Storm Freya no match for sturdy GoodGymers

20 runners braved Storm Freya to head to Victoria Park for a variety of heavy duty gardening tasks...

We gathered in a compact hotel room this evening for tonight's pre-task briefing. Due at glorious Victoria Park at 7.10pm, to meet Tom, our terrific new task owner, we needed a few minutes to run through the details of tonight's range of tasks, before we hit the tarmac.

A full body workout

We arrived promptly at a dark park, to be greeted by Tom, on a bike laden down with gardening kit. We kept up with the bike through an increasingly dark park as we headed up central drive, grateful for those runners who'd headed out with head torches this evening. We finally reached The Old English Garden where three teams worked on: turning a wall of compost in the compost pen; raking an entire bed ready for seeding, and redistributing soil onto shrub beds.

As usual, the runners worked at lightning speed, and it wasn't long before the back-up tasks were completed, as well as the original tasks. It was a windy, cold night but the runners ploughed through mound after mound of leaves and soil. They shovelled, and forked, and raked, and wheeled, so every muscle in the body from core to calves was thoroughly worked. Even the mud-shifting from the rakes was labour intensive this evening.

Fartlek in the freezing wind

And then it was time to head back to the tool shed to replace kit and be briefed on tonight's fitness session: task owner Tom would lead us back out to Crown Gate East, changing pace on his bike, offering the runners an impromptu fartlek session.

GoodGymer Tom then led us through our Victoria Park speed session, a few 20-second bursts of fast running, before we headed back down Old Ford Road for stretching and polishing off our favourite McVities Gold bars.

It was a FULL. ON. evening: the weather was stroppy, the park was dark, the lake was, well, there; the running was fast, and the mud stubborn. But the GoodGymers breezed through, not batting an eyelid, other than to adjust headtorches. As always, you rock.

The first March shout-out's

A big warm welcome to Tom, who joined us tonight for his first run (how are your lats?). Thank you for shifting so many leaves on your first run. And to Simon, by no means new to GG, just to Tower Hamlets, and we hope so much you'll join us again soon.

And thank you, from us all, to: Bryon, for leading the runners back on the fartlek session; to Leanne for perfect, careful backmarking, above and beyond what we expected distance-wise tonight, and to Tom, for powering our runners through that last bit of fitness-boosting.

Now, next Monday...

We're back to Oxford House next week, to enjoy an indoor task where we'll help Sarah and the team continue the big makeover of this beautiful arts centre. Read more and sign up here.

All that leaves me to say is have a wonderful week, and hope to see you very soon.

Editor's Note

After whizzing through this evening's announcements & intro (as much as I ever 'whizz' when it comes to talking), our transition to warm up was briefly interrupted as Bryon stepped forward to present me with a one year anniversary balloon sculpture and a Wonder Woman card on behalf of the group. Blimey. You lot know how to turn a trainer from chatty to teary in seconds. I maintain GoodGym IS YOU. Thank you.

27 runners shifted 200kg of mulch a minute this evening, in our very own Vicky Park.

A big operation...

You'd think it was a straightforward task, shifting 20 tonnes of mulch on a February evening in a locked park (or would you, actually, when you put it like that?) but no, much planning was involved in this evening's operation...

Tom , our brilliant task owner, and Head Gardener at the one and only glorious Victoria Park, was well prepared, dividing us into two groups on Monday afternoon, hours before the task, so come 7pm, 26 runners were able to quickly form two teams, knowing exactly what was what.

A lock-in like no other

No sooner had we arrived at the beautiful Bonner Gate than Tom was ushering us into the park,locking the gates behind us , before cheerfully informing us that the mulch had now doubled in weight thanks to the earlier rain. We listened to our health and safety briefing under tonight's full moon, watching the sky do magical things before our very eyes, as we made our way into the huge, dark park...

And so our second bit of running for the night took place, following Tom's truck to the Pagoda area where the runners dispersed into teams: one team shovelling mulch into wheelbarrows, then wheeling and spreading it around the Pagoda garden, with the other team also wheeling, and spreading and digging too, in faraway play areas of the park.

