Rising to the challenge of winning our group in the January Challenge 18 wonderful GoodGym Croydon runners met this evening at Solutions for Health & Fitness to dig trenches to help lay some railway sleepers.

It was a bit chilly so we headed off for a quick warm-up then split into two groups with *Ellie and Amatare *leading the first group swiftly to the task while I enjoyed a chat and catch-up with the second group - well we didn't chat too much on the final hill though. Once we arrived at Birdhurst Community Garden we were told more about the task and got straight to work. It sounded pretty straightforward - dig a trench 4 inches wide and around 2 inches deep - that was before we encountered, rocks, roots and juicy worms! Still by the time we'd finished we'd made great headway and had even managed to lay some of the sleepers.

After we’d finished we headed off to a nearby street for some relay races where I kindly made sure none of those waiting for their turn got cold by making them do many variations of squats - they just loved the burn!

Welcome tonight to Jess who was brought along by Holly. She said she'd never run before and did fantastically well.

As it was the last Tuesday of the month we headed off to BoxPark for our social and bumped into one of our regular runners Rob and spent our time waxing lyrical to his friend about the wonders of GoodGym. A new recruit possibly?

This evening we ran around 3km to help clear up the litter from last year

At the weekend I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of a run on the 2nd of January especially as only 6 runners had signed up however………… the amazing GoodGym Croydon runners did not let the side down and on the night we had 17 intrepid runners turn up even although rain was forecast – well done everybody!

Off we headed for a warm-up in the nearby carpark and then headed less than 1km to the beginning of our task. Litter picks and bags in hand we split into 4 groups and started to clear the litter from the raised beds along Addiscombe Road where quite a few commuters returning home asked us what we were doing and thanked us too – think they may have been glad they were heading home to a warm house though as none offered to help!

With such a large and efficient group the task was finished early so we headed up to Parkhill where I’d planned a hill training session however with so much extra unexpected time on our hands there was time for a loop of the school (750m) even before the hill sprints. The aim of the loop was to finish as strongly as they started and not to collapse out of breath by the first corner. Everybody seemed to manage really well and still had enough energy for 3 hill sprints. We concentrated on form over speed and in particular using the arms to drive up the hill. There was even some imaginary Pringle action but that did seem to put some runners off – maybe they were hungry. Just as we were coming to the end of the fitness session the rain came down and we headed back to base where we lined the entrance hall and did our stretches inside for a change.

There were 6 new runners to GoodGym Croydon today so welcome to Tracey, Kate C, Reena, Ingrid, Kate P and Erin and we hope to see you back soon.

GoodGym has gone a bit “Facebook” and if you login and look at your profiles you wil see Your GoodGym year in review and see all the runs, good deeds and cheers you had over the last 12 months. Speaking of Facebook when I went on our open page GoodGym Croydon Runners there was a Your year in review post which is worth watching.

Our next run is on Tuesday 9th of January - the full details will be posted soon but it does involve coffee grinds, a van and muscle power!

This week 16 wonderful GG-ers ran 4.5km (ish) delivering booklets for our fabulous hosts, The Phoenix. Most were kitted in their Santa hats / outfits, with Graham even riding a reindeer. Paul came armed with extra outfits, including a Santa dress – which Hazel wore with pride.

We were joined by GG newbie tonight, Heather – who moved to London to marry Shawn! Give them both a cheer!

After a quick warm up by the side, we ran off up the hill. After about 1.5km of running, we split into teams and began the leap frog flyering. Damian took one team, while I took the other. We had four bags full of the booklets – and as ever, made quick work of the lot!

Then it was time for a quick fitness session, starting with squats, burpees and lunges; and finishing with a race to 100 step ups on the curb. Graham was the speediest, very quickly followed by Sarah.

Damian then lead us back to base, while Freya and Rupesh took charge of the back-marking.

We then did all the stretches before heading upstairs at the Phoenix for our Christmas celebrations. There were many snacks, some even homemade, and a surprise appearance from Eleanor.

Tonight was Danica's last GG Barnet run before she leaves the country forever (or for ages) to go traveling. Give her all of the cheers and the virtual hugs

Thank you all for a wonderful year of GG Barnet-ing. Next week will be our final run - but I won't be able to make it. You'll be guest lead by the wonderful Camden Paul. See you all in the NEW YEAR!

T'was the last Tuesday in November, which meant it was Shit Prize of the Month (SPOTM) time...who was to bag the goodies such as a notebook in the name of Steve Jenkins, some trolley pound things, a pen, an oven timer and a compass? Why, it was none other than task force member and good deeder extraordinaire Vix, who was on her 11th deed of the month and counting. WHAT?! Top work and may your good deeding be recognised by Father Christmas this year.

It was a chilly evening and so after some lovely warming up, we split into two groups.

Team one conducted Operation Rustle - led by Tom Benson....

