Last night's run was our final February outing and although March can be a tricky month, we have one eye on April when the clocks go back and we will be once again GoodGyming in the sunshine. Not long to go and at least we have the relatively balmy weather to enjoy in the meantime. After a slightly late arrival and apologies from the Run Trainer, we gathered in a huddle around a table in Mirth to plan our night.

First off came some news, which in summary went a bit like this:

1. Next Thursday (7th March) is the GG monthly social. Details shortly to appear online but all you need to know is that it is next Thursday in Mirth, Marvel and Maud. I'm pretty sure it starts at 6.30 pm so you can either stop by for a swift half or get on it big time.
2. Next Friday (8th March) is International Women's Day. To support this day and to encourage more women to get involved with GoodGym we will be actively promoting this day and you can too by using the #WD2019 and #BalanceforBetter tags in any social media posts on or around that day. We also encourage any runners to bring a female companion along to next week's run.

Okay, back to last night's action. We were back to everyone's favourite primary school Willow Brook in Leyton. We have a decent turnout, and it was great to see a straight hat-trick of Group Runs from Jim, at this rate you will be eating the Hackney Half for breakfast in May, Jim, keep it up. It was also lovely to see Heather and Rebekah for their first GGWF outings of 2019. Big up to Rebekah who hit deed number 25 last night. Well done Rebekah, halfway to your black t-shirt!

After a 3km run to our task through various twists and turns that had me thinking I wish I had tied one end of a ball or sting to Mirth, Marvel and Maud before we set off, we arrived to meet the admirable Alison who waited patiently for us long after all her colleagues had departed for the day. Thank you, Alison, you are a star and sorry we kept you waiting, my bad.

Once in we headed for the playground where we were once again barrowing stuff from point to point. Lats and backs at the ready the crew made short work of the task and we filled a planter with soil and restocked the Mud Kitchen ready for the early years to get messy at playtime the next day. There was an unsuccessful attempt by me to organise some burbies to take up the slack with the lack of spades and barrows, but only the plucky Kirsty and Nerys decided to participate. Everyone else frankly bottled it!

After completing our chores, we headed back out to the streets and back to base.

Don't miss next weeks activity sign up here.

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It was our first outing of 2019 at GoodGym Waltham Forest tonight and on what could accurately be described as a jolly cold night it was fantastic to welcome such a big group of hardy souls to our base at Mirth, Marvel and Maud. Fourteen altogether including new to the crew Katie Moore as well as a hat-full of our regular stalwarts and old friends making a welcome return. We were also celebrating a fantastic fifty, yes FIFTY good deeds by all round good egg, Francis Bradley. To celebrate this milestone Francis supplied generous quantities of cake. Sadly, that had to wait until our return as there was important work to be done.

The Run My personal favourite of our regular task outings. Admittedly better in the summer but nonetheless a pleasant outing as the hurly-burly of the metropolitan world gives way to the semi-countryside via the yeast infused scent of an industrial estate dominated by a Kingsmill Bakery - I'm not really selling this, am I?

The Task Arriving warm and ready to get stuck in we armed ourselves with bags, gloves and litter pickers. I had planned to split the group into a litter picking section and a running section but after such a long run, we decided to just get stuck in. However, the plunging temperature soon took its toll on our fingers and toes. There was also slim picking on the litter front. To get the blood flowing again we headed to a different section of the pathway and struck gold, or more to the point struck crap with a veritable dumpsite of detritus languishing in the rough. The team wasted no time in filling their bags with wellington boots, flattened cans, pie dishes and all manner of single-use plastic containers. Sadly time was short and lips were turning blue so we had to leave the litter to be picked another day and get back on the road.

The Cake Picking up the pace impressively we were soon warm again as we headed home and back to the boozer to celebrate with Francis and a trio of yummy cakes.

The Future Next week we are keeping it local as we head back to St Mary's to fill the planters (wot we builded) with the compost (wot we dug) so if you have been involved in any of these projects before, or if you haven't, don't miss out as we are coming full circle with this. Sign-up here.

Also, and sorry I forgot to mention this but do sign-up to the starter run on Saturday 19th January at the charming Willow Brook Primary School

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T'was the run before Christmas and all through The Stow several GoodGymers were beavering away in the Mill before doing some hard yards in a tough time trial down Coppermill Lane.

We were a little thin on the ground yesterday, but what we lacked in numbers we made up for in tenacity. It takes a lot to drag one's butt out on a chilly, dark winter night in late December to do some exercise so hats off to the crew. In fact, I think these guys all deserve a name check, we had Louise formerly of the GG's Birmingham Chapter but now living back in East London. Great to see you Louise and I hope this is the first of many. We also had Nerys, back from doing a bit of a David Attenborough in Central Americal. Racing Ruby, who ripped it up in the mile time trial (more on that later). Ercole - Mr Reliable who joined us despite having clocked up a ten-mile run that morning. "Hell-for-Leather-Heather" who landed her time trial on a postage stamp with a perfect run. "Racing-Ruthiran" with an IQ and a V02 max that are off the charts.

Fortunately, the task at hand suited a smaller crowd. We were heading to The Mill, a community jewel on Walthamstow's glittering crown. This place provides such an essential service to so many and you can feel the warm glow of friendliness as soon as you walk in the door. Natasha, our hard working contact was waiting patiently for us to arrive despite the late hour. We have been here many times before so no time was wasted in getting down to it. As part of their big Christmas clean-up, we were helping out with the toy room.

After killing billions of germs, we were back out into the night for our 1-mile handicap time-trial. The results were pretty amazing:

| Name | Predicted | Actual |

 | Heather   | 08:00    | 08:02 |

 | Nerys        | 08:00    | 08:34 |

 | Louise      | 08:00    | 08:07 |

 | Ruby         | 09:00    | 08:45 |

 | Ruthiran  | 06:30    | 06:35 |

 | Ercole       | 07:00    | 06:29 |

It was a display of impressive running with everyone posting excellent times in harsh, dark conditions, and it Nerys's case some serious jetlag.

That's it for 2018. It's been a great year for GGWF. We have some wonderful volunteers and a fabulous team spirit. Thank you to everyone who has joined us and made it so special.

We return on Wednesday 9th January 2019 with a lovely litter pick along the green verges of the Lea Bridge Road near Walthamstow Marshes. Sign-up here

We are also planning a weekend starter run to Willow Brook Primary School. More details to follow but do sign-up here

It just remains for me to say, I hope you all have a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year

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