Eighteen keen Goodgym runners ran to assist the friends of Northway Gardens. Northway Gardens is a linear park comprising three areas of gardens through which the Mutton Brook runs in a channel, lined in parts by weeping willows. The gardens have tennis courts,a cafe, woodland ,open grass and formal gardens. Worth a visit and great for a run. We gathered outside the phoenix cinema numbered up and played a game of would I lie to you. Some very interesting truths and some very cleaver lies! We welcomed Ellie for her first run! ( give her a cheer) and cheered Barnet's Gold placed finish in the January Challenge with notable contributions from Abi (54 GD), Kat (10GD) and Vicki(7GD) But thanks to all who contributed to the 155 (GD) from Barnet. Well done and give everyone a cheer. A great effort! It was a cool night made worse by the wind chill as we headed off with Abiback marking. On route we stopped occasionally to do paired exercises to stay together and keeping warm. We met with Brian at the venue and we set to work carrying the compost bags( of fun) from his car to the gardens. He also sent a team to scrape the path of moss and another repaired wind damage to the pedestrian footpath. When we had finished we headed back along Mutton brook (which forms part of the capital ring) with the wind at our backs. Before we hitting the streets again we did a short aerobic routine to music. (all the latest hits!) We then split into three groups of fast, faster, and quick. Thanks to Rob and Charlotte for leading the way back. Then a very quick warm down (called wind chill!) and a trip to the pub to celebrate Katiebirthday ( give her a shout out). Well done to Mumtaz for an outstanding cake in all senses! ( see picture)

Thanks for coming, running, doing some silly dancing and a lot of good!

We will have a prize draw next week just direct message me with the 'sentence yes please I'd like a prize Paul

Twenty-three trash hating GoodGymmers met at the Phoenix to litter pick around East Finchley.

We have some excellent equipment, so we try to make full use of it every few weeks to keep our local area tidy. On arrival we were joined by Jonah for his first group run. Welcome!

It was a cold cold night so we hopped to it: after a quick warm up and (shamelessly) stolen from GGI ‘what was your first job' game we ran up to Strawberry Vale armed with litter grabbers, gloves, torches and bags. We chose the location because: 1. It’s always gross up there 2. It is conveniently located at the top of East Finchley for a simple plogging route back.

We divided into four teams and got to it. There was a lot of rubbish: four vodka bottles (Jacqui always finds the booze, somehow), a load of tiles (?), and the usual assortment of crisp packets. Once it was reasonably tidy there we plogged along the High Road before ending up at East Finchley Station for a final litter pick and team photo.

Paul then took some chilly runners back with the equipment to the Phoenix to warm up, while I took a group off for our fitness session.

Tonight it was ‘track’ running using our little triangle of roads behind the station. It’s about 100m around, so working in blocks of four, the team worked on laps of warm up speed, hard effort, then active recovery. Julian was our fastest on the night, while Beth in particular has made massive strides in her running recently (keep an eye out for her upcoming races). It was a big effort by everyone with a noticeably less chatty group in the immediate aftermath.

Nice one team. See you next week!

Twenty four good gym runners gathered at the Phoenix cinema for the first run of 2020 to help Stephens House and Gardens. We had three first time runners,Jeffrey,Okan,Siobhan... and Eda tourist from York! Welcome and give them a cheer! It’s a very important month to get motivated and start getting into some positive habits so GG has launched the January Challenge. GGB is in a league table of 53 teams measuring good deeds done, mileage run and people involved. So if you know anybody who wants to get moving and get interacting with their community ask them along to one of our sessions. We have a starter event this Saturday at long lane pasture . Thanks to Rob, Simon Jackson, Rachel and Kat for being the first to start running miles and doing good deeds this year. We are top of the Bronze league so lets get promoted! (at the time of press) Details here We warmed up together shouting out our name, number and favourite colour. I think pink won out as the most popular colour amongst the group....find out more here We then headed off through the back streets of East Finchley heading north to the grade 2 listed house. We stopped occasionally to gather up and do some paired group exercises. This included squats, arm press and an up hill sprint. It was a mild surprisingly rain free night and we soon reached Stephens house (Avenue House). We were met by Melanie who is the charity coordinator for Stephens House and Gardens who advised us on what we would be doing. Built in 1859 by Rev. Edward Cooper and then enlarged and renovated between 1874 and 1878 by Henry “Inky” Stephens. Avenue House is a wonderful Victorian mansion with rooms overlooking the Gardens. Lived in by Henry Stephens from 1878 the house  originally included a library, school rooms and bedrooms. The house and grounds were left for public enjoyment by Stephens in his will and is now a charity. At the time of his death it was already in use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital and between 1919 and 1925 was the RAF central hospital before the grounds were formally opened to the public on 3 May 1928. The house was then used for many years as a public library, and as the offices of Finchley Borough Council after Council Offices in nearby Hendon Lane were destroyed by enemy action in the Second World War. It’s rooms are now used to help fund and maintain the gardens as a public park. It has a lovely little cafe in the old stables. here Melanie had asked us to work in the dinning room waxing the oak panelling . We started by applying wax and then while waiting for it to be absorbed we moved into the drawing room to do some gentle breathing exercises and knee bends. If you are interested to see more please see this great Ted talk on the power of breathing. We then set about buffing the wood to a beautiful shine. Once completed we started a more direct route back to the Phoenix completing a 5.5km circuit by 8.30pm. Thanks for coming and doing some good for a valuable community asset in Barnet. Hope to see some of you this Saturday to support our starter event at a nature reserve in Barnet. Here

