It was a blustery evening in Chiswick last night, but that didn't stop the 13 runners who knocked out a speedy 6.4k to help out a local charity that supports those with longterm mental health issues.

But first of all we welcomed three whole new lovely members to the group, let's hear it for Ieva, Aysha and https://www.goodgym.org/runners/emmanuel-oyelowo. Give them a cheer!

We also had a another special reason to celebrate last night as it was Will's 50th ever good deed! What a superstar. That's a lot of running, and a whole load of doing good. Well done, Will.

After all that cheering we headed outside to warm up with some dynamic exercises, during which we found out which animal we would all be. There were a couple of cats, a squirrel, a grasshopper, a bird of prey, a rat and a, erm, dragon.

For the first leg of the run we set off at a good pace, stopping only for a few jumping jacks and squats to keep the group together. With an 8 minute mile, we were doing well, so pushed it even faster in the second and got to the Friends of Cathja shop in record time. Waiting for us there was terrifying Bruce the Dog, complete with natty red kerchief, and Karl and Rin who run the shop, which raises money to be able to support local people with mental health illnesses that rely on their help.

Our job tonight was to shift a load of mattresses and furniture from the front of the warehouse to the yard outside, and we got straight to it. Ieva and Emmanuel moved furniture and swept, Matthew, Adam and Andy got those mattresses moving, and Ross could be found teetering on top of a pile of boxes and tables sorting out all the stuff the shop could sell. Meanwhile the rest of the team was efficiently shifting and carrying things to the yard and bin area. 20 minutes later, we were done.

Apart from the grueling HIT session ahead of us, that is. We waved goodbye to Bruce and the shop, and ran the short distance to Waterman's Park where we found a nice spot to work hard. Five hard exercises each for 20 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of high knees, a short rest, then starting again. It was tough going, but the idea is that short, high intensity, high effort bursts of exercise are fantastic for burning fat, increasing cardio capacity and endurance. While that was enough for most of the group, Andy, Adam and Will stayed behind to complete Will's 50th challenge, which involved three sprints, 25 push ups and 25 press ups, before running to catch us up on the way back.

It was getting windier, which as Michelle pointed out was just good resistance training, and after a good steady run back to Chiswick Town Hall, we stretched out what was a fantastic but tough session. Then, because we had truly earned it, and it was a celebratory night after all, pub. Well done everybody, and welcome to the group for those whose first run it was. Hope to see you all next week for some more doing good, a shorter run, and of course a whole load of squats.

One big task, seven excellent runners, 180 seconds of plank and six confusing maps!

It all began at Chiswick Town Hall, as shown by the GoodGym poster on the wall which has categorically never covered any other poster on the noticeboard. Just saying.

You've been dong some great running this week, Hounslow. A big well done to Adam who has been notching up the runs, with a new parkrun PB on Saturday. Must be the beetroot bread! A hat tip too to Jo and Andy who are sailing through the good deeds. Don't forget that we might have our first 50th good deed to celebrate next Wednesday, so stick around after the run for a little fun to mark this great milestone.

This week's task was leafleting for Waterman's Art Centre. Not everybody's favourite task, but a very useful one for the charity. This weekend is the centre's River Weekender - a festival inspired for the river packed with free events for the whole community. Our job was to spread the word in the local area, and it began, as all good things do, with a run.

After a quick warm up featuring a rather natty side hop ("isn't this just...running?"), we set off on the 2k run down to Waterman's. But not before finding out our favourite condiments! There was no stand out winner this week, but ketchup, Lea & Perrins (other brands are available), dijon mustard, mint sauce (from the veggie), pepper, chutney and BBQ were all contenders. Lovely stuff.

A nice speedy run later we arrived at reception to be presented with a bulging trolley full of leaflets and a series of highlighted maps. Cue several minutes of trying to figure out what to do next ("isn't this the same map? Turn it upside down. No, the other way"). We soon cracked it though, and split up into groups to start putting leaflets through doors, into hands, pubs and travelodges before meeting up towards the end of the run to smash out a few door to door sprints.

We finished on a bit of a high after having delivered countless leaflets and enjoying a nice stretch when we were brought up short by the angriest flamenco teacher in town. No we didn't move your poster, mister. Still, we had the plank off to make us feel better, and what a plank off it was. The seconds ticked by and everybody was going strong - who was going to emerge victorious? Some great work from everybody, but this week the crown goes to Andy with an impressive 2 min 37 plank. Wowzer!

