We really got into the swing of things tonight.... pic.twitter.com/B1JU5F8F5z

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 12, 2018

What a night!!! "Young men" and young women gathered....22 of them at the Guildhall tonight.

After some fancy running drills and LOTS of laughter alongside , we ran along the river to the YMCA Hawker Centre who are a buzzing family centre in Kingston offering children's activities, soft play, group exercise classes, a great gym and much more. YMCA is a global charity and provides support and accommodation for those vulnerable in our community as well as offering so many activities and education for youth and families.

And they are off! Great night tonight #Kingston pic.twitter.com/FzWitNcO4I

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 12, 2018

Our task at the Hawker Centre was to wash their gym windows, staff members Richard, Zoe and Memory were incredibly welcoming and had laid out buckets of water, cloths and sponges for us. We all grabbed tools and got to work recieving some interesting looks from the fitness crowd in the gym as we practiced our plyometric jumps to reach the top of the window pane....no pane no gain eh! As advised by Mark we were working anterior deltoid, pec major, quadriceps and ...I can't spell it so I will just write "Calves" (there were others too). So really, was the gym inside or outside tonight?

Because of "many hands making light work" some of us also did some weeding. We battled some evil looking plants in order to get the flower bed clear and make room for the summer flowers to bloom.

Richard and Zoe were delighted we came, stating they normally clean the windows by "waiting for rain" . They also gave us a sneak preview of a future task which just looks like AMAZING fun! (soft play area is all I am saying!)

As we ran back along the river a few talked about how in such a short time of Goodgym Kingston being set up they are already starting to feel the benefits. These ranged from feeling fitter, more toned but more than this was the feeling of mindsulness from engaging in a task and then also the social aspect of enjoying a good run with a great group.

It was a grear task and a great group doing good...as Toby stated..."we smashed those windows!" (is this the pun to finish?)

In news this week we celebrated some runners taking part in recent races as well as mentioning the Richmond Run Fest in September, places go fast so sign up quick, you can do that here.

Welcome to new runners Laura and Jacob , great to see those back for a second run with us - from memory - Anita, Kate, Fionn, Andrew, Nicky, Xander, Amy. Apologies if I have missed anyone.

Bored sitting in on a Tuesday night, watching the same thing on the TV? Why not come and have some fun and run with us!
Tuesdays 6.45pm, at the Guildhall, Kingston#running #volunteering #goodgym #kingston #doinggood #goodfun #makeadifference pic.twitter.com/b1FyqNamZW

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 12, 2018

Setting off through Kingston market square #kingston #Goodgym #doinggood

Tuesday nights, 6.45pm, meet at the Guildhall Kingston pic.twitter.com/axeNuC6paD

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 5, 2018

Kingston Goodgym hit our 4th run this week, and 19 of us got involved in helping out in a spot of gardening beside the river in the sun.

We started off, as ever with one of Mark's 'not too taxing’ taxing warm-ups making sure we were raring to go. Our first run was 2.9km through Kingston town centre and up and around a local park, stopping for a quick group workout of squats, push ups, lunges and some 'non’ Burpees (they were close, but not quite!)

They are not burpees, but rather a burpee variation #GGKingston #tonight #tuesdays #guildhall #activekingston #getfitbydoinggood #kingston #burpees #fitness pic.twitter.com/HpAG3TR7nt

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 5, 2018

When we arrived at Hogsmill Community Garden we were taken aback by the gorgeous garden hidden from the roads. Luckily for us they had a lot for us to do! From repotting sunflowers, to moving compost, moving topsoil, raking and even some old faithful weeding....at one point we even had 2 wheel barrows on the go (proper task!) We were lucky enough to have Julie and Brian meet and greet us, give us some great instructions and then "oh my" a cup of tea! How lucky were we (yes there were even biscuits!) They gave us a great insight to the challenges a community garden faces and it's a credit to them how well it is established now nestled snugly in the Kingston community. The intention now is to extend the use of the facility for therapeutic means to assist those that are under GP referral for such a form of therapy.

After the talk and a final dunk of my soggy biscuit, it was time to head back so just shy of 1km run back to Guildhall, we, had a thorough stretch and gave ourselves a high five (some even stretched to a beer!)

