A chilly, two-task start to March

23 runners gathered this evening for two tasks to local community gardens.

We were lucky enough to have brilliant task force member Bryon leading one of our tasks to a new task, the Poets Corner Community Garden where task owner Tahera had prepared the task very carefully, complete with a fine array of snacks. The runners wasted no time in getting stuck in to the gardening task which included clearing, weeding, leaf-collecting...a mixed bag of gardening tasks. Said task owner Tahera of the runners after they'd finished, "They covered so much ground, you can really see the difference."

Meanwhile I led a group to Rocky Park on the Hollybush Estate where Margaret, Michael and Basil the dog had a wonderful selection of tasks for us all, including wood shifting for the bug house (as it sounds); clearing leaves and branches and redistributing various bits of plant debris to another part of the garden.

As the evening got chillier, the runners didn't stop and they worked tirelessly for 45 minutes.

We gathered for some final pics before being joined by Bryon's team at Middleton Green's basketball court for tonight's fitness session, where the runners performed even more amazingly, whizzing through a long session of marching tricep dips, v-sits (on a cold wall), skipping shuttle runs, prisoner lunges...and that's just to name a few.

And then we ran back to base, after a few finishing stretches, to say cheerio for another week.

What a start to March.

What's coming up

So, here's what's coming up...

• On Thursday, the phenomenal Redbridge are hosting the GG social in the centre of town. Details can be found here

• And next week, we head to Columbia Road Youth Hub for a brand new, indoor, decorating task. Followed by our monthyl social! It's all go. Details and sign-up are here.

And not forgetting...

And a big shout out to Bryon tonight for leading our second task, and taking some good pics, and to Polly for backmarking.

Have a brilliant week, everyone, and hope to see you soon.

A well planned task

A large group gathered this evening for this spectacular task. Yes, our first visit of 2020 to the magnificent Royal London Hospital, to join forces with the mighty Barts Volunteers saw us tackling a variety of tasks, beautifully and brilliantly organised by Nancy, Marufa and Richard.

It all started in style at the Town Hall Hotel as we celebrated Liz's 400th (well, 402nd, to be precise) deed, with her home made peanut butter and white chocolate blondies. I mean, that's quite a start to a night, isn't it?

And I guess it all went uphill from there. We enjoyed a chatty, fun run to the hospital, where we met the Barts Volunteers team who quickly dispatched us to no fewer than six tasks around the hospital.

SIX tasks!

Teams gathered in various different areas to:

• Litter-pick in Ashfield St
• Prune the flower beds at the front of A&E
• Chat to patients on the wards
• Distribute newspapers to patients
• Clean & sterilise children's toys
• Clean reception desks

It was the most varied, fun and brilliantly planned evening for us all.

And the runners completed the lot: "They've finished, they've blitzed Ashfield St of all that debris," an amazed Nancy said to me at 7.55pm.

"Yep, it was fun," said first time runner Jay, en route back to our meeting point, "Like a treasure hunt, but with rubbish."

And so we gathered for our cheerio pics, and a little word from Nancy before heading back to base in two groups playing the greyhound-and-hare game. Another amazing night.

BIG GG shout-outs tonight

• First up, amazing to have first time runners Jay, Laura, and Ellen with us. You were amazing! It was a busy first task for you all, and you did brilliantly. Please come back again very soon.

AND,

• Thank you to Bryon, for leading the greyhounds back to base; for heading up the speedy running group.
• Thank you to Jo and Stefan for backmarking en route to task.
• Thank you to our photographers tonight, Suraj, Sally, Si and Polly.
• Thank you to Jessica for tonight's fabulous pun.
• And thanks to Liz, for walk-leading tonight, and for beautiful brownies, and a huge congratulations on your 402nd deed.

What's coming up...