Next week it's going to be all sorts of fun planting bulbs and hopefully we'll have something to celebrate too. Sign up here for your Wednesday dose of goodness and fitness!

1 - Our first run for August! Last night we met in the mid-summer drizzle for our first run of the month. It's not the only first of the week either, because on Saturday Team Hounslow will be doing Fulham Palace park run together, and for many it will be a park run debut. Don't forget your bar codes! Good luck, athletes.

7 - Seven lovely runners gave up their evenings to do some good last night - nice work Dave, Natasha, Remy, Adam and Andy and Jo, who are both on their second GG run of the week. Way to go!

13.1 - The number of miles that Remy smashed out at the Wimbledon half marathon last weekend. You are a running superstar, Remy. Give her a cheer, Hounslow!

3 - The choices we had during our warm up - would you rather be the richest, most beautiful, or cleverest person in the world? We had a range of responses, but Dave's answer was the most canny.

2 - The distance (in miles) we ran to our task tonight. We've been to Friends of Cathja charity shop a few times before, and this time we split into two groups to continue clearing the donations pile and to shift a huge bookcase. While Remy and Natasha got stuck into the piles of bags, Andy and Jo started on clothes before moving over to Team Bookcase to help out Adam and Dave. It was a monster of a piece of furniture, but with a lot of elbow grease, some tactical shifting, and a whole load of clapping, it was soon in its rightful place and ready to start filling up with books. Lance Armstrong biography, anyone? Microwave cooking for one?

1 - The number of dogs we finally managed to win over last night. Bruce, you are now officially our friend.

2.7 - The number of miles we ran on the way back....thanks to a few twists and turns. It just keeps it interesting!

? - The number of squats we smashed out on the way back. Lovely, lovely squats.

10 - The day in August which will see the monthly social - come along to see if Hounslow wins the pun of the month. Sign up here. We also are doing a GoodGym Tooting park run takeover, so if you fancy pacing or volunteering then sign up here.

100 - The percentage of which you are brilliant, GoodGym Hounslow. Next week we're running to a food bank in a church, come along and join the fun.

Spring was most definitely both in the air and in our step last night as we met for our weekly Hounslow group run.

Along with lovely regular Andy, we said hello to two new runners, Joanna and Vikma who joined us for their first GG run. Throw these ladies a cheer!

Andy is bossing the heroes page, topping the league for distance, cheers and good deeds - but watch out, Lily and Toni are not far behind! Cheers all round.

We discussed the upcoming GoodGym Olympics, which will be taking place on 10th June, sign up now: https://www.goodgym.org/races/goodgym-olympics to show the other boroughs that west London is best London. Holler!

We managed to resist the party that was just kicking off in the next door room, despite glimpses of bowls of wotsits and bottle of wine, and headed out for a quick warm up before our run. With a few ski jumps and grapevines to get that blood pumping, we set off for our favourite church-come-homeless shelter. It was a nice steady pace for the two miles there, broken up halfway with a little chasing competition which saw us all gasping for breath.

Roger the Pastor was waiting for when we got there, and the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen got our noses twitching. As a little incentive (bribe? thank you?) he let us know that he had cooked our dinner to take back with us after we had finished the jobs. Best. Task. Ever.

With that in mind, we were off like rockets. Our task was to move down a room full of chairs from the top of the building to the bottom so that they could be loaded on to the van. A human chain was quickly formed (efficiency!) and we soon stared shifting those chairs in what turned out to be a pretty effective upper body work out. Kudos to Andy taking the tricksy stairway position, hope you're not feeling it too much today. Vikma did not pause for breath as she scooted through the building piled high with chairs, while Joanna nailed the top spot at the head of the chain - does this count as an arms day?!

By the time we had shifted well over 100 chairs, we collected our warm and delicious takeaway dinners and set off on our run back. New business idea - Deliveroo on foot! Quick, someone get the copyright. With another two miles under our belt, we stopped off at the park to smash out a quick abs blast. A strong core is essential for a good running style - it stop unnecessary twisting, helps you keep a good strong form, and makes your running style more efficient, less prone to injury, and faster. After a round of planks, side planks, Russian twists, leg holds and crunches, we were well and truly pooped. And that dinner was calling to us, so with a few stretches, we headed back to our starting point, where the party was less raging, and more - over. Good job we gave it the swerve.

Next week we have a great new task lined up. Don't miss out on doing some good and getting fit - Hounslow needs YOU. Sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/helping-hands-and-legs-in-hounslow