I gnome what you did last summer.

It was a rainy day, but it seems like the dedicated group was not going to let that spoil their fun to go help at Mason’s Lodge. We warmed up by doing some side steps through post and doing various leg routines. The group seems to love their drink because when we did the head count, I asked the group to name their favour drinks and it all seemed to be related to alcohol (I can see why they start in a bar). It was about a about a 2 mile run which seemed longer due to all the traffic lights that turned Red on us halting our steady progression towards the task. Ercole was leading the pack with a mixture of Ramon, Jo and Roslind covering our rear. As We reached the place, the group was reminiscing on the work that they have done their previously. This was planting rose bushes. The task was to weed and clear the leaves so the place looks nicer and there will be less of a chance that anyone will slip on the leaves. Th group did a wonderful job and you can really tell the difference. Hopefully resident will get a chance to enjoy a walk in the garden when the rain stops. The run back was a lot easier because we decided to go through the back streets and avoid all traffic lights. Next week we might be lucky to get a few yoga moves bestowed upon us by Jo and maybe a little fitness session.

Don't forget for those interested the Rough Runner then click Here

Will this rain ever end? It rains, it drizzles, it looks like it's about to rain and then it absolutely hoses down. Oh well, looking on the bright side, it keeps us in gardening tasks.

And yesterday was precisely one of those — a long run and a gardening task that was not for the faint-hearted. Visiting George Mason Lodge, the best care home on the borough by a country mile, is like visiting an old friend. It is such a welcoming and friendly place with lovely staff and residents who often pop out to say hello.

The spirit of the place can be summed up by the story of Auntie Ivy, who was the reason we were there yesterday. Auntie Ivy, a genuine Windrush original who spent her career working as a nurse and lately she was a resident at GML. Once a nurse, always a nurse because despite her failing health and advanced age (we are talking telegram from the Queen here, people), she would make sure she helped to look after the other residents at GML. Sadly Auntie Ivy passed away but as a tribute to the care she received at GML, her family donated some rosebushes and other plants, and our job was to plant them.

There is a lovely bed at the back of the garden where the bushes can be viewed from the house but the ground is seriously hard with tree roots and stones everywhere. Fortunately, any crew that is going to run in the weather we had yesterday is not going to be deterred by a bit of tough ground so out came the guns and in went the spades.

Half an hour later and newly planted rosebushes in place, it looked so good that as Axl Rose might say "if I'd stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry."

But with no time for my sentimentality, we had a quick photo call before heading back out for a thorough soaking and a run back to base.

Great job all, you rock (and roll).

I hope we can see you all next week for more gardening activity. Sign-up here

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Birthday run

Last night was GoodGym Waltham Forest's first birthday, and we celebrated in style with a fantastic blend of long termers, long lost friends, recent recruits and one GG VIP! In no particular order welcome back to Joanna "Long Lost" Loxton, welcome to Manuela for the second time on two weeks and welcome to Beth Hoskins. It was Beth's first outing with GGWF but her 709th Good Deed with GoodGym - yes that's right folks, say it again, Seven Hundred and Nine!

Anyhoo, before I get into the events of last night here, is some brief news items:

This Saturday why not join Ruari "99 Parkruns and counting" Rhodes and me at Walthamstow Parkrun for a free timed 5k? Starts at 9 am and don't forget your GG t-shirt!

Good luck to Carmen and Ruby in this weekend's Brighton Marathon. Can't wait to hear all about it and I know you are both going to do GGWF proud.

Okay well, I am not going to go on too much here because in a moment we are going to ditch my halting prose and I will hand you over to the more elegant poetry of Kirsty Jones. Before that, I want to say a massive thank you to Pippa who worked hard last night to produce a cake that was stunning to look at and even more stunning to eat. It was everything a great cake should be perfectly moist, sweet, smooth and full of delightfully rich flavours. Thank you too to everyone who came to George Mason Lodge Last night and to everyone out there who has made it such a fantastic year for GGWF. You are all amazing people, and it is a privilege to know you all.

Okay enough from me. The following poem was written by regular runner Kirsty who read it to us last night in the pub over cakes and beer. What could be better than that? Over to you Kirsty.

Since our first head count, standing right here
Every Wednesday night we've run to do good
Spreading Good Gym spirit through our neighbourhood
We've shovelled at St Mary's to better the grounds
Created a rainbow fence and sandcastle mounds
We've plogged the banks of Lea Bridge road
Collecting bags of hubcaps, a heavy load
Spectated by locals, horses and dogs
While completing our tasks and during our jogs
We've painted and planted at The Mill
Built wooden planters ready to fill
One important job that we tried not to bodge
Was meticulous landscaping at George Mason Lodge
We cleaned toys, pulled weeds, painted a door,
Barrowed compost, picked litter and so so much more
Ant very busy taking photos all the while
"Guys can you quickly pose behind the rubbish and smile?"
But it's not all about the good deeds, not just about the run
We've also had laughs and barrow fulls of fun
We hosted our first social at Mirth Marvel and Maude
To the first year of many now let us applaud
Raise high your glasses and don't be modest
Give up three cheers for Good Gym Waltham Forest!

