Over the January Challenge, Area Activator Simon has been hosting weekly early morning run sessions in local parks (Islington and Tower Hamlets based) with Track and Towpath Run Club.

These workouts were developed to build our runners towards the Runthrough Victoria Park 10km on 1st February- great for building fitness over the difficult Winter months. We completed timed intervals around Emirates Stadium, hill reps in Finsbury Park, speedy laps of Bartlett Park, Poplar and tempo effort loops of Meath Gardens, Mile End. Always followed by hot drinks, snacks and socials (and before we need to head to work!).

To find out more, feel free to tale a look at our Strava group for future fortnightly sessions:

https://strava.app.link/G9QbhbBqp0b

On the day, we were lucky to be treated to really excellent running weather (mild, not windy, a pinch of rain here and there- pretty good for February!). The Runthrough Victoria Park race series hosts a half marathon, 10km and 5km on the same course, but at different start times, so we were able to cheer on fellow racers in the half marathon before we kicked off at 10am sharp.

Congratulations to Kim and Laura for clocking personal bests today!

And to Lucinda and John for achieving their season's best times too!

Keep your eyes peeled for more Track and Towpath race meet ups soon.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in our January Anytime Litter Picking Community Mission what a phenomenal turnout!

Across the month we saw loads of GoodGymers getting stuck in, whether walking, running, solo or paired up. From riversides and parks to pavements and problem fly-tipping spots, the impact was real and visible. Bags were filled, heavy items shifted, incidents logged with councils, and even the odd football rescued along the way

Special thanks to everyone who shared photos, stories and stats and to those who quietly got on with good deeds behind the scenes. Every single action counts, and it all feeds into our January Challenge national target, which makes this even sweeter

And yes… I can confirm that litter picking works extremely well with dog walking Gus is a big fan of missions with purpose

Why litter picking is surprisingly great fun: 1. Instant impact – you can see the difference you’ve made straight away. One path, park or riverbank transformed. 2. Low pressure, high reward do it anytime, anywhere, for 10 minutes or an hour. It all counts. 3. Good for the body and the soul fresh air, movement, and that quiet glow of doing something genuinely useful.

Thanks again to everyone who took part you’re absolute stars Let’s keep this momentum rolling into the next mission.

Six GoodGymers braved the damp and cold to make a difference this Wednesday!

This wonderful group — of Charlie, Jackie, John, Kathleen, Steve, and Alex — turned up at Cecil Sharp House for our first visit of 2026!

There has been a bunch of building work at the house and our task was to clean things up — cue...

❤️ Jackie's wonderful leaf collecting and litter picking, turning the lawn and surrounding areas immaculate :)

❤️ One marvellous human chain making light (and swift) work shifting a true mountain of bags!

❤️ Gritty effort sweeping and raking and collecting all manner of building rubbish, leaves, and weeds!

Thank you so much, everyone!