talk all things GoodGym. Topics covered ranged from diversity to communications, how to grow the numbers doing coach runs to how to keep up variety on group runs! We want to hear what you have to say and at the end of the day if it doesn't work for you it likely won't work for newcomers which leads me to...please please keep on at your trainers with regard to Taskforce, it's your first step to being more involved with GoodGym. As ever, please do also contact me if you want to know more and finally check out more on the shindig, including some notes and actions here.

Guest Speaker

• A huge huge, thanks to Fay Sibley who braved the massive crowd and told us about her amazing story of combining the Land's End to John O'Groats bike ride with GoodGym-ing. Please do donate if you can here!

now for the big one... yes… the…

INTERNATIONAL PUN OF THE MONTH!!!

the winner with a resounding 42 of 103 votes from the night and online...

"Don't chair wish your girlfriend could sand like me" from GG Cardiff; just three months after their launch! Massive congratulations!

...and with that I prove that I can't keep these damn things short! Thanks for sticking with me, it just goes for me to say a massive massive thank you to you all again. EIGHTY of you! Amazing :D Thanks to all of you that came for the first time, i know it's not easy. Big shout out to Beth from GG Worthing, top effort to make it! And, finally, thanks to all of you that clearly did follow the hashtag and prayed for sun! What a night!

Next month we go on tour again and the wonderful people of GG Barnet are hosting - all the details are here but in short, 7th September, 6.30pm The Old White Lion, N2 0NW.

Dates for your diary going forward are 5th October (Angel), 9th November (GG Newham) and December will be out of my hands but we’ll have the "GG-mas Party" which I'll keep you posted on anyway!

That's all from me but get in touch with questions, suggestions and anything else!

Cheers,

Pritesh (pritesh@goodgym.org - 07887802793 - @pritski)

p.s. Please do follow me on twitter, if you can, for many GG related updates and also join the 'Unofficial' Facebook Group here (remember to state your area) for more info on races, training runs, socials and other news from the GG community.

p.p.s. Big thank you to Frances and John for additional photos

Did you know that the most decorated athlete in British athletics history, Sir Mo Farah, went to school in Hounslow? He joined Hounslow Athletics Club and represented the borough in the London Youth Games. 20 years later, we're meeting for our GoodGym run in Chiswick. Coincidence? There must be something in the water!

We had some great new faces last night - firstly a huge GoodGym welcome to the lovely Gemma, who joined us for her first run last night. Give her a cheer! Another massive pat on the back goes to Michael and Jade who both came along to see us from Ealing. Lovely to have you aboard, guys!

After a run down of the week's news, where we talked about the mission that still has two places left near Isleworth this coming Saturday, we made our way outside to do some nice warming up and have a quick talk about super powers before we left.

Tonight's task was a short run away, so with Adam leading the way, we set off for the lovely Strand-on-the-Green primary school. We arrived to find a little party going on, and dozens of kids on massive sugar highs darting about the place. Envious of their energy levels, we set about clearing the site of a overgrown car park. While Claudia and Natasha started weeding the borders, Jade, Michael, Adam and Gemma grabbed huge brushes and began sweeping the huge space. Meanwhile, Andy and Jo got to work digging up whole trees nearby, and in the process discovered all sorts of treasures including a rubber duck and glitter.

"It's a like a unicorn graveyard!" said Jo.

While we were a hub of industriousness, we had a GoodGym Hounslow first, when the staff brought us over a box of drinks including juice and...beer! At a school! It felt a bit naughty. But that didn't stop several of the group getting stuck in and having a jolly good time too. Well deserved, people.

Oi, teacher, leaf those kids alone!

After a quick rehydrate, we made our way back to Turnham Green in record time and ready to do a fitness session. And what a session it was. The challenge was leg circuits - eight stations, all focused on strengthening those legs. They were real toughies - high knees, tuck jumps, lunges, squat holds, hopping, mountain climbers, jump squats and ski jumps. Aside from the fact that I'm definitely going to need a rear view mirror in future, the exercises were tackled with real grit. Well done everyone!

