13 of us…. A theme is happening it seems and whilst it is said to be unlucky it appears to be our lucky number as apart from a chaotic meeting room to which no explanation could be suggested we had a belter of an evening and could ask for no more other than more time at the task perhaps.

Tonight, we were helping the Community Brain team and their Shedx project in Tolworth allotment area. As if this wasn’t lucky enough we then got to welcome Shrey, Grace and Jasper on their first Kingston run and then Dan on his second - well done on making it folks and welcome to GG Kingston! Next, we had the chance to remind ourselves how lucky we are to have Laura running in the team and congratulate her on 50 good deeds and each one with a fresh smile and energy every time!

Now some could say there was an element of our luck shying away in the warm up as some burpees finally squeezed their way into the ingredients but it’s all down to perspective surely and how lucky we are they rarely appear you could say too!! Either way the runners made them look easy and so, onto the run which was fairly straight, squeezed in a slight incline and made us all so grateful to our task owner for greeting us with Capri Sun drinks!!! Yippee

"To the left...to the right..."🎵🎶 pic.twitter.com/Vq9IdLAk5G

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) July 16, 2019

Thanks Georgia, and so to work after marvelling at a huge silver Trojan horse casually stood in among the plants and sheds at the allotment … Its presence somewhat of a mystery at first all made perfect sense once we heard what is planned for it. Well played ShedX team! There was talk of us getting to move it, but time was against us and with so many brambles and nettles to chop through the horse was not going anywhere this evening – A stubborn mule some did say!

We worked like Trojans, focusing on chopping, pruning and bagging to clear a pathway for it though and made great in roads to open up some space so once the horse bolts it is free to roam around the allotment as needed. Whilst this was happening others had divided to tackle the weeding over some fairly rocky terrain using every tool at their disposal and Dan was busy filming/ interviewing to promote all the great work Goodgym do in Kingston. Could we be doing anymore in one night?

Before we left, Georgia gave us a quick look at the fantastic self sufficient eco system developed between some gold fish and plant life – known as an aquaponic system, whilst we sipped our fruit drinks readying ourselves for a warm run back. Time definitely went to quick and we look forward to returning already!

Meanwhile back at Guildhall there was no horsing around with puns tonight as Kate had nailed some corkers in the first five minutes so a solid stretch and debrief was on the menu.

Super time had and roll on next Tuesday already ; - )

Enjoy the Shindig Martel and Caroline!

Happy Birthday Kingston

Party time for sure fell upon us runners at the Kingston Guildhall tonight, there was Martel’s Birthday… Jane hit the 100 good deeds, the new Mayor coming to office and GG Kingston celebrating doing good deeds for one whole year already!! I know exhausted just reading that aren’t you and you haven’t even got past the warm up yet!

Neither had we as we had cakes to be set out, balloons to be carried in and out of Guildhall and a budding young chef, a 13-year-old boy named Luke to thank for making such scrummy cakes to help us celebrate.

Did anyone eat one before the run??

Ok so the brief was briefer than ever (I’m sure cakes were going already during it) as we had to meet the Mayor but not before a document check is squeezed in and of course we welcome two brand new runners Tom and Lucy. Great to have you join us and while we are here let’s shout out to Victoria, Eliza and Africa from Richmond for making the trip over to party and run with us.

We made it to the Mayor just on time and had a great send off from his party including the Chief Exec for the council (who is promising to run with us soon!) some lovely words said and photos had and then there was no escaping it. Escaping the craziness that is a warm up from a run trainer that just does not sleep at night inventing ways to get a team primed for action and Kingston bless you for you have survived a year of them - so much Kudos to you all.

Star jump Mexican wave anyone? We know how to have fun #warmup #party #fitness #goodgym #kingston #birthday #marketplace #volunteering pic.twitter.com/lIrIoefLhR

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) 15 May 2019

So, to Market – Kingston market that is and some mobilisers and activators in front of Golden Queen Anne and then would you believe …more cake but this time on the run or conga if you prefer (there’ll be no munching this time) and a relay around the square that left many passers by wondering just what we were up to. In fact, some runners too also had the same question I think but it’s party time so let’s all do it! For the record we didn’t use Luke’s cakes here as they were just too good and it’s worth highlighting too that every runner made the task look a lot easier than it was. (A year’s warm ups and acrobatics had paid off a trainer smugly thought!!)

