Wed 17th Jan 2018 at 6:45pm
Southwark Report written by Ellie Hutch
This week, GG Southwark had a change of scene, a long run to bike heaven and a paper chase around the borough.
On this very cold mid January eve, GG southwark were tasked with running the 1.7mile route to Peckham BMX club, to help with some much needed promotion and leaflet dropping.
After a change up of scene, our base for welcomes was instead at the gorgeous little restaurant TUPI on Peckham Rye road. However, we soon outgrew our quaint little abode as who knew peckham goodgym would be such a success on such a cold night with 21 runners in toe!!!
After housekeeping we donned our winter warmers and set to foot on the first leg. With Ed and his pigeon back from honeymoon, it was of course a very fast pack pace at the front. But leading from the back I had just as fierce of a team and managed to get everyones best efforts all the way to task.
Meeting us at the track was CK our host, who wasted no time handing over the stacks and stacks of glossy papers promoting this excellent community club.
With a plan to achieve maximum distributions on route back, the groups ran hard and fast, posting all the way. Thankfully the park is surrounded by a ton of awesome block estates. Therefore we carried out some excellent tempo sprint/jog efforts, all the way round the hood.
As the cold drew in, we switched up directions and spent the next 35mins pavement pounding, heading for home & of course hitting up letter boxes wherever we could.
It was certainly a night to get pulses racing as well as legs. With distances dashed, in a flash, we were done. The end of another goodgym in glorious Peckham.
Wed 29th Nov 2017 at 6:45pm
Hounslow Report written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)
Clad in hats, gloves, and some rather natty new headtorches, a group of 10 intrepid runners did not let the bitter cold put them off last night.
We started off the night talking about the amazing Mission Possible this weekend, where teams of three will be taking on a mass volunteering effort, spreading good all over the city! Good luck everyone, see you in the pub afterwards...
Braving the cold, we stepped outside and dived straight into our warm ups whilst discussing who we would ask round for dinner. Charlie Brooker, Stephen Hawking, David Beckham and Alan Shearer were all lucky enough to score an invite.
The night's task was at the Waterman's Centre, and independent charity which aims to bring art to the local community. It was just under a 2.5k run, and we set off briskly. 20 speedy minutes later we were there, ready to get stuck in.
We were handed shears, bin liners and brooms, and tasked with the job of clearing leaves and cutting back the branches in the car park. It was quite a labour intensive job, which was good, because we needed to keep warm. Half an hour later and several bin bags later we were done. Or were we?
No, we were not. There was the small matter of hill sprints to do. Now, after talking about the possibility of hill sprints for several weeks, if not months, we had to take what we could get. The small incline in the carpark would have to do. In pairs we tackled five reps, keeping our chests high and taking care to pump our arms but to keep them at a 90 degree angle behind our body. You all looked like superstar athletes.
The run back was smattered with some lovely conditioning exercises, just to keep things exciting, and we stopped just short of the Town Hall to do our final bit of fitness. In two teams we assumed plank position, passing the golden satsuma along the line. When the satsuma got the end, somebody shouted 'burpee', and the whole team had to do said burpee, increasing by one each time. Team Jo, Michelle, Jeremy and Andy won the challenge and as their prize, took home the two fought-over satsumas. Lucky them.
During our stretches we realised we have only two runs left THIS YEAR. Let's make the most of them, starting with our penultimate one next week. Stay warm until then :)
Wed 8th Nov 2017 at 6:45pm
Hounslow Report written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)
Knock, knock. Who's there? Hydrate. Hydrate who? Hydrate you 10 out of 10, Hounslow!
Ahem. Last night's sterling effort from Hounslow saw 12 runners tackle a local resident association's rubbish problem, run just over 5k, and smash out some conditioning exercises along the way.
First we cheered our lovely new member Hardip who joined her for her first run last night. Great to have you with us Hardip!
