10 runners met on the hotel steps for the briefest of warm-ups this evening.

What perfect weather for tonight’s Easter Monday run! We enjoyed just a handful of mobility exercises at our base before heading just half a mile around the corner to meet task owner Catherine, plus family Des and Liam, to plant trees, shuttle shrubs, and load planters.

Plant Stop Loving You

It was all hands on deck, as the runners divided into two teams: one small crew headed off with Des to plant trees outside, while another team worked tirelessly inside the community centre with Catherine, filling the balcony planters first with compost and then geraniums and lavender, having had a full upper body workout trying to prise newly painted windows open.

What a production line! Compost was shuttled at great speed from the garden downstairs before being emptied into the planters and the flowers and herbs settled into their new home, which were then watered – a lot.

Meanwhile, Des’s team finished the tree-planting early (GoodGymers – always working ahead of time) and came on board, enabling us to fill every planter before our workout. Busy little bees or what. Talking of which, our big question to Catherine tonight was, “What constitutes a bee-friendly plant?”, to which the answer is, those that are rich in nectar and pollen.

We’re so privileged to have been invited to help kickstart this fabulous new Parkview community food growing project. Let’s give a huge shout out to the power house that is Catherine and her family. How lucky is our community.

You’ve never AB it so good

And then we were lucky enough to get to use the hall for tonight’s fitness session – a last minute change of direction saw us hit the floor for an ab attack supreme. The runners sped through some seated core moves, before moving onto the lying bicycle crunch and leg drop, before finishing with a push-up with a leg-raise. They did amazingly well, but there was a lot of moaning, I have to say.

And so we sped back to base, finishing almost on time this evening. Yay. Go, us.

Monday mentions

Welcome to tonight’s new runners, Pauline and Andrea, who came all the way from Hyde Park to run with us! Thank you for all your hard work, and for the smiles and the teamwork. We really hope to see you again soon.

And it’s Many Happy Returns to our very own birthday girl Katherine, who we’re thrilled chose to spend her birthday with us, while regular runner Tracey, celebrated her 100th good deed tonight. Wow. Tracey’s been running with us since 2016, is a keen coach runner and an active, very supportive Tower Hamlets GoodGymer. Well done, Tracey, and on behalf of GG Tower Hamlets, and GG - thank you.

Next week, it’s new task time…

Yep, next week we’re headed back to another new task as we make our way to Ion Square Gardens, for a full on evening of gardening, including weeding and pulling up tree stumps, so whether you’re a bit weary post-Marathon, or raring to go after a leisurely weekend, there will be activities catering to all energy levels! See you there?

…while on Sunday it’s MARATHON DAY

Whether you’re running on Sunday, or planning to cheer fellow GoodGymers on and join the fun, unbelievably appreciated cheer squad on the Embankment, don’t forget to sign up. And wishing all our GoodGym runners all the luck in the world. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week in the meantime - see you soon.