Mud, Pet and (22) Years

Oh no. More rain? Oh well.

We had a couple of little surprises last night. First off, Patrick Murphy turned up wearing jeans. Now, they're not good for a run. It turned out Patrick is suffering from a nasty cold and wasn't in any fit state to exercise, but not wanting to upset biscuit-hungry good deeders had turned up with a barrel of Snickerdoodles for us to feast on. He'd also brought along his pet puppy which should perhaps become a regular feature. Get well soon, Patrick. We loved the Snickerdoodles - which were perfectly shaped when you handed them over, but didn't fare too well and ended up very nuggety after the journey to our task this evening. The flavour was intact though. Yum.

So, biscuits sorted. But wait, what's this? Graham was holding two packets. Turns out it was his 22nd birthday and like every GoodGymmer knows that the best way to celebrate any sort of anniversary is to go and do a good deed in the rain. Everybody needs to buy Graham a drink this Thursday - it's in Angel, so no excuses for us Islington folk not to get down.

Joining us for the first time this evening were Fred, Lisa, Davide and Helena. Yeay, new people.Welcome all - we hope you enjoyed your first run and task. Here's to many more.

Danica and Aidan were in attendance despite both racing half marathons yesterday: Danica (sporting one of the new GoodGym vests) at Bournemouth as part of the GoodGym weekend away and Aidan over in Cardiff. Well done both.

We announced the new taskforce for Islington. Steve, Patrick L, Paul and Caroline will all be helping out with various bits and pieces in the future. This means that every single future Islington Group Activity will run like clockwork!

Our task for the evening was to fill a gigantic hole with topsoil at Barnsbury Community Centre as part of their ongoing Greenspace project. This is going to keep us pretty busy for a while since there is literally tons of the stuff.

For the run over Paul led a fast group who chucked in a lap of ze fields and Simon and Caroline took care of everybody else. Paul then led one of his famous garden relay circuit sessions while we got tools prepared.

30 minutes of wheelbarrowing, bucketing, forking and spreading (with special spreading tools, of course) ensued. We snacked on Patrick and Graham's sugary goodnesses and discussed what the greatest thing since sliced bread could be. Suggestions: The Internet, The kettle (electric kettle, mind), microwaved rice (Lisa didn't like that one), running shoes, carrot cake, crumpets (fried, no toasted), Boris bikes (ok, I made that one up) and of course, GoodGym.

For the run back Paul and Caroline led an easier-paced group while Simon took a few on a faster run for secret surging fun and speedy bits.

If you loved Barnsbury Community Centre and are just itching to get back then no worries because following a last-minute cancellation GoodGym Camden are returning there this Wednesday. Word on the street is that there'll be a gospel group singing in the main hall, so we should be entertained.

As for Islington, next week we have a choice of two tasks (and possibly a mission as well!): one group will be going to help Girdlestone Gardening Club up near Archway while another will be back at Barnsbury for more shovelling shenanigans.

See you at both of those and at the drinks, and as Fred pointed out maybe today as well - you never know.

BYE! Simon