Falling of the Rain

The rain may have scared a few off today, on this, the longest day of the year, the MIDDLE OF SUMMER! But, it actually got sunny just in time for our run and we had a cool 28 GoodGymmers whose skin was waterproof and who know that running is the only sport worth worrying about.

Tell Her (and him) About It

We welcomed first timers Isabel and Antonio, cheered Aidan for doing 100 good deeds, cheered Kike for doing 50 good deeds, cheered Danica and Aidan for running the Westminster City Mile and got briefed.

James

James came tonight. There is no announcement to make, but James is the name of a Billy Joel song, so we had to mention it.

A Minor Variation

So, we had planned to do our longest run ever at GG Islington (10k), but that task was unfortunately cancelled. Worry not, it's still the longest day of the year, and it's ....

The Longest Thyme

Competition thyme! Two tasks tonight and two groups each planting their own little pots of thyme under the instruction of the group's "Thyme Lord". We'll check back periodically and see which group was the best gardeners and who has the longest thyme!

Say Goodbye To Holloway

One group headed off to Barnsbury Community Centre for their evening of good-doing.

Uptown Girl(s) (and boys)

And a small group of girls and boys, led by Aidan, ran uptown to Whittington Park Community Association to help out.

The Giver of Screams

Caroline, doing a run leader course this weekend, led the Barnsbury group and wasn't shy about shouting a bit of encouragement.

All About Soil

One job at Barnsbury was to continue shifting the mound of soil that we started on last week.

New Fork Spate of Grind

Antonio grabbed one of Barnsbury's new forks and started breaking up the soil to make it easier to shift.

It's Still Rocky Soil To Me

Tough work shifting this stuff. Everybody's always surprised by how many rocks and rubble there is in it. BUT, we got it all moved and managed to move the container into its new home.

Big Pot

Well, lots of little pots. A team of four planted various herbs in multi-coloured little pots. Rocket, coriander and of course thyme.

Get It Right The First Time

We did paint the beds right the first time, but the harsh weather meant that the paintwork was getting a little patchy, so Isabel and Bella grabbed a couple of paintbrushes and did a spot of touching up.

The Sliver of Beams

OK, this one's a stretch. but the group at Whittington had to sand down a bench, which was probably constructed from wooden beams and there was probably the odd sliver of wood.

They did a great job. Check out the pics for before and after shots. Looks ready for some varnishing.

Baby Sand

There was also more sand-related activity as they had to move a kids' sandpit inside.

I Glove You Just The Way You Are

Or not. We had all those brand new gloves, but Graham thought he'd given them to Danica, who thought she'd given them to Simon, or something like that. Anyway, the poor Whittington contingent had to do a spot of weeding outside the One O'Clock Club with bare hands.

While over at Barnsbury we were sorted with a giant box of gloves. A team set about removing weeds from the centre piece and then planting some more grass seeds around it.

An Indolent Man

There were none of these tonight. Everybody got stuck in good and proper. Nice job.

You're My Home

Back at the pool we decided not to stretch for the first time ever on an Islington run and see what happened. Report back here.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Beth started the fire! In her oven! And baked FOUR types of biscuits in it! A coconutty one, a shortbread one, a chocolate one, and a plain one. Delicious. Beats stretching.

Hilly Poll

What's best? Short hills or long hills? So that everybody had an informed opinion each group did a set of four short reps and one long hill rep and we then voted on our favourite back at the pool. Short hills definitely won it. There were also votes for "no hills", "one very long hill", "downhill" and line of the evening from Jill: "a flat hill".

The Night Is Still Young

It was still light when we left! Aaah, they're drawing in now though.

Through The Long Night?

So that was a fun pun report on the longest day of the year. Maybe we could do a Billy Ocean themed report on the longest night. Maybe not.

Famous Last Words

See you next week Task will be announced shortly.

My Life

My life is great cos I get to do this for a job :-D,
Simon

How many?

They didn't stop coming last night. A whopping 43 GoodGymmers - our second highest turnout ever - rocked up to Highbury Pool ready to get fit and do good.

Newbs

Big hand to first timers Cath, Weronica, Dan, Fran, Wendy, Kirsty and Alix and nice to see a couple of last week's newcomers now old hands in brand new red GG shirts!

Tasking

Our task for the evening was to continue putting the finishing touches to the ongoing project at Barnsbury Community Centre, and luckily there was plenty to do: one team worked hard on shifting sacks of soil from one side of the gate to the other; another team weeded and turned over soil around the magnificent centrepiece; we had a group watering the abundance of plants and flowers that are now everywhere; and a final group grabbed dusters and wipes and gave the heaters, sides and windows within the centre a jolly good clean.

