A cosy start

26 of us gathered in a small hotel room this evening to welcome one another, including our new runners Anna and Xinyi.

Everyone was very tolerant of our small space (filming was taking place in front of the hotel in our usual stretching spot this evening, alas), and my endless 'shush-ing' as we ran through announcements and task details.

And bang on 7 we headed down Cambridge Heath Road to one of our favourite tasks but also to the one with possibly the most, traffic lights, and the longest traffic lights. Good for nattering; less good for fitness.

After what seemed like a less busy route than usual, we breezed into the Royal London to meet task owner Nancy, of Barts Volunteers, and the brilliant Bernadette and Richard.

3 crews

3 teams were soon formed: those who'd previously completed dementia training headed up with Bernadette to the 14th floor to chat and read to the patients.

A second team, led by Richard, took surveys and Evening Standards to staff receptions and patients & families on multiple floors, while a third team, our biggest team, headed out to the hospital's John Harrison garden to prune and water roses and conduct a large litter-pick.

Sacks were filled, recycling bins blitzed, bushes beautified, patients PALS-ed...Oh, and residents rolled. Yes, three strong runners kindly helped a local motorist who asked for a hand giving his car a push. A task within a task. Ace. What an evening's work. What a hive of activity.

And then shortly after 8, just as we were headed to Reception to say our goodbyes, Nancy raced off, returning with the most delicious cake for the runners, to continue the Volunteers Week celebrations.

What an ending.

And then we were racing back to base playing our (my) favourite greyhound-and-hare game with all runners giving it their all. An unexpected fitness teaser - well done to you all.

Thanks tonight to Charlotte, Polly and Joel for fab pics and Rachel and Liz for backmarking.

What's coming up...

And the Tower Hamlets week isn't over! On Thursday it's the GoodGym social, close by in the heart of Shoreditch, perfect if you fancy a quick end-of-week drink with some friendly faces. Details can be found here..

And on Saturday, we have a fab Community Mission happening: we're heading to Cranbrook Community Food Garden to join in The Big Lunch! Help out in the garden and then join the team for some food. Janet & the team are thrilled we're coming. So don't miss out - sign up here.

See you soon, and have a really wonderful week.

Sun, run and fun

25 runners gathered on what was probably our warmest run of 2019 yet, to head to Meath Gardens for some urgent gardening work.

We briefly warmed up on our hotel steps before heading a short run around the corner where task owners Asia and Julia were ready and waiting with a top plan for the evening...

A treeally urgent task

The young trees which we helped water from the canal last summer are all currently being swamped by various weeds, and so following some expert leafy lowdown from our task owners, runners were divided into three teams: two weeding the bases of the new trees; one on mulch-collection in the far corner of the park. Thistles were plucked, nettles nixed, sticky weed sent packing… But despite lightning-speed work, time went quickly and before long, it was all hands to the pump as we filled the last few remaining buckets with mulch and carefully laid it at the tree bases. This was a tiring task, wading through long grass and huge thistles – and running trolleys full of mulch around a very large park. Steps galore. But we made good progress, and achieved a lot by 8.10pm, and Julia and Asia were delighted.

Top-to-toe before we go

And then we made our way to the centre of Meath Gardens for this week’s speedy head-to-toe conditioning work. Alas, the promised ‘pulsing playlist’ was more of a tinny tunefest in the absence of the usual trusty speaker. But luckily the runners got to hear me talking non-stop, instructing them through this evening’s line up of jack squats (sorry, but they are really good for you); scorpion and grasshopper push ups (again, sorry, but lovely to continue our wildlife theme) and some killer abs exercises. They looked bemused but managed to squeeze out every last rep, which is the main thing.

And so we called it a day, finishing with a couple of stretches before heading back to The Official Stretching Railings in Peel Grove for some final flexibility work.

Amazing. Amazing energy, amazing work, amazing humour, amazing friendliness…Team TH, it's official: you are amazing.

And so to this week’s big shout-out’s

Big shout-outs to backmarkers Leanne and Katherine, and massive thanks for pun fun and suggestions to Bryon and Steve and Rachel.

A big thanks and cheerio to our runner Pauline, who leaves us this week for more travels, but who’s contributed bundles in her short time with us.

And, as per pics, a very big shout out to all our runners and volunteers who put in such a big effort in yesterday’s Hackney Half. Really great stuff. You can read all about it here, in Danny's brilliant report. And, talking of Danny, an extra special shout-out to him, who's helping us find our way with our race volunteering events, and who helped us out with this one with everything from talking me through the sign-up and admin process, to helping TH GoodGymers get their best freebies on the day. Hope to see you soon, Danny!

What’s coming up...

Right, two things to flag up before I head off…

• This coming Saturday (25th May), our Friends of Meath Gardens will be at the wonderful Globe Town Spring Community Fair, which is taking place at Globe Town Market. Running from 11-2, you’ll have the chance to eco-craft with Plastic Free Roman Road, chat more to Friends of Meath about the work they do at the park we were at tonight, and, if you fancy it, you can get your face painted too. What’s not to like?

• And then next Monday, it may be a Bank Holiday but we run as usual! Hurrah! And we’re heading back to Parkview, for more geranium-planting fun, and saying hello to residents with some new seeds!

In the meantime, enjoy the sun, go for a run – and have fun. Have a wicked week, everyone!

