A lovely sized crew of 34 gathered for tonight's two tasks...

Stitches in Time SAVED by nine...

Following a recce of our new task at Stitches in Time in Limehouse, our wonderful Task Force were heading this one up like a military operation: numbers were planned, runners assigned, task owners instructed, routes mapped...It was all systems go from the weekend! And so a team of 11, headed by Lieke, headed to this fab new task along the canal. Writes task force member Dave, "Community arts charity Stitches in Time is worth nine plucky Goodgym-ers taking a scenic 7km circuit along the Regents Canal to the deceptive Limehouse Town Hall (which has never actually been a Town Hall, FYI).

On arrival at this new task location, task owner Paul quickly set us to work removing a lot of lengths of wood, screen-printing materials and some large wooden structures, to make way for the dismantling of shelving and a tougher-than-it-looked dark room.

The sound of creaking crowbars and banging hammers soon filled the building in a hive of activity, and excellent team work, making a very large dent in this terrific task. Time ticked on, our planned fitness session came and went, but finish we did, before the team returned to base along the dusky canal, for some final mileage for the day."

Glossing at Hollybush Gardens

Meanwhile, I took the rest of the team around the corner to Hollybush Gardens where Michael and Margaret had some fun outdoor painting work to do. Due to the recent rain, the outdoor furniture still hadn't received a lick of summer paint, and so 22 runners were put to work with pots of gloss to get the chairs, planters and outdoor benches looking bright and shiny for the Autumn months ahead.

A splinter crew of 3 headed to the garden for weeding, and industrious they were filling bags and bags before we wrapped just before 8.

Fabulous team fitness work

With a few minutes to spare for this evening's task, the team did a superb job taking the fitness reins: Si headed up the route operation, taking us straight down to Bethnal Green Gardens, while David took creative cardio control and led this evening's speedwork, planning and directing a tough lap of the park, with teams divided into two. And what fitness work it was, with all runners arriving back at The Fitness Clearing panting for breath and begging not to brave another lap. And so we settled for a real full-body blast of a workout, with plank-and-pushups, jumping single leg deadlifts, abs cycles and the sprinter lunge to name a few. Incredible work, yet again, from everyone. Your fitness - cardio, balance, flexibility, and strength - really does seem to be improving by the week.

And then David led the crew back to base, and through some brilliant calf and quad stretches on our favourite hotel stretching steps.

What a night.

Great big, glorious Monday shout-outs

Where to start this evening?

First up, welcome and thank you for a wonderful first night to our new runners, Victor and Kerenza. You were amazing and we hope you'll come back very soon.

A big pat on the back to our David who last night celebrated his 50th good deed and our Chris who celebrated his 70th. Thanks for being a great, big part of our group.

Thanks to David and Si for their fabulous fitness input tonight.

To Joel for pretty spectacular pun input as usual (and sorry for my eleventh hour change...).

Now. A huge shout out to the totally brilliant team who headed to Stitches in Time, including Leo and Dave for pics; Dave for report-writing and leading the runners back to base at 9pm, and Lieke for heading up. And to our wonderful task force who were all on board with planning over the weekend. Thank you from us all.

Next week sees a fitness double bill!

Yep, come out and celebrate the Bank Holiday Monday with a fun leafleting task, followed by running and Pilates: swap sofa for sweat and strength work at this fun Monday session. Details and sign up are here.

Right, that's it for this week. So until next time, have a thoroughly good week everyone!

Rain, rain, are you gonna go away?

…No? Well we don’t care because we’re GoodGymers and we run and task whatever the weather.

Yes, a good sized group of 26 runners gathered together for tonight’s two-task effort…

Two tasks: two dedicated, resourceful teams

Task force members Bryon and Lieke had come to the rescue to head up a smaller operation, a new task brilliantly organised at late notice by our regular runner Nikki, helping to prepare and pretty a green space in advance of a new community fun day.

5 runners headed up towards Whitechapel to help offer a makeover to a little green space next to neighbouring Brady Arts & Community Centre, as local teams help to create a Dream Garden ahead of a Community Fun Day.

Meanwhile, myself and the remaining runners headed to beautiful Meath Gardens, where Joanna and Jane met us with the usual warmest of welcomes, and some beautifully planned tasks. We were staking shrubs, and litter picking, and moving mulch in a huge two-team operation.

The runners were dispatched to all four corners of the park working at usual lightning speed (no actual lightning, tho, as the weather had significantly improved, much to our relief).

Mulch was moved, litter picked, shrubs staked…step counts boosted. Yep, it was a calorie-burning, bone-boosting session too.

And before 8, the team from Brady Arts Centre had arrived, and, I’m guessing you’re gonna know their answer to this question I put to them: “Now, would you like to chill for a minute before we start the fitness, or do you want to join the litter-pickers?” And so we had a big crew finishing the litter-picking with not one un-used bin liner left by the end of the evening.

Hopscotch and single leg deadlift-time

And so we said our goodbyes and headed to the centre of the park for tonight’s balance and agility workout session.

This was a combination of agility drills and some balance moves, all doubling up to work lower body in preparation for the Autumn race season, and general summer mileage.

The runners were great. They blitzed all the moves, with seriousness and dedication, and this shows in their improved balance: a reverse-lunge-to-single-leg-deadlift following multiple hopscotch laps is no mean feat. Unless you’re a Tower Hamlets GoodGymer who’s consistently worked on their balance, in which case it’s a walk in the park. Literally.

And then we were stretching, tonight tackling in particular our tight ITBs and TFLs, to hopefully show hips and knees some TLC for the week.

Great big glorious Monday shout-outs

A massive warm GG welcome to our first time runners,Lucy and Hannah. You did so much! You worked so hard! And you were so much fun. Thank you both for your vast contributions and we hope very much to see you again soon.

Thanks from us all to Nikki for setting up and organising a brilliant new task, and for putting us in touch with some wonderful community partners over the months. And thank you to task force members Bryon and Lieke who came forward last week to lead this task and enable it to happen.

A big shout-out to tonight’s back markers Charlotte and Becky who kept us all together at great distance tonight, as we headed out at a speedy pace.

And a big shout out too to Chris who jumped in and led a faster group back to the hotel after our run.

We’re able to offer multiple running speeds, so we really can cater to all running abilities, thanks to wonderful runners like those mentioned above.

And thanks to Chi and Nikki for great pics, and, to finish today, a huge shout out and appreciative pat on the back to Si, who recently reached 50 good deeds, in a pretty short space of time and who contributes a lot to the Tower Hamlets group.

Right, nearly there… But before we head off, two things that must go on your radar…

• Next week, 19th August, on Monday’s run we’re a two-task crew again, heading to a wonderful new task at participatory arts and education charity Stitches in Time, while a second team will be returning to Hollybush to help Margaret and Michael with some more SOS summer gardening tasks. Come and join in the fun, we’d really love to see you!

• And on Sunday August 25th, new Camden trainer Simon is leading a brilliant GoodGym run, a tour of the Docklands, with a pace that’s do-able for pretty much every runner, with a choice of distance. So, if you’re planning on some Bank Holiday mileage and fancy a bit of company, this one’s for you.

Have a great week, everyone, and hope to see you soon.