If we were going to be a bit British about it, we would say that last night's run was a touch on the damp side.

We all turned up already completely sodden, with the rain showing no signs of letting up. But it takes more than that to stop a group of GoodGymers (sidenote; what is the collective noun for a group of GoodGymers? A gaggle? A mob? A flock?) We even had a lovely new face - hello to Jennifer. Let's give her a big GG welcome!

Some of us decided to eschew the layers, given that we were as wet as we could be already, and be done with it. So we needed to warm up and quick. But not without saying a huge well done to Barry (and his boys) who nailed another Park Run on Saturday. Nice one!

With Donna, Barry and Andy leading the way, we set off for a local charity we have been helping out at recently. Friends of Cathja is an amazing organisation for people in the borough with mental health problems which have been ongoing for some time. It helps people to gain confidence and the skills to move into a more active and positive way of living.

During past visits we have been helping sort out the giant back room and yard, but this week Rin must have known we'd be grateful for an indoor task, even before we turned up on the doorstep dripping - thanks Rin! Our job was to clear a corner of the shop of furniture and other bulky items, and take it into the newly painted community room. We shifted it quickly, and admired how the shop is changing. It's great to see the progress the volunteers are making, to discover all the hidden treasures, and even to perhaps be winning over Bruce. Despite his cute kerchief, Bruce takes his duties as shop guard dog very seriously.

It had still not stopped raining as we set off back to the Town Hall, but that did not stop some great running. With some us of keeping steady pace, those that wanted to push themselves as bit harder did some tough fartlek running over the two miles back. Fartlek - Swedish for speed play - means alternating hard running with easier recovery and is brilliant for building strength, endurance and practicing the art of pacing.

Typically the rain eased off just as we got back for some stretches. We had worked hard tonight, and done some good for our local community, so when a rainbow appeared just as we were saying our goodbyes, we knew we had already found the pot of gold....

Cheesy but true! For more rainbows, sign up here for next week's run.

Another glorious evening with the perfect combination of bright and sunny but not too warm for our Goodgym run, and we were returning to one of our favourite tasks for Colchester in Bloom up on Bergholt Road Allotments.

17 merry runners joined us, including Sue and Ian. There was the usual chatter in advance of the run, and we congratulated Chris for his first Marathon, Ian, Nicola and Hannah for their Alton Water 10kms, all under the hour, and Tav and Fay for completing their Leadership in Running Fitness Course.

We made our way to Bergholt road, though we did confuse Fay as backmarker when we circled back to bring the group together - clearly they're teaching something different on LiRF these days! Then we made a snake up Bergholt Road to finally arrive at the allotment.

This task was hard. The soil was really hard, and our task was to break it up and turn it over to create a bed for plants - we had 2 examples that had been completed by the Gurkha's the previous day - and we weren't to feel bad that they had managed this well when most of them were over 70. Almost everybody had a go at using the pick-axe, and we learnt the importance of bringing your hips into play to generate the power needed to break the soil up. And I even taught some of the runners what my dad taught be about using a fork to break down and turn over soil, by jumping on it to get it further into the ground to create more leverage.

As well as creating a new plant bed, a shed was built, and hundreds of bulbs were sorted. A really great array of things in 30 minutes, and as always Pam showed her appreciation by asking us back - we'll be doing another task for Colchester in Bloom next week, but she asked if we could come back every Wednesday!

After the task we got on with our impromptu social at the Bricklayers - a very last minute arrangement, but we will have our proper social next Wednesday, so please let Emily know if you'll be coming so she can book a table.

See you next week!

Hey, spring! Where did you go? It's very rude to lure us in with your pretty sun and warm weather, only to whip it away again so we have to start our runs in the cold and damp. Still, it didn't put off five runners ready to get fit and do good in Hounslow, for we are GoodGym.

We had a lovely new runner, Barry join us for the first time last night. Barry, like a total legend, has recently given up smoking, so he deserves a double cheer. Go on, GoodGym, do the double click! We also said a big well done to Andy, Toni and Dave who are all topping the Hounslow leader boards. Great work.

After a chat about the upcoming missions this weekend ( if you fancy it you can sign up here)we did a few quick stretches, and found out where everybody's favourite place in the world is - answers ranged from Spain, Tenerife, and Rome to anywhere by the sea. Lovely stuff!

It was a good two mile run to the task this week, so we set off on a nice route that meandered by the river. After no time at all we arrived at the Friends of Cathja shop in Brentford, an amazing charity that supports local people with enduring health problems. The warehouse is full to the brim with every kind of donation you could imagine, but our job this week was to sort out a towering pile of books into manageable boxes. While testing our spatial awareness we had great fun flinging bags of things over the donation mountain. We came across every book, from The Very Hungry Caterpillar (remember that?) to The Bible in Spanish, and before long we had amassed a huge pile of boxes full of books ready to sell.

We all (sort of) agreed the run back felt much shorter, maybe because we were discussing what was for dinner. While Alannah and Barry debated the merits (or not) of KFC, Andy made us feel tired as he did a couple of tough loops of hard running, and we even managed to find out a bit about the amazing history of this corner of Hounslow. A jam packed run back! After a few stretches, our Wednesday run drew to a close. But it was not without making a difference to our local community, plus getting a good long run in. Well done team! Next week we're off to help the homeless at Ealing Baptist Church, you can sign up here (and I hope you do!):

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/a-helping-hand-for-the-homeless