Make America Rake Again!

29 runners gather loads of leaves at Brixton Youth Club and then eat USA-inspired Bake Off goods before coming up with what now seems - in the cold light of day - to be the most inappropriate GoodGym pun of the year

It was a cold November evening and the day of the US elections. John Hunter took the reigns this week to welcome our group of runners and lead the group. After a quick warm up we split into two groups. One went 1 mile straight down Brixton Road to Brixton Youth Centre and the other took a slightly longer 1.4 mile route. The outdoor area at the youth club sits under almost every tree in Lambeth, so we were knee deep in autumn leaves.

We got to work with rakes, brooms, gloves and bags. The leaves were gathered with enthusiasm and skill. To keep everyone warm, John took groups through some killer plyometric excercises. These fast, explosive movements teach us to stay nimble and keep quick. We did some jumping jacks, jumping squats and jumping lunges.

JUMPING! Said everyone

It was bloody hard work, to be sure. After making the yard look just lovely, we headed back to base with people choosing the long or short road. We headed to the basketball court at Papa's to do some lovely warm downs and stretches before enjoying some US-themed Bake Off goods from this year's finalists - Milly and Megan. Chocolate key lime pie and peanut butter & oreo brownies went down a treat and then we headed off into the night to catch up on election results. With the most depressing result since Benjamina got voted out of the Bake Off during Tudor Week - a baking situation that Katie will never quite recover from, there is only one thing left to say, and that is:

Make America Rake Again!