We ran 10k to Ha Ha Road in Charlton last night. In the wind and rain to tidy a dirty stretch of road side

The power of Twitter

We didn't have a job this week so in an effort to find something beneficial to do for our Greenwich brethren I put a tweet out asking if anyone knew of any areas that could use a 'GoodGym flash mob clear up'.

We got a response from TheOnlyWayisWoolwich who told us "the Ha Ha on Ha Ha Road is always in need of a litter pick". So we did it...running 5k out and 5k back to give it a bash.

chicken and crisps....a fabulous ditch

The Ha Ha is a former river running alongside the road and though it could do with a clear out, it was leaves rather than rubbish that need shifting. As the rain came down we decided our time on this visit was best used in tidying an equally messy area of the road just up the street. This spot (opposite the hospital) was an eyesore- full of cans, crisp packets and chicken shop paraphernalia. So we quickly bagged it up and found a bin to chuck it in.

We'll head back and attack the Ha Ha in future- when we have more bags, bins and leaf raking equipment!

5k home

We set off home on leg 2 of our 10k run- back to Greenwich Uni. Back was much easier than out, mainly because we ran down rather than up Greenwich hill. We got home by 8.30pm for a quick stretch out of the way of the Warner Bros film crews who had ensconsed themselves on campus. Hopefully a GoodGymer will have secretly strayed in shot!

Wow, an amazing 31 Goodgymers met on a cold February evening to tackle two tasks and run 5km.

Good news all around, well done Jess Cowan for her 1hr 44 Richmond Half Marathon at the weekend and Francis Powrie for heading 50 good deeds!

After an active and well observed warm up we headed to our tasks.

Alara Run Report:

Group 1 led by Paul and backmarked by Frances headed to Alara which is a wholefoods project which makes lovely products, including muesli and granola! They also manage and maintain Kings Cross Orchard Project. Our tasks were simply splitting into three groups and weeding around the various orchards to keep them protected, we filled 10 buckets full of weeds.

Mmmmm Yacon!

Due to our hard work we were very happy to collect a box of Yacon Granola each. Yacon is a species of perennial daisy traditionally grown in the northern and central Andes from Colombia to northern Argentina for its crisp, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots. Alara grows the only Yacon plants in the UK - wow! With our boxes in hand we headed off to meet Becky's group.

Skip Garden Run Report written by Emily Morrissey (first time at GoodGym):

Group 2 led by Becky, and supported by Meredith and Jess headed on a short and steady run to the Skip Garden (which is a community garden with a twist - it's moveable... This sustainable urban garden really is a charming oasis with wild flowers, vegetables and herbs, beehives and chicken coops.)

Wood x Fire = Pizza

We were welcomed, shown around and introduced to all the fantastic work that takes place there. The team was then presented with a huge amount of freshly cut firewood (used for the pizza oven, fire pit and the tipi stove!) which needed moving to a more convenient location. Two groups loaded and pushed the trolleys and one group re-stacked the wood, lasting about 20 minutes.

Progressive Running

After smashing both tasks we met at Granary Square to do some progressive running. Splitting into two groups the aim was to progressively get faster on each corner of the square, this training is regularly used by Kenyan Runners to develop their pacing.

Lucia (LG) Gobbi looked very involved - just look at her face - see photo above.

Just look at that face!

Everyone did 2 laps and 6 more brave soles did a 3rd lap - corrrrrr nice one!

We all jogged back to Somers Town together and had a nice stretch before heading to the pub and/or home.

Next Saturday we are off to Kentish Town City Farm, it's a starter session but everyone is welcome.

In April we are heading to Regents Park 10k - join us!

See you next week.

14 do-gooders ran 3k and helped clean and gleam Crop Drop’s new premises

I threw in the towel on the vigorous wagging of chins

A steady stream of red T’s arrived at the GG Haringey HQ, as did a few newcomers. Shouts out to Tav, Hendrickje and Shareen – welcome to ggharingey y’all. Out to the core crew too – much love as ever. It felt great watching/facilitating everybody becoming acquainted. This week’s bunch wasted no time in getting to know each other. The chitchat was flowing nicely; I’m pretty sure everyone would have been fine just standing around having a good old chin wag for the next hour and a half but of course the task was ahead of us so I threw in the towel on the vigorous wagging of chins and started the briefing.

Crop Drop and their mission to provide organic veg to the residents of Haringey

After making a point of telling everybody they should continue getting to know each other during proceedings, we set off for the Crop Drop HQ and this week’s light. We arrived to see the task owners Laura and Rachel, who were waiting in the yard for us with big smiles and huge waves. We had seen the light. Laura began to tell us a little more about Crop Drop and their mission to provide organic veg to the residents of Haringey. She also went on to mention that they were desperate to get their new premises running at full capacity but a leaky roof among other things had hampered this. Unfortunately, the leaky roof had prevented us from being able to decorate but myself, Laura and Rachel had a plan to use a jet wash that I’d managed to acquire, and do some well needed cleaning. Massive thank you to Tom at the Irish Causeway for lending us the jet wash – much appreciated!