We also said a big well done to Remy who nears her epic goal of 24 half marathons in one year by smashing a cobbly Lancaster course at the weekend (way to go!) and reminded everyone to sign up for the GoodGym Christmas party on the 8th December.
During our dynamic warm up we found out what everybody eats on Christmas day, or the celebration day of their choice. Yes, there were a few turkeys, but there was also duck, goose, a veggie alternative, pigs in blankets, pasta and a chinese takeaway. Delicious.
Then it was time for the run. Our first stop was 2.5k away where there was a pile of litter pickers, bags and gloves waiting for us. The local residents were fed up with their roads being covered in rubbish, and we had been given three areas to tackle. We split the group into two, and got stuck in.
Working hard in our red and black tshirts it seems like we were a pretty good advert for GoodGym, as several people stopped to find out what we were doing and say thanks, including one women with three amazing dogs that we all decided was a very good reward for our work. Five full bin bags and a whole load of cleaner streets later, we returned our litter pickers and set off back for home. There was some nice sprinting along the way, and only that pesky train could stop us in our tracks.
5k later we were back at our starting point and stretching out all our hard work. Next week we're beating the cold at an indoor task with a nice 6k run in total. Sign up here to spend your Wednesday the GoodGym way!
Thursday 2nd November 2017
Nicola has done their first good deed with GoodGym.
Nicola is a now a fully fledged GoodGym runner. They've just run to do good for the first time. They are out there making amazing things happen and getting fit at the same time.
Wed 1st Nov 2017 at 6:45pm
Hounslow Report written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)
Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear Hounslow, happy birthday to us!
That's right, the Hounslow group is officially ONE. We have taken our first wobbly steps into the world of doing good, and have the quads to prove it. Last night was truly a night of celebrations. We cheered Andy who shares his GoodGymiversary with Hounslow, and Will who was also at the first ever group run. We welcomed the lovely Jeremy to the group for his first ever run - throw a cheer his way, Hounslow! A huge well done to Remy who tackled the horrendous-sounding Luton half and showed that race what for.
After a discussion on the best thing about birthdays - cake, friends, joy, cake, gin, gin and wine,having a whole week off work, cake and more cake - we did our warm up and set off for William Hogarth School. It was a short run there so we did it fairly nippily, looking forward to our indoor task. Unfortunately, when we got there ready to do some flatpack assembly, we found that Ikea had literally not delivered, so we were tasked with raking the outside area which was providing a nice home for many, many leaves.
Undeterred we got stuck in, filling up no less than seven black bin bags to the brim with those leafy pests. Great upper body work out, team. We stopped for a quick photo underneath the apt 'celebration of work' banner and then hit the road again. It was so nice of Hounslow to put on a fireworks display for our first birthday just as we finished the run, and it was only right that we stopped for a quick rest to enjoy them.
But not for long - we had a birthday fitness session to do! We divided up into three teams and played a game of Ana(erobic)grams. The idea was that everybody collects letters by doing exercises - one tuck jump for every good deed, high knees while naming Hounslow tasks, guessing the number of good deeds, planking if you were at the first ever run, high fiving someone whose name began with 'R' and many more - until all 15 were collected. Then came the great unscramble. It really came down to the wire, but it is my pleasure to announce that in first place, winning a round of drinks, was.....the Chizzee Rascals! Way to go Andy, Will, Natasha and Claudia.
All that was left that a trip to the pub for the quiz - kudos Team BetterGym for coming SECOND! - and to eat some cake. Except it didn't quite happen like that, did it? Least said, soonest mended - but check out the photos for the full story.
It's been a cracker of a year, Hounslow. Here's the the next, and the one after, and the one after that. And a huge cheer for all your brilliant personal achievements over the past week.
Thu 2nd Nov 2017 at 2:11pm
Happy birthday, Hounslow!
Sat 4th Nov 2017 at 9:41am
Happy birthday Hounslow! Thanks Ana for the cake (don’t worry, it still tasted great!)
Wed 1st Nov 2017 at 6:45pm
Getting fit and giving back to the people of the local community.
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