Our numbers are strong but we always want more people to run with us! Do feel free to suggest as potential task owners to Mark.

Next week sees us running along the river to the Kingston borders where we will help the might YMCA. A big shout out tonight for all of those on their second run with Kingston, good to have you back. Welcome to new runners, Anita, Xander and Amy as well as visitors Beth and Debs - what a team we have.

Oh what fun we had tonight! #jumpingsquats #plyo #fitnessfun #fitness #goodgym pic.twitter.com/CAAeWthbHw

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) June 5, 2018

LAUNCH NIGHT!!!

And so it begins, Tuesday nights, 6.45pm, at The Guildhall in Kingston. That's right, tonight saw the launch of GG Kingston and 32 runners came to join us as we celebrated the pairing of GoodGym and Kingston Council in order to get fit by doing good in the community.

We had the pleasure of being joined by Mayor, Julie Pickering , who gave a warm and heart felt speech that made some runners feel as though they were part of some great developmental changes in the borough. It was wonderful to have the Mayor wish us well and offer such encouraging words of support for GoodGym. In addition to this we were also joined by Martel Atterbury and Sue Gregory-Johnson from the Sports and Leisure Development Team a Kingston Council. Martel played a key role in getting Kingston off the ground and Sue was fantastic tonight, sending out a live stream on Twitter of the run - check it out...

https://t.co/aaBAKtPVpW

— Active Kingston (@ActiveKingston) May 15, 2018

After the briefing and warm up we set out on our first run, heading to Tolworth Allotments to prep an allotment and move a shed for Community Brain and the SHEDx project. This organisation have recently taken over the abandoned Tolworth Allotments with the aim of teaching food growing and generating sustainable sources of locally produced food. They want to inspire communities to feel proud of where they live and actively engage with it.

To get to the allotments we ran 3km through the Kingston streets and up a cheeky hill, you could hear a slight squeal from the Richmond GG runners who joined us to show their support. Their squeal was because they said "they just knew" Mark would put a hill in somewhere!

Once we reached the allotments we were greeted by** Robin Hutchinson ** who explained all about Community Brain and the SHEDx project. Do give them a follow on Twitter!! Robin instructed us runners to lift and turn over soil in the allotment so that it was ready to be used for the next stage of the project.

A time lapse of our @GoodGymKingston runners working their magic at the @communitybrain allotment #transformation pic.twitter.com/69Fs7OVRfU

— Active Kingston (@ActiveKingston) May 15, 2018

And for the finale of this fantastic task that already saw Kingston runners itching to complete fully we were asked to all move a shed! That's right a shed! So although we had all pretty much just met that evening, we clubbed together with true community spirit and deadlifted (like Mark showed us) a very large shed, moving it to it's new desired location at the other end of the allotment.

Get a SHED load of this! Episode 1 - The Lift pic.twitter.com/0mG9a932Mt

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) May 15, 2018

Such an AWESOME task!

So after many high fives we all headed back to Guildhall, thankfully mostly down hill as we had done the hard work already and were pretty tired from lifting sheds (I feel like Wonder Woman saying that!!)

Once back at Guildhall, our stretching was accompanied by a warm fuzzy feeling of contentment, we had started our good deeds in Kingston and it felt great! So lovely to meet fellow runners, wanting to help in their local community, I am looking forward to running with you again. Thank you to all the GoodGym runners from Richmond who came to join us and Bryony and Gillian from head office, it was great to have you supporting as back markers.

Now over to Mark for a final comment, "So at last we have GG Kingston in place, looking forward to growing it with you all and providing for the Kingston community where it is needed most. It is your group and you are encouraged to take part as much as you like, so anything from suggesting potential tasks to writing this run report, or anything else that would make a strong Kingston Taskforce; feel free to let me know. Additionally I meant to say a HUGE thank you to Martel who's energy and enthusiasm has helped kick GG Kingston off tonight, particularly with arranging such an awesome start location. Finally, Robin was delighted with all that we achieved and he asked that if any of you wish to know more feel free to contact him under the Community Brain handle on Twitter."

What a GREAT sight! As the Kingston team hit the streets tonight! #kingston #goodgym #runninggroup #volunteering #gettingfitbydoinggood #keepfit #activekingston pic.twitter.com/tNWv4U5Lw7

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) May 15, 2018