Read it and sweep

With no threat of snow and a new task ahead of us, it was 12 joyful GoodGym runners who met up in Chiswick last night to spend their Wednesday night adding purpose to their run.

*Newsflash!

With no fewer than 83,954km in January, equivalent to running twice around the world, and over 6000 good deeds, it was the biggest month in GoodGym history. Well done for being part of it!

Tonight is the monthly GoodGym social - this is a chance for all the GG areas to get together, hear all the good stuff people have been doing, and decide on the pun of the month winner. Sign up here for all the details.

Chi popped by to tall us about an exciting event coming up. Want to spend Early May Bank Holiday weekend doing something to challenge yourself? Then the Spartan race is the answer! Chi is organising a weekend away where if you volunteer for one shift in exchange you will receive a FREE race pass - check it out here. He will also be putting on a series of fitness session to get you ready for it in advance - all welcome!

*Hooray for Hump Day!

We had a new task to do last night at the lovely Hogarth Community Centre. This centre is a registered charity set up for the young people of Chiswick and surrounding areas and offering sessions and services for the whole family, holiday programmes, trips and other opportunities for young people. They have an outside space for the kids to enjoy, but it needed a bit of a clean up.

So after a warm up outside where we also discussed the best things to do on a Saturday - coach visits, brunch, running, wine - we set off. Now, the centre is just round the corner as the crow flies, but we decided to add a bit extra onto the journey so we could get a little run in first. However, this also meant a bit of back and forthing trying to find the entrance. Still, it all clocks up on Strava! Eventually we found where we were meant to be, and were meant by the excellent Dragon, who took us to the playground.

Here we found bin liners, brooms and tools waiting for us, so we got stuck straight in to sweeping, weeding, clearing and tidying. After half an hour of hard work, the playground was looking much better (sorry, forgot to take a before and after shot...as usual!), weed-free and very neat indeed.

Time for fitness. This particular workout was enhanced by the introduction of a couple of balls, which we used to practice our stability and strengthen the muscles round our knees and hips. The lack of light did make it a bit of a challenge, as if it wasn't enough of one already. Then we divided up into teams to play various games, including who could get their whole group into the safe zone first and plank and squat waterfalls where the Green Team were crowned champions of Wednesday night. After a short but intense leg blast, we headed back (directly this time, to avoid any confusion) and finished off the night with some stretches. Next week we are taking on the box hedge challenge - for all the exciting details and to sign up click here.