It was Monday night again and time for Goodgym Bexley. Tonight we were off the DYC for our 'Odds N Sods' Good deed and run. After a chat about everyones weekend at sign up it was time for business. After a great warm up (Introduced a couple of new dynamic stretches) we started of on our 5K ish (pretty close to) run round to our friends at the Danson Youth Centre. On arrival we were greeted by Ben and two tasks for the Bexley Goodgym Crew to smash!!!! One team headed out the back for a leaf clearing, and rose bush trimming workout. Team 2 stayed round the front to sort out the leaves and trim the rose bushes there which was also a hell of a workout. We shifted 10 black bin loads of leaves, branches and rubbish, leaving the areas looking pretty awesome if i say so myself. Well done team!!..............

We shifted 10 black bin loads of leaves, branches and rubbish, leaving the areas looking pretty awesome if i say so myself

With tools all packed and a bit of sweat on our brows it was time to make the short trip back to Crooklog. Before getting together for our cool down we had to say a sad good bye to Janine who is leaving us for 3 months on a volunteering trip to Sri Lanaka. I hope they appreciate what Goodgym Bexley are letting you guys have, so make sure you look after her. Janine you are gonna be awesome, have a fantastic time. One the other hand because Janine was heading on her adventures Sarah put together some very tasty vegan cakes for the occasion which dampened the blow considerably :-)......... Thanks Sarah. Another great achievement from the weekend has to go to Peter for entering and smashing the South Western 10 miler race in Portsmouth over the weekend. Massive high 5 Peter. Last but not least thanks Neil for this weeks 'Pun'...... Goodgymers, i really hoped you enjoyed this evening and thanks for your company as always. Hope to see you all next week as we head over to Welling for some more out door gardening tasks. We gotta get them in before it gets to cold. Have an awesome week everyone.

17 GG Brenters, took on 2 storage rooms for Ashford place homeless shelter. Dashed off 5k. Killed 20minutes of plyometrics, sprints, walking lunges and killer squat combos and got home in time for sexy stretch time. All in an evenings work! Pow Pow!

The Queensbury Pub on Walm Lane was bursting at the seams with another full squad on deck at GG Brent. Joining the ranks of the fabulous familiar faces were 2 newbies in the mix this eve- Thais and Bharian YAY. I was also dizzy with excitement when old school original, none other than Sadhana rocked up with her signature sexy socks and beaming grin under cap!! This boost, got me hyper beyond belief and ready to roll out with my crew, fresh with spring in step.

No further than 0.6 miles to go, we cruised down to Ashford Place where the awesome Alan welcomed us in for the task at hand - clearing and sorting 2 donations rooms. Ashford Place is a firm friend of GG Brent and we are always delighted to volunteer our time there, to support their tireless work in the community. All year round they offer 30 long stay hostel rooms to local people who had been living on the street and work towards finding them permanent residence in the future. They also work to make services better for homeless people in Brent, campaign for policy change that will help end homelessness and innovate and develop tools to help their patrons work their way out of homelessness indefinitely. An absolutely incredible organisation and one that deserves all of Goodgym's support.

So stepping our best feet forwards, we jumped into the task quick smart. But because our crew was so large and epic this eve, it didn't take long before the jobs were done and rooms were packed and sorted. So taking advantage of the gifted time, the team wasted none and ran the infamous Ashford Place stairs, 4 flights, top to bottom, not once, not twice but thrice times over!!! AMAZING!!

After the stair-runs and standard photo shoot (Ovs!) It was back on the streets to keep the running mojo cooking. Gradual tempo runs led us down to Gladstone Park where more fitness fun was the order for the night.

The teams split into 4 and worked their way through a medley of sprints, squat jumps, tuck jumps and walking lunges and if that wasn't enough there was just enough time for a combined group hammer of the circuit for one more round.

Cheered on by nominated ambassadors - Enrique, Claire, Samuel and Mouse, the shouting and encouragement echoed through the park like thunder, with fellow runners stopping in their tracks to check the commotion and admire the efforts!

After a swift recovery (that's huffing, puffing, panting and sweating to you) the crew were back on the road for the last cool down mile back to base and it wasn't long before the lights of high road twinkled in our sights and lit the path home.

One last thing before we depart - Delicious stretching and a massive applause

Determination, motivation, good vibes and good deeds, sprinkled with the always raucous laughter and weird and wonderful chats, this is a crew that never fails to turn Monday from manic to marvellous!

See you next time!!!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE

Sprinkling a special dose of Goodgym cheer, 13 radiant runners, pounded pavements, highjacked hills and put to bed PBs on a marvellous Monday night in Brent.

Full squad on deck for the first Monday in November, GG Brent were thrilled to welcome not one, not two but three newbies into the fold. The Super-Spanish addition - Cecilia and Helena and although new to Brent, a fabulous familiar face - Hazel, doing the famous Goodgym borough rounds tour. Additionally awesome was the fact that Hazel had brought along with her some home-baked treats of Brownies and Biccys for afters YAY!!

