On a chilly but pleasant winter's evening five of Goodgym's finest runners met for the last time in 2018, washed a load of windowns and did an interval session. I'm tired just writing that!

Bringing the year to a close, the team met at the usual meeting point, Wanstead House Community Association, ready to get busy and make Wanstead a nicer place to live. The evening's task owner was a new one for the group and they were tasked with cleaning the windows of the newly opened St Francis Hospice charity shop on Wanstead High Street. Charity shops are generally run by volunteers and the focus is on getting any money raised to where it can do best. Paying for window cleaning services can be costly and few charity shops prioritise basic maintenance like this. This is where Goodgym steps in and can make a huge difference.

Armed with hot soapy water, squeegies and sponges the group were soon cleaning and wiping dirt from all the windows (it's quite a big shop) and learning the technique for streak free windows - it's all in the wrist apparently. With the task done and windows sparkling in the Christmas lights, all that was left was to get a bit hot and sweaty.

After a short warm up the squad returned to George Green for an interval session aimed at working on pacing and adding a little bit of speed to a run. Using a 300m loop runners would run at an effort level of 8 out of 10 for a lap before taking a one minute rest. 25 minutes later, it was over and after a short stretching session to avoid next-day-soreness it was off to our local - The George - for a quick Xmas drink.

Fancy getting involved? Our first run back is on the 7th of January. We're on a mission to do 50 tasks during the month so don't wait til Janaury to sign up you can do it now by clicking the link on the right of this report!

Have a great Xmas and a Happy New Year!!