Slug Life forever

What a whopper in Wandsworth last night. With the muscle power of 41 runners, we were really able to make a huge difference at a local community project, and even got a special technical session from a guest coach. What's not to love?!

Before we set off, we had a run through of the week's news, which included saying a huge thank you and well done to all of those who helped out, ran, volunteered and paced at Saturday's Tooting Common park run. It was a brilliant morning, with GoodGym pacing 20-35 minutes, being the best (noisiest) cheering squad and generally making the event a big success. The report isn't up yet, but keep an eye on the Tooting Common parkrun page for when it does appear. In the meantime, check out these photos.

We also welcomed some lovely new runners to the team - give a cheer to Phoebe, Stephen and Kate. Fantastic to have you with us.

Well done to Matthew, Jack and Jim who also raced in Decathlon's Wimbledon 5k yesterday, and to Jessie and Luke for smashing the Race the Sun (or Rain).

While we did our warm up, we did a quick poll to find out what made people laugh. Answers included Fawlty Towers, when people fall over, Mabel's hamster and Trump.

With a short run of just over a mile, we set off at a nice speed and quickly arrived at the Doddington & Rollo rooftop garden, where a range of jobs was chalked up on the board ready and waiting for us to get stuck in. There was plenty for us to do - turning compost, cutting back the vines, a vast amount of watering, weeding paths, clearing beds, and cutting up garden waste ready for composting - but Team Wandsworth was up to the job. Within just over half an hour we had made some huge progress and the garden - which is on top of an old car park and is used by local residents who don't have access to outside space to grow fruit and vegetables - was looking even more blooming lovely.

We waved goodbye to the garden, and set off for Battersea Park where we were meeting a running technique coach from BodyLogic, a running school in Battersea, who was taking us through a series of drills and technical points for distance running. Seb led us to a nice quiet spot in the park before setting up cones and leading us through various elements that will make our running more efficient, concentrating especially on positive backwards arm drive. If you enjoyed the session, BodyLogic is offering GG members that attended 50% off a running video analysis here at Body Logic that expires at the end of the month. Just email for the details and code if you're interested.

We put what we learned to the test on the way back, when we split into two groups and raced to our starting point. I noticed plenty of good arm drive on the last hill up to the BAC (when it is really needed) -you were looking great, gang.

Next week we're off to a spot more gardening on a local estate, so join us for another fun session by signing up here.