Welcome first timers Tim, Alicia and Catherine joining us this evening.

A late cancellation meant that instead of heading back to Ealing Road we went flyering around the streets of Hounslow to let locals know that GoodGym is happening nearby.

Members Andy and Lily ( in brand new red t-shirt) led teams of three for a bit of a leafleting competition. Points were awarded for getting rid of flyers most quickly.

With local streets covered we turned our attention to some fitness and another chance to win some points.

First the step-up challenge. Who can do 40 steps the quickest? Andy gained a point for his team when we led with the right leg but Donna came out on top for Team Lily when it was left leg first.

With the scores at 4-2 to Andy's lot we had a go at a couple of relay races. Team Lily grabbed victory for the first round while Andy's came out on top for round two.

The prize? Andy got to cut Simon's leftover birthday cake back at base.

We had a munch and a bit of a stretch, left some leaflets at reception and headed home.

Great night of getting fit and doing good.

We are definitely at Ealing Road Baptist Church next week. See you there!

Simon

For this week's run we returned to one of our regulars, the Salvation army in Camberwell.

After a quick warm up outside the Roastery, Helena led the way up Chadwick Road. On the way down Camberwell Grove there was plenty of chat, almost all Great British Bake Off related. Once we arrived at the Salvation Army we were greeted by Janet who told us that there had been a bumper turnout at their recent anniversary celebration, thanks in part to the flyering that we had done on our last visit. This visit was all about the kitchen, the whole place needed a good clean. A low ceiling and Matt's height advantage meant that he was tasked with trying to get rid of the grease and grime from up high while others cleaned shelves, the floor, the hob and any other surface we could reach. While we cleaned we had a serious chat about organ donation before returning to the topic of TV. Most of us had been enjoying the sheer incompetence of the Apprentice candidates but only Beth and Hanna had fallen a little bit in love with Married At First Sight.

Janet has a habit of treating us with sweets when we go to visit but this week had decided we needed something healthy so had some seeds for us to nibble on. After some gentle persuasion she did produce some sweets but she wasn't convinced they had any real sugar in them.

On the way home we Indian filed back up the hill and once back at the Roastery didn't hang about as we were all keen to get home and watch the bake off semi-final.

October, 9 runners, a grey morning, a sunny day, some talking to do and some litter to pick.

We met up for a #runandtalk session on what started as a sunny evening and soon dropped down a wet and somewhat wintery session. After a bit of a task let down, we jogged around the Rye getting nice and warmed up whilst welcoming Ellen to her first ever GoodGym experience.

Then it was into teams, gloves on, black bin bags in hand and a direction each to go in to litter pick. The idea being to clean up the area where we live as well as have a chance to chat to each other.

Shoes, balls and cans later, we rendezvoused and it was time for our regular time trial. 720 metres against ourselves. There's a regular route we use and we had already recce'd it during our warm up. Amazing first effort for some and repeat effort for others.

EVERYONE matched or bettered their time

Time to work you harder, and that we did....

5 exercises as the heavens opened. Did someone say #nationalburpeeday? Burpees, mountain climbers, complete abs, squat jumps and planks climbs... 10 of each, 9 of each, 8 of each.... I could go on but it'll seem never-ending. You get the idea and everyone kept each other going. Despite the burn, despite the sweat and the rain.

Such an amazing effort could only be rewarded with... a gentle jog home. We stretched off, we dried off and washed our hands clean of anything untoward.

Running, doing good, having a chat and getting fit check.

7 runners ran the dreaded hill that doesn't look like a hill to shift manure.

With the wind swirling around, we congregated unsure whether we needed layers or not. October has arrived with autumn and darker evenings.

After a warmup and some strong leg - arm co-ordination, we got going running the short distance to Grove Park Allotments where we were met with 115 bags of manure and a few head torches!

Strong scented gardens

It was our job under the guidance of Lizzie, community allotment extraordinaire, to get the bags and barrows full of manure inside the gates of the allotment.

Beware of the manure thieves

It turns out that lightweight Peat is a liar and is pretty heavy but mulch is much easier to handle. Beware of leaky wheelbarrows and tight corners when moving fine manure.

Somehow, shovelling soil passed quickly and we'd gotten all bags inside within our 40 minutes at Grove Park.

Leaving the non-Goodgymmers pretty happy, we 7 wanderers set off back down the hill.

Before we could get rid of the aromas of the evening, it was time for some pair work. Tricep dips, squat jumps, v-sits and mountain climbers coupled with some lamp posts to run to finished off the session nicely.

Time to jog back to Old Spike, catch our breath and stretch off.

Fingers crossed for some nice, clean fun next week.