A special run, this one - a magical mystery tour of the locations that made up the first ever group run and the first ever coach run - from over 16 years ago (💾 📼 📟)!

Why? Well, to bid farewell to a special guy. He's tall, he's pale, he's handsome, he has an OBE. It's goodgym's founder Ivo Gormley. Many words were said about this man at the leaving party after the run, at the beautiful Calthorpe Community Garden, so we are not going to attempt to do him justice here. But the fact that a group of otherwise strangers, all wearing their red and black uniforms with pride, were gathered on the steps of York Hall (can you use their toilet? NO) a full sixteen years after the first group of otherwise strangers gathered on the steps of York Hall, to run around and help some people, has to mean something about how powerful and enduring Ivo's idea has been.

Warm up? LEG SWINGS UP THE WAZOO 🦵🏿💨 💨💨 - led masterfully and mindfully by Ade - along with some other limbs and muscles essential for running.

Bags loaded up in the Mechanical Cycling Machine™️ (it's Fast Boi Shaun Dixon on a cargo bike 🚚), we are led off by Euclides Montes who, by his own admission, doesn't actually know the area at all. But who cares?! It's the running that counts! More being lost equals more running! For the relatively small Venn diagram of people who were both a) on a goodgym run and b) knowledgeable about football, Darren performed the role of Roving Reporter (bluetooth speaker) with the GOALS! GOALS! GOALS! from England's match against DR Congo. There were indeed three goals but it wasn't a pretty picture for the 68 minutes between goal 1 and goal 2. We ran past some awfully concerned looking pub goers! But it had a happy ending WAHEEEYYYYY ⚽️.

First stop (probably, can't remember the order because the goals were so compelling) was St Hilda's East Community Centre - the site of the VERY FIRST GOODGYM GROUP TASK. In 2009, Ivo and 13 others emptied a cupboard. And how! St Hilda's is awesome - long-term friend of gg Tower Hamlets, the Centre (led by Lucy) provides bilingual advisory services around employment 🧑🏾‍⚖️, offers activity clubs to combat loneliness 🎯, exercise classes for the elderly 🪑 - it's the kind of place that communities across the country utterly depend upon.

Question, is it possible to belong to goodgym for 12 years and still not know the name of common little yellow flowers 🌼 that come in pots? Answer: Yes! But we planted them on the roof. Those who were particularly confident at differentiating between plants (alive) and plants (dead) also performed a valuable weeding service (let's hear it for weeds 🌱!), leaving things very spruce and cheery up on the terrace for users of the Centre to enjoy.

Next stop, just round the corner off Arnold Circus, where one Ian Drysdale (runs a long way, never looks sad 👨🏻‍🦱) gave us the next bit of the history tour. DID YOU KNOW that Ivo and Ian worked together in a social-enterprise-cum-think-tank in Shoreditch, before goodgym even existed? If you didn't, you could guess. Ian showed us the EXACT SPOT where Ivo first turned to him and said, "Ian I have an idea about a club where people run around and do helpful things instead of just be in the gym" and Ian was like, "WHAT? No Way!" and Ivo was like, "Yes absolutely WAY and I'm doing it, and you're DOING IT WITH ME because you know about computers 🤓 and I only know about films and being kindly." I am fairly confident this is what was said. And so goodgym became a thing with a name and a team.

One! More! Stop! It was only TERRY'S HOUSE wasn't it! "Who's Terry?" - have you been living under a rock? Terry was the clay-pipe-collecting (no, still no idea), amateur-boxing, newspaper-reading, Ivo-appreciating elderly man who became the defacto first-ever goodgym coach. Ivo used to run to his house and there they did have a chat, and that really was it and that was kind of the point. Another goodgym man John Hunter (👋🏻) has also been a long-time coach visit-doer and so said some words about this. Those words were like: "Having been running to my coach Florence 👵🏿 for 6 years, and then Richard 👴🏻 for nearly 2 years now, I have learned a couple of things about what it means to make these visits. It is a friendship, not a service, and it has the potential to be profound for both of you." They were very serious words and I'm not crying, you're crying.

With that, the history had been retold, and it was time to jog on 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️- to Calthorpe, and a garden full of over..ooh, a hundred? people with love and admiration in their hearts for the phenomenon that is goodgym. Ivo is a very humble man, but let's be honest, it wouldn't exist without him, would it?

The last week has been hot. Really hot. Heatwave, national heat alert hot. It has sapped the energy of even the most sun-loving people. As the weekend arrived, the temperature finally dropped to something that felt like a proper summer's day, and six of us joined the team from the Friends of Festival Gardens.

Our mission was to uncover the established shrubs that had become smothered and choked by bindweed, with a scattering of nettles and brambles adding to the challenge.

When we arrived, we were faced with a towering mass of greenery, dotted with delicate white bindweed flowers. As we started to pull it away, we discovered why it's so aptly named. The bindweed had wrapped itself tightly, and repeatedly, around the existing shrubs, making it a slow but satisfying job to release them. Gradually, a variety of shrubs and even sections of the pathways began to reappear.

This area, beside the impressive pagoda, forms part of the Chinese Garden within the park. Today we worked together to uncover the garden once again and allow it to breathe.

There's always something special about working alongside the Friends of Festival Gardens. They're a hardworking group who are always welcoming to new members and make Goodgym feel right at home. Together we spent two hours freeing the plants from the choking effects of the bindweed, helping to reveal the beauty of the garden beneath.

Congratulations to Leo, who completed his 30th Goodgym task today!

What better way to spend a Sunday morning than volunteering together with the Friends of Festival Gardens? The temperature may still have been hot, and we’d all worked up a sweat but it was a pretty cool way to spend a summer Sunday morning.

Six GoodGymers brightened Princes Park on Saturday morning, joining the parkrun community for a dose of fresh air, friendly faces, and plenty of positive energy.

While some were running, others were cheering, chatting, and helping create the welcoming atmosphere that makes parkrun such a special event. Our red shirts were once again highly visible around the park, demonstrating that GoodGym is not just about getting active but also about building connections and spreading positivity wherever we go. The visibility certainly seemed to pay off. Two women approached us during the morning to find out more about GoodGym. It was wonderful to share what we do and how running can be a force for good. Hopefully, we've helped a few new friendships get off to a running start.

With parkrun complete and appetites gathering pace, we split into two groups and made our way towards Squash. After all, while we may enjoy chasing personal bests, there comes a point when breakfast becomes the real finish line. At Squash, we quickly got down to the important business of collecting stickers and, perhaps even more importantly, squashing our hunger. Hot drinks appeared, breakfasts arrived, and conversations flowed as freely as the coffee.

As always, the real magic of these mornings wasn't measured in kilometres or finish times. It was found in the laughter around the table, the stories shared between friends, and the simple pleasure of spending time together. Because, as we were gently reminded, community is built not only through organised activities but also through moments of connection.

From Princes Park to Squash, the morning was packed with smiles, community spirit, and plenty of food for thought. It was a reminder that every time GoodGym turns up, we don't just make tracks around the park, we leave a positive footprint in the community too. Here's to many more mornings of running, chatting, sticker collecting, and proving that the shortest distance between strangers is often a friendly conversation.