Gonna Flyer Now

Tonight's Rocky-themed run report is brought to you by GoodGym Islington and was written in front of a live studio audience.

1! THE PROMOTER

The evening's promoter was The Stress Project . Stress Project provide various therapies and activities for those experiencing stress related illnesses or mental health problems. They do a great job but needed to spread the word in Highbury West by way of a flyer drop. GoodGym Islington were fighting fit and happy to accept the challenge.

2! THE WEIGH IN

The entire set of flyers weighed in at 1900 grams. Using the latest technology leaflets were split into four even piles.

3! THE TRAINING

A few new bare knucklers this week: Melissa and Chris who had heard about GoodGym from a friend and fancied giving it a go. Chris had never experienced runner's high, but he had never been 12 rounds with GoodGym before. Also stepping into the ring for the first time were Ellie, Julia (first time at Islington) and Charlotte.

Enya arrived with some dried fruit. In the midst of all the chocolate-munching we forgot about it, but next week will be healthy(ish), we promise!

So, 12 GoodGymmers (the same as the number of rounds in a boxing match) gathered around Highbury Crescent. We decided we needed to warm up so started with some shadow boxing: jab, jab, punch, jab, jab, punch, block, UPPERCUT! Nicky stepped in with a special routine that involved some hooking and tested our coordination skills to their limits. We all decided boxing was harder than running and went to our corners for a little breather.

But remember, if you wanna deliver 1900 grams worth of flyers you need to train for 1900 hours. Well maybe not, but it was COLD last night and we knew we'd have to move quickly later on. So first we needed speed. Demon speed. Speed was what we needed. We needed greasy fast speed. On to CATCH THE CHICKEN!

The men were assigned the role of "chicken"; the women were assigned the role of "Rocky". The task was obvious - catch the chickens! A coned area was laid out and any chicken caught three times had to jog a penalty lap.

This is a fair representation of the reaction of the women as they tagged the men.

Next week: Chase The Chimpanzee?

4! THE TRASH TALK

We jogged the massive 600 metres to Simon's strategically-placed car to collect the flyers and maps and split up into three teams. Each had a map of an area to cover and also a little debate question. The goal was to find out who of Rocky Balboa's opponents was the greatest. As with all GoodGym Islington debates, we reached absolutely no conclusion.

Team Creed "You're going down!"

Nicky, Simon, Steve and Charlotte (we have never seen somebody as keen as Charlotte was to deliver leaflets. We're sure it had nothing to do with the suggestion of a PRIZE for the quickest team)

Comments:

"Apollo is the best because he has a true fighter's spirit. He was harsh on Rocky, but Rocky understood why and he came good in the end"

"We didn't watch Rocky I or Rocky II because: My brother was a bully and made me watch Knight Rider on repeat"

Team Drago "I must break you"

Melissa, Chris, Megan and Billy

Comments:

"Ivan Drago is the best because: He will break you"

"We haven't watched Rocky IV because: We wanted to live it first. Now we have we will watch it later"

Team Gunn "I'm not gonna knock you down this time; I'm gonna put you through the street!"

Shez, Billy, Julia and Enya

Comments:

"We didn't watch Rocky V because: Enya hasn't because she wasn't born yet"

Team Lang "I pity the fool"

Alas, there was no Team Lang, due to knee problems, foot problems and sickness from some regulars. And you can't fight if you ain't fit! Get well soon, all. Like real champs we got stuck in and managed to deliver most of their leaflets for them though.

5! THE FIGHT

There were a couple of barking dogs, a LOT of "No Junk Mail" signs, some steps, an opportunity for Nicky to do a bit of flat hunting, but most important lots of leafleting.

6! THE BELT

Team Drago were first back and gained the title. Well done to undisputed champions Chris, Melissa, Billy and Megan. Megan was so bored waiting for everybody else to finish she decided to combine balancing on a board with eating a chocolate biscuit. Billy just got stuck into the biscuits.

Once everyone was back and biscuits munched, the prize was unveiled. Yes, it was a packet of ROCKY BARS. In true GoodGym spirit Billy and Megan shared the choc around. Chris and Melissa had to rush off to eat some raw eggs or something so we saved them two (well, we meant to but Simon ate them on the way home)

7! THE RING

Since we were so super-efficient, we had a little time spare, and although we'd worked really hard we weren't ready to throw in the towel yet, so Steve led us over to Emirates stadium to run round the ring a few times where we emulated our hero once more by playing Secret Surges

Each GoodGymmer was given a "secret" number and when that number was called out they had to surprise the rest of the team by surging away from the group at a time of their choosing. I think Shez wins the prize here. He managed to gain about 80 yards before we even realised he had started sprinting.

8! COOL DOWN

Exhausted (but definitely warm) we jogged back to the pool for a stretch, where Julia and Ellie suggested a spot of post-GoodGym swimming might be nice next week. Swimming? Well, Apollo Creed reckons it's a great way to "stretch and use muscles you never knew you had" Who are we to argue?

9! REMATCH

Come back next week for more There'll be less boxing, but just as much silliness, loads of fitness stuff and TONS of doing good.

10! WE'RE OUT

If you haven't already been sacked for abusing work's YouTube policy then motivate your souls with a little Gonna Fly Now

Knockout performance everybody!

Simon