Last night in Wandsworth we started the week right with a short and speedy run, an equally short and speedy task, plus a fun fitness session.

Stephanie, William, Alice and Lynn all joined us for their very first GoodGym group run last night with some fantastic running, so give them all a cheer!

We had some great news last night, with a couple of Wandsworth runners smashing the Oxford Half Marathon on Sunday and still making it to the group run - Tom and Matt, well done!

The run was short-ish so we made sure we took our time warming up to run in the cool night air, and heard about all the ways in which everyone takes care of their own mental wellbeing - of course GoodGym and running took the top spots, with wine and baths also scoring highly. Running and exercise are great ways to de-stress and your body will get a rush of endorphins, ensuring you feel good! One runner wrote an article about it all here.

We took a speedy 2.5km run down to Alderbrook Primary School, with David backmarking, to move some furniture from the top of the school down to the bottom. After a quick photo we were shown to the room where all the furniture was stored - it was about 4 flights of stairway up to the top of the school, so we knew we were in for a good leg and arm workout. Everyone got stuck straight in and split up into groups to carry chairs, tables and shelves all the way down to the playground where everything got stored in a small out-building. With so many hands helping out it was all over quickly and we were ready for our run back to BAC.

We stopped on the common for a longer fitness session where we found out who is scared of spiders and who cycles to work amid all the planking, sumo squats and reverse crunches. As we finished the task so quickly we even had time for some quick games of fish and chips and duck duck goose!

Thanks for having me to lead the run Wandsworth. Ana will be back in her rightful place next week when we visit Wendelsworth Community Garden to see our GG Tree.

NINETEEN NINJA @GGSHEFF RUNNERS RAN 3KM TO HELP A FAMILY OF SIKH ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM AFGHANISTAN PREPARE THEIR BACK GARDEN FOR GROWING FRUIT AND VEG WITH REGATHER

As the rain began to fall, we set off from our base of the Showroom Cinema after giving a warm and hearty welcome to two new runners this week; LIZZIE & HELEN.

Give em a Cheer!

With SENSATIONAL STEVE as our back marker we set of into the damp eve toward our destination; the back garden of a family of Sikh Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan near to Regather who will be helping them to grow their own fruit and veg in the coming seasons.

After an entertaining brief from GORGEOUS GARETH we got tooled up including the necessary PPE (gloves) and got to work moving wood, bricks and slabs, digging out roots and leveling the ground ready for the planting that will come next.

We finished in the dark, making it a little harder to see the impact we had.Rest assured it was huge and we were kindly rewarded with tea and cake from the family before setting off back into the drizzle of the night.

On route back we took advantage of the underpasses of Sheffield using them as shelter for our fitness session which this week involved runners working in pairs with one person wall sitting whilst the other sprinted to the other end of the underpass and back to tag their partner. We went hard for 3 rounds.

GREAT WORK TEAM!

On return to base we found a sheltered spot to stretch and saved all announcements until we were inside in the dry and had a drink in hand.

Note to all. as we saw last night the seasons they are a changing so next week please do bring a jacket and a head torch if you have one.

All across London last night the beer gardens were heaving, barbeques were being lit and naps were being taken as the bank holiday drew to a close. But not in Wandsworth, where, despite the gorgeous weather, 28 runners dedicated the evening to doing good and getting fit. What a brilliant bunch.

We had the pleasure of welcoming several lovely new faces to the group. Give a big cheer to Emily, Clare, Holly, Jenn, Paul and Emily.

While you're in a cheering mood, why don't you nip over to David's page, where you'll find out about the fourteen good deeds he's done this month, and have a gander at Chris' epic strava profile which shows he has smashed out no less than a huge 268 kilometres this month. Brilliant stuff!

After we met at the BAC and found out what we all like to do on a bank holiday (napping, running, eating, beer), we marched down to the Latchmere pub who were kindly looking after our bags tonight as our usual start location was closed for the holidays. We then popped over the road to our task at St Stephen's church.

Our job tonight was a big 'un. While one group started weeding down one side of the building, another team began tackling the forest of weeds on the other side. Check out the photos for one of the most impressive before and after shots ever. Another few runners took to the loos to do a spot of painting, while a couple more of us ascended ladders to clear the blocked gutters. Within half an hour the difference was more than noticeable, and the church wardens were really pleased with the jobs that would have taken them a long time to get done. As a bonus, we were serenaded with Paul Simon's greatest hits from the lovely chap next door.

Job done, we put ourselves in the very capable hands of ace new Woking trainer Nick who came to visit us and put us through our paces in a tough fitness session. With a set of pyramid drills that featured jump squats, burpees, and reverse crunches all interspersed with sprints, our heart rates were soon up. We ended the fitness section with some core work, and a run back to the pub. Thanks Nick!

We finished up hot, sweaty and having done some real good for the community. All that was left to finish the night was a bank holiday social. Well done team! Next week Nick will again be leading us through the run, don't miss out by signing up here.

18 excellent @ggsheff runners ran 3km to help the CATHEDRAL ARCHER PROJECT tidy up their community garden.

After hearing about the teams efforts on Sundays run at DIG DEEP we set off into town taking on a few obstacles on route to the CATHERDRAL ARCHER PROJECT.

On arrival LOVELY LYNN welcomed us with cold bottled water and a brief about the project and the tasks for the eve which included a lot of cutting back of overgrown plants. The aim is to be able to use the garden as an activity for the project and its users who will hopefully take ownership of the garden.

After a good 45mins of hacking away the area looked a lot clearer and ready to be used once again. Lynn gave us a lovely thank you before we headed back off into the city for the fitness session.

