We had a monster Monday GoodGym group run last night, with the longest run yet and a great big task!

Here comes the news...

Next week we have the first of our regular Wandsworth socials immediately after the group run. Sign up here for all the details.

Well done to Helen who ran in the cross country league at the weekend, and to Beth and Chris who both smashed the Worthing half marathon - plus all you parkrunnners last weekend. Stars, each and every one of you!

Scout and about in Wandsworth

Thanks to everybody for turning up on time and ready to get out the door before 7pm last night - we had the challenge of a long run ahead of us so it was great to get on the road quick smart!

So after a brief warm up, and in honour of impending Valentine's Day, our weekly question was all about the people and things we loved. Answers ranged from garlic bread to our family, and everything in between...

We had a 5.5km run to get to our task last night, which was at a local Sea Scout's HQ. The 4th Streatham Sea Scouts was founded in 1913 and provides thousands of local young people, regardless of faith or culture, with an opportunity to enjoy adventures which they might not otherwise benefit from, and aims to provide a framework to help its members to take a constructive place in society through mental, physical and spiritual development. The group operates out of a boat house in Putney right on the river - but this HQ needed a bit of love so organiser Louise got in touch to see if we could lend a hand with a lick of paint.

After a twisty route down to the river, and a very dark jaunt through the park, we finished off the run with a beautiful stretch along the embankment. There we found Louise and the other volunteers waiting for us, super organised with paint brushes, rollers and buckets and buckets of paint.

We quickly nabbed various sections of the wall and got stuck into the job at hand, either painting, cleaning or sanding down various sections. After half an hour of hard work, the place was a completely different colour - check out the photos for the before and after shots!

There is still half the HQ to do, so we will be back either to finish the job as a community mission or a group run - watch this space.

After a jog back down the road, there was the option of jumping on public transport to get back to the BAC or taking the challenge of the full 11k back. Well done to everybody, whatever you chose to do, for a very fun, paint and running-filled Monday evening!

Next week we have a new challenge - painting and measuring a daily mile track (plus lots of other jobs) at a local school - (sign up here) [https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/run-with-purpose] for all the details. Have a lovely week, GoodGym!

Last night 39 runners turned Blue Monday GoodGym Red, running 4k to dig over an outdoor learning space at a local school, to take on a fitness session and to beat the January blues!

Good News

A huge welcome to Hugh, Roisin, Caitlin and Hazel who all came for their first group run tonight - give them a cheer when you see them!

GoodGym has some £10 community entry places for the Big Half happening in London on Sunday 10th March. If you're interested please email bighalf@goodgym.org. Deadline for applications is Wednesday 30th January. Names will be drawn at random from those who want a place. It's a great race, and very well organised, so if you're after a goos half marathon, whether it be your first or if you're chasing that PB, then why not give it a go.

We're getting closer and closer to that January challenge target! We've done a massive 168 good deeds out of a target of 220, and have 1192 kilometres under our belt out of a target of 3000km. There's still a little way to go, but well done for being part of the massive wave of good happening across the country at the moment!

A big round of applause went to Sarah who reached that magic milestone - 100 good deeds. That's a huge amount of digging, cleaning, planting, sorting, and general good-doing and who knows how many planks! Brilliant.

We dug our task last night

After all that good news we were ready to head outside for our warm up, and kicked off our third run of 2019 with some high knees, heel flicks, fast feet and, given that it was rubbish old Blue Monday, a discussion about what makes us feel happy. Food, hugs, rest, burritos, our friends, wine, books and of course GoodGym were all sources of joy for us!

Our job last night was at Chirstchurch school, a local primary school which has an enormous project they are undertaking. So after a speedy 1.5 km run down the hill stopping only to do some toe taps to keep our heart rates and body temperatures up, we arrived to find Barry the site manager with a whole load of spades and a big job for us.

The learning space is going to be for all the kids and visitors, and will feature hives, composting, teaching areas and lots of other fun elements, but the area first needs to be prepped for such a large endeavour. They've raised the money for this incredible project themselves, but need a hand from volunteers, and GoodGym is always happy to help out! So after putting on gloves and grabbing tools, we got stuck in digging over the soil, picking out stones for repurposing elsewhere and getting rid of weeds. After 40 minutes of work we called it a night - but we'll be back soon to help with the next stage!

We nipped across the road for our fitness session, which started with a game of clusters, and then moved on to a more intense workout which featured repeated inchworms, vertical jumps, shuffles, plank knee taps and more. Conditioning is important to protect against injury, increase strength and improve overall fitness, so well done on working hard last night.

All that was left was a quick run home and that last hill, before stretches and lots and lots of cake. Nice work everyone! Next week we have a great new (indoor!) task and a choice of two runs. What are you waiting for, sign up here!.

We also have the first of our monthly socials coming up soon - check out the details here and sign up!

We kicked off last night's run with the excellent news that we are record breakers - with the largest number of good deeds done in GoodGym history last week. With an enormous 1621 runs to help out an elderly person or support a community project, the impact you are having is incredible. Keep it up GoodGym!