It was quite the operation, with all runners kitted out in hi-vis jackets; floodlights strategically positioned around the mulch, and Yours Truly getting her first experience of a walkie-talkie, "Press to talk, release to listen. Got it (I feel like Jason Bourne)."

Too mulch of a good thing

Usual GoodGymer productivity took over and I was having to prise forks and bins away from the runners by 8.15pm, and we made our way back to the truck to pack up and say our cheerios. Tom cheerfully informed us that, of the 20 tonnes of mulch, the runners, in under an hour, had shifted and spread around half of the 20 tonnes - so, 10 tonnes of mulch. That's around 200kg a minute. Way. To. Go.

"Let's squeeze in a little more mileage"

And so with a beautiful traffic-free stretch of the park still open, task force member Dave led a brilliant little speed session with Tom, with runners expending every last bit of energy in 30 second sprints. Unbelievable.

OM message

And despite running just a few minutes late tonight, we couldn't call it a wrap without cooling down with a stretch, and, as luck would have it, tonight we were lucky enough to be joined by Christina, our yoga teacher runner! Christina agreed to lead our stretching back at base, much to the runners' delight. What an evening. What energy. What a delight for all involved.

Huge, huge shout-out's tonight

So, first off, a big warm welcome to our first time runners, Charlotte, Steve, Nick and Anastasia - what a task for you to have joined. Thank you for wheeling, shovelling and running so hard, and for making such a huge effort all round on your first run.

Thanks to Tom, for, in the absence of a whistle, having the best holler a runner could ask for, and co-leading our fitness session. Thanks to Dave, for planning, inventing and leading our speedwork, and to Becky G for back marking, and again to Becky and Dave, our task force members on the ground tonight, who really do help to run your night so it goes pretty seamlessly (Task Force are involved with all sorts of behind-the-scenes decision making and support, in advance of the run, which allows trainer and task owners to focus on other stuff).

And thank you to Christina, for our lovely flexibility session, for planning and leading at the very last minute!

And tonight, a big thank you to you all: for that energy we all commented on, for finding a locked, dark park bizarrely fun; for being game for anything, for being fearless, and hardworking, and for making such a huge difference to a small team at your local park. You are all amazing, you know.

Moving on to next week

Next week, we’re so excited to be joining the first day of Tower Hamlets’ #BigCleanUp – you can check out the event listing and sign up here.

…And next Sunday, 3rd March, we’re heading to The Coborn on Sunday evening for some pub quiz-ing with our friends at Mile End parkrun. Details of that are here.

Until then, have a glorious week.

A terrific-sized team again

30 runners gathered for this evening's task, always a popular one, as we headed to awesome Oxford House half a mile away in the heart of Bethnal Green, to start The Big Paint Job.

After a quick warm up, Luke stepped in to lead us all down the road to our task, taking in a little detour, to avoid The Longest Traffic LIghts In The World, and to squeeze in a microscopic little more mileage.

It's all in the prep

Sarah, our task owner, was BRILLIANTLY prepared as always: runners had been pre-assigned to two areas, complete with own rollers, brushes and paint trays.

What looked like a large office space upstairs to begin with, soon looked brand new as less-than-white walls were rapidly coated in bright new paint. The runners worked tirelessly in small teams, pausing only to assess their work, or, in Tom's case, to offer extra lighting to show up the faintest of smudges.

And, as always, 30 minutes in, half the team were task-less, having finished so quickly, and were soon tasked with the tricky job of cleaning all the rollers, and helping fellow runners out in the basement. The team work just went on and on.

Hitting the floor for some flexibility work

And then it was after 8 and we gathered in the wonderful theatre area for our Pilates flexibility session. The team were on fire tonight! In a packed theatre, they balanced, and stretched and strengthened - every last rep executed brilliantly, and without a peep. Gold stars all round.

And no sooner had we arrived, it seems, flushed and fresh faced from our run, than we were posing on the ramp for our cheerio pics, to a very appreciative task owner.

Our thank you's - and our shout-out's

A massive warm welcome to Alica and Toto who joined us for the first time, making an immense contribution to this evening’s activity! We hope to see you again very soon.