A crack team of nine of us decided one task was not enough, so decided to double up our duties. First things first we busted into 4 teams and hit Brixton with loads of flyers to spread the word for a cracking homeless charity who believes everyone should get to open a gift on Christmas day.

After operation flyer was done we regrouped and all agreed it was flipping Baltic, so decided to peg it quick sharp down the road to Hillyard House to meet Julie. She had a special mission for us. In the main garden of this residential home she showed us a large pile of twigs and leaves that required moving into a compost patch. Now for technical reasons outside my knowledge, Julie had been told she was not allowed to move them and wait for someone to decide what to do with them. Well Julie was having none of that and so she may have showed us what to do and somehow all the pile ended up moving, as if by GoodGym magic. A lot of it involved piling leaves into a large pink plastic sheet and moving them that way. After we dusted ourselves down and had a group shot we hopped on our good feet and pegged it back to papas. Well done team, Operation Rustle was a clear success!

Team two conducted Operation Hustle - led by trainer Katie....

We split into two groups - those who wanted a 5km round trip to reach Brixton Youth Club and those who wanted to take the shorter 1-mile stretch down Brixton Road. Once we arrived at the youth club, we all knew what to do! There were many, many leaves to be gathered and bagged ready to be taken away. Armed with an assortment of rakes and brooms, we gathered SUCH LEAVES!

With momentary jumping jacks warm up breaks we finished the job and headed back to base for some stretches and then home for a hot shower to warm back up again!

TOP WORK LAMBETH!

Tonight it was round 2 as we once again met Nicola from A Mile In Her Shoes to help sort kit donations. We had 12 lovely runners including one newcomer Emily, big welcome!

We mixed things up tonight and did a hill session before the task by running over the the infamous West Walk to complete a few reps. To encourage/bribe the runners I promised prizes for the first person up the hill each sprint rep. Michael K and was first over the line on attempt number one and looked like he'd really worked hard for his haribo reward and second time round Tim bounded to victory to claim the treasured red GoodGym laces. Good work from everyone all round!

We then jogged down to The Kings Arms (a massive thank you to them for hosting us for the past two weeks) to start on the new batch of donations to sort. We had a few different things crop up this evening including an array of running knickers with delightful motifs printed on the bum, unfortunately not very useful for the charity but a good source of entertainment for the group!

Again even though there was a mountain to sort through this evening we got it all done and everything is now ready to be given out women who are finding their feet through running with this great charity. We will continue to work with A Mile In Her Shoes in the future but if you'd like to be involved more in the meantime head over to their facebook page and think about popping along to their free fun running fitness session on 16th December.

Last but not least a little shout out for Michael C who looked after Hannah on the run tonight as she is a little injured, it's lovely to see everyone working together and looking out for each other.

Great job tonight everyone, happy running!

This week 13 GG-ers ran 5.6km to help a dementia day care centre tidy up the garden.

We started, as always, at the Phoenix - where two newbies showed up for doc checks, but then ran away (and not with us). Next time!

We then did some quick house keeping, before warming up by the Phoenix. This included many lunges, wingles and hip thrusts. The sort of this Boomerang was made for, really.

It's always a slow burner warming up in winter, but those hills to Hornsey made sure we were at least warm in parts!

Damian lead the way, while Freya was our trusty back-marker. Tonight was Damian's 99th good deed! If you'd like to help him celebrate the big 1-0-0, he'll be doing a mission at Long Lane Pasture on Saturday. You can sign up here

Once we made it to the centre there was a little confusion at first about where the door actually was - the perfect opportunity for the gang to get their squats in while I figured it out.

Poppy welcomed up into the centre, offered the team some juice and water and explained what we'd be doing. Tonight's tools were kindly lent by the folks at Friends of Tottenham Green, as the centre doesn't have any of their own. We split into four teams to turn the soil in the raised beds, chop up a dead bush, pull the weeds from the bricks and collect the fallen leaves.

We'll be helping a few more times over winter to get the garden ready for spring time. This will mean the people using the dementia service will have the opportunity to use the wonderful garden and come outside. Unfortunately the garden becomes a bit too dangerous when it gets overgrown for people with varying mobility - so our help was very much appreciated!

We then gathered for a quick group photo, which Poppy kindly offered to take which means I get to be in it!

It was then time to run home - back up the massive hill!

Nothing like running uphill for over a kilometer to get those legs burning! We all had a little breather at the top before continuing to our next checkpoint, where we stopped and had a mini fitness sesh focusing on glute activation.

We then split into two teams: the speedy team zoomed off with Damian for the final 0.4 miles back to base while the less speedy group stayed with me. My group was doing 9min/miles, but I forgot to ask Damian what his group did. So I'm going to guess 7, because they vanished into the night so fast.

It was then time to stretch it out and loosen the muscles we worked so hard tonight. Followed by Chocolate Bourbons + Some fancy sweets from Moldova courtesy of Eleanor