Goody Six Shoes

GoodGymers love their running shoes. Many of us have more than one pair to avoid muscle aches and injuries caused by repetitive motion when running regularly.

Yet, there are millions of people with no shoes, who suffer from sole diseases. Millions of pairs of shoes end up in landfill every year and many of them have a lot of life left in them.

Today we decided to save a few pairs of shoes that are still usable and send them to our partner, JogOn, a campaign that aims to remove one million pairs of running shoes from going to landfill!

Four of us arrived way ahead of time at Bodyline and concluded the cavalry was not coming. Here we were, with eight hands, eight legs and three pairs of shoes. That doesn't sound too bad, right? Each of us wanted to run to the task, so we had to forget about our cheeky plan to offload some shoes to a walking group. We had to use a range of techniques of carrying shoes in boxes and carrier bags while running to deliver them safely to our destination: an Evri parcel shop in the depths of South Ealing!

We looped around Walpole and Lammas Parks, absorbing the soothing vibes of summer greenery and avoiding trampling toddlers on tiny bikes. The path landed us at a roundabout nearby St Mary's Church which we last visited before Christmas to give it a good sweep. Having a choice between the house of God and an off-license on the opposite side of the road, we decided that the latter would provide us with more opportunities to do something good.

Kash produced a carton box from her tiny bag, and then we folded the packaging on the spot. We squeezed the pairs of running shoes, skating shoes and generic trainers into the parcel without compromising its structural integrity. We sent our representative to the convenience store to dispatch the cargo and obtain proof that we shipped the shoes to JogOn. They came back safely with the receipt. Phew!

The task was quick, so there was absolutely no excuse to skip the run back and the fitness session. Today we had another GoodGym-themed workout: a City Harvest-style circuit training with exercises featuring:

• crate pick-up and jump with throw (Madhan denied that they throw crates at City Harvest but we carried on)
• pushups to look for a dropped orange under a trolley
• jumping jacks to chase away a wasp that flew into a warehouse
• pretend-you-are-a-pallet plank as a final defense against the wasps

It was a fun evening full of activity that finished with a chat in the pub! If you are looking for more tasks related to recycling, join us on Sunday for a Reduce & Recycle community mission. The next group run will be hosted by the Northfields Allotments.