Right, are you ready? We have some good stuff coming up. Future FOMO kicking in? Quite right too. Here goes:

• First up, this coming Sunday, our very own Chi is leading an impromptu training session in Victoria Park for those who have, ahem, left their Big Half training a little late. Yep, it's The Big Half Sharpener, a training session guaranteed to boost confidence for the big day if nothing else. And this session is for all - you don't need to be running The Big Half to attend. All I'll say is, 'you snooze, you lose' with this one folks. Details are here.

• Now, moving onto next week, the 24th, we return to Limehouse Town Hall to start our work prepping the entrance hall. So, another one to get in your diary. Details and sign up are here.

• And then on February 27th, our mighty Task Force regular Leo is running the coolest Thursday Community Mission. Listen, this is one to take an annual leave day for. Join Leo and Katrina as they cheer on the school runners in the Mini Mermaids, Weavers Fields run. AMAZING, life enhancing stuff for you to get involved with. Details and sign up are here.

Right, that's it for another week. Have a wonderful week: stay warm, stay active, stay happy, stay connected and we hope to see you very soon.

Big chill, big group

31 runners braved the chill again last night to head to two big outdoor tasks.

It was a complex operation: Isabelle was leading one group to the Cranbrook Community Food Garden where task owner Lizzie had a number of gardening jobs and an urgent leafleting task. I was leading the other group to the Parkview Estate where task owners Catherine, Ros and Becky had prepared a huge gardening task of planting 1000 snowdrops.

And brilliant task force member Bryon was accompanying us with his small group to Parkview via Cranbrook to borrow some trowels, as resourceful task owners had pooled kit behind the scenes to help one another out!

It was a busy evening. We were greeted by Connie and Greta, Ros and Becky's young daughters who wasted no time is dispatching runners to three corners of the estate, ignoring the chill and the wind, with trowels, pots and the clearest of instructions.

Time sped by and before we knew it, Isabelle's group were informing us they were en route to our fitness session; Bryon's team were speeding to Cranbrook for a trowel drop, and Chi was leading the runners to Bonner Gate, the most atmospheric running spot in East London in winter.

The runners proceeded to speed through the greyhound-and-hare game and other speedwork before being put through their jumping squat paces by Chi.

We then sped back to the hotel for a quick stretch, before heading to the Fugitive Motel for our first monthly social, brilliantly organised by Isabelle, and fully supported by our wonderful task force. It was a lovely evening - fun, fitness-filled and thoroughly productive.

Big shout-outs

Welcome to Laura, who joined us tonight for her first run. Thanks for a brilliant evening, Laura!

Congratulations and the biggest round of applause to our very own, totally wonderful Leo and Steve who tonight both reached 50 good deeds. These runners both contribute a vast amount to the group every week, and Leo is a mighty addition to our Task Force.

Thanks to Bryon for stepping in behind the scenes to enable The Trowel Pick-Up.

Thanks to Chi for joining in the fitness delivery.

Thanks to Isabelle and Chi for pics tonight, and to Si for tonight's pun.

Thanks to Isabelle for leading the Cranbrook task, and for organising a well-attended, beautifully organised wonderful first social. Here's to many more. Talking of which...

What's coming up...

• Next week, we're back at The Royal London with Barts Volunteers, for our first hospital task of 2020! Read more and sign up here.

• And our next social will be on March 9th, so keep eyes peeled for details.

In the meantime, take care, and have a wonderful week.

Storms becoming the norm

Storm Brendan was no match for 31 robust Tower Hamlets runners this evening, who gathered in wind and rain to warm up for this evening's three-task bonanza...

But we were still doing the TRIO

• Bryon was leading the task to Cranbrook Community Food Garden, to help Eileen and Janet with some much needed clearing, and fixing of vegetable beds.

• Leo and Isabelle, in the meantime, were tasked with leading a team through drenched, congested streets, to shout from the rooftops about the wonderful activities neighbouring St Margaret's House have coming up, in a big leafleting job.