This week we took advantage of the cities structures and landscape and focussed on some stair sets, box jumps and a killer hill rep session to finish off before heading into the SHOWROOM for a well earnt drink and natter.

Until next time.

HAPPY RUNNING

What a whopper in Wandsworth last night. With the muscle power of 41 runners, we were really able to make a huge difference at a local community project, and even got a special technical session from a guest coach. What's not to love?!

Before we set off, we had a run through of the week's news, which included saying a huge thank you and well done to all of those who helped out, ran, volunteered and paced at Saturday's Tooting Common park run. It was a brilliant morning, with GoodGym pacing 20-35 minutes, being the best (noisiest) cheering squad and generally making the event a big success. The report isn't up yet, but keep an eye on the Tooting Common parkrun page for when it does appear. In the meantime, check out these photos.

We also welcomed some lovely new runners to the team - give a cheer to Phoebe, Stephen and Kate. Fantastic to have you with us.

Well done to Matthew, Jack and Jim who also raced in Decathlon's Wimbledon 5k yesterday, and to Jessie and Luke for smashing the Race the Sun (or Rain).

While we did our warm up, we did a quick poll to find out what made people laugh. Answers included Fawlty Towers, when people fall over, Mabel's hamster and Trump.

With a short run of just over a mile, we set off at a nice speed and quickly arrived at the Doddington & Rollo rooftop garden, where a range of jobs was chalked up on the board ready and waiting for us to get stuck in. There was plenty for us to do - turning compost, cutting back the vines, a vast amount of watering, weeding paths, clearing beds, and cutting up garden waste ready for composting - but Team Wandsworth was up to the job. Within just over half an hour we had made some huge progress and the garden - which is on top of an old car park and is used by local residents who don't have access to outside space to grow fruit and vegetables - was looking even more blooming lovely.

We waved goodbye to the garden, and set off for Battersea Park where we were meeting a running technique coach from BodyLogic, a running school in Battersea, who was taking us through a series of drills and technical points for distance running. Seb led us to a nice quiet spot in the park before setting up cones and leading us through various elements that will make our running more efficient, concentrating especially on positive backwards arm drive. If you enjoyed the session, BodyLogic is offering GG members that attended 50% off a running video analysis here at Body Logic that expires at the end of the month. Just email for the details and code if you're interested.

We put what we learned to the test on the way back, when we split into two groups and raced to our starting point. I noticed plenty of good arm drive on the last hill up to the BAC (when it is really needed) -you were looking great, gang.

Next week we're off to a spot more gardening on a local estate, so join us for another fun session by signing up here.

Seventeen sensational @GGSHEFF runners ran 7km to help spread woodchip for Heeley City Farm.

We welcomed new runner Rachel Ripley to the GG family tonight, welcome to the team Rachel - Give her a cheer!

After a quick brief and headcount and with Sam as our trusty back marker we headed off to Heeley City Farm for the nights task.

This weeks task involved a hide and seek style start with tools and a treasure map of the task hidden away in a horsebox. We quickly deciphered the map and got to work, splitting into 2 teams to move woodchip to areas of the farm that were in need of a new layer!

Using wheelbarrows, wheelie bins and brut force we quickly covered the areas in need and even had time to fill some bags up for moving in the future.

After downing tools and accidentally disturbing the local scrumpers we headed into the fitness element of the evening which took advantage of the local topography....

This week we:

• Duck Walked

• Lunged

• Box jumped

• Downhill backward walked!

• Hill sprinted

After all this in the heat it was time to head back and finish with a fast becoming customary mini hill sprint at the end before stretching and spreading the word of the latest news including:

• GG Barnsley launch

• Chosen Park Run for this Sat

• Wednesday Runch

• #stickemup - see photos for Sam's excellent demo!

Next week we are off to Reagther so make sure you've signed up.

Happy Running,

Tom

23 TERRIFIC @GGSHEFF runners ran 6km to help CADS continue their renovations of the Abbeydale Picture House.

#GGBBQ

After an amazing premier #GGBBQ at the weekend thanks to the small but mighty Kim Longbon our crew reunited at our spiritual home of the Showroom Cinema to try and reminisce of the shenanigans that took place on the Sat just gone. Beer pong was played, dead arm hangs and face scrapes were had, eyebrows were singed, legs were stretched, eyes watered and many a laugh was had! We look forward to the report from Kim and to the next #GGBBQ2 being hosted by Sensational Sam in Aug - watch the Watts App group for more info and on the parties section of the website!

The run!

Taking a slightly longer route this week to the APH to mix it up we ran as a oner with newly qualified Leader in Running & Fitness (LiRF) Smooth Stephen as our back marker. We ran to the Picture house and met an additional 4 runners at the venue.

After a brief brief and a quick drink we got straight to work with the tasks in hand which this week was mainly lifting and shifting and painting tables ready for them to be used in the new working space. We took the task owners by surprise finishing the task ahead of time with so many people on hand this week with such a strong work ethic!

Challenge time

It was too nice to exercise inside this week so we heading staight to a local park to try out the Cultured Carys 2min straight arm hang challenge of Cliffhanger fame! A real group effort was made with everyone logging a time to beat for the future and some great team bonding and cheering happening. Top marks to Lovely Lilli who smashed the challenge, holding for over 3 mins! Must have been a monkey in a previous life!

The return leg

After a quick 60m sprint we ran back to our base with an uphill sprint at the end followed by stretching and a debrief which this week included the introduction of #pinupchallenge with everyone taking away some GG leaflets to pin up in their places of work or other places they frequent to get more people getting fit and doing good. Don't forget to post your photos on the WattsApp group with the #pinupchallenge.

Next week we are off to Heeley City Farm so...

Don't delay, sign up today!