Thanks from the whole group to our wonderful Task Force, who ran some brilliant activities this weekend, and to Becky G for backmarking this evening too, and to Luke for leading and navigating our run to the task.

...And our new task next week!

Next week, we’re at a brand new task when we’re heading to Victoria Park - yes the Victoria Park - to help the Park Ranger Team spread mulch. And then we’ll be running. This is one not to be missed, so sign up now.

Ready to head out

It was a very cheerful group of runners who congregated in a rather hot hotel room this evening to prepare for our two-task night. Everyone was keen to get going to our gardening tasks, which originally involved a lot of digging, but one of our tasks changed at the last minute, due to a waterlogged garden!

Bryon's brilliant gardening team

After a very brief warm-up, Bryon led the Hollybush team to the Commmunity Food Garden over at the Hollybush Estate where Michael and Margaret soon put the runners to work with bundles of weeding and digging. They worked tirelessly squatting, weeding and bagging, and Margaret was just thrilled with what they accomplished, messaging the minute they'd left with proud pics, asking when they could return!

...and chilly digging at Cranbrook

Meanwhile, I led the second team to the Cranbrook Community Food Garden where task owner Janet was keen for the runners to fill in the many holes the foxes had dug, in and around the vegetable beds. Teams were dispatched to the compost heap, to shovel and wheel compost back to the beds where the filling team were on hand to repair the foxes' damage.

As usual, the GoodGymers were ready well ahead of time, and so a new crew was formed outside of the garden collecting the many leaves filling the borders.

...topped off with sprinting at Meath

And so 8pm came and went, and we all met at one of our favourite training places, Meath Gardens (this is not only very pretty, it's also well lit, so useful for winter fitness). Tonight we were running laps, and so Emily and Sarah started us off, being our first 'hares' for the greyhound-and-hare game, a Tower Hamlets favourite. With a very small head start of 30 seconds, they sprinted off, with a speedy team on their tail. Winners Liam and Chi then headed up the next lap, with an even shorter head start of 20 seconds. In between each lap, we worked on a different variation of the lunge, tailored to our running needs (the hopping and kick-butt lunge may have seemed like mean choices in between speed sets, but they're excellent for the bigger running picture, honest).

And the before we knew it, it was nearly 8.30 and we headed back to the hotel, to cheered in by Chi, and stretched courtesy of Christina!

What a night of GoodGym contributions - thank you. Not only did you work so tirelessly for our task owners, your input to our overall session, and your fitness contributions, were incredible.

Let’s hear it for…

...Our new runners. A big GG shout-out goes to our new runners tonight: Damien Steve and Rebecca, whose first time it was with Tower Hamlets. You were all such an asset to our two-task evening: thank you.

Thanks to our brilliant ‘hares’ tonight: our brave runners who rose beautifully to the challenge of setting the pace for a fast and furious speed session: Emily and Sarah; Chi and Liam, and Rebecca and Fiona. What a fabulous start to the week you gave us.

Thank you to Chi, for helping to lead our fitness session and for some great pics, and to Christina, for some wonderful new input to our end-of-session stretches.

…And thanks to Joel, who always comes up with a game-changing pun at the eleventh hour.

And to our brilliant task force. Who are always behind the scenes, planning, leading and helping to build you a brilliant night. Thanks to Bryon for leading our Hollybush team and for fab pics; to Becky for beautiful back-marking and for meeting-and-greeting so well every week.

And so to the week ahead…

Looking ahead to this weekend, Sat 9th Feb, we have not three but FOUR events you can be part of! Becky G is heading up another fabulous Mile End parkrun pacing event - all those details are here, while also this Saturday, the 9th, Bryon will be heading up a picturesque canal run, followed by shrub-planting and a late pub lunch with our lovely task owners! Come and join in for as little or as much of this fun-filled Saturday afternoon as you fancy.

And next Monday, we’re back to Oxford House, just around the corner, for an indoor task helping to get this wonderful arts centre ready for a lick or two of paint, followed by Pilates session with a focus of flexibility - details and sign up are here.

Have a really good week, everyone, hope to see you soon.