• And I led a team back to Hollybush where Margaret met us with tasks galore, from de-weeding paving stones, to planting pots, to shoveling mulch and sweeping leaves.

It was a night-and-a-half. But I'm afraid Storm Brendan's pelting rain and howling winds were no match for this lot. As bin liners were filled, leaflet piles emptied, compost shifted, the evening's work got done regardless. And with smiles.

The usual incredible stuff.

And a CHOICE of workouts no less.

And then Chi headed 'round to our favourite basketball court to prep for this evening's session. And so with two trainers on board, the lucky group got to pick from a running session led by Yours Truly or conditioning work led by Chi. We finished with a little balance and cardio work before running back through slippery streets to our hotel steps for a final calf stretch.

A wrap or what.

And so to tonight's shout-outs...

Here's what I want to highlight tonight: every session I thank our Task Force, because they do so much to enable our lovely, growing sessions to run the way they do. When we need to accommodate three tasks, they appear like fairy godmothers of fitness. Here's how it looks to a trainer:

• Task Force member Leanne got in touch over the weekend to ask if the group needed any help for today.
• Bryon stepped forward today to lead the Cranbrook Task.
• Leo stepped forward earlier today to lead the leafleting task.
• Isabelle stepped in to lead the walkers.
• All our regular task force (Kat, Lieke, and those above) help me to make decisions like whether to relocate our fitness session (weather exception needed); who gets what lighting equipment; route navigation; backmarking...the list is endless.

...And other thank you's tonight go to Chi, for yet again helping to deliver the group some really fabulous, effective fitness content, catering to all abilities. Thank you from us all.

What's coming up

Now. Do you want the good news or the great news? Next week, we're at a brand new task! And it's indoors. Yep, we're heading to Limehouse Town Hall for Week 1 of a two-week task helping the Limehouse Town Hall Consortium Trust prep for a bold building makeover...More details and sign up can be found here.

Oh, and the even better news, you don't have to wait that long for more GoodGym Tower Hamlets activity: on Sunday, Leo and Isabelle are leading another Junior parkrun event, where you can take your pick from a range of volunteering roles. The details and sign up for that one are here.

Until next time, have the most wonderful of weeks. Stay warm, stay well, and hope to see you very soon.

A tremendous January turnout

It was a lovely sized group of 39 who divided into two terrific tasks tonight for our first Group Run of 2020.

We met in our intimate little hotel room, warm and welcoming, before heading outside to say hello to our new runners, run through our tasks for tonight, give the January Challenge a big shout-out (thank you, Kat & Becki and warm up for the evening's activity.

Two tasks, of course

Task force member Lieke was leading a group of 8 to help Cranbrook Community Food Garden clear a huge Christmas leaf backlog, while I was leading a team to Oxford House where task owner Jess had a big variety of tasks ready for us.

The Cranbrook crew cleared and bagged leaves and repaired netting from vegetable beds, and generally worked tirelessly with task owners Janet and Eileen until the whole garden was FIXED, before clocking up some extra miles, as they raced to join us at Oxford House in time for our fitness session.

Meanwhile over in Derbyshire St, the multiple Oxford House teams set about: litter-picking in front of the arts centre, scrubbing stone steps and window sills, and touching up all the walls of the building. Busy, busy bees.

...And two trainers

At 8 we met in the theatre for this evening's fitness session, where we were lucky enough to be joined by Chi, who started the runners off on a brilliant but tough warm up. He then handed over to me for a lower body and abs interval before re-taking the reins and blitzing abs and upper body a bit more.

Before we knew it, it was time to finish our last rep, and re-join Jess in the reception area for our cheerios and pics, before heading back to the hotel, for a final stretch for the evening.

An incredible night. What a start to the New Year.

Big, big January shout-out's

Big thank you's to our incredible task force who stepped in both over the weekend to lead the second task, and to help plan tonight's run, as the sign-ups just kept on climbing!

