26 GoodGymers ran 6.3km and helped Scope Charity Shop in Camden on our 5th birthday!

Welcome along to newbies Harriet and Rob. Lovely to have you along!

It was GG Camden's 5th birthday last night, pretty amazing how much good and running we've done over the last 5 years. Here is to the next 5!

In the news this week:

1. We are having a big old party for GG Camden's Birthday next Thursday at the Skip Garden - please sign up by Sunday if you'd like to come :)
2. It's GG Monthly Drinks this Thursday - we've got a pub booked in this pub - link.
3. The GG Olympics has been announced for Saturday 30th June at Parliament Hill Track - represent Camden and keep the trophy ours!

After an active warm up we headed 1km north via Royal College Street to help Scope Camden Charity Shop - a NEW TASK! This amazing charity describes itself as a charity that exists to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else. Until then, we’ll be here.

This was probably one of the most organised tasks we've ever had with complete instructions and numbers for everyone.

25 people + 30 minutes of good = 12.5 hours of work!

We covered the three floors of the shop covering the following jobs (and there was a lot to do):

• Chris hoovered all three floors!
• A team led by Rosie sorted donations into piles and bags
• Thomas cleaned wooden displays
• Beth sorted shoes and bags
• Freya and Linda cleaned the kitchen surfaces and cups
• Harriet mopped and cleaned the bathroom
• Sophie and Frances wiped and cleaned windows on various floors
• Chris smoothly sorted three racks of ladies' clothes
• Morag measured and sorted men's jeans/trousers
• Sarah and Sarah cleaned and wiped down the stairways
• Liz, Hayley and a full team sorted, labelled and gunned newly donated clothes

Everyone did amazingly and smashed through the tasks at hand. So much work done in such a short period of time!

We headed to Regents Park for a 1km time trial and a longer route home.

See you next week for gardening fun and our birthday celebrations!

PB out

Clad in hats, gloves, and some rather natty new headtorches, a group of 10 intrepid runners did not let the bitter cold put them off last night.

We started off the night talking about the amazing Mission Possible this weekend, where teams of three will be taking on a mass volunteering effort, spreading good all over the city! Good luck everyone, see you in the pub afterwards...

Braving the cold, we stepped outside and dived straight into our warm ups whilst discussing who we would ask round for dinner. Charlie Brooker, Stephen Hawking, David Beckham and Alan Shearer were all lucky enough to score an invite.

The night's task was at the Waterman's Centre, and independent charity which aims to bring art to the local community. It was just under a 2.5k run, and we set off briskly. 20 speedy minutes later we were there, ready to get stuck in.

We were handed shears, bin liners and brooms, and tasked with the job of clearing leaves and cutting back the branches in the car park. It was quite a labour intensive job, which was good, because we needed to keep warm. Half an hour later and several bin bags later we were done. Or were we?

No, we were not. There was the small matter of hill sprints to do. Now, after talking about the possibility of hill sprints for several weeks, if not months, we had to take what we could get. The small incline in the carpark would have to do. In pairs we tackled five reps, keeping our chests high and taking care to pump our arms but to keep them at a 90 degree angle behind our body. You all looked like superstar athletes.

The run back was smattered with some lovely conditioning exercises, just to keep things exciting, and we stopped just short of the Town Hall to do our final bit of fitness. In two teams we assumed plank position, passing the golden satsuma along the line. When the satsuma got the end, somebody shouted 'burpee', and the whole team had to do said burpee, increasing by one each time. Team Jo, Michelle, Jeremy and Andy won the challenge and as their prize, took home the two fought-over satsumas. Lucky them.

During our stretches we realised we have only two runs left THIS YEAR. Let's make the most of them, starting with our penultimate one next week. Stay warm until then :)