GoodGym lam'beth' celebrates 250 good deeds

A new task tonight down in the south of Lambeth. All a bit exciting to be honest. I don't know about you but I hardly slept the night before.

As there was only a need for 20 ish at the task it seemed like another good opportunity to split the group and take the rest for some speed work and strength sessions.... we covered Clapham using everything we could find as our own urban gym... finishing off with a magnificent 300m sprint around the pond on the common, then back to Papa's for some core work.

The rest of the group ran just over 2 miles down to Agnes Riley Gardens to meet Sue for some serious gardening and heavy duty turf moving... if the state of Robbie's mucky knees was anything to go by it looked like gruelling work.

Now then, on to the big news. The magnificent Beth clocked up a whopping 250 good deeds this week... in little over two years. That is a serious commitment to GoodGym and doing good and a large amount of those have happened in Lambeth. I wanted to use this report to say a huge thanks to Beth for everything she has done to help Lambeth and me personally. When I started leading the group she was one who helped me keep you all alive and reminded me regularly to do the various admin tasks I had a habit of forgetting. possibly even more importantly is her contribution by the way of baked goods. I've lost count of the amount of cakes she's baked for us... and i'm not talking shit Betty Crocker 'just add water' tray bakes.. i'm talking huge erections that require so much skill and dedication that I am actually questioning if she is a Hollywood/Berry love child.

For those of you new to GoodGym, Beth is a great mentor and there isn't anything she doesn't know about what is going on. She knows all the gossip too. Anyway, to give you a taste of what you can expect in runs, here are her favourite bits...

"Those early runs to Myatt's field where the aim of the game was to cram as much wood and other garden rubbish as possible into Guy's van.

Any run to Vauxhall foodbank, Faith is the best at making you feel wonderful for what you are doing. I want to be as nice as her when I grow up.

The GoodGym fifth birthday party which in my eyes was the making of GG Lambeth.

Our 1st birthday run - there was cake, a ballon, a record attendance and a lady from radio 4. Rebecca managed not to swear and Tom got interviewed and appeared on the radio. You might not know have known that, he doesn't like to talk about it.

The one where I baked Alex Tylor a birthday cake but he didn't show up. It went down pretty well with all who were there though, some even said it was the best cake they had ever eaten.

The one where we did some painting while wearing hazmat suits and got rewarded with donuts.

The one where we had to move some soil from A to B which appeared to be a very short distance, until we realised that the gate between A and B was locked. Wheelbarrow races around the block ensued.

All of the group runs during the Great Lambeth bake off - Millie's biscuits, Jay's free-from chocolate cake, Rebecca's chocolate orange scones, Tom's Swiss rolls etc, etc.

We raced a train. An amazing weekend of racing, driving around in the fun bus and hanging out in our Welsh bunkhouse! Can't wait to do it all in June against a horse."

Jay said about Beth "With all these good deeds a temporary name change to GG Lam-Beth Hoskins may be needed! She is sure to make every effort to welcome newbies and oldies, at group runs, missions or starter sessions, that you just can't imagine a goodgym without her. On top of that she's an awesome baker and faster than she thinks!"

John's favourite Beth moments are remarkably clean "i have a fantastic beth memory of watching her power over the line at race the train. she is always so modest about her running but between all those tasks she probably covers more distance than most of us put together. also i love that she held these planks because i made her. also also i love that she had to stand in a cupboard when the mayor visited The Passage and he walked straight past."

And we'll finish off with a poem from Tom J Benson:

Beth Hoskins

Beth Hoskins many congratulations to you,

You've done so many good deeds your records untrue,

Whether it's helping moving fridges or raking a lawn,

Doing some weeding, come Sun or storm,

The leggings you wear are always amazing,

250 good deeds that's certainly worth praising,

The distance you've covered in doing all these deeds,

Would even have Mo Farah on his knees.

All that's left to say is bloody well done,

Shut the front door, Beth Hoskins is Lambeth's number 1!!