Three wonderful tasks

It was an ambitious one. We were torn. Three wonderful task owners, three wonderful tasks but how many pairs of hands could we count on tonight? 28 was the answer. TWENTY EIGHT GoodGymers braved what’s still a chilly Monday experience to come and roll up their sleeves in our beloved borough for the very best causes.

The pic…

We assembled in our lovely, spacious hotel room, courtesy of the wonderful Town Hall Hotel (whose staff always ensure our evening gets off to a great start, greeting us with smiles, endless help, and fulfilling our increasing number of requests, from letting leaflets be left by task owners, to taking our pic on the staircase. Thank you all so much).

And then we reassembled on the splendid staircase to take our pic for the 50th area launch – Tower Hamlets was Area Number One. You’d think this was an easy shape to make, but it was surprisingly hard. So much so that the runners toughest challenge tonight was possibly exercising a great deal of patience and tolerance as I made endless grimaces and position changes. And we hadn’t even warmed up yet.

Three teams, three tasks…

And so to the steps for 3 speedy mobility exercises before team 1, led by Leanne, were dispatched to to Rocky Park at the Hollybush Estate, where they sped around moving from task to task, filling planters, moving mulch and digging and weeding.

And then Team 2 were dispatched to a brand new task, the new Suffragette Kitchen Garden, part of the Edible Bow network, on Old Ford Road where task owner Hester met Redbridge Task Force member Dharmesh and his team, with 3 tonnes of newly delivered soil to be shovelled into planters. The team sped through the heavy lifting work, finishing in record time. Three tonnes was no match for 11 enthusiastic GoodGymers who were then the first team to arrive at the fitness session!

And I was lucky enough to head out onto the streets of Bethnal Green with an all-girl crew, to leaflet businesses and Bethnal Greeners for the wonderful Acknowledging Youths charity. We had a pretty good reception, with everyone from commuters to comedy store managers all coming on board to accept bundles of leaflets to help spread the word. Thank you Bethnal Green businesses – we witnessed a community spirit that’s alive and well on our streets tonight. Your help and receptivity is so much appreciated.

Multi-tasking moves and metabolism-boosting at Meath

And then we all ran to Meath and met by The Fitness Tree (a fallen tree who doubles up as a great base for Bulgarian split squats). We planked, we pivoted, we ran laps at various Parkrun paces, and we tempo-ed and we tackled our tums. And then we ran home. What. A. Night.

BIG thank you’s tonight

On behalf of the group, we have some pretty hefty thank you’s tonight: Thanks to our wonderful task force, who were busy planning with me behind the scenes throughout Monday. And a special thank you to Dharmesh, a Redbridge task force member on loan to us this evening, who readily agreed to lead the new task to the Suffragette Garden, did a splendid job of running the task, and then leading the first part of the fitness session for his group in Meath Gardens. And then led the cooldown stretching back at base. Amazing stuff.

Thanks to Leanne, for leading the big crew to Hollybush, and back to Meath, for taking some great pics and for saving the day with her fabulous pun tonight, AND for planning and executing our group figure-of-1 shot (and putting up with me and my endless changes).

And let’s not forget a massive warm GG welcome to Molly whose first run it was this evening. Really lovely to have you join us – thanks for being such a fabulous flier-er, it was really fun to be out and about on the streets of Bethnal Green with you!

Next week we’re back at The Glasshouse Community Centre for Earth Hour!

Now next week, we’re putting the ‘earth’ into Earth Hour and planting fruit trees and seeds at the wonderful Glasshouse Community Centre. Join us, why don’t you? We’d love you to come along. More detail, and sign up, are here.

Until then, make sure you have a wonderful week!

3 very different tasks, 3 very determined teams…

What a night! And what a beautiful evening it was indeed for another THREE tasks (this is becoming something of a habit…).

A stake-out (or not, as it turned out)

Becky led the largest team of 15 to the Keddelstone Walk Community Centre in Hollybush Gardens to meet some of our longest standing task owners, Michael and Margaret (and Beetlejuice, the elderly canine task owner). Despite having planned tonight’s pun around the staking part of the task, the accompanying staking noise was considered too much of a potential environmental nuisance by Margaret, so digging and raking was the order of the day. New gloves were dished out – thoughtful task owners we have here in TH – and, letting sleeping wasps lie (compost heaps can be quite the hazard – who knew), the runners ploughed away solidly for over 40 minutes giving the Ground Force team a run for their money. Thank you to the team for staging a brilliant stake scene, though, to accommodate the pun. What creativity! (pics of the non-staking task enclosed).

Dab hand decorating

Lieke, meanwhile, headed another small team of dab-handed decorators back to the Glasshouse Community Centre to complete the painting task. Well done for taking a new team to the task and for getting so much done, in a confined, warm space this evening – and for making it back for Pilates Sculpt in such good time.