Party games! 🥳🎉#warmup #goodgym #kingston #cake #running #volunteering #tuesdays #dogood #fun #birthday #firstbirthday #ayearold pic.twitter.com/ASK2jWy9gj

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) 15 May 2019

So, without this going on until a second birthday what’s the task I hear you cry and well, wait for it I say as we have a 3.4km run to get there first with the added bonus of a little hill or incline of sorts if you will just to spice it up. Loved it (speak for all of us when I say I think we all did). The task was at Edith Gardens and was to help Citizen Zoo renovate a green space to create a nature reserve for those in the community with disabilities to be able to access and enjoy. It is to be the first of its kind in our borough and wider so in South London. Citizen Zoo are a super organisation so definitely give them a look up to see what they are up to and how you may help the great work they are doing in our communities for wildlife, conservation and habitat so it can flourish, and we can all get to benefit from it.

We were met by two great gentlemen Elliot and Jeremy who had been on site since 8am and they were still fired up and super passionate about the project, so we couldn’t help but feed off the energy and get stuck in (some were feeding off of some cake energy too I think!!). Elliot’s brief was awesome, no sooner done though and we lost Nik and Rob to the woods where the stake banger tool (not sure that is the correct name for the contraption) was put to work as the supports for the dead hedge that the rest of us were creating were put into the ground. The photos speak for themselves here – It was an awesome task and a great chance to assist on such a super project. A gift for a birthday run really so it was hard to leave and we look forward to going back already but we had to run as ….well, the pub was calling and a social was awaiting!

A strong focussed run back was on the menu and….. oh yes, I remember… that was until the run trainer turned to watch most of the group run blissfully the wrong way and so had to go screaming after them. We settled for a strong steady run back rounded off by a cool down without the usual sounds of our dustcart in the background to drown our voices or was it there and I just don’t notice anymore? No matter there was cake and beer to be had and so to the pub.

A great turn out with an awesome group of people, so a thoroughly enjoyable time was had – We even had a GG quiz and the prize of a Unicorn! NO not a real one but one in an inflatable ball – you know ; - )

Thanks all for the great year had and all the super running, good deeds and kind hearts that make a marvellous team to be part of. Such a blessing in the community and here’s to the next year!

Unluckily for some but not for us....13 runners joined Goodgym Kingston this evening (weirdly though that's the same amount that went to the cemetery on our last visit!!). We welcomed newbie Elizabeth on her first run with Kingston!! AND we also welcomed back Lesley after her magnificent achievement of running the Brighton Marathon. Well done Lesley!!

After news of community missions spreading like wild fire. Well done Kingston! (Check out the run listings for the next 2 weekends), some Marathon reflections where we all felt proud of Nik and Nic for their achievement we had a quick bit of birthday talk and then we headed out for our warm up.

Straight in to the all important pre-run stretches and then we paired up and got into the zone to conquer that ab building exercise...the plank! One half of the pair planked it out while the other balanced on the edge in a variety of exercises all tailored to strengthen our running. There was no lack of motivation from our partners and some were even spurred on to 'Stick it out and keep it stiff'. Not sure if it helped performance but the abs were hurting from laughing!!

We then set out on what was turning out to be a lovely sunlit evening to Kingston Cemetery. A location we have visited before and there is just so much to tackle there that we were DEAD set on helping to cut down thorny brambles and self-setters that were taking over the grave stones. We chose our weapons - everything from loppers, secateurs, rakes and even saws and set to work! Digging, raking, cutting, lifting and even Olympic style broom curling were all part of the workout at the task and we got plenty done but time went so quickly and before we knew it we needed to start packing up and heading off, we BRAMBLED to beat to caretakers clock and 'we would have got away with it if it weren't for those pesky self-setters causing so much havoc'!

RAKE me back so I can clear those vines ...

a few of us pleaded as we set off for our return run via the familiar red phone boxes..."who you gonna call?"

