Big chill, big group

31 runners braved the chill again last night to head to two big outdoor tasks.

It was a complex operation: Isabelle was leading one group to the Cranbrook Community Food Garden where task owner Lizzie had a number of gardening jobs and an urgent leafleting task. I was leading the other group to the Parkview Estate where task owners Catherine, Ros and Becky had prepared a huge gardening task of planting 1000 snowdrops.

And brilliant task force member Bryon was accompanying us with his small group to Parkview via Cranbrook to borrow some trowels, as resourceful task owners had pooled kit behind the scenes to help one another out!

It was a busy evening. We were greeted by Connie and Greta, Ros and Becky's young daughters who wasted no time is dispatching runners to three corners of the estate, ignoring the chill and the wind, with trowels, pots and the clearest of instructions.

Time sped by and before we knew it, Isabelle's group were informing us they were en route to our fitness session; Bryon's team were speeding to Cranbrook for a trowel drop, and Chi was leading the runners to Bonner Gate, the most atmospheric running spot in East London in winter.

The runners proceeded to speed through the greyhound-and-hare game and other speedwork before being put through their jumping squat paces by Chi.

We then sped back to the hotel for a quick stretch, before heading to the Fugitive Motel for our first monthly social, brilliantly organised by Isabelle, and fully supported by our wonderful task force. It was a lovely evening - fun, fitness-filled and thoroughly productive.

Big shout-outs

Welcome to Laura, who joined us tonight for her first run. Thanks for a brilliant evening, Laura!

Congratulations and the biggest round of applause to our very own, totally wonderful Leo and Steve who tonight both reached 50 good deeds. These runners both contribute a vast amount to the group every week, and Leo is a mighty addition to our Task Force.

Thanks to Bryon for stepping in behind the scenes to enable The Trowel Pick-Up.

Thanks to Chi for joining in the fitness delivery.

Thanks to Isabelle and Chi for pics tonight, and to Si for tonight's pun.

Thanks to Isabelle for leading the Cranbrook task, and for organising a well-attended, beautifully organised wonderful first social. Here's to many more. Talking of which...

What's coming up...

• Next week, we're back at The Royal London with Barts Volunteers, for our first hospital task of 2020! Read more and sign up here.

• And our next social will be on March 9th, so keep eyes peeled for details.

In the meantime, take care, and have a wonderful week.

Warm weather, warm welcome

It was a warm night as we gathered outside our lovely hotel base to welcome new runners, talk through tonight's task and welcome Dani, the new GG trainer for Derby!

After a couple of dynamic stretches, we headed straight out to our task, via a recce of the planters we were going to be tending to on Roman Road. Expertly navigated by Bryon and Chris, and formidably back-marked by Katherine, we made excellent time to our first planter, which set the tone for the evening: we whizzed up Roman Road, identifying which planters needed the most work; those that just needed just a lick of varnish, and areas that were in desperate need of a bit of litter-picking.

And then we arrived at the Fire Station, to be greeted by three of the warmest welcomes from the phenomenal Globe Town Community Gardeners, Joseph, Marco and Jess, who were brilliantly prepped with everything from wire brushes to a scooter (on which to shuttle varnish between planters).

Productive planter work

Two minutes of efficient briefing and we were dispatched: teams of 4 and 5 ran up Roman Road to their designated planters to start blitzing cobwebs, uprooting unsightly weeds, ditching Coke tins and glossing panels.

It was quite a sight to look down Roman Road and see a sea of red t-shirts dotted along this busy street, earnestly at work. Shop vendors came out to film; residents and local businesses came over to thank, and pedestrians smiled. We were appreciated last night. Of course, that's not the driving force for any GoodGymer ever, but it is so much appreciated and very much adds to a sense of community and positivity on the night.

Timings were adhered to and the work was complete by the 10 minute countdown. Last to finish were the painters working on the London Buddhist Centre planter who insisted on finishing the last panel (quite right - "GoodGymer's prerogative").

And so we gathered for outros and pics - and water. Courtesy of the Bethnal Green Fire Station crew (thank you very much - you made our night!).

What a brilliant time, all down to fabulous GoodGymers and our truly, truly terrific task owners tonight - powerhouses of efficiency, smiles and appreciation. We'd love to join you again soon!

Single leg burpees in the sun

So we still had time to run some of our fitness session as planned (with a last minute bit of mileage for our recce, I wasn't sure if we were going to have time for our scheduled workout). Cut a bit short, the runners still managed single-leg burpees, monkey push ups, eccentric lunges and a speedy lap of the Museum Gardens. Way to go. And in 30 degrees.

Monday night shout-out's

Bundles of appreciation for lots of runners tonight.

