We set ourselves the challenge of getting out of the house this past week for a "longer run" which was entirely up to each individual but could ideally should be at least a little longer than a usual run. This coincided ideally with the clock change welcoming in British Summer Time, and therefore an extra hour of glorious sunshine each evening to accomplish the challenge.

It was kicked off emphatically in style by Becky who ran her own version of the London Landmarks Half Marathon (as it had been canceled) and was swiftly followed by namesakes Becky and Becky who enjoyed a very desolate City of London and a run around Stepney Farm respectively.

The challenge also got Liz out running for the first time in weeks, so it can absolutely be considered a success on that alone, as she tore around Morningside up in Edinburgh. A nice mix up from her usual daily routine of skipping!

Despite Victoria Park now being closed, Steve detoured around hitting up the Olympic Park instead for a tasty looking 8 mile early morning run. In a moment of beautiful symmetry Kat covered a distance of 5.44km at a pace of 5:44/km, also around the Olympic park.

In another delightful coincidence both Mags and Simon spotted beautiful Shetland ponies on their runs this week.

Isabelle shone in her first 10K since injury with a majestic route up to Victoria Park and back. Also tackling his first 10K for many years was Stefan who enjoyed a magnificent sunset from the Thames path. After some sporadic outings recently for Dave he also managed a robust 10K of his own.

We were delighted to be joined by GoodGym "Tourists", Simon (Islington) with a strong East Midlands duo of Huw and Abul (both Leicester) who smashed out some decent long runs on their home turf.

Finally I combined my longest run of the year with the necessity to return home from a mission, so two boxes ticked in one go for me. Thanks to all of you who accomplished the challenge - keep an eye out for future GoodGym Tower Hamlets training challenges coming soon...

It's Monday - we're motivated

34 runners braved another chilly night to head out into our beloved Borough to see what treats some of our wonderful local neighbours had up their sleeve for us.

Leo headed up the squad destined for the new task at the Poets Corner Community Garden, just off Roman Road. Wonderful new task owner Tahera greeted us with lovely biscuits and the tastiest drinks while briefing the team on what was to be done.

With the crew paired up throughout the garden, she proceeded to talk them through the intricate tasks of weeding between cobbles, de-littering vegetable beds and tending to borders.

Meanwhile, Bryon and Kat led the other team to Meath Gardens where task owner Jane met the runners, slightly apologetic that the task was no more exciting that a litter-pick tonight, and soon dispatched them to all four corners of the park where they proceeded to fill bin bag after bin bag, even in poorly lit conditions.

Lots done...

Tonight was one of those nights where our task owners were incredibly appreciative and also a little incredulous at the size of the turnout - overwhelmed by the number of GoodGymers who really were happy to be out in the winter chill, quietly, conscientiously working away happy to be making a very small, consistent contribution to their environment.

And so we all met at the fitness tree (log, as it's not really a tree anymore) for our guest run leader Danny to set the group some drills, before we finished with a handful of resistance exercises and made our way back to base.

A big week of shout-outs tonight...

• A massive warm welcome to our first time runner, Miriam. Thanks for a great, great time; a huge contribution on your first run, and do please come back again very soon.

• And a HUGE shout out to our task force this week: to Bryon and Leo for stepping in and agreeing to lead and help co-ordinate our two tasks tonight; to Kat for helping lead a task, too.

• To Danny for coming and helping provide some lovely fresh content for us all.

• To Liz, for being a brilliant backmarker (a general great addition to our run), and a fab walk leader tonight, and making this run tonight accessible to all.

• Thanks to Leo, Kat and Emma for some brill pics, and to Joel & Sian for tonight's pun.

• And a GREAT BIG GLORIOUS shout-out to Lieke, our wonderful regular runner and trusty Task Force member, who tonight reached 50 good deeds. You're such a huge part of the group, it feels like 500. Lieke's run some brilliant community missions recently, and is always in the wings helping out. So here's to the next 50.

Now, next week

Next week we're off to Parkview to help the powerhouse that is Catherine plant one thousand snowdrop bulbs, before heading to neighbouring Fugitive Motel for our first GG Tower Hamlets social, so do check out the details and sign up here.

Until then, have a really great first week of February.