Well done team, we came , we saw and we conquered...see you next week

Don't forget the Thames Path Trot this Sunday if you fancy a run along the river we some fantastic GG folk.

Love is in the air and it found its way to the Guildhall this evening. 10 runners gathered tonight to spread the love of good deeds by running to Tolworth Broadway excited to be helping the Community Brain Project by Shedx.

But first there was a game of nought's and kisses to play and some heart shapes to get into for a photo opportunity. We tried to squeeze as much love and hearts in as we could as its #runlove week. Once warmed up and throughly loved up we set out into the dark (thankfully a more mild night than of recent runs) and headed to Tolworth.

Noughts and Kisses - a game of speed and love 😍🥰🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️#runlove #goodgym #valentines #games #fitness #fun #activity #kingston #lovekingston #running #volunteering pic.twitter.com/j8NjYndRP1

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) February 13, 2019

Once there we met the lovely Georgia and team who are on a mission to make the Broadway greener. We visited last year and started a clean up to make way for the flower beds along the Broadway and we were back to tackle more. Before we started the large overgrown bed full of weeds, grass and stubborn plants, Georgia showed us the fruits of our labour last year where the 'not so attractive' benches once stood is in place herb gardens - already our TLC has contributed to the great Tolworth project that Community Brain are steering. So a quick breath and to the plot we needed to tend too grabbing litter, pulling out weeds, cutting down the plants and then digging up some tough roots that didn't seem to want to go. The soil then needed to be turned over so that it was ready to put to use.

Now, I would like to say that we didn't have to dig deep to find the love but we really needed some muscle power to get to those roots - it definitely wasn't for the faint hearted - Shedx had us stumped!!! (Nearly)

We dug deep and found the love on Broadway! #shedx #communitybrain #kingston #volunteering #goodgym #project #greener #tolworth #fitness #runlove pic.twitter.com/e7aai8EW4m

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) February 13, 2019

We had an easier job turning over the soil with weeds and woods moving easily like spaghetti we were reminded of the famous romantic scene from Lady and the Tramp (however for some of us, thinking of spaghetti just made us hungry) But you can tell it was Valentine week and the run love theme was going on ....hmmmm can we get a pun from Lady and the Tramp??

Let's stick our head between our legs and have a blood-rush to the brain to think about it or you could say another go at a 'heart' photo !!

Ok enough the clock was ticking so it was time to down tools and head back to Guildhall to the relief of a good stretch for those aching muscles.

Great job all!

15 goodgym runners turned up at the Guildhall for the penultimate group run of the year. This is our first GG Kingston Christmas and santa hats have become common fashion items over the last couple of weeks. Next week to celebrate the festivities we will be having a drink and a bite to eat at The Foresters in Hampton Wick after the run.

So back to tonight....to get us into the spirit of the season (not that we really need it) Mark brought along Christmas crackers and found a way to squeeze them into our warmup - how does he think of these CRACKING ideas! Once warm we headed off along the streets of Kingston, lighting up the riverside like a Christmas tree as we passed through.

We arrived at the British Heart Foundation shop in Eden Walk where we were met by Wendy and split into groups. Like Santa's elves in the workshop we were keen to get to the tasks on the list.

Wendy had us sweeping floors, dividing books into "naughty" and "nice" piles, moving coats and party dresses to the front of the shop ready for the party season and sending some of us upstairs to 300 sacks of donations that needed to be loaded into cages ready to be delivered to other BHF shops - told you it was like Santas workshop! With no cages left and 150 bags to go we formed a human production line to get the remainder of the donations centre stage and we did it with moments to spare and just in time for a collection at BHF tomorrow. It was like a Christmas miracle!

Good deeds being done - pass it on
🤶🎅#volunteering #goodgym #Britishheartfoundation #kingston #runninggroup pic.twitter.com/zzffMlvSBc

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) December 11, 2018

There was so much to do for the worthwhile cause but we got it done! Then it was a quick jog back to Guildhall for a stretch

Big Shout out to Peter to welcome him on his first run with GG Kingston!

Next week is a big one (10km) to see the year out and then onto some festive cheer - Do come along even if you can't make the run!