Job done, all that was left was to race back to the Town Hall and to stretch out those aching muscles. Great work team - you not only helped out a local school and made your borough a better place, but you also smashed through a fitness session. Go you! Sign up for more fun next week right here.

PS thanks for the puns team, especially Adam who was on fire!

After last week's mini heat wave we were business as normal again, and a good job it was too.

A cracking team of eight runners met in Chiswick, and we had the pleasure of no less than three ace new members join us. People of GoodGym, please put your hands together for Adam, Natasha and Andreea who all came on their first Hounslow run with us last night. Give them a cheer!

Special bonus points go to Dave, who had a weekend of running, with no less than TWO races. Runspiration! Hat tip also goes to Andreea, who did the same 10k race on Sunday. Way to go guys.

After a few warm ups, introductions, and a quick interrogation to find out what was everybody's favourite biscuit (we nail all the important things in Chiswick. Top choice was rich tea, if you're interested.), we set off on a short but sweet little run down to the Water and Steam Museum.

This amazing place has no funding, and relies on the help of volunteers to keep the museum running. It is chock full of incredible things, and needs support so that everybody is able to go and see them. We were met by Penny, who led us through the museum to the outside area, where we were introduced to Ed and eight brooms. Our job tonight was to sweep up all the gravel in the area into piles, to stop little hands from dumping it in the water displays. This was an upper body and arms work out of epic proportions - which was a good thing, as we runners often neglect this area which can make our running form less efficient.

We each took on a different section of the huge yard, and after half an hour of hard brushing, we had made a big difference. It was one of those impossible tasks where you can't just walk away...just one last bit. 'I won't be coming back here without my brush,' said Adam. Tough work, gang, but there was no grumbling at all, despite a few blisters. After all, champions train, losers complain!

We took the run back to Turnham Green a little faster, and finished off the evening with a blast of circuits that included lots of horrid things like plank rotations, press ups and squat holds. We attempted a half pigeon in our stretches afterwards, watched by the actual birds behind us doing 'full pigeon', as Andy pointed out.

Next week we're going to be conducting a load of surveys for Hounslow Housing services to find out how they can improve the lives of the older community in the borough. A very worthwhile job indeed. You can sign up to help out here. See you then Team Hounslow!

A really sunny Wednesday evening, so I got an ice cream whilst waiting for the excited runners to arrive. Unfortunately, our planned painting task has been postponed, but luckily, Colchester in Bloom are always ready to give us something to do, and particularly since the judging is happening soon, we can really help them to spread their workload.

We welcomed new goodgymer Nafisa, and we reminded ourselves about Fay's Cake morning to send her off on her epic bike ride.

Our task was to dead head the flowers in the various border boxes in the town centre. These were at the top of Balkerne hill great, either side of Crouch street, the corner of Headgate and at the Vineyard Street Car Park. This allowed us to do a nice run around the original boundary of Colchester, before descending back to the River via Castle park.

As a warm sunny evening, we attracted a lot of attention as we made our way making Colchester more beautiful, and have a couple of recruits for Goodgym Ipswich when it starts and Goodgym Southhampton whenever that takes off.

When a teenager heckled us saying we were all really slow and ran ahead of us, Tommy and Chris accelerated to show just how fast we could be! All in jest of course.

On the river path, we did a drill where we took our arms out of running to focus on lifting the legs with the hip flexors. All of the runners found it really tiring, and it helps to understand just how a much stronger core can lead to faster running. It also helps to encourage you to engage your core more in running.

As we made our way back to Leisure World, in a slightly comical unfolding, David ran crash bang into Ian. It was comedy. David was looking behind him and Ian had come to a standstill as there was a stag beetle on the path. Using a couple of sticks, Ian rescued the stag beetle, so not only did we help make the town beautiful, we also protected the local wildlife.

