Goodgym Haringey got together last night with a very special purpose in mind - to celebrate a departed friend, whose love for life, disposition for a good laugh, and thirst for just a few more Ks was intoxicating and contagious. The thing about death is that it doesn't care about fairness and sometimes it takes from us people who just had too much damn living ahead of them, leaving those of us still around with such a deep sense of loss. Nurj knew this and last time I saw her at the hospital, she made me promise her in that matter-of-factly kind of way of hers that I needed to make sure her Goodgym lot as she called us would be ok afterwards because after all she wouldn't be around to do so. Bloody strong to the end, our Nurj.

So, as a way of keeping a promise, the Goodgym Haringey family decided to bring some new life into this wonderful London borough that she so loved. We planted a baby tree, which will be around for many years to come, and where us Goodgymmers can go and share a quick laugh or the latest juicy goss with Nurj. A Royal Beauty by name, this tree will be all colours and fancy things as seasons change so we know Nurjehan would have approved. And also, as her Goodgym lot got together last night for the customary rummage through a community garden on a lovely warm Wednesday evening at the end of another Summer season, sharing a laugh, some memories, and some tears, I know she would have smiled at her favourite Goodgym in the country and felt proud. We'll never stop missing you on Wednesday evenings, good friend.

6 Goodgymmers jumped into action as the Tottenham Community Sports Centre came calling with a massive bag of gravel and a car park that needed some love. Boom!

One Foot (Not) On The Grave

Big up for Ren who joined us for her first ever run and task. She didn't even flinch when Gramps insisted they run to task through a cemetery and she even zombie danced when he also insisted on a cemetery photograph. A natural. Come again <3

Post-Big Half Hanger Issues

Ren, Raj, and Gramps ran the cool 4k to task where they met with Veronika, Ed, Latoya who was still basking in the wonderful post-Big Half glow.

After a bit of confusion when Gramps thought a random punter was our task owner for the night, the rest of the crew understood the assignment and followed the actual task owner to the Centre's car park where they received some clear instructions: please introduce this massive bag of gravel to our car park.

Our crew, led by a Latoya who was definitely feeling pretty post-Big Halfy indeed, understood these clear instructions to mean: FLIP THIS MOTHERFLIPPING BAG OVER. And so it began. It was a sisyphean task of sorts, if instead of rolling a rock up a hill, you have a bunch of rather otherwise intelligent Goodgymmers thinking they could just pick up an 800k bag of gravel and tip it over. But, by Zeus, they tried.

When reality finally caught up with our team, they armed themselves with shovels and fork instead and the task then began in earnest.

Every couple of shovelfuls, Latoya and Ed would try to pick up the bag again while newbie Ren buzzed like a bee wanting nothing to do with the futile bag picking until she was eventually brought over to the dark side. Veronika and Raj took turns at levelling the gravel and shaking their heads laughing.

Eventually, without as much fanfare as we expected, the bag was indeed tipped and we had blasted our way through the task way before 8 - talk about gravelling at the speed of light!

Afterwards, we had time to take some pics in the boxing rink, and Veronika and Gramps ran back to HQ while the rest of the team went off in search of food.

A brilliant night.

Twenty Goodgymmers congregated in the grounds of the wonderful Meadow Orchard in Crouch End for an emotional evening of doing good and getting fit.

Nurj O'Clock

This report is a bit late because frankly I found it a bit hard to write. Or more concretely, I tried a couple of times but failed miserably each time. You see, even in her absence, Nurj had managed to grab centre stage on Wednesday's task like she had done some many times over the last six years and I knew I would have to write a report with her as the protagonist for one last time. The words just didn't come, to be honest.

So, instead, I have decided to share with you the big Nurjehan-shaped hole she leaves on a normal Goodgym evening. She played many roles within our motley crew: self-appointed timekeeper, naughty gossipy aunt, strict school teacher when we needed a telling off, whingepot whenever we attended her least favourite task that shall now forever remain unnamed, indefatigable do gooder, tireless 5k/10k runner, unconditional friend, and perhaps, the one thing we'll miss the most, her enthusiastic cheerleading of everything Goodgym Haringey. She loved Goodgym. And she preached its praises at any given opportunity.

If I'm allowed a personal note, I'll personally miss a role she played too well without any fanfare or noise but that she relished and excelled at. Whenever we had a new runner in our group, it would always be either Nurj or myself reaching out to say hello to them. She would then proceed to tell the newbie all sort of crazy stories about how I am a mad area activator, I would then reply by telling the newbie to watch out for her because 'this one bites' and thus, within the space of thirty seconds, a newbie was eased into the dynamics of our group and was then shadowed by Nurjehan for the next 45 minutes, regaling them with whatever particular drama was happening at her school that week and making sure their evening was as fun as possible. I'll miss my newbie whisperer.

Our dearest Nurjehan Khan passed away on Thursday 18th July 2024, having completed 273 Goodgym tasks and along the way having become the unofficial face of Goodgym (her face is the landing page of the website). Goodgym Haringey will never be the same without her and we'll miss her.

I'll finish this here before she tells me off for going on too much.

<3

It's Our Birthday And We'll Cry If We Want To

In a moment of incredible timing, this evening also happened to be Goodgym Haringey's 9th Birthday. There will be other nights to celebrate and we will have a social to end all socials in due course, but we did mark the occasion with cakes, chocolate, and hell of a lot of tears.

We're very grateful to the folk at the Meadow Orchard for accommodating us at short notice (this was Nurjehan's favourite Haringey task) and they had loads of fun jobs for us. They even let us use axes on the night. Talk about cathartic.

Normal service will resume next week.

For now, just look after each other and I'm here if anyone needs a hug, a natter, or a cry.

Love to my wonderful Goodgym Haringey Fam

Seven Goodgymmers journeyed deep into the heart of darkness as they battled with the temperate jungle that had taken over the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve.

Watch It Bring You To Your N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-nees. Knees!

It was a 'welcome to the jungle/ we got fun and games/ we got everything you want, honey/ we know the names' kind of evening for our Goodgymmer tonight as they put pedal to the metal and partook in some heavy-duty gardening at the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve.

Let's call a spade a spade, that was a hard task. The Reserve has found itself without a lot of attention over the last few months, and it showed as the site was overgrown to such an extent that we had to start strimming from the gate to create a way into the tool shed! It turns out you leave nature alone and it explodes.... who knew!

Our Goodgymmers were undeterred and on they ploughed like total badasses, with Nasser in his sophomore task leading the way blazing a trail for the rest of us with his trusty strimmer.

Not far behind, Julie armed herself with a hedge trimmer and attacked the overgrown fields of stinging nettles with gusto, while Nurjehan and Niamh, armed with loopers, gave the taller trees a trim. Ed and Clare in the meantime, cleared Amazonic levels of foliage and debris and made sure it was all composted nicely at the back of the Reserve. Our hour came and went before you knew it, so we tidied the tools away, took some selfies, and made our way home, the stinging of the nettles burning strong on our naked legs. Definitely a win for the Hardcore Crew! 

New task next week - Come!!!