Thanks to Katherine for brilliant backmarking (and an additional thank you to Katherine, from us all, who attended the Shindig at the weekend, and will be briefing us further soon).

To Bryon and Chris for expertly, instinctively leading the crew to our first planter; and to Dani and Sam for being so hands-on and doing so much, while learning on the job.

And I feel compelled to give a mighty shout-out this week to Polly and Si who opted to take the task of jumping into a couple of tree planters and blitzing the worst litter (in terms of volume and material matter) we have ever seen.

To finish, a HUGE GG welcome to our first time runners, Caoimhe and Jill - well done for a fabulous first run, and we hope you'll come back very, very soon.

Don't miss more fun this Saturday!

On Saturday, we're doing it all again! It's the Tower Hamlets Summer Planting Party, complete with: two tasks, some running and Pilates, and a picnic and the pub.

Come for as little or as much as you fancy - this is YOUR day. Details and sign up can be found here.

And next week, we're back to Weavers Adventure Playground for our first visit of the year! Details and sign up are here.

Storm Freya no match for sturdy GoodGymers

20 runners braved Storm Freya to head to Victoria Park for a variety of heavy duty gardening tasks...

We gathered in a compact hotel room this evening for tonight's pre-task briefing. Due at glorious Victoria Park at 7.10pm, to meet Tom, our terrific new task owner, we needed a few minutes to run through the details of tonight's range of tasks, before we hit the tarmac.

A full body workout

We arrived promptly at a dark park, to be greeted by Tom, on a bike laden down with gardening kit. We kept up with the bike through an increasingly dark park as we headed up central drive, grateful for those runners who'd headed out with head torches this evening. We finally reached The Old English Garden where three teams worked on: turning a wall of compost in the compost pen; raking an entire bed ready for seeding, and redistributing soil onto shrub beds.

As usual, the runners worked at lightning speed, and it wasn't long before the back-up tasks were completed, as well as the original tasks. It was a windy, cold night but the runners ploughed through mound after mound of leaves and soil. They shovelled, and forked, and raked, and wheeled, so every muscle in the body from core to calves was thoroughly worked. Even the mud-shifting from the rakes was labour intensive this evening.

Fartlek in the freezing wind

And then it was time to head back to the tool shed to replace kit and be briefed on tonight's fitness session: task owner Tom would lead us back out to Crown Gate East, changing pace on his bike, offering the runners an impromptu fartlek session.

GoodGymer Tom then led us through our Victoria Park speed session, a few 20-second bursts of fast running, before we headed back down Old Ford Road for stretching and polishing off our favourite McVities Gold bars.

It was a FULL. ON. evening: the weather was stroppy, the park was dark, the lake was, well, there; the running was fast, and the mud stubborn. But the GoodGymers breezed through, not batting an eyelid, other than to adjust headtorches. As always, you rock.

The first March shout-out's

A big warm welcome to Tom, who joined us tonight for his first run (how are your lats?). Thank you for shifting so many leaves on your first run. And to Simon, by no means new to GG, just to Tower Hamlets, and we hope so much you'll join us again soon.

And thank you, from us all, to: Bryon, for leading the runners back on the fartlek session; to Leanne for perfect, careful backmarking, above and beyond what we expected distance-wise tonight, and to Tom, for powering our runners through that last bit of fitness-boosting.

Now, next Monday...

We're back to Oxford House next week, to enjoy an indoor task where we'll help Sarah and the team continue the big makeover of this beautiful arts centre. Read more and sign up here.

All that leaves me to say is have a wonderful week, and hope to see you very soon.

Editor's Note

After whizzing through this evening's announcements & intro (as much as I ever 'whizz' when it comes to talking), our transition to warm up was briefly interrupted as Bryon stepped forward to present me with a one year anniversary balloon sculpture and a Wonder Woman card on behalf of the group. Blimey. You lot know how to turn a trainer from chatty to teary in seconds. I maintain GoodGym IS YOU. Thank you.

A terrific-sized team again

30 runners gathered for this evening's task, always a popular one, as we headed to awesome Oxford House half a mile away in the heart of Bethnal Green, to start The Big Paint Job.

After a quick warm up, Luke stepped in to lead us all down the road to our task, taking in a little detour, to avoid The Longest Traffic LIghts In The World, and to squeeze in a microscopic little more mileage.

It's all in the prep

Sarah, our task owner, was BRILLIANTLY prepared as always: runners had been pre-assigned to two areas, complete with own rollers, brushes and paint trays.

