Starter For Ten

10 Goodgymmers wrestled away from their warm duvets on a very chilly Sunday morning and headed to the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve for a smorgasboard of tasks.

Big Noise Corner!

Everybody make some noise for Nina, Naoko, Jacob, Ed, and Angeliki who all joined us for their first ever Goodgym task. They all bounded full of hope and enthusiasm as they met Gramps at the basketball courts in Turnpike Lane for our first taster session of the year and they were ace. Hope to see you all again soon - unless you're about to set off for a 4-month tour of the Caribbean (wink, wink, Nina) in which case, hope to see you in the summer. Bring Gramps some rum, please.

"I've only ever run for the bus"

Actual words, actually spoken by an actual person at a Goodgym task this weekend! Wonderful Angeliki not only did smash her Goodgym debut on Sunday but she also did her first actual run ever as an adult. With us. On a freezing weekend morning. She very sneakily only pointed this out halfway through a fun fitness session at the end of the task (!) as she was asking what other Goodgyms she could go to. Yes, that's a tear in Gramps eye. No, it's not the rum talking #DryJan Running looks good on you, Angeliki! 💪🏾

"We love the smell of stirred pond in the morning"

The Wood Green community has big plans for the WBNR this Spring and we were beckoned to help this weekend.

So 8 runners, 2 cyclists, and 2 1/2 walkers met at the Reserve to start clearing the accessible paths ahead of some community workshops later in the year. Storm Xxx had knocked down some big trees and Ed, Nina, and Angeliki armed themselves with heavy duty loppers and started clearing up the biggest branches from the paths. Jacob, Latoya, Kathleen, Charlie and John concentrated on some hardcore weeding of the main accessible path at the bottom of the site. Meanwhile, Naoko, Jase, Marie and little Artemis carried out a very thorough litter pick.

It was a busy hour and our team did a cracking job, leaving the Reserve pretty clean and half of the accessible path cleared. The ground was too cold for tree-planting so we protected the young trees as much as we could and we are looking for a date in the diary to return and finish the job.

Once finished, Jase, Marie, and Artemis walked home and Naoko and Jacob also cycled homewards. Latoya, Angeliki, John, and Nina walked back to Turnpike Lane to wait for Charlie, Kathleen, Edward, and Gramps who ran back for a quick fitness session. We played some twisted Rock/Paper/Scissors before Latoya inevitably tortured us all with Moby's Flower - if you know, you know.

After a good ol' GGHaringey high five, we also said goodbye and went off our merry ways.

As taster sessions go, that was a peach. Boom

Ready for more? Meet us on Wednesday for Tottenham Green shenanigans!