Don't stop be-leafing

On Thursday night ten tremendous GoodGymmers ran 4.5k to help out at Coram Fields in Bloomsbury.

This was the inaugural GoodGym x Facebook group run and we met outside their office, slightly buffeted by the wind, as we got to know each other. After a quick chat and a warm up we set off with Ana kindly back marking.

It's a shortish run and one that involves lots of pedestrian dodging but everyone kept up the pace to reach Coram's Fields in double quick time.

We were greeted by Noel the groundsman who explained we would be collecting leaves. Coram's Fields is a brilliant oasis in central London exclusively maintained for children and families. It often relies on volunteers for its upkeep so our help was appreciated.

We grabbed some tools and got to work. Dividing into twos the teams got competitive as they tried to fill the most bags. 25 minutes of hard work later you can see the evidence piled up in the pictures: that's a lot of bags guys.

"Hugely helpful, it make a huge difference to our charity, it would have taken our guys hours to do this and it's made a big difference. They did brilliantly for first timers. They put in a lot of effort in a short time "

Noel, manager, Coram's fields

That hard work done, Noel thanked us and we dashed off for a fitness session. We found some open space at st Andrew's gardens and divided into two teams for some repeats. The teams ran one lap at 50% and the next at 70% before going again. In between repeats we worked on squats and calf raises before a finisher of a timed fast lap. It got a bit competitive and everyone did brilliantly. This was a great way to pick up our heart rate and work on that speed.

High fives all around and we set off for a light run back to base for stretches. Thanks for having us everyone and I hope to see you all again on another run soon!

Damian, Barnet trainer