Fourteen keen goodgym runners ran to help Martin primary school with improving a school woodland path. It was a good number that gathered, despite a spate of last minute injuries brought on by eating mince pies.(You have been warned!) We warmed up with some synchronised arm and leg movements, commonly known as jogging on the spot, and discussed looking forward to the festive period.(It's still not too late to come to the Goodgym Barnet Christmas meal and or drinks on the 13th December see link) We set off on the short distance to the school, stopping to do some paired exercises and then setting off again when the group had reformed. Upon reaching the festive school we met with Tristan who explained our task. Using wheel barrows, bags, shovels and rakes, we had to transport and spread a large pile of wood chip onto the schools main woodland path. This kept it useable for the children and staff through the wet and wintery weather. The schools woodland play and educational area is a really important asset for the school and provides an ideal environment to learn about nature. It even has its own composing toilet which sparked the curiosity of some goodgym runners.(who seemed to be sitting down on the job!…see photo) Once we had completed the task we had time to do a circuit set of exercises including bench dips, squats, sprints and skips, all to the latest sounds( well the last thirty years anyway!) We had a free run back to the Phoenix cinema for a warm down and the now habit forming biscuit!

Thanks for coming, keeping it social, fun and doing some good. Much appreciated!

Please note We have 3 mission referrals awaiting help from Barnet runners. Christmas Party link

Seven heroic good gym runners braved the elements to help plant bulbs at Coldfall woods and recreational area. ( high fives for just making it along… seven runners threw in the towel!) It was a wet dark night as we gathered inside the Pheonix cinema, and with only seven runners, we decided to chat and warm up in the foyer. We numbered up and talked about our favourite hot drink before setting off for our task. To our amazement the rain had stopped and we enjoyed a pleasant run to the woods. It got a bit tricky to navigate the woods, as the paths were obscured by leaf litter, but finally we emerged to meet Linda from the friends group. Under her instruction and with trowels (loaned to us from Stephens House and Garden… Thank you!) we started planting the 170 bulbs. When we finished we warmed up again ( you can never have to many warm ups) and then started the run back home with a few 5 second sprints over the playing fields. Warm down and biscuits…. Looking forward to seeing our efforts being rewarded in the spring! ....keep running!

Thanks for helping!

Please note We have mission , community missions and Christmas parties. We have 3 mission referrals awaiting help from Barnet runners. Please see if you can spare an hour over the holiday period.(Remember it takes two DBS checked runners to do a good deed so bring in your proofs to get DBS sorted) The Goodgym Party is on the 1st December if you are interested see this link (https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/parties)

Also … GG Barnet Christmas party will be on Thursday 13th December from 7pm - 11pm at Stephens House & Garden🎄🎉.

The cost is £15 for food, and there will be a cash only bar! The food will be a Thai (Vegetarian)/Indian main with options, sag aloo, pilau rice and naan bread, plus a dessert.

On the evening there will be a chance to have a mini tour of areas of the Stephens House (courtesy of our own Paul) including the tower, the basement and its escape tunnel! Also music, and plenty of other Christmas party antics!

Stephens House & Garden have very kindly offered us the use of their drawing room and bar for free - it would be great to do them proud and get as many people along as possible. Friends and partners are very welcome and Christmas wear is highly encouraged 🎄 🦌 🎅 👼.

If you’d like to come then please either bank transfer me your £15 (Please request bank details by return) or give Paul or Damian the cash at a group run. Please let me know once you’ve paid so I can add your name to my list.

Thank you! xxx Sarah Caswell

PS Our last run will be the 18th December ,again Christmas wear is highly encouraged, with drinks after.

Twelve tough GoodGymmers braved the cold and rain in Barnet to run 5k to help Stephen's House and Gardens.

Meeting at the Phoenix we huddled indoors to keep warm - the weather was definitely the worst we've had at a Tuesday run in a long time! It doesn't put us off for long though: after a quick warm up we set off with Sally and Fiona back marking.

We mainly kept to an off road route on the way over, with stops for squats and calf raises of course, and got to Stephen's House in no time to meet Peter in the gardens, who had gamely waited in the rain for us to arrive.

The task for the night was leaf clearing: the gardens remain open to the public so clearing leaves helps keep it accessible. The team got to work with a combination of leaf grabbers, scoops and rakes. We quickly filled all the available bags - with Annie gamely jumping in one bag to stomp down the leaves - and chucked the rest in the compost. No mean feat given the mud and rain ☔

We had a quick fitness session using the hill in the park for some progressive running (nice work guys) before heading back.

We took the main road home which did not shelter us from the rain but did make it a little quicker! We celebrated with high fives and Cadbury Festive Friends 🍫

This week's Barnet Biscuit: Cadbury festive friends, courtesy of Sarah M.

24 terrific GoodGymmers ran 8k to clear leaves at Friary Park.

Meeting at the Phoenix, we were joined by Annie, Elizabeth and Mumtaz for their first GG runs. Welcome!

We were also joined by Chi (you know what that means), Danny to plug the Adidas city run volunteering this weekend (get involved if you can guys!), and Rob who only ran the flipping Athens MARATHON on Sunday! He brought his medal to show off too - great work Rob.

After a few introductions and a quick warm up we set off with Vicki kindly back marking. Sarah led a Party Pace group along just behind.

It's quite a long run, with plenty of hills, but we got through it in no time. Meeting Richard and his other volunteers we were put to work. Using rakes and scoops fashioned from old cardboard boxes we got to work tackling the huge piles of leaves gathering on the paths and around the play area.

We cleared so many leaves guys. It was a great effort and we'll look forward to coming back to do some more soon.

After some thank yous, a small group led by Rob set off early while the rest of us stayed for chi's #absontour training session. We only had three minutes but that was plenty... Thanks Chi!

From there we set off for the run back to base, high fives and stretches. Thanks for coming everyone - see you soon. D