Feelgood flyering

...And Gabrielle beautifully project-managed our leafleting task, a new task for fabulous charity Acknowledging Youths, planning an excellent strategy for the different leaflet themes vs. the most relevant outlets. Well done to her, Tim and first time runner Simona, who I had such a lovely time leafleting with - I felt we were quite the dynamic duo, with our sales pitch! We handed out many leaflets, to very willing and interested bar managers and coffee shop vendors, so a great job completed by all.

Pilates on steroids

And so we met by the wonderful Stairway to Heaven memorial in Bethnal Green Gardens at 8pm sharp for Pilates Sculpt. Apologies to those who felt the Pilates was going to be a gentle wind down to the evening (but I’m over the moon that we managed to make the last 20 minutes of the session as effective as the first 70). Glutes and abs are where it’s at, when it comes to your running. Honest.

On behalf of the group and our task owners, very big thank you’s go to…

…Becky J, for planning and leading the Hollybush task; for writing the Hollybush report and taking some lovely pics and for helping out with the pun. Thanks to Bryon and Si for navigating and leading the Hollybush run, and to Heidi and Charlotte for back-marking.

Thank you to Lieke, for planning and leading the Parkview painting task, including some great pics, and thank you to Gabrielle for helping to plan and execute a truly effective leafleting task, and getting some lovely pics.

…And big hello’s and WELCOME's

…to our lovely new runners this evening: Bijan, Henry, Ella, Chand, Daphne and Simona. And welcome back to Lauren, who isn’t new, but who hasn’t run with us for a while. What a joy to have you all on board this evening, and please do come back soon.

We’re back to Stepney City Farm next week!

Next week I’m delighted to announce we’re heading back to Stepney City Farm, for all manner of outdoor tasks. This will be followed by a relay race back to base! So don’t miss out – sign up now. Can’t wait to see you then, and have a really good week in the meantime.

Three determined teams

And so it came to pass we were a three-team crew this evening again. Already committed to tree-watering at Meath and painting at Parkview, three GoodGymers were invited to return to Weavers Adventure Playground for some unfinished table business.

1) Let’s turn the tables

Task force member Dave headed up the Weavers crew, taking Polly and Si back to the tricky table, and remaining at the task until the four-legged furniture had, well, four legs, egged on by a resident fox.

2) An emulsion return to Parkview

Leanne, another of our fabulous Task Force, led the Parkview team to the task, and then onto Meath for our workout, on post-Great-North-Run legs. Much, much appreciated. The team finished the spearmint-green kitchen, making great time after a bit of delayed prepping at the venue. Well done to you all for making it to Meath in such good time.

3) Multi-tasking at Meath

Meanwhile, the marvellous Meath bunch combined tree-watering with litter-picking. Once it was established there were too many hands for two trolleys (there’s nothing a Good Gymer hates more than to be empty handed, right?), Chris, Charlotte and Heidi wasted no time in getting stuck in to some very productive litter-picking.

Buns, guns and…bands

And then we all gathered around in what was initially a slightly-strange looking circle for our Buns n’Guns workout – a 20-minute delight for the runners, using body weight and looped bands to effectively work arms and bum. Well done for you all putting up with both my playlist and continual exercise instruction. And so we headed back to base, for some final stretching and a quick drink ‘round the corner, for a non-weary few.

Special shout-outs

Thanks to everyone this evening, for making tonight so unbelievably productive, and such fun. Congratulations to Ruth, whose 50th good deed it was tonight. What a lovely addition to the evening .

Welcome to Katherine and Sam, whose first run it was. It was fantastic to have you both be part of tonight, and we hope to see you very, very soon. And lovely to see Justin from Newham GG, by no means new to GoodGym – but new to me. Please come back soon.

And so to next week…

Next week, we’re two-tasking it, at least, so do sign up here to come and be part of the fun. Have a really great week until then.

A good-sized group on another balmy August evening

16 of us headed out this evening in a last minute task-change to Weaver's Adventure Playground, a short run away.

Jobs aplenty

On arrival, task owner Alex had quite a list of jobs for us to get involved with, from constructing tables from previously discarded furniture, to measuring, matching and sorting large planks of wood along with a variety of painting tasks.

The teams were soon dispatched to all four corners of the playground and, as usual, were soon getting stuck in. It soon became apparent one of the toughest aspects of the task was going to be seeing and freeing large nails firmly lodged into wood. Alex quickly came to the rescue with a crowbar crash course and Gabrielle wasted no time in showing a particularly stubborn nail who was boss.

The team worked quickly and effectively, exchanging drills for saws, as they motored through the large wood piles, with the painting crew barely stopping, other than pausing for a brief colour consultation.

Before we knew it, we were out of time and posing for our final pics before saying cheerio to Alex.