Speaking of huge numbers, the January challenge is going pretty well for Wandsworth, with an impressive 114 out of a goal of 220 good deeds done. We do need to work on the distance a bit though, as we've currently clocked up only 873 out of 3000 kilometres. I know you are running machines though, and every step counts, so lets make the rest of the month count!

Last night we welcomed three lovely new runners to the group - please give a big Wandsworth welcome to Jane, Sonja and Julie . Great to have you run with us!

If you do know anybody who is keen to find out about GoodGym but is a bit nervous about coming along or unsure about fitness levels then point them in this direction. I'm running a start session which is designed for new runners on saturday, but if you're up for a little extra weekend GoodGyming, then experienced GGers are also very welcome!

• A light bulb moment*

Last night our task was at a local estate, but before we set off we did a few exercises to get our hearts pumping and warm up our cold muscles while discussing our fav films. Gladiator came out top, while Lion King, Mary Poppins and, appropriately, Speed were also mentioned.

The task was only a short 2k run away so we set off at a steady clip, only pausing for a few lunges and squats along the way. We arrived to find Donna, the Chairperson of Kambala Cares, the organisation set up to support the local community there, waiting for us with spades, bulbs, brooms and bags, and we divided up into two groups to tackle the two jobs she had for us.

Naughty squirrels had been digging up the bulbs we had carefully planted a few weeks ago, so we got stuck in with a whole new lot of them. Meanwhile, 18 other industrious GGers got going with a thorough litter and junk clean up, filling up a huge number of bags. Nice work team!

After just over half an hour of work, we waved goodbye to Donna and Andrew and set off for the river to do an intense fitness session. In three different groups, we worked on cardio, conditioning and sprints, focussing on a technical point each time. This wasn't an easy session, but you guys smashed it - well done on the effort! By combining strength work with high energy sprints the session is really effective - do this regularly and you will definitely see an improvement in your speed!

All that was left was a fast run back to base - apologies I got you back a little later than normal last night! - but well done on a great session where we got so much done. Next week we've got a short run down to a local school to help create an outdoor learning space (and we'll be back on time!) . Sign up here for more GG Wandsworth fun - see you then!

HAPPY NEW YEAR GOODGYM WANDSWORTH!

We really started off 2019 with a bang - no less than 46 amazing runners ran 5k, smashed out a whole range of jobs for a community garden, and took on a tough fitness session all in the name of getting fit and doing good.

The January Challenge!

As some of you know, every year we take part in the January challenge. This is a bit of (friendly!) competition between GoodGym areas to see who can rack up the most good deeds and distance in the gloomiest month of the year - it's a really good motivation when it's a bit dark and cold outside. This year our goal is a biggie! We have no less than 220 good deeds to reach, and a whopping 3000 kilometres. We can do it! Just make sure you're connected to Strava so all your training miles are counted, and come along to as many group runs and missions as you can squeeze in - everything counts towards our target. Go team!

Well done to everybody who did races and parkruns over the festive season - don't forgt there is a parkrun every Saturday morning at 9am. It's a free, timed 5k and a great way to get fitter, improve your times and also to meet up with your GG buddies - wear your red tshirt with pride!

Need for Speed

After a quick intro and catch up in the BAC we headed outside for our warm up which got our muscles ready for the run ahead. We also found out about eachother's resolutions for 2019. There were a happy number of running and GoodGym goals (hurrah!) as well as promises to cut down on plastic, drink more, drink less, remain fabulous, eat less meat and read more books. You are an inspiring bunch!

Our task tonight was at Doddington and Rollo rooftop garden, a space which has been transformed from a neglected multistorey roof into an amazing community garden for local residents to grow their own fruit and veg. So after a stead run down there, stopping only briefly for some conditioning reps, we arrived to find the volunteers waiting for us with a list of jobs.

Tasks included cutting back vines, weeding, shifting heavy pots, sorting compost, turning over soil and we quickly divided up into teams to tackle them. It was incredibly seeing you all work so hard - looking round the garden is was a buzz of activity and so impressive to see what a big team of people can achieve in half an hour. That work would have taken the volunteers a significant chunk of time, so well done for making such a difference.

Tools down, we jogged over to Battersea Park for our fitness session. We kicked off the first one of 2019 with everybody's favourite/worst challenge - Sally Squats. This is a serious bit of thigh-burning conditioning, and we all found ourselves how blimming long Sally was going to be up and and down - was it the extended version? Was it on a loop? Finally it came to the end with everybody gritting their teeth and nobody giving up. If hat wasn't enough we then did a total body workout circuit, which sadly (I can tell you were devastated) had to be cut short because we ran out of time.

After a speedy run back to our starting point we paused at the bottom of the hill at the BAC for a final tough sprint before Danny kindly led us though our much needed stretches. What a brilliant way to kick off the year, team. Next week we're back doing the same and edging ever closer to reaching our January target! Hope to see you - until then, happy running!