Thank you to Chi for fabulous fitness instruction, and for some wicked pics. And thank you to Lieke and Isabelle for fab pics too.

And a HUGE warm welcome to our new runners, Pauline, Alison, Alex, Ellinor, Mathew, Jess and Lucy,. Thank you for being SUCH an asset to our first run of 2020, for doing so much, and for the smiles and fun. Please, please join us again soon.

What's coming up...

On Saturday, we're running an additional session. Yep, this is one for all our regulars, but is especially for our new runners! So, if you're new, or reading this and contemplating joining us, this is your session. It's one of our longest established tasks, it's an amazing gardening task and we have a full and varied fitness session to follow, catering to all fitness abilities, so please do sign up.

Until then, have a great week, and hope to see you very, very soon.

A good sized group or what!

A wonderful sized group gathered on our hotel steps last night for our final run of 2019. We welcomed first time TH runners Laurel and Chris (thank you for your wonderful contribution to tonight’s run, and we hope to see you very soon). Yes, the December drizzle kept no one away as we whizzed through our warm up, shuttling through sweepy leg squats and high knee palm-taps before forming two groups for tonight’s double-task delight.

Two-tasking it for our final run of 2019

Lieke led a team of 6 over to the Parkview Estate where Catherine was waiting with tools and instructions on how and where to plant the new delivery of fruit trees, as she and other members of the Residents Association work tirelessly to transform this beautiful spot into an environmentally friendly, edible estate. I meanwhile took a team of 20 over to Meath Gardens where brilliant Joanna and Jane were waiting in the cold patiently for us and were brilliantly prepared! We had such a lovely variety of tasks to choose from: staking trees, planting trees, moving mulch, shifting woodchip…Lots and lots to do, and the large team were kept very busy right up until 8pm.

Our final visit of the year to The Fitness Tree

And so we said our appreciative goodbyes, posing for pics, rolling eyes, and jumping for joy before making our way over to our favourite fitness tree for tonight’s fitness session. Steve, our resident running chief (thank you Steve, you have breathed new life into our drills) led our running tonight, with Leo and Isabelle heading up the hare team (the runners wanting to take it a bit easier for a variety of reasons), who headed out for the lap of the park with a good headstart before Steve led the greyhounds, tasked with catching them up. The runners arrived back at the tree panting but ready for the tree’s signature move, the beloved Bulgarian split squat before moving onto the tripod push up, standing crunch, plank with sweep & kick (eugh, what a way to see out 2019 – well done, everyone), and then we made our way back to our beautiful hotel, where we’d kindly been given a large room for the night and were able to enjoy Sarah’s homemade mince pies, Chi’s Dead Man’s Fingers rum, Laurel’s game-changing chocolate stolen, and lots of lots of nattering and laughter. 2019 – you have well and truly rocked.

Our truly dedicated Task Force

A big shout out tonight to our incredible task force: to Lieke for leading the Parkview task, and other Community Missions this year; to Leo for some great pics and leading some fabulous Community Missions this December, to Isabelle for managing our growing social side of things (we’re getting there!) and heading up tasks, and to Bryon for being on board with everything, always in the background and leading some great Community Missions too.

Thank you to our beautiful Borough

It’s been an incredible year at Tower Hamlets: we’ve made more new friends in the Borough, and had some wonderful times, from our evenings at Parkview and Meath to enjoying the Council’s brilliant #BigCleanUp, to our game changing nights of 5-aside in Shoreditch with the wonderful Get Fit Feel Inspired team.

2020 looks set to be a great year – we are SO LUCKY to enjoy the company, drive and determination of some of our Borough’s most dedicated individuals and organisations, who see community as something more than a hashtag: a word that means coming together like no other, for smiles, sweat and for the long haul. We here at GoodGym Tower Hamlets feel blessed and unbelievably appreciative, and can’t wait to see you in 2020.

Have a wonderful break, everyone.