“do we have any scrubbers here?”

Laura led us through the warehouse, which had been partitioned into separate units. Piles of veg greeted us once inside the Crop Drop office. There was also a stack of crates, which needed cleaning, hence the jet wash. Then came a question from Rachel “do we have any scrubbers here?” we all found this very amusing and after a few wisecracks Rachel mentioned that there were also some walls in the office that needed cleaning. So we split into two teams, one in the office tarting the place up and another out in the forecourt blasting the crates clean with the jet wash. Of course everybody (me included) wanted a go on the jet wash as it’s great fun using a high powered water pistol even if it is to clean with. Before any arguments started I reminded everyone that all would get a go. Then there was that moment that took me back to days of being teased about my hair at school. Let's quickly move on shall we.

making moonshine from some of their spuds

Meanwhile inside things seemed a little too merry as dashing Dave began doing the can can with his broom while Clare and Hendrickje just seemed to be having oodles of fun cleaning those walls. I wondered if Rachel and Laura had been making moonshine from some of their spuds. Had Dave managed to find the stash? But no it genuinely is good fun coming together as a team and simply helping others. Good vibes all round, seen!

drills/circuits en route back to HQ

Alas that time had come once more we had come to the end of the task. After packing up and bidding farewell to the very happy folk at Crop Drop we set off for our usual drills/circuits en route back to HQ. We didn’t get very far at all before stopping to do our first drill, the hustles but this week there was a twist. We also thrashed out some reverse dips, walk out planks, mountain climbers, bicycles and pistol squats outside the Bernie Grant Centre. As we were just around the corner from GG Haringey HQ we set up a sprint back, which was great fun. Out to Aidan for coming first in the sprint.

Until next week do-gooders - stay fit, do good and look out for the light

Next Week’s Task: Here

6 GoodGymmers braved the forecast, ran 3.5k and took on the mighty thistles at the Lordship Rec

got a promotion and took on a new role as back marker

Thankfully the rain pretty much held off this week. As do–gooders began to arrive we welcomed two new comers Nargees and Helen. Lovely to have you join us guys! As we went through our briefing it started to spit with rain just a little and after a few jokes about future attendance due to the weather we set off on our merry way toward the Lordship Rec, where this week’s light – the adorable Joan awaited our arrival. Out to Paul who got a promotion and took on a new role as back marker effortlessly, splendid job sir.

greeted by a beautiful double rainbow

As we entered the meadow, which contained (for want of a better word) the thistles, that have been taking over this lovely space at the rec, we were greeted by a beautiful double rainbow. We have attended the Rec for tasks twice and been greeted by rainbows on both occasions. I like to think of this as a sign that our efforts are greatly appreciated.

We had seen the light

We were also greeted by a huge wave from the ever so appreciative Joan, in the distance. We had seen the light. She was waiting for us near one of the bridges in the meadow and the scene took me back to our last task here, when something very special happened. See report Here. Once again Joan was extremely pleased to see us and went on to say how much she enjoyed our visits, not to mention the benefit to the park and its users.

age-old argument of whether or not we we're a jogger or runner

Joan then took us to the spot that she wanted us to clear of thistles and we wasted no time in getting stuck in. We split into two groups of three then set about snipping, cutting and bagging of those cluttering composites. Filled bags began to build rapidly as we conversed on the age-old argument of whether or not we we're a jogger or runner. The conclusion – as with most things in life, you can be whatever you want to be if you want it bad enough and put in the effort. Once again time had run out so we gathered ourselves along with a few bags packed with thistles and began to run (maybe we jogged?) toward the compost drop off point to dump the bags, say goodbye to a very proactive Joan, and get ready for our time trial.

This week we launched our monthly time trial

This week we launched our monthly time trial and like any launch the goal posts just had to be moved (a couple of hundred metres). So I had previously told this week’s goodgymmers that they would be doing a time trial over 400 metres and that it wasn’t a race against each other, more a race against themselves so they should push to get a good time to beat next month. Well they all pushed themselves super hard and actually ran a distance of 627 metres. Well done guys. You smashed it!

Time trial results:

Matt - 2:28.37

Paul - 2:30.47

Chris - 2:31.03

Nargees – 3:15.05

Helen – 3:15.45

Next Weeks Task: Here

Until next week do-gooders - stay fit, do good and look out for the light