Pizza and Boooooooze! (Spooky Halloween work in Cally Park, followed by our monthly social)

21 happy Goodgymmers joined us on our trip to Caledonian Park yesterday (including 2 new runners, Welcome to Gilly and Natalie. Special shout-out to Caz for participating in 50 group runs and earning her magic GG black t-shirt! Before heading out in the cold, we had a chat about upcoming Goodgym socials, events and races, and asked everyone "What is their favourite Halloween/scary film?". Our answers included:

• The Orphanage
• Scream
• Shaun of the Dead
• Hocus Pocus
• Alien
• "The Treehouse of Horror" aka The Simpsons Halloween Specials
• Love Actually (x 2)
• The Arsenal defense last weekend....

After a series of warm up drills on the Emirates slope, we set off on our way to Caledonian Park, meeting Miriam and Lynne at the main entrance (and finding a Graham Atkins on a bike near by), and wheeled our tools and wheelbarrows to an under cover tree-lined section of the park. The space looks amazing already, after our previous trip to the park- the areas that were over-grown and covered in roots have been shifted, and it all looks much tidier. Miriam separated us into 3 groups, and we set to work:

• Group 1 took to raking the area, clearing leaves and moss from the pathways. A big job, and a massive difference made!

• Group 2 cleared additional leaves from flower beds, and dug holes for new plants and bulbs. We were ambitious about what we could do in the time available, but almost all of our plants were prepared!

• Group 3 were in charge of clearing dead trees and stumps from the pathway and open area. Other folks were in charge of wheeling logs to the space, and placing them in appropriate areas.

This little corner of Cally Park is really taking shape, and the contribution by Goodgym Islington definitely shows. I was heartened to hear that a junior parkrun has been proposed for this route, and our work has helped towards getting it set up! Hopefully we can come back to cheer on future parkrunners soon.

We jogged back to HQ, and stretched out (and enjoyed caramelised Aldi biscuits provided by Steve C). The majority of our crew made their way over to the Victoria Tavern on Holloway Road to enjoy 2-for-1 pizza and drinks as part of our monthly social. We also said "Good Luck" to Task Force member James Gilbert who is running New York Marathon next weekend.

NEWS!

Halloween Head Torch Run

This Thursday, Trainer Simon will be leading a spooky social run around Hampstead Heath. 7 miles in total, running through forest, trees and greenery, all in the dark! If you have never tried running with a head torch, it was really fun to do it as part of a group, so get involved. Sign up here.

Pritesh's Final Goodgym Social

Pritesh Mistry, a Goodgym ever-present and organisational guru, will be stepping down from his position at GG Social Secretary. This final social on Friday 8th November, near the South Bank, will be a lovely send off for someone who has worked so hard to get people together and have fun. Come and join us for a drink and a laugh, and sign up here.

Goodgym Race Team

It is Cross Country season, and the next fixture will be at Welwyn Garden City on Saturday 9th November. If you have never tried XC, then this is a perfect opportunity to give it a go with awesome friendly folks to cheer you on. Sign up to join the Goodgym Race Team here, and pop your name down for muddy fun here.

All the best, everyone! See you next week!