24 lovely runners ran 8km to help clear weeds and paint at the Scouts in Charlton!

Well the weather was a lot kinder to us last night in comparison to a week ago where it absolutely hammered it down! It was such a perfect evening for a run!

Another long one last night though as we headed back to one of our favourite tasks over in Charlton 4km away, the New Greenwich Scouts! Last week we started on some paint work inside and didn't quite get to finish it but thankfully Alan let us come back and have another go!

We were joined by a fair few new runners again which is always amazing to see! Please give a big cheer to Seb, Florence and Tasha! Welcome guys and gals! Hope you enjoyed your first run with us!

Chips n gravy!

I've been a bit slack recently on the old warm up games so decided to bring a firm favourite out of the woodwork. CHIPS & GRAVY which just involves a lot of running around and if you're quite unlucky, a lot of burpees! But there were also a few smiles so it was definitely worth the minute or two of pain!

After all those burpees, it was time to go, we were already a bit behind schedule (my bad). Ben C led a speedy crew and they were gone in a flash! By the time the rest of us had arrived, they had already got stuck in with some painting and weeding. AWESOME!

Everyone made themselves useful and either grabbed some tools and gloves for the weeding or armed themselves with a roller/paintbrush and began to paint! No hanging around for this squad!

After 25 minutes, the whole area outside had been cleared and Alan FINALLY managed to get the lawnmower on it which he looked VERY excited about. Health and safety siren was going off having seen all the bits flying out the back of that mower.... it looked like a rocket about to take off! But thankfully everyone took a sizeable step back!! It nearly clogged the mower and it sounded like it was going to blow but Alan did NOT care, in fact, I've never seen anyone look so happy! Great job gang!

Over in the paint corner, room 1 was looking lovely and pretty much done whereas room 2 still needed a bit of work. The girls were absolutely going for it! and when it was time for us to leave, I couldn't get them away, they were determined to finish! But sadly we had to call it a day. Until next time...

Sprintervals!

Since we were running short of time, we incorporated the fitness session into the run back in the form of a few sprints between different landmarks meaning we would get home quicker AND get a decent workout at the same time! Double win! It was great to see you pushing yourselves so really well done!

We had a nice little stretch when we got back, ate some cookies and called it a night!

For those of you who are new, please join our GoodGym Greenwich Facebook Group where you can keep up to date with all the races and other fun runs and things we plan. Also if you want to check out Oli's books, here they are on Waterstones (aka everyone's favourite shop!), have a look here! No I'm not on commission but maybe I should be.

Thanks so much for making it last night and putting all your effort into the task and the run! You got so much done so give yourself a pat on the back! See you next week for some more painting action (hopefully).

Did you know that the most decorated athlete in British athletics history, Sir Mo Farah, went to school in Hounslow? He joined Hounslow Athletics Club and represented the borough in the London Youth Games. 20 years later, we're meeting for our GoodGym run in Chiswick. Coincidence? There must be something in the water!

We had some great new faces last night - firstly a huge GoodGym welcome to the lovely Gemma, who joined us for her first run last night. Give her a cheer! Another massive pat on the back goes to Michael and Jade who both came along to see us from Ealing. Lovely to have you aboard, guys!

After a run down of the week's news, where we talked about the mission that still has two places left near Isleworth this coming Saturday, we made our way outside to do some nice warming up and have a quick talk about super powers before we left.

Tonight's task was a short run away, so with Adam leading the way, we set off for the lovely Strand-on-the-Green primary school. We arrived to find a little party going on, and dozens of kids on massive sugar highs darting about the place. Envious of their energy levels, we set about clearing the site of a overgrown car park. While Claudia and Natasha started weeding the borders, Jade, Michael, Adam and Gemma grabbed huge brushes and began sweeping the huge space. Meanwhile, Andy and Jo got to work digging up whole trees nearby, and in the process discovered all sorts of treasures including a rubber duck and glitter.

"It's a like a unicorn graveyard!" said Jo.

While we were a hub of industriousness, we had a GoodGym Hounslow first, when the staff brought us over a box of drinks including juice and...beer! At a school! It felt a bit naughty. But that didn't stop several of the group getting stuck in and having a jolly good time too. Well deserved, people.

Oi, teacher, leaf those kids alone!

After a quick rehydrate, we made our way back to Turnham Green in record time and ready to do a fitness session. And what a session it was. The challenge was leg circuits - eight stations, all focused on strengthening those legs. They were real toughies - high knees, tuck jumps, lunges, squat holds, hopping, mountain climbers, jump squats and ski jumps. Aside from the fact that I'm definitely going to need a rear view mirror in future, the exercises were tackled with real grit. Well done everyone!

Job done, all that was left was to race back to the Town Hall and to stretch out those aching muscles. Great work team - you not only helped out a local school and made your borough a better place, but you also smashed through a fitness session. Go you! Sign up for more fun next week right here.

PS thanks for the puns team, especially Adam who was on fire!