21 GoodGymers ran 6km to help Graham Street Park!

Welcome along to Jess whose first time it was last night - great to have you along!

In the news this week:

1. Lots of people ran London Marathon and other marathons on Sunday - amazing! If you are feeling inspired you can sign up to the London ballot here.
2. A massive well done to Alix who did a big PB at Hamburg Marathon on Sunday!
3. Also a huge big up to Dan who did his first half marathon and race in Fulham last week - awesome sauce.
4. May's GoodGym Social is in Peckham on Thursday 9th May, more details coming soon!

After a quick warm up we headed to Graham Street Park via Liverpool Road and some nice down hill. Skipping through Angel we arrived to meet Nicky who founded Friends of Graham Street Park, and Mark from Islington council. Everyone was very excited that Graham was now home in his park, where he grew up, where he learnt to run and where he became very tall (maybe fake news).

Graham's home!

This was a new task, and they were prepared with lots to do and tools to use. The park is very well used by families and all the kids. We helped them with the following:

• Planted some lovely plants around the walkway.
• Loosened up and turned over some very hard ground (harder than a Victoria sponge according to Chris)
• We littered picked around the park and sand pit. Keeping the kids safe.
• Cleared an area of thistles so the kids stop hurting themselves.
• We dug out three rose bushes and carefully replanted them in a triangle hole outside of the play area.

Over 30 minutes we got all this done and more. Really well done, Nicky was very appreciative! After being treated to some exotic New Zealand Toffee Tops (thanks James) and also hop nops, we ran home a different - nice!

Next week we are meeting at the Arc Centre and helping Barnsbury Square Gardens - sign up here. Please come, I know it's bank holiday but we've got good to do!

PB out

36 Goodgymers ran between 5-11km to collect up a massive 125 Christmas Trees for recycling!!!

Welcome along to Emily, Natalie and Mel whose first time it was last night. Plenty of regulars and tourists around too.

In the news this week:

1. It's GoodGym Islington 4th birthday next Monday, come along for Thai food and drinks next Monday after the group run.
2. There is a GG Islington Starter Session on Saturday 26th January - sign up here.
3. Chi is doing a training session this Sunday in Islington and Olivia is leading a long run in Richmond - join in.

Corrrr blimey what a welcome to 2019, we not only had more attendances than we've had for 18 months but we arguably broke a GoodGym record with 125 Christmas Trees collected on a group run.

GG's Angels

After a big old intro we warmed up and split into our four groups to cover as much as Islington as possible, looking for those Christmas trees. It is technically fly tipping leaving them out on the street and of course it's a real hazard. Therefore we are helping the community in lots of ways getting them collected and recycled.

We had four teams and there final scores were:

• Team Steve - ran 11km to Crouch End and collected 8 trees
• Team Paul - ran 6-8k around Highbury and collected 29 trees
• Team Paradise (Graham) - ran 6-8km to Paradise Park, Callie Road and Holloway Road and collected 40 trees
• Team James - ran to Barnsbury and collected 48 trees!!!

This is an insane amount of pulling, carrying and tossing of our piney friends - good work all.

Next week we will be helping St Lukes Community Centre and doing another round of Christmas Tree Collections - sign up here.

PB out

32 Goodgymers ran 5km to help Caxton House decorate a Christmas Tree and do some gardening!

Thanks to coming to Islington's Christmas Edition! It was spectular :)

The main news this week is to remember we are back from Monday 7th January, I don't expect to see you on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve - make sure you have a fun holiday!

Back to what happened last night - after our intro Huw (New Leicester Trainer) led a warm up with the theme of 12 exercises of Christmas. We splitted into two groups as we headed up hill 2.5km to Caxton House Community Centre, with James leading a faster group doing a lap of the Emirates. This fantastic centre provides a hub for community activities; including gardening, education projects and even a credit union.

Upon our arrival at the centre we were presented with a very large Christmas tree and some gardening to do. Splitting into two groups we got started with both tasks. Group One put the tinsel, lights and some stars on the tree. Meanwhile Group Two weeded the front garden and dug for bamboo. With Christmas music playing inside and out, joy was in the air!

Switch over the Elves

The teams switched tasks, with Group Two continuing the garden efforts, adding in some chopping back bushes. Meanwhile Group One put baubles on the train and of course Santa at the top of the tree. Nice! Once all the tasks were finished we had a mince pie, switched on the tree lights and took a lovely group photo.

After saying our goodbyes to Rose and Sue we ran home, and then stretched before going to the pub and for pizza #XmasParty.

Sign up for the first group run of 2019 (7th January) here.

See you in the New Year! Merry Christmas Everyone!

PB out

It’s definitely headtorch season! On a dark and not-too-chilly evening GoodGym Islington assembled at our regular spot in the Arsenal Emirates, with Steve Lee leading the run while regular Islington Trainer Paul Bown was away on holiday eating lots of those lovely Portuguese custard tarts.

A few quick announcements, including next week’s GoodGym Islington Xmas Party (sign up here) and a nudge to sign up to missions in the coming weeks - there are slots available in Islington and it’s the time of year that can make the world of difference to the people we do missions for.

A quick warm-up and we were headed north a few quick km to the Single Homeless Project (thanks to James, Claire and Steve C for back-marking!)

SHP’s Sam was waiting for us with a smile and a shed-full of tools to get to work weeding, bagging up leaves and tidying the back gardens of not one, but two housing projects. The Single Homeless Project work across London with vulnerable and socially excluded people going through difficult times in their lives to provide a much-needed safety net of care and housing support. Having a nice garden area to relax in and tend to is a real benefit.

Sam and Steve flitted back and forth between the two garden groups and despite the dark evening, could see a lot of good going on. Paths and beds were weeded, patios were tidied and swept, and we nearly ran out of bags for the leaves that will be mulched (GoodGym provides us with some cursory gardening knowledge over time but our best working definition of mulch was still George’s ‘mulching turns plants into cannibals’).

We took a different route on the way back - a bit less road traffic but more pedestrians to carefully weave our way through - and in no time we were back at our GG Islington base for a stretch, and of course, biscuits (thanks to Kike for bringing us the spoils of an online shopping delivery error - delicious!).

Paul will be resuming our regular programming next week, and don’t forget to sign up if you’d like to join us for the GG Islington festive dinner at the Italian restaurant we have booked!

Have a great week everyone!