Joining me (coach Ellie) and our new runners in the ranks were a gorgeous gang of regulars including: Clairey-Bell, Mouse in the House Clare, Tabitha and Rebekah (aka sister sledge), Daring Debs, Lovely Liz, Super-dooper (don't forget the first aid bum-bag) marathon trooper Sadhana and... Man alert Monday: Neil and Enrique YAY.

Confessions before sessions, I had to relay the news that all my efforts to rescue the cancelled tasks had been unsuccessful this week. However, with some quick joined up thinking from Hazel and the crew, we turned our misfortune into a chance to spread the message of Goodgym with a handy leaflet drop, while grabbing the opportunity to stretch our legs and tackle a full on fitness fun and run session in the Wonderful streets of Willesden.

With this in mind, the team bounced into action. Led on in the front by the one and only 'Mouse' we set to work on the 1 mile dash to Queens Park, where the, circumference of the park, perfectly offers a one mile timed challenge op for the troops.

So armed with my timer and cheering lungs of steel, it was 3,2,1 AND THEIR OFF Dashing the fastest their legs could carry them, to set the bench mark.... here's lap one!

Breathless and quite literally steaming, the teams raced in, one by one.... under 7mins, under 8 and under 9s AMAZING Shocked at their own speed, there was no resting on our laurels and after a quick catch of breath off they went again. Incredibly, round 2 brought in consistent times for each athlete, proving there was no fluke and thankfully also..... no puke phew

Even after the epic 2 mile dash, this team of warriors finishing off, only the best way they could......squats of course to the glorious chimes of our Balearic beautys..... This will give us the Culos Perfectos in town* and that is a bunch of PERFECT BOTTOMS to you and me..... HA HAAAAAA

So after such an epic achievement of a session, there was only one way to finish, with Hazel's bountiful bake and stuffing our faces with goodies. Hurrah I suppose it goes to show, we will get the rewards when we Pud-in the work

Until next time x x x x

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE

13 Goodgymers, Dropped 200 leaflets for 2 worthy causes on a wintery but wonderful Monday night in Brent.

Greeted by the awesome sight of not one, not two, but three new faces and a whole bunch of awesome oldies too, I was over the moon to be back from hols and straight back into the warm embrace of the one and only GoodGym Brent.

With welcomes and housekeeping underway, the team were introduced to the task for the night - The Bi-Monthly track session and leaflet drop. This week I was delighted to welcome Tania's contribution for the Brent Social counselling services, an opportunity for low income and out of work local people to be supported in achieving positive mental health, through talk therapy in the borough of Brent.

With no time to waste the team were off, speeding down the road and engaging with all the community along the way. Newbie Rebekah was the woman with the effective 'wink' and used these Eye-rresistible (sorry) charms to drop the most out of the whole team.

After the one mile dash to Willesden Track the team didn't rest on their laurels and got stuck straight into the the most Hard-Core strength and abs session known to mankind. Strength work started with: *Walking lunges *Piggy back runs *Squat sequence Quickly followed by walking held planks and scissor kicks for..... well as long as I could do it so that was a looonnnnggggggg time!!! HA HA

Mixing in with the strength work the team bashed out a series of speedy 100m sprints followed by 200's and recovery runs. It's safe to say they gave it a Good-Gym run for their money (again sorry, it seems my holiday away has been plenty of time to come up with the cheesiest of all cheer puns)

After sweat there was the stretch and one last dash home to freedom. Despite the cold and teasing drops of wintery rain, there was only good vibes and good times had by all, what a way to get back in the game!!

Another successful dose of community goodness and athletic throw down to boot. There's only one place to fuel body and soul and that's ramping it up with West London's finest - GG Brent.

Until next time.....

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE

On a wet Monday night, seven GoodGym Redbridge runners took on the challenge of delivering flyers for an ‘Active Together’ initiative and ran more than 8km in the process.

Spurred on by the knowledge that “skin is waterproof”, the magnificent seven met at our usual home – Wanstead House Community Association – for the usual briefing and catch up. Excitingly the group was joined by three Redbridge first timers – Alice, Caitriona and Tim.

With the usual GG news dealt with it was time for Sam from Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure to talk us through the nights task. She explained that we were flyering for an initiative called “Active Together” which aimed to engage with the residents of local housing estates and find out what would make them get out and be more active. A brilliant task and one well aligned with what we do at GoodGym.

Without further delay, the group headed off up Wanstead High St in the direction of the Hermitage Estate. Armed with bags of flyers and one fire key for accessing the buildings the team set to work distributing the goods. Each building was three of four stories high, which meant the added bonus of a stair workout in each building. With Vision’s Sam and Trainer James, doing relay to open the doors, the group soon made quick work on posting the flyers and within 30 minutes the task was complete.

With 30 minutes left on the clock there was still time for a short 4km run around Snaresbrook before heading back to base for a cool down stretch.

All in all a brilliant task which saw GG Redbridge help make a real difference in the local area, get a little bit sweaty and a lot fitter. And the rain even held off.

Great work everyone. Same time next week?

P.S. Big shout out to Peter for the photo taking!