Amazing! 9 runners ran 6.5km, cleaned the heck out of some garden furniture AND did burpee/mountain climber TABATA! And now an awesome run report from the awesome Kerry!

Last night's run started at Bodyline Fitness Studios, with a great crew of 9. We gently jogged to Haven Green across the road for some bright and cheery warm ups to get us ready for the 3km run to Impact Theatre in Perivale.

We ran over what felt like many hills, but of course what goes up must come down! The classic running mantra! And the steady pace saw us all there in one piece so we got straight into cleaning some furniture in the back garden of the theatre. Mel was on it with the hose and everyone else scrubbed and tidied and it was looking shiny and nice. The theatre is a lovely facility for adults with disability to learn through theatre performance and creation.

Many hands make light work and we were finished quickly. Onto a quick HIIT session of burpees and mountain climbers before heading back to base in Ealing. TABATA training is a great way to do high intensity exercise in a short period of time and exercises like burpees and mountain climbers with strengthen your whole body and help your running too!

After a tough but satisfying journey back, we did some lovely stretches.

Great run team, looking forward to next week!

Twenty Two buoyant Hackney GoodGymers ran 5.5k to help remodel 2 gardens run by Eco Active on the Kingsmead Estate.

After a beautiful day we were lucky to have a beautiful evening in near ideal running conditions. Being a slightly longer run than normal we set straight off on mass towards the task. After a 5 minute pulse raiser we stopped either side of the the Hackney cycling not very super highway to get our dynamic stretch on. With our bodies loose and mobilised we kept a smooth rhythm on our way to the Kingsmead estate. Navigating our way through Hommerton there was lots of talk about improved running mojo and great to hear a few runners preparing for a race or two in the coming weeks (If you are still looking for a race or want help with your training give me a shout).

We arrived in good time and met the team who run the gardens who were super passionate about their much loved gardens. We split into two groups and got to work turning over soil, weeding flower beds and raised beds. While in garden two there was almost a nightclub style sounds system pumping out tunes to keep the crew motivated. Flowers were planted, gravel was raked, weeds were removed and a huge bag of soil was shifted and carried to create a lovely flower bed then raked so it was as smooth as a long jump pit.

In 40 minutes of impressive work we go so much done and all the members of the garden were so greatful and really looking forward to having us back again in a couple of weeks. A proper GoodGym task was rounded off with a epic race back to base!! The Sexy group lead the way back at an impressive pace, acting as a target in the distance for the Speedy crew to chase down. The pace ramped up after we all crossed Hommerton High street and The Speedy crew to the lead, pushy the pace even harder!! A final push back to the Bakehouse saw us average under 4:30 per kilometre on way back!! Top running by all.

The evening was rounded off by a series of well needed static stretches and a very well deserved round of applause, before we went our separate ways with a job well done!

Next week we are off to St Luke's to deliver flyers around the local estate to promote their community summer fair!! Be great to have you along to run around the estate grabbing some amazing views while helping out a great community organisation!! Please Sign up here

Smooth sunning and running

Joel

Twenty Three Spring heeled Hackney GoodGymers ran 7k or 6k to clear Daubeney Fields of rubbish and fly tipping.

On a super sunny but craftily chilly April evening we we gathered at the E5 Bakehouse ready for some serious running action. Following a dynamic, muscle engaging formation warm up we set about the longer than usual 3k run to Daubeney Fields lead expertly through the central Hackney back streets by Clare. Maintaining a solid pace we worked our way towards the river while talking about earning our post run food rewards. In seventeen and a half minutes of consistent running action we arrived to meet Bruce and his team from Hackney Parks. We donned our protective gloves and grabbed our pickers then split into two units to attack the woodland and remove anything that should not have been there.

Many bags were filled and a lot of weird and wonderful items were removed (some lets say were a little suspicious). The squad worked really hard to complete the task and get the park ready to be regenerated by Bruce and the Parks team with any number of flowers plants and trees in the next couple of weeks. After 35 minutes of perfect picking action we had won and celebrated by splitting into our Speedy and Sexy groups for the run back to base. Jack lead the Sexy group the 3k back maintaining a solid pace while working on the teams endurance. While the Speedy crew scorched through the streets of Hackney zig zagging our way the 4.5k back. We worked our speed endurance pushing our anaerobic threshold to new heights!! 4 two minute intervals followed by a kilometre of lamppost dictatated fartlek action saw us rounding into the final straight for an epic sprint finish.

After a few muscle relaxing static stretching we congratulated ourselves on a top night of running and picking action. Before 10 of us headed out to refuel at our monthly night out.

Next week we head to the Claudia Jones charity for women and families in difficult relationships to totally revamp their outside space!! Please sign up here

Until next week

Smoothly does it

Joel