I feel the need, the need for speed

And so we headed to Weavers Fields to begin our speed session of the day. Brilliantly led by Chris, and speedily paced by both Bryon and Chris, the running task tonight was 400m intervals. This was broken up into 2 x 200m spurts: the first 200m at “your 7/10 pace” and the second 200m at “your 9/10” pace. The team sped through a total of three of these sprints – no mean feat as the temperature was hitting 26 degrees again – and we enjoyed some active recovery with our Ab Attack session, in between each lap.

We then sped back to base before heading to the pub for a quick drink.

Shout-outs galore

Great big thanks and massive well done to Chris and Bryon for leading the speed session again, and to Chris for distance-calculating and lap counting. Great back-marking this week from Becky and full credit goes solely to Clare for this week’s wicked pun.

And it really was very lovely to have Sam from Hackney join us tonight, and Nina from Islington back again. What a treat – please come again soon.

Next week: a Bank Holiday bonanza...

Next week, we’re set for a two-task Bank Holiday bonanza, when we’ll be finishing this week’s work at Weavers, as well as meeting our friends at Meath Gardens for more summer gardening and tree-watering from the canal, followed by a flexibility masterclass to keep those injuries at bay. Not one to miss, so sign up here.

A terrific turnout

A great Tower Hamlets turnout saw us heading punctually off to the beautiful Meath Gardens this evening for an evening of weeding, planting, carrying, wheeling and watering.

Our task owners for the evening, Julia, Joanna and Tunde from Friends of Meath Gardens, were exceptionally well prepared – this was project management like no other.

And so to work...

Teams were soon despatched to clear the areas around the new trees, so the trees were ready to be watered, while other teams headed to the canal to fill oversized buckets and wheel them back on trolleys (or carry, in some cases). Further gardening teams were assembled to tend to borders in need of weeding and plant newly donated shrubs.

So efficient were the runners, Tunde was soon having to dart off and find additional buckets. Joanna quickly stepped in with trowels & gloves and redirected the displaced runners to a nearby border while they waited for more water vessels.

A Good Gym-er without a task needs fixing quick. No wild flower-spotting and enjoying a break for these runners – they like to be busy like no other.

Back to base - at race pace

All too soon it was 8.15 and time to assemble for the group pic. Then we headed back to base at 3 different running speeds: thanks to Becky and Dave for heading up the 8-minute mile lead and navigating the route back; Laura and Izzy for the 9-minute mile pace and task force member Leanne for back-marking, both there and back, and leading us back at an 11-minute mile pace.

Tarmac-toning

On arrival back at base, the team took the news very well that not only were we going to perform some seated stretches on the tarmac, we were also going to squeeze in the Boxer’s Crunch and Captain’s Chair – so our cores didn’t feel left out after all the upper body work of the evening obviously.

And then we headed back to the hotel pretty much bang on 8.30…hurrah!

Well done...and welcome

And so to this week’s other thank you’s and welcome’s… Thanks to Bryon for leading the route out with me and co-navigating (and not even waiting to be asked about navigation); task force members Leanne, Bryon, Sarah and Becky, for being so hands-on, as always: early and available to our new runners, and, along with Becky G, helping to make our Olympic dream take shape and become reality…

And welcome to Ignatius, Ellie, Briony and Ellen, whose first run it was. Thank you for all your hard work, for learning all the ropes so very quickly, and for becoming part of the team so effortlessly. I really hope you’ll join us again soon.

We're a two-task run next week...

Next week it’s a two-task week: we’re needed at Hollybush and Weavers - two, great, fun outdoor tasks, doubling up as a good little workout again, no doubt, so do sign up here.

And, I for one just can’t WAIT to do it all again then.

Have a wonderful week in the meantime!

12 runners were keen to do good and work on their fitness this balmy bank holiday Monday.

After a brief warm up consisting of some dynamic stretches, we headed out on a slightly longer route than usual to meet task owner, Laura, to distribute fliers to local businesses in preparation for the new Aldgate Square Festival, a new, fun-filled community celebration of all that Aldgate has to offer.

The heavens open

We set out down Cambridge Heath Road, laughing as we heard the distant rumble of thunder. “Oohs” could be heard from the runners as the lightning and thunder seemed to edge ever closer, which quickly turned to “aahs” as the first few drops of rain were a welcome relief to the uncharastically humid May evening. The few drops, however, soon became a torrential downpour, which continued as we covered another 1.5 miles. We briefly took shelter in Aldgate East station but at the first sign of the rain abating, we carried onto our task.

Business as usual

Laura was suitably impressed that we’d arrived ready to spread the word - that, despite arriving completely drenched, as far as our task was concerned, it was business as usual. After dividing up into pairs to cover the whole of the area, we covered as many shops, pubs and restaurants as we could and arrived back punctually at our meeting point to head to Weavers Fields for some brilliant running form-work by Danny.

