Despite heavy showers earlier in the evening - and the prospect of more to come - 16 dedicated GoodGymers joined our weather-proof trainer, Beth, for our weekly Group Run.

Beth welcomed first-timers Sarah and Lucy and congratulated Johnny on completing his 150th good deed as a GG tourist the previous evening and his 200th parkrun at Kingston at the weekend. Well done Johnny!

As usual we started with a warm-up and some new exercises evoked quizzical looks from passers-by as we first hopped on one leg then later scurried sideways like crabs along the pavement. Nicely limbered up, we set off on the 1km run to our destination at Loris Gardens. This is a community garden which is regularly maintained through drop in gardening days organised by Hammersmith Community Garden Association, with GoodGymers providing some extra help a few times a year.

Splash and Dash

Happy that the rain was holding off for our run, we splashed through the puddles and weaved our way through pedestrians with Lucy back-marking so that no-one was left behind. Not everyone stayed dry, however, as a car drove at speed through a giant puddle creating a tidal wave that doused us just as we were passing 🌊.

Just another brick in the wall

Breaking our journey for the obligatory wall sit, we were soon at Loris Garden and getting kitted out with gardening gloves, trowels and weed forks which had been provided for us to use. Our task was to weed the brick path and brush sand into the gaps between the bricks. Everyone cracked on with the task and it was great to see our red t-shirts dotted along the path.

Sand and deliver

Despite the instructions on the paving sand saying to use it in dry conditions, we went ahead and applied it into the freshly-weeded path. And what a transformation! Sadly there was only half a bag of sand, so we didn’t get as much done as we would have liked, but at that point the weather intervened anyway.

Here comes the rain again

It got very dark. It rained. Hard.

Most sought shelter under the trees*. Johnny cleverly used a garden waste sack as an umbrella. Catherine donned a lovely polka-dot raincoat which appeared from nowhere! When the rain eased a little we hurriedly cleared away all the equipment and posed for a group photo before heading back to base. A vote on whether to go back directly or incorporate a 1k time trial was inconclusive, but as the rain stopped we decided to do the time trial anyway and gathered at the starting point on Brook Green.

Ready, steady, go!

With Strava and sports watches set, the faster runners sped off on the one-lap route around the Green. Others took a more leisurely pace, and some preferred a core workout rather than a run. That’s the beauty of GoodGym – you can do things at your own level. From there it was a short run back to base for some stretches and a well-earned pat on the back for braving the elements to complete yet another good deed.

A BIG thank you to Sarah for the wonderful run report!

This week's news...

1. The GoodGym Olympics is this Saturday at Parliament Hill Athletics Track, if you aren't signed up to compete definitely still come along and support! The events start at 1pm on Saturday. There's also a veg and cake competition! The post-GG Olympics party is at The Vine, details here. Everyone can also get involved with the 1km 'race' known as "The Nationwide race", details here.
2. Next Thursday (8th) is the August GoodGym Social - location TBC!

Next week we're heading back up to Askham Court to lend a hand to resident, Mirko with some gardening and weeding work. Sign up here.

*But the heavy downpour did not stop either Sarah or Jonathan who carried on weeding regardless!