Off to a flying start! 🏃‍♀️🗞️🏃‍♂️

It has been a wet and windy week, but that didn't stop 10 GoodGymers from showing up on Wednesday night in the warmth and comforts of Old Spike.

Sam arrived early to talk with Andres (manager of Old Spike) as they hadn't seen each other since the last group run of 2022. Joao was there as he had cycled from work in quick fashion and slowly, but surely the usual suspects arrived until one not so usual arrived too. Rachel had heard from a friend all the good things about GoodGym and wanted to give it a try as she is based in Clapham, but will be moving to Camberwell soon. It was great to have another newbie come along after two came last week. We were fortunate enough to get a second task 24 hours before, so not everyone would go flyering. Half the group would go to Salvation Army Nunhead to sort out the donated books that were given over the festive period.

As we were waiting for Paulin, who was to lead the second group to Salvation Army Nunhead, Sam went through the motions of his GG speech as we had a newbie and after a warm-up in the alleyway his ice-breaker question tonight, which was to do with the fact it's was his birthday on Monday, but he had two other questions in mind..: What is your birthday tradition? What is your go-to winter warmer (food)? What do you do on a rainy day?

Let's see if I remember a few answers: sharing a birthday with your sister, celebrating your birthday over a whole month, having brunch and going for a swim and paying for your birthday dinner to your friends and family. There were a load of comforting dessert type foods for the winter warmer and a cheese toastie with hot chocolate. On a rainy day, Clare likes to just get out there, embrace the weather and go for a run/walk.

---

Seeking Dulwich Dads for Lindy

Although, Paulin was running late, the group that were going to Salvation Army Nuhead: Clare, Emma, Joao and Rachel were happy to be left at Old Spike until Paulin came as the rest had to rush off to collect the flyers and then flyer around Dulwich.

Sam lead Clare, Daryl, Lindy and Steve through East Dulwich and parts of North Dulwich to get to St. Faith's Community Centre (2.5k at this point) to find the hidden flyers that Andrea had stored away earlier in the day. Once found, we ran a further 250 metres to the starting point, which was Burbage Road. Splitting the flyers and the team by pairing up Clare and Steve to cover one side of the road and Daryl and Lindy to cover the other side. Sam waited at several checkpoints to see how everyone was getting along and within 30 minutes, the team had flyered the whole of Burbage Road and half of Turney Road (by this point, it was 5k). We all took in the massive houses in Dulwich and wished we could be in them. Lindy is on the hunt for Dulwich Dads, so if you know any...please send them her way 😂 Our 2.5k run back meant that we did 7.5k within an hour in total!

The Salvation Army Nunhead group were met by Magdalena who cycled from home to meet the team there and Tiziana, who was covering for Polis whilst he is on break in Argentina (to learn to dance). The charity had received loads of books over the festive period, so like always, the team sorted them out in categories: hard backs, soft backs, travel, cooking, children etc.

By the time, the two teams met again it was 20:10 and Sam ensured everyone did a good stretch despite the Salvation Army group running less than 2k. They were also met by Tamsin who came to do her documents check in order to do missions for the elderly/isolated.

---

Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! It's great to have a core group coming every week and great to see new faces too - thanks Rachel for coming and we hope to see you again soon!

---

Thank You Andrea & Tiziana

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tiziana for the last minute task to Salvation Army Nunhead to help them with their stock of books and to Andrea for leaving us flyers at St. Faith's to flyer around Dulwich!