Top technical tips

Here, the team proceeded to run through three very effective drills: first up was the posture drill which involved running at 70% pace with a ‘wire visualisation’ (“visualise a wire pulling up and forwards through shoulders”). Next up was a partner exercise that addressed arm swing when running at speed, and we finished with a little knee-drive drill to really recruit quads and get them firing up nicely. Thank you Danny – that was a really effective and useful session.

We had a leisurely run back to base where, soaked through, we decided to postpone our team drink. To be continued…

What a team

Thank you to the whole team tonight, for an amazing effort. Thank you Charlotte, Bryon, Jess, Viola, Yesh, Si, Domitille, Ed, Danny, Alex and Ruth. Your resilience, determination and optimism was something else tonight. Thank you.

And very big thank you’s to Alex for fabulous backmarking in tough conditions, Bryon and Si for making the final route decision, and leading and navigating beautifully, and of course to Danny, for bundles of behind-the-scenes planning, and a brilliant, useful technical addition to the evening.

And onto next week...

Aaaand…I can’t WAIT to do it all again next week, when we’re Victoria Park-bound as we join the Borough's Big Clean Up event – sign up here!

It was Team Tower Hamlets to the rescue tonight as two of our longest standing task owners needed some urgent summer help. Becky and I led two teams off to two of our local community gardens, before meeting at Meath Gardens to attack our abs in earnest.

I headed up the Cranbrook Crew of 10 who ran to the local community garden, nearly a mile from base, where the team shifted un-moveable vegetable beds; made trellises, shovelled compost, cleared and lifted wood; swept and sawed. Not much for 40 minutes then. Amazing stuff. And brilliantly project-managed tonight by task owner Eileen, who rewarded the team for their hard work with rhubarb and leeks.

Meanwhile, thanks to yours truly giving incorrect location information to Becky’s team, the Hollybush crew ran to the wrong garden via a spectacularly pretty little oasis, full of fascinating flora, including a thoroughly cool monkey puzzle tree. Every cloud and all that. They then went onto enjoy an extreme upper body workout as they dug, weeded and edged flower beds all to a retro background playlist (Tom Jones), courtesy of task owner Michael. The team headed promptly to Meath Gardens where, upon early arrival, task owners were swapped for taskmasters David and Steve, who insisted the best course of action when arriving early is to squeeze in a lap of the park.

The Cranbrook crew arrived, armed with gifts of leeks and rhubarb, and playlist and exercise list. I was concerned Environmental Health might put in an appearance as tonight we were planking and single leg bridg-ing to music. Jess did little to allay my fears as she confirmed that ‘you only need 9 people for it to be classed as a riot.’ (I have Googled this on returning to my desk, and it seems that 3 is the magic number. To be continued, Jess…). The team completed their core and glute-activation work brilliantly tonight. I don’t know what was in the air but as they sailed through the scorpion push-up, Pilates roll-up-on-steroids, the single leg bridge-with-pulse, a hovering side plank, the seated sprinter and then the crab dance, I did wonder if the class content tonight was too easy. Again, to be continued…

And so to the thankyou’s

Thank you to Becky our utterly brilliant task force member, for heading up the Hollybush team; for planning (both before and during the evening), and for the lovely report and pics – and for getting the team to Meath EARLY. Oh, and for finding the correct location. Ahem.

Thank you to Nadia, Alys, Jess and Mi for tonight’s pun, and for my putting up with my scathing dismissal of all your previous fab suggestions (“No – no good. What else?”).

And thanks to David for overseeing sign-in, and for getting the post-run stretching started.

...And welcome!

A big hello and welcome to Jess , who just got so stuck in on her first Group Run, it was amazing! I feel like you’ve been with us forever. Thanks for the hard, hard work (“Are you task-less? Come with me…”), for the fun, and for joining the team so effortlessly. I hope you’ll join us again really soon.

And the fun continues...

Right, two dates to get in the diary: On June 9th, we’re partnering with Mile End Parkrun for the pacing event - all speeds and levels much needed! Details and sign up are here.

…And next week, our Bank Holiday Bonanza, sees us popping to Aldgate to flyer for the Aldgate Square Festival, before running to Weavers for a wicked workout (running and resistance work – tick multiple fitness boxes with this one). And then Mother Kelly’s at 8:45pm for a quick Bank Holiday bevvy. More details and sign-up are here. Come for as much (or as little) of the evening as you fancy!

Okay, that's it from me. Well done for another truly brilliant night of multi-tasking, and I CAN'T WAIT to do it all again next week.

It was an eager team that set out for the Royal London tonight. After being very patient with tonight's extensive task-briefing, the Tower Hamlets crew flew down the mile-long route to the hospital where our delighted and excited task owner, Nancy, was meeting us