24 runners; 3 task owners, many different tasks…

A good sized group of us made our way to the Haggerston Orchard this evening to help task owners Camilla, Benoit and Sophie tackle some stubborn tree stumps head on.

On arrival at the task, we were speedily briefed and divided into three teams: a large group headed over to the tree stump area, where tree expert Benoit explained to the crew how they were needed to help whittle and prise some tough old trees out of the ground, route network an’ all, to make way for some new beginnings.

Groups of 3-4 worked on each trunk which was tough work. But unbelievably rewarding when the trees finally broke loose, and the area was free to be filled in with new compost. This ended up being quite the plant production line.

Meanwhile, Sophie and Camilla juggled some fine runner distribution, speedily shuttling runners between different areas of the large garden, juggling task overlaps such as nettle-plucking with soil-turning in the vegetable bed; rubble-clearing with watering…It was an industrious remaining two teams who shuttled themselves (and piles of stones, compost, nettles…you name it) from one end of the garden to another.

Glutes ‘n’ roots

And before we knew it (I say that every week, but honestly, the time flies) it was 8pm and the ‘all hands on deck’ moment arrived to start the clearing away effort. A small crew of 5 opted to remain on Project Tree Stump, filling in remaining holes with compost, while the remainder of the group obediently made their way to a clearing in the garden for our Glutes ‘n’ Abs session, tonight’s content chosen by my fitness panel, Jo, Andrea and Lucy.

Wicked work here tonight. I swear you’re all getting lots stronger, with improved balance. We enjoyed quadruped hip extensions, single leg deadlifts, cycling crunches to name a few.

…And then it was time to say cheerio and head back to base for our final stretches of the night. Another amazing night, everyone, it really was.

We enjoyed very much having our new runners with us, Anthony, Emma and Charlotte – thank you for your brilliant input, and humour!

And thanks to Si and Bryon for navigating, and to Jo and Lieke for backmarking.

What a team! You’re all amazing – everyone says so.

And before I sign off, I just want to give a big shout-out this week, to our two runners who ran yesterday's London Marathon, Becky G and Leanne. A massive congratulations to you both. And another shout-out to members of the team who volunteered, including Becky J and Sarah M who did a cracking job manning a bag truck.

Now, next week, we’re heading back to the Parkview Estate to check on those fruit trees and visit the residents. This is not one to miss, so get involved now.

Multi-tasking it

A good sized group of runners gathered on the hotel steps this evening to head to Oxford House, the large community arts centre around the corner, to help task owner Sarah prep-and-paint, shift furniture, scrub, and remove signs!

After a short warm up in the glorious April sunshine, the large team headed through congested Bethnal Green streets, cheerfully dodging commuters, and made their way to the vast community centre where Sarah met us, quickly assigning runners to tasks.

4 teams were soon dispatched to all areas of the building: the prep-and-paint team wasted no time getting stuck in with masking tape, brushes and rollers while a second team were dispatched to the basement for some heavy lifting of desks, painting and, er, statues. A further team hit the stairwells and corridors for sign removal (tougher than it sounds), while a fourth team headed to the upstairs dance studio landing for some industrial scrubbing. The runners worked tirelessly getting through three rolls of masking tape before the first half hour was up; completing the furniture removal way ahead of time, and racing up and down stairs looking for mops and hoovers to complete the upstairs scrubbing. Their efforts put every prime time TV makeover to shame and it wasn’t long before the stairwells were littered with forlorn looking runners desperate for new tasks (nothing a GoodGymer hates more than to be taskless). And so people were reassigned to fetch Henry Hoovers from the basement; assist in Project Pristine on the upstairs landing, and empty paint trays in sinks.

Interesting inversions

And then it was 8.05pm before we knew it and we gathered in the theatre for Christina’s Vibrant Vinyasa session. What a treat. The runners started by lying on the floor, catching their breath for the day, under the watchful eye of this highly experienced teacher we’re lucky enough to have in our team! 25 minutes later and the runners had all stretched, flexed and eased out every last little knot for the night, all to the most beautiful background music.

Runner recognition

And we finished a really unforgettable night with a cheerio from Sarah, who explained how much we’ve helped fill a renovation gap withour decorating efforts – the perfect end to a thoroughly lovely Monday evening.

Big shout out’s tonight

A big warm welcome to tonight’s new runners – what a treat! Hello and welcome to Ellen, Joanna, Cristina and Shelley whose first run it was, and to Frances and Rosie, absolutely not new to GG but new to Tower Hamlets. It was just wonderful to have you all on board, and we hope to see you very soon.

Thank you to task force member Lieke for lovely steady backmarking this evening, and the biggest thanks of the night goes to our very own Christina, for planning and delivering the most wonderful yoga session.

But you’re all amazing - our task owner confirmed tonight what we all really know anyway: that you’re absolutely brilliant, for showing up on a Monday evening, getting stuck in and really making a difference in our borough. It’s quite something.

Easter Monday means TWO great tasks to choose from!

Next week, it’s our Easter Monday fun run! Yes, we’re lucky enough to be housed at two tasks: choose from litter-picking around the lakes in Victoria Park, or heading to the Glasshouse Community Centre, by the park, for a spot of gardening and filling some big planters. And then we’re all going to meet for an EGGcellent (see what I did there) fitness session in the park. You can check it all out, and get yourself signed up, here.

Until then, have a great week: enjoy the sun, squeeze in a run AND HAVE SOME FUN!