A good sized crew

We were a decent sized crew tonight as we gathered in an extremely warm hotel room to prepare for this evening's activity.

We were lucky to have our evening started off by lovely Rosie from AgeUK, who had come to personally deliver the leaflets on the new Sparko service, and also to tell GG Tower Hamlets about what AgeUK are doing locally, and how we may be able to be involved in the months ahead.

We then headed to our hotel steps where we proceeded to run through a little warm up before dividing into two groups for tonight's tasks. Isabelle, Lieke, Steve and Becky were heading to all four corners of Bethnal Green to distribute the leaflets, while I took the remaining runners around the corner to Keddlestone Walk Community Centre on the Hollybush Estate where task owners Michael and Margaret greeted us with rakes, wheelbarrows and Basil the dog, to take us to this evening's task, which was a large leaf clearing operation.

As is the case week in, week out, the runners worked tirelessly - at 7.45 the WhatsApp group was buzzing with the leafleters demanding to know where we were, such was the speed of their efforts, while at 8.05, barely a leaf remained in the garden, and we headed to the basketball court to commence tonight's speed session.

The Basketball Court Beasting

Led by Steve, Becky and Jo, two groups headed around Middleton Green at different speeds, trying to catch one another. Arriving back at base, no sooner had they caught their breath, than we moved swiftly onto incline push ups, the inamous booty blaster and the lunge skip.

We then jogged back to base and proceeded to run through an extensive stretching cooldown, focusing on our ITBs with a vengeance tonight!

Amazing, amazing, wonderful stuff, team TH.

Shout-outs

Thanks to Isabelle for helping to organise the AgeUK task, and for heading it up; to Steve​ for running and helping plan tonight's drills.

A massive warm welcome to our first time runners, Jo, Linh, Klaudia, Andrei, Izzie, Eileen and Fiona. You did AMAZINGLY, and we hope to see you again very, very soon.

And lastly, a massive happy 50th run to our Jo, who tonight reached her 50th run. It's so lovely to see you so often, and you contribute so much to our group. Thank you, and here's to many more.

What's coming up next week...

Next week to head back to Oxford House, for another evening of hustle and bustle indoor activity, with the wonderful Deborah, followed by the cardio & core workout.

Until then, have a totally brilliant week.

21 runners headed to Catherine, Ros and little Connie at the lovely Parkview Estate this evening.

After welcoming tonight's first time runners, Laurie and Kate, and TH newbie, Nuria, we sped down Old Ford Rd to the lovely leafy Parkview estate where Catherine & co were waiting for us, exceptionally well briefed.

Armed with bundles of tools, the team wasted no time in dispatching runners to all four corners of the estate:

• Connie & Ros took one team and headed to the flower patch we'd dug at the front, over the summer
• Steve and Dave headed out front too, for some serious hammering work
• A team of 4 headed inside the gorgeous Glasshouse building to cut our Christmas trees for the winter fare
• Another team headed to the new wild flower area to rake and scatter seeds
• A further team were tasked with wheeling and shuttling compost to all sites
• ...while Rita headed up a team of 1 to deal with the Glasshouse planters

Yep, busy or what.

The team dug and weeded and cut and fetched and wheeled and planted and swept and mopped for over an hour. It was amazing what they achieved.

And before we knew it we were gathering inside, to a now pristine hall, where poor Rob made the mistake of saying he'd experienced a twinge. So, delaying the the outro and final team pic, I took it upon myself to offer Rob a standing quad stretch, which the GoodGymers then decided to take photographic evidence of. One word: karma.

We then made our way to our beautiful Bonner Gate spot where Steve led us through some very fast running drills before we made our way back to the hotel to call it a night.

THANK YOU TEAM FOR A WICKED NIGHT!

Special thanks to our wonderful task force who handle things so smoothly in the background, from overseeing the Glasshouse clean-up effort to taking lots of wicked pics.

Thanks to Steve for coming on board early on in the evening for the fitness part of our session; to George, Lieke and Dave for some great pics.

What a lovely evening. You make such a difference, not only to the two woman powerhouse that is the Parkview Estate Residents Association, but to the residents too, who see, appreciate and very much take on board what you're doing. So thank you.

Until next time, have a wonderful week everyone.