What looked like a large office space upstairs to begin with, soon looked brand new as less-than-white walls were rapidly coated in bright new paint. The runners worked tirelessly in small teams, pausing only to assess their work, or, in Tom's case, to offer extra lighting to show up the faintest of smudges.

And, as always, 30 minutes in, half the team were task-less, having finished so quickly, and were soon tasked with the tricky job of cleaning all the rollers, and helping fellow runners out in the basement. The team work just went on and on.

Hitting the floor for some flexibility work

And then it was after 8 and we gathered in the wonderful theatre area for our Pilates flexibility session. The team were on fire tonight! In a packed theatre, they balanced, and stretched and strengthened - every last rep executed brilliantly, and without a peep. Gold stars all round.

And no sooner had we arrived, it seems, flushed and fresh faced from our run, than we were posing on the ramp for our cheerio pics, to a very appreciative task owner.

Our thank you's - and our shout-out's

A massive warm welcome to Alica and Toto who joined us for the first time, making an immense contribution to this evening’s activity! We hope to see you again very soon.

Thanks from the whole group to our wonderful Task Force, who ran some brilliant activities this weekend, and to Becky G for backmarking this evening too, and to Luke for leading and navigating our run to the task.

...And our new task next week!

Next week, we’re at a brand new task when we’re heading to Victoria Park - yes the Victoria Park - to help the Park Ranger Team spread mulch. And then we’ll be running. This is one not to be missed, so sign up now.

Chilly – but cheerful

31 runners gathered in Bethnal Green tonight to head out to Weavers Adventure Playground, one of our very favourite tasks. The 4-degree January chill was no match for this determined lot as we congregated outside our hotel meeting point for our headcount, amidst lots of excited chatter.

Such was the chill in the air, we decided to head to nearby Middleton Green for a quick warm up lap, followed by a couple of dynamic mobility exercises to get us in the mood for shovelling sand and lifting tyres. Everyone took this very well, as we 'enjoyed' skater squats on the basketball court, having chased Steve around the small park.

Truly tough tasks

Shortly after 7.15 we arrived at the playground to be greeted by task owner Alex who was well prepared with a line up of tough but interesting tasks. The first crew headed to the sandpit to shovel sand into wheelbarrows and then out into tyres on the go-kart track. No mean feat, I can tell you.

Another group gathered beneath the trampoline to pull up weeds and shrubs; a third group shifted tyres from one tyre mountain to another (and then stacked a further tyre mountain tidily), while a fourth group washed and scrubbed furniture and children's toys.

Too speedy for their own good

Sounds like a lot? It was but guess what? 20 minutes in and half the runners were taskless, "They work too fast!" bemoaned Alex. Best. Criticism. Ever. And so further tasks were created. A new crew were despatched behind the hall to move garden furniture and goal posts (no, that's not a typo, and was a close shave shifting that thing in the air at one point, btw - #youhadonejob), while another team then moved timber at lightning speed from one side of the play area to another.

And then there was still time leftover. The majority of the team then gathered in the hall for our workout of the night (a few stayed out to get the job done.) There seemed to be many disgruntled faces during the workout tonight, which I wasn't sure was down to the floor surface which made for a miserable side plank, or my lack of height in a big hall, making for a difficult-to-follow exercise demo. Or the mean exercises. Don't think the latter.

And then it was 8.20 and we were saying cheerio to Alex, who expressed a short-but-heartfelt thanks for all that we do, and the difference it makes to him and to the children who use the playground. It really is nothing short of a miracle.

And then we were home-and-hotel bound, another productive and enjoyable night under our belt.

Shout-out's galore this week...

From us all, thank you to Steve, Luke and Bryon for leading and navigating our run out, and for Steve heading up our impromptu opening speed session.

Thanks to Ivo and Will for lovely back marking, and to David for this week’s wonderful pun, and to Dave who helped out with music tech at the start of the evening so we could all plank to music.

A very, very big warm welcome to our wonderful new runners tonight: Daniel, Christina, Becki, Vaida, Sarah and Karkay. What work! What a Monday night effort. What we all want to know is, when are you coming back?? I hope you had a wonderful night, and thanks for helping to make this evening so fun and productive.

Moving on to our next exciting events for you…

So, moving on…Next week, we’re two-tasking it at least (might even be 3 – watch this space), heading to Hollybush & Cranbrook gardens, followed by some running – details are here, while don’t forget on Sat Feb 9th, our fabulous Task Force member and parkrun co-ordinator, Becky G, is heading up our next Mile End parkrun pacing collaboration. Details and sign up for that are here.

Right, I’m off. Well done again for absolutely blowing January blues right out of the water; for being the most productive and fun crew to be found in East London.

Have a wonderful week, and I hope to see you very, very soon.