A 14 strong team tonight in it for the long run! That's right, tonight we had a run just under the 10km mark to achieve and we did good! After a swift warm up of swinging legs and curtsey lunges we headed off through the Kingston streets with one clear message in our minds - don't leave anyone behind! In true GG spirit the front runners ran back, the mid runners ran further back and the back markers ensured we all ended up at the task. Even Fionn became Flash Gordan sprinting back and forth to ensure everyone was present. With such a lengthy run it was great to see such team work in play and thanks to Mark's head torch we didn't get lost.

Our task tonight was at Sustrans , a charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle in the borough, how did they do this? Building cycle paths, putting on cycle challenges and promoting how good this type of travel is for the environment. We were met by the very helpful Lucy and Annie who had gloves, forks, shovels and refreshments to keep us going.

We needed all the help we could get!

This was a meaty gardening task, we removed nettles, weeds, and took on the mighty "sticky thistle balls" (the correct name for them is "Burdock") . Burdock readily attaches itself to clothes and fur, or in tonight's case - hair! That's right, poor *Kate * was attacked by a number of these little critters that had to be carefully removed.

There's no end to a good deed with GoodGym

Many of us were the running wounded by the end of this arduous task with stings, itching, new hair dos and the stench of some dog mess lingering on someone's shoe but we soldiered on. We headed back to the Guildhall, lighting up the streets with our headtorches and proud of what we had achieved tonight.

We covered so much ground , well done everyone!

Look forward to doing more good next Tuesday in Kingston

It was split task night tonight in Kingston on our 4 month Goodgym runnerversary! Before getting off to our good task we had some warming up to do in preparation. A great warm up of our core through the lowering and raising of planks while a partner jogged the perimeter of the Guildhall was set after our stretches. I was also reacquainted with my quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and glutes as they all wobbled in the wall sit to build isometric strength and endurance. Following the warm up we all ran off, enthusiastic about our route through the beautiful sunset in Bushy Park mapped out by Mark. After a little jog through the park to catch the views, we pulled a quick turn to head back over the bridge again. Shortly after getting back to the green of the riverfront path we arrived at Canbury Community Gardens – the first of our task locations. Here we waved on our more energetic half that were ready to carry on the next task.

Warming up....a bunch of planks?? pic.twitter.com/dkZnFe8xOO

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) September 4, 2018

With nine keen runners left at Canbury Community Gardens we set to work with the task of moving the mounds of mulch without making mountains out of mulch hills. With minimal mucking about we got stuck in. There was some discussion of the catch up possibilities of the Bake Off we’d miss out on telly while we were having a rake off instead! We were tooled with shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows and sacks to move the mulch into the chicken coop that we’d helped to set up on a previous group run. There were various items unearthed in the mulch as plastic, nails, bricks and planks of wood were pulled from the piles while we dug in. Shovel me timbers! We stayed focused on the task and didn’t get discouraged. When we hit a stumbling block we managed to rake it off and move on! Back to our partnering-up team work, one in a pair held the sack while the other shoveled the mulch into it and joined forces to haul our load into the coup. We were having bags of fun and couldn’t sack it off! With the help of Anna from the Community Garden, the coop mulch was raked out. Rake me out and let the compost see the heap! When push came to shovel, we’d worked faster than we’d realised and were told to wheel the mulch elsewhere once the coop had enough! Everywhere we’re shoveling! Our last job was to clear the gutters around the shed of the pile-up of leaves and the rake came in handy once again. Unfortunately we’d then run out of time! We were guttered to have to leaf so soon! Thankfully a pub social with baked goods, Nicky and Paddington awaited us on our return!

#goodgym we keep going and going and going until a task is done! #volunteering #canburygardens #kingston #samaritans #runninggroupdoinggood pic.twitter.com/BRchGt3BcR

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) September 4, 2018

Before the remaining six goodgymers could receive a paw shake from Paddington they had to deliver on their task at the Samaritans, running ahead of the Canbury Gardens group they were greeted by Helen at the Kingston branch of Samaritans to plant Heather and Cyclamn (no these weren't 2 new runners) but instead some beautiful new plants to spruce up the area outside the office. Before this could be tackled though lots of lavender that had taken over the flower bed needed to be hacked back so there was room for growth. Great team work meant that the flower bed was cleared in no time! The plants were then delicately arranged (thanks to Nicky O lanscaping and design) before they were planted (some better at this than others!) Leaves were also swept and the white paint on the office front shone in the looming darkness after it was wiped down with water and suds.

don't LEAF it messy #doinggood #volunteering pic.twitter.com/SnnJjgnyvi

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) September 4, 2018

Sweep it or LEAF it! pic.twitter.com/4IOb6OjuaF

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) September 4, 2018

Following a full night of fitness and good deeds we even managed to squeeze in a drink and a bite to eat in the pub to celebrate Kingston GoodGym running for over 4 months.

Looking forward to more action next week

We were in for a treat tonight on our group run to the Weir Archer Athletics and Fitness Centre running track after a quick warm up with a couple of sprinting poses and stretches on the lawn outside the Guildhall we were ready to jog to the racing track for our task.

Our running pace must’ve improved because we managed to arrive with time to spare and were lucky to be given the use of the running track where we initially assembled to dissect the running stride with the intention to be more aware of good running form, particularly for faster paced efforts. Mark introduced us to a number of drills , explaining not to try and change everything at once , but although cautioned against it, I couldn’t help channelling Phoebe from friends in her running method. We kept focused on our high knees with core engaged, feet landing correctly and arms in the right position. All these steps were put into practice as we moved further down the track to try some runs – 60% of our fastest pace, then 80% and then into our full-out sprints. We ended with a run around the whole track and a sprint for the final 250m.

We thought we knew what we were doing at the time...but on reflection, WHAT'S GOING ON! #runningtrack #runningdrills #kingsmeadow #goodgym #kingston pic.twitter.com/c2HgAtpjYQ

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 28, 2018

And the crowd go wild!!! #running #track #somuchfun #barunfitness #goodgym pic.twitter.com/f5p6GHko8X

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) August 28, 2018

Once our running drills were completed we were ready to move on to our task of clearing litter from the surrounding area. We managed to stay on track - litter-ally! Equipped with bags, gloves and pincer sticks for collecting the litter, we broke off into groups to gather what we could. Litter did we know there wasn’t too much to be collected. We thought it was all slim-pickings for us until some of us went a little off-piste, disappeared momentarily and surfaced again dragging the skeletal remains of a gazebo and a chair! Our run back was a quick one and we were welcomed back to our base with some refreshing coconut water kindly donated to us (thank you to Chi) It was a very educational group run this evening and we all made it back in run piece! While we were all smiling on the return, Mark recommended more stretching and some stretching walks tomorrow when our muscles are complaining from the sprints! When all was said and run we had learned a lot about our running technique and completed a good deed too! Great work team GG Kingston!

Well done Angelika on your first run with us!

In news tonight we’d like to highlight a few upcoming community missions happening in Kingston. We are going to hit the ground running for a great start to September community missions.

This Saturday 1st September, we are meeting at the Berrylands Scout Hut to help lend a hand to the Environment Trust that are holding a conservation day at Berrylands Nature Reserve. See details here to sign up

This Sunday 2nd September we are helping to set up, pick up litter and organising the procession at the Kingston Carnival. Further details and sign up here

There will be more coming soon! Speak to taskforce members for more details.