Thank's to Sue for the pun!

Hump day in Hounslow is the best ever. Don't believe me? Have a read at what the dream team got up to last night...

We met at a hot hot hot Chiswick Town Hall, ready to do some serious good. But first we had some high fives to hand out. A huge well done to the lovely Jennifer who ran Gunnersbury Park Run for the first time and smashed it, and also to Andy who just ran double the furthest distance he'd every run before in one go with his Dad, who was celebrating 20 years of running. Fantastic job, and in Jennifer's words, that's proper 'runspiration'! We also welcomed back Marco from Islington, no Camden, no Islington.

While we did a little bit of warming up, which included some fancy fast footwork, we chatted about our favourite sandwich fillings. If, dear reader, you're interested, in Hounslow we like; tuna, halloumi and avocado (posh), egg (good protein), smoked salmon (posh), chicken and cheese. Who's getting hungry?

It was a nice 1.7 mile run down to Ealing Baptist Church, which we haven't been to in ages. Well done to everybody for doing it without stopping (aside from a short pause at the worst roundabout in the world). Roger was waiting for us, and there were some distractingly delicious smells emanating from the kitchen....

After a quick glass of water we were taken upstairs to get cracking on our task. The first job was to move a huge pile of bags from one room to another. The bags were full of donated clothes - our task was to sort them out into women, men, kids and, um, miscellaneous, before putting them into nice strong bags ready to be given to the homeless. Even with some small pauses - 'is this small man, or large child?' we got the job done quicksharp, filling all the large bags that Roger had bought.

We were just about to set back off for our run back when Roger came out of the kitchen with six lots of dinner for us all. What a legend! Best task ever.

Our run back was all the quicker, knowing we were carrying our supper with us, and with Andy and Marco doing some extra speed work, we arrived at the Town Hall ready for some stretches in no time. Thanks to the older gent on the bicycle who rode past as we were stretching against the Town Hall pillars shouting 'I tried that yesterday, they wouldn't budge!'. There's always one :)

Following on from Ella's Chiswick Chuckler a couple of weeks ago, we had this rib-tickler from Jennifer this week: two drums and a cymbal fell off a cliff. Ba-dum, tish!

So, I think you'll agree that hump day is the best day in Hounslow - getting fit, making a difference, free dinner, and even a joke or two thrown in! For more of the same, sign up for next week here

Another glorious evening with the perfect combination of bright and sunny but not too warm for our Goodgym run, and we were returning to one of our favourite tasks for Colchester in Bloom up on Bergholt Road Allotments.

17 merry runners joined us, including Sue and Ian. There was the usual chatter in advance of the run, and we congratulated Chris for his first Marathon, Ian, Nicola and Hannah for their Alton Water 10kms, all under the hour, and Tav and Fay for completing their Leadership in Running Fitness Course.

We made our way to Bergholt road, though we did confuse Fay as backmarker when we circled back to bring the group together - clearly they're teaching something different on LiRF these days! Then we made a snake up Bergholt Road to finally arrive at the allotment.

This task was hard. The soil was really hard, and our task was to break it up and turn it over to create a bed for plants - we had 2 examples that had been completed by the Gurkha's the previous day - and we weren't to feel bad that they had managed this well when most of them were over 70. Almost everybody had a go at using the pick-axe, and we learnt the importance of bringing your hips into play to generate the power needed to break the soil up. And I even taught some of the runners what my dad taught be about using a fork to break down and turn over soil, by jumping on it to get it further into the ground to create more leverage.

As well as creating a new plant bed, a shed was built, and hundreds of bulbs were sorted. A really great array of things in 30 minutes, and as always Pam showed her appreciation by asking us back - we'll be doing another task for Colchester in Bloom next week, but she asked if we could come back every Wednesday!

After the task we got on with our impromptu social at the Bricklayers - a very last minute arrangement, but we will have our proper social next Wednesday, so please let Emily know if you'll be coming so she can book a table.

See you next week!