Maths

People sometimes worry that 30 minutes or so on a task isn't all that much, but when you consider that 43 x 30 minutes = over 21 hours, which if you include breaks and going home to sleep and stuff is about 3-4 days work for a single person, it becomes obvious how effective the GoodGym style of volunteering is.

Bunch of Planks

As always, we stopped halfway through the evening for a biscuit which fuelled us well for the post-task PLANK CHALLENGE. The plank world record was set at the weekend and we wanted to see how close we could get to the eight hours and change achievement.

Everybody spread themselves out across the garden (a sight to behold) and just kept planking until they could plank no more. Everybody made the minute mark and a majority got to two minutes. Then they started dropping like flies. With five minutes approaching, and the sun going down, only four remained. We decided that anybody who made it to five minutes would be a joint winner and all four did. Core! Big hand to Patrick (still grinning at the end), Oli, Rich and Dan. Plank-off final next week?

Activities Abundant

For our journey back we split into four groups: Patrick led a group for a game of Coney McConeface on the fields; Simon took a group for some sprinty bits, including secret surges, indian file and the tennis ball reaction game, which badly needs a name; Aidan sorted out the long running group; and Kike worked people hard on the hills. For this final group their good-deed-doing for the evening wasn't over since they witnessed a collision with a motorbike and cyclist. Luckily no major injuries and first-aider Kike and co. calmed the cyclist down and got him off to have his scrapes seen to. Well done team.

Town vs. Country Club

Debate for the evening was town vs. country. Do you prefer the tranquility of the countryside or the hustle and bustle of a city? Some of us liked being able to drive, park, leave our doors open, seeing cows & sheep all the time and buying eggs from our neighbours; but the majority preferred a lifestyle that extended beyond Londis staying open until 9pm on a Friday night and the occasional car boot sale.

Next Time

Reckon we can manage 50 runners next week? We're going to have at least three tasks on offer which will be confirmed very shortly, but you can sign up now!

See you soon,
Simon

10 Girls, 1 Guy, a 6k run, 30 Petunia's, 2 odd encounters and 1 big fun night at GG Brent.

Rain, rain go away, at least by 7pm anyway...... oh great you did thanks for that! After a thankfully dry end to the evening and No April Showers in sight, GG Brent and it's merry band of women and one man, congregated at the Queensbury Pub on Willesden High Road for a joyful and high spirited start to the week.

Sadhana's upcoming first marathon led the discussions as the crew planned the logistics of getting to Brighton to support...... and to eat fish and chips hurrah, but obviously the first thing more important LOL the fact Sadhana will be running 26.2 Miles in 6 Days!!!!!! Woo HOO.

With housekeeping in check and a warm welcome outstretched to our 2 new ladies - Andrea and Gillian, we set to work, pounding the pave the 1.8mile route over to Harlseden High Street to link with our favourite pastor Marcia Tull for a spot of planting after our galavanting.

Leading from the back and welcoming the new starters coach Ellie was lucky enough to have coach-runner Clairey-Bell on hand to step up to the plate and lead from the front and putting the leading pack through their paces by the sounds of things!! The back pack cruised the streets and were joined by a local character on a bike who invited us in for tea and a slice of his Battenberg...... We hope he meant cake!! Declining we powered on!!

In no time at all the flurry of red tees had descended onto the high road and were greeted with the best smiling face ever - Marcia, with boxes and boxes of beautiful spring flowers that we would be tasked with planting in the front garden of the church!

Harlesden Methodist Church is a crucial part of the community and serves the people of Harlesden in more ways than one, offering guidance, a safe space and worthwhile outreach to the community on a regular basis. What better way to give back then to brighten up their surroundings as the Spring comes in!

Off to work we set, to the soundtrack of Mariah Carey and Tom Petty, a musical feast for the ears, while we Got Diggy with it on task.

30 minutes of hard graft included: * The discovery of 10 foot worms * Laura's rat cage * Hidden Treasures - Gin Bottles and Cork Screws to name but a few

Before long the time was up and the merry band of Do-Gooders were on their way once more, but not before some lung busting sprints up and down the high road and star-jump squats for good measure!!

On route back and there was sharing and caring, thrills and puddle spills, giggles and gumption...... But just a typical night for one of the best groups of people in the land, where the running and the do-gooding go hand in hand with the community and friendship that's blossomed over the year.

A Fabulous evening, terrific task and job well done from the Brent Brigade

Until next time folks........

Do Good. Feel Good. Inspire