Whether it was your first group run last night or you've been part of the GG family for a long time, this one is for you -

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY GOODGYM!

In those years you have all been part of creating a huge movement for good and in doing so you have run a mind-blowing

2.5 million kilometres!

Say whaaat?! That's incredible. Last night's 7kms run by 32 of us is the start of the next decade of doing good and getting fitter, and I'm looking forward to being part of that with you.

To kick off our special birthday run we had a few announcements:

• We welcomed Diego and Daniel to their first group run - give them a cheer!

• As part of our special birthday week, this weekend it is #SuperSaturday where we attempt to put on the greatest number of community missions than ever before across the UK. In Wandsworth we have a great one helping out with a spot of yurt washing at a local community garden at 10:30 on Saturday morning. Sign up here - be lovely to see you there! Remember, community missions are open to everybody, you don't need to be DBS checked.

• It was also a special milestone for Stephanie who last night hit 50 good deeds - what a brilliant thing to do. Next time you see her in her new black tshirt give her a massive high five! Congratulations Stephanie.

We had a very appropriate task for our birthday run last night - helping to assemble and check cots for the amazing Little Village charity in Balham.

This organisation provides for free good quality baby clothes and equipment, donated by local people to families that need them. It's like a foodbank, but for clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children and they're committed to alleviating material poverty in London. They believe no child in the capital grows up without these essential items and promote sustainable living. What an amazing project!

We did a quick warm up back in our usual spot which BAC had kindly repaved and leveled over just for us to use at our group runs (kind of) and did a poll to see how we all like to spend our birthdays. Eating cake was top, along with friends and drinks, brunch, bed, days of work and, of course, GoodGym!

After just over 3km of running we arrived at Little Village to find an amazingly organised Jo there waiting for us complete with flow charts and a list of jobs! It meant we could get straight in with the task, so dividing up into groups we started

• Assembling and checking cribs

• Checking travel cots

• Helping in the stock room

This was one of the tasks where we had to use brain power as well as our muscles, but after about 40 minutes of work there was a wide range of different cots to show for our efforts, many travel cribs had been checked and even a spot of sweeping had been done. Great effort everybody. We were so engrossed with the task that it sadly (?) meant we had to forgo our fitness session, but with a 3km run back we still got in a good workout. Double session next week!

Speaking of next week, we have not one but two tasks on offer. Check this out, choose your preferred task and sign up! Both are shorter runs, so plenty of time for that fitness session...

Great work last night gang and many happy returns GoodGym. Thanks for every run you've done to make our city a better, kinder, fitter place.

Loads to celebrate last night, not least lots of great new faces joining us for their first run! Please give a big GoodGym cheer to:

• Vanessa, Tina and Alice

As always, we got the weekly news done before we set off for our evening task:

• We have a community mission coming up this weekend helping put away chairs and equipment after the community day in Tooting where all profits go to St George's hospital. Sign up here to help out.

• But the best news of the night came in the shape of a double 100 milestone - that's right, we have not one but two new GoodGym centurions! After clocking up 100 good deeds, many community organisations helped, and a huge number of kilometres run, it was three cheers for the lovely Helen and Emily. Give them a high five when you see them next for all the amazing effort and commitment they've put in!

Summer runnin', happened so fast

After all that great news, a warm up and a poll where we discussed our favourite things about London (the parks, food, pubs and people came out on top!) we headed down to the Venue Community Centre.

The Venue is a busy centre managed by Hadas which is home to amazing organisations like Waste Not Want Not - the first project in Battersea which collects surplus food from nearby markets and distributes it through the local area - and many other community projects such as intergenerational art and support for children and parents.

So after a 2km run down there we arrived to find Hadas with a list of jobs including composting boxes of unusable lettuces, sanding benches, litter picking the outside area, clearing the overgrown plants and transporting compost to the roof garden.

Getting stuck straight in, there was lots to talk about while we worked. The brilliant weekend GoodGymers had enjoyed at Love Trails and Night of the 10000m PBs, how brilliant the flash new litter pickers are that even manage to do cig butts and cocktail sticks, and why cherries are the most expensive soft fruit (something to do with them having to be dried if they get wet on the tree? This is being verified for next week's run!). We even had the newly patented 'lettuce train' - thanks to Viv for her bright idea to get the heavy boxes up to the roof garden!

After 45 minutes of hard work we waved goodbye to Hadas and set off for a local green space to do our fitness session, which this week focussed on alternating core conditioning with exercises to get our heart rates up. That way we got a tough all over workout, whilst getting some strength work in too. Nice work team, especially Emily who soldiered on with a helium balloon tied to her waist, and all of the rest of you who had a very vocal and very young audience 'supporting' you!

You all faced the hill head on on the way back, with every single one of you running all the way to the top, which was fantastic. Next week we're back for more fun and fitness. Go on, get yourself signed up!

With two choices of task and distance last night, it was great to see 42 runners gather to do good and get fit in Wandsworth!

We had lots of lovely new runners last night - please welcome:

• Dave, Jennie, Alina, Kirsten, Abbie, Kathryn and Yvonne

Before we divided up the group and set off for our two tasks, we did a very quick run down of the week's news. In case you missed bits, here's a recap:

• GoodGym is looking after an aid station at the British 10K on Sunday 21st July from 7.30am - volunteers get a free place for the Oxford Half, Hackney Half or the next London 10K. Sign up here

• There's a GoodGym takeover for Fulham Palace's 300th run on Saturday - we still need a few roles filled! Click here for all the details

• Fancy a community mission? You don't need to be DBS checked, and it we're still looking for some runners to help. Check out the details of this event that's happening on Saturday 6th July.

• It's the last couple of days to enter the GoodGym Olympics - go on, you won't regret it! Here is all the info you need

Back to School

With a longer 10.5km run to Broadwater school to sort out an overgrown pond area and turn it into a science learning zone, and a 3.5km run to Bolingbroke School to turn a neglected outside space into somewhere inspiring for the kids, there was plenty to choose from. Our local schools are under pressure from budget so are increasingly rely on help from volunteers.

After a warm up where we also talked about what we wanted to be when we were kids - lots of tiny aspiring vets, dancers, doctors, missionaries, chefs and even one channel four continuity announcer - we divided up into two groups.

Chris' team set off to sort out the outside area, and after a conditioning stop on the way, arrived to find plenty to do waiting for them. They set about strimming, watering, digging, composting, and clearing and after 40 minutes of hard work still wanted to do more! However, there was a fitness session waiting for them on Wandsworth Common, where Chris took them through their paces with some intervals and technical points and even through in a core blast for good measure. This was Chris' first time leading a GoodGym run and I think we can all agree he is a superstar! Way to go team.

Meanwhile the second group were off on a very twisty turny long route down to Tooting, which even saw us do a spot of trail running (almost!). After a very muggy run, we arrived to find Naz waiting for us with tools and instructions to clear a very overgrown pond area so that it can be turned into a learning space for the kids. We got stuck in straight away, finding all sorts of treasures including a lost shoe and an ants nest. We didn't have long at the task, but after some serious elbow grease the area looked much clearer and well on the way to be able to be used by the kids. With such a long run there was no time for a fitness session but we still had that 5.1km to tackle on the way back.

What a lot of effort from everybody last night - 42 pairs of hands really making a difference in the local communities. Next week we will be helping the amazing Providence House out spreading the word about their summer program for young people. Sign up here for all the details. Happy sunny running until then - and make sure you rehydrate in the heat!