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I know it ain't exactly freezing but it darn well feels like it is. Still, I shouldn't complain the Monday and Tuesday GoodGym runs around the nation were pretty wet affairs so despite the cold it was with a spring in our step that ten of the Waltham Forest massive set out tonight for a return to George Mason Lodge (GML), an outstanding care home run by exceptional people.

After our 3.5k run, thoughts of the cold weather were quickly forgotten as hearts rates were raised and our blood cells started to earn their keep delivering much-needed 37-degree C oxygen to our muscles at a rapid rate. We wasted no time in arming ourselves with all manner of garden tools forks, trowels, rakes and some kind of rake/leaf grabbing type thing.

We were back at GML to finish off some bulb planing in readiness the spring bloom that, although it feels a long way off, will be here before you can say Jack Frost - unless of course Jack Frost comes in all guns blazing and kills off any subterranean seeds before they have a chance to flourish. Anyhoo, being such splendid folk, the GGWF crew went above and beyond and decided to rake up and bag up enough leaves to fill up one of those leaf sucking up trucks that go around sucking up all the leaves at this time of year.

After a good 40 minutes of hard graft, and with our extremities slowly numbing and bin bags running low, we decided it was time to call it a night. We downed tools and headed back to 3M (a.k.a. Mirth, Marvel and Maud) for some stretching and a winter warmer for some but not me on this occasion. I hope it was good, did they have mulled cider, Clara?

Seriously, you guys got a s---t load done tonight guys and as I said when the sun comes up tomorrow morning on GML, it will be a delight for the residents to see a beautiful green lawn and a cleared and prepped flower bed. Not to mention what they will see in the spring when dozens of daffs brighten up the garden. Pat yourselves on the back and enjoy and warming hot choc or something similar.

Next week is yet another return but this time to Church Road to complete out planter building project. Sign-up 'ere

Oh and here is some other stuff you might be interested in: GoodGym Christmas Bash

Not to be confused with The GGWF Christmas Bash

Quite a few of the WF crew are also doing this It does look like fun

That's it for now you beautiful peeps.

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Before I get into tonight's activities, here is the news

The final GoodGym Monthly Social of 2018 is happening this Thursday in Bethnal Green. I know quite a few of the GGWF folks are planning on heading there, so do try and get on down, it should be a great event and an opportunity to meet folks from the wider GG family. See here for more

Also try and get along to the Waltham Forest Christmas Party, thanks to Pippa and Clara for organising this. It will take place after the Group Run on 12th December at Mirth, Marvel and Maud, so pretty easy to get to. You can see more details and sign-up here. Clara is collecting £10 deposits and food orders (thanks Clara 🙏)

And on with a report of tonight's activities. With a floral task ahead we gathered in an ever increasing circle (there were a few latecomers) to discuss what lay ahead. After a quick headcount and a rundown of our favourite flowers, pathetically I had to be could only think of daffodils and even that was after a prompt.

We then set off into uncharted territory, or Leyton as it is commonly known. 4 km later and we arrived at George Mason Lodge, a lovely care home run by even lovelier staff. Our mind was on the spring with this task as we were planning bulbs, daffodils, tulips etc. It was lucky someone knew which way up they went and even luckier someone had the presence of mind to read the instructions which told us how deep to plant them and the distance from each other. Neither of these ideas came from me, and I didn't offer my first thought of digging a massive hole in the middle and dropping them all in, grave style.

30 minutes of digging, scratching, raking, planting, patting and smoothing later and the bulbs were situated nicely on the soft loam ready to work their magic and bloom in the spring. Or, taking into account the effects of climate change, next week.

After a group photo, in which the group were frankly a shadow of their former selves, we hit the road for another 4 k trot back to base and a calm down stretch.

All very pleasant, well-done folks you did great. Don't miss out on next week's construction task sign up here

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A lovely group of 10 runners came out tonight in Waltham Forest to lend a hand to get on top of the weed and bramble situation at George Mason Lodge Care Home.

Two new members joined us for the run this week so a big warm (and it was a warm run!) welcome to Julia and Niki, you both did great on your first GoodGym task! We also had a couple of GoodGym tourists, Danny was doing the rounds as usual on his epic GoodGym journey and then there’s myself, usually the trainer for GoodGym Ealing I had a great evening getting to know you all in Waltham!

Starting with a warm up and some introductions we got to know each other a bit better by discussing our bank holiday plans before heading off on what was described as the ‘scenic route’. As a Walthamstow virgin my knowledge was limited to the main streets suggested by google maps so I put my faith in the group to keep us on track through the quieter back streets. A minor misjudgement led us to overshoot a road slightly (no harm in extra running!) but we soon arrived safely at the task raring to go shortly after!

Bonus Mileage!

At the centre Karen was eagerly awaiting our arrival and had some weeds and brambles (aka briar as myself and Danny learnt!) for us to tackle. Everyone quickly donned their gloves and got pulling and snipping away and the unwanted growth over different parts of the garden.

During our time we were visited by one of the residents who was very impressed with our efforts and rewarded the team with some very much appreciated cold glasses of water. It’s really lovely to meet and talk to the people who directly feel the impact GoodGym make in these spaces!

A few stops for photo opportunities (they have a great selection of props in the garden!) before bagging up all of the trimmings and it was time for our run back to base. Sticking to the (busier) main roads this time meant no errors and a slightly shorter run back to get you all home for dinner, hurray!

Until next time!