Nine noble goodgymmers braved the cold and our longest run to help the volunteers at Friary Park.

After a quick meet at the Phoenix, we dashed off to get moving. We would be meeting Charlotte, Fiona and Aase at the task, while the rest of us took on the 4.5k undulating route.

Thanks to Jodie's rapid leading we got there in no time to meet Richard, one of the Friends of Friary Park. He handed us leaf grabbers, brooms, gloves, bags, litter pickers and a wheelbarrow and set us to work.

The Friends of Friary Park keep this lovely park tidy year round, so we got stuck in to help. This week it involved shifting a large pile of wood and leaves to the compost, general leaf clearing, and some litter picking.

After some hard work, illuminated by our collection of giant torches, we got through it all in no time. Its always brilliant to help at Friary Park and we'll look forward to heading back in the spring.

From there, we said our goodbyes to Aase, Rachel and Laura, who made their own way home. Once again Jodie set the pace on the run back , with Paul and Julian this time.

A long run and a busy task but great work all around. See you next week for double flyering!

Eleven good gym runners ran to help at Saint Mary‘s Church Finchley. A grade 2 listed building and one of the oldest if not the oldest building in Barnet with elements built from 16th century. We started off at the phoenix cinema (another building which is one of the oldest of its type in the country) gathering to chat , number up and state our favourite superhero. Jody won the day by revealing that her dad was a superhero. (Looks like she’s blown his cover but at least Barnet can sleep easy tonight!) There was a gentle drizzle to start but otherwise a nice night to hit the back streets of East Finchley by winding our way through quite roads and alleys. We stopped briefly to gather for a sprint up a short uphill section of alleyway. We reach the church dead on time to meet Helen who was waiting with tools to do the job in hand. We were to clear the path around the church of leaves and weeds. We set to work and in a short time had collected four garden bags which we loaded into Helens car. Helen then took some time to show us around the church and talk about its history, this included showing us some markings from the Norman era of the church! We also gathered around a church poster of Agnes ( one of our own runners) who had run the Eden half marathon for charity. A nice coincidence! ( see photo) We then started a more direct route back to the Phoenix escorted by a deluge of bangs and flashes. I chatted with Abdul who was telling me how much his fitness had improved by joining GGB. Indeed in todays news a vast study had proven a correlation between one run a week and improving life expectancy. Check it out Here Tell your friends! We soon returned to the Phoenix and had to sadly say goodbye to Marie on her last run with GGB before returning to France. Thank you for bring the crepes and Bon voyage!

Thanks for coming you were super heroes tonight!

Ps Two Christmas party dates for you Goodgym 6th ( party) 11th December ( GGB social meal) Let us know if you can make one or both!

Fifteen fabulous Goodgymmers ran to Northway Gardens to help the volunteers.

Meeting at the Phoenix Cinema we were joined by our marathon hero Marie who completed the Lyon Marathon on Sunday!! give her a cheer!

As we got ready to leave we discussed our favourite hot drinks (important given the weather): the most popular answer seemed to be Flat Whites (#NorthLondon) but honourable mentions to hot ribena, bovril and chai tea!

it was a nice short run down to Northway Gardens and Brian was on hand to explain our tasks. We would be clearing branches and sticks from the beds and grass and piling it up for collection as well as carrying 27 bags of compost and sand through to the gardens from the road.

it was a lot of hard work, including some very spiky branches, but the team did great shifting all the branches and the bags in super quick time.

after a quick team photo we said our goodbyes and ran back to our 'outdoor track' (a residential road) for a fitness session.

Tonight's was a running session: we ran 1,2,3 laps of hard effort with an easy effort lap in between. everyone did brilliantly and the tired faces at the end suggested some very hard work.

from there it was an easy run to the phoenix for stretches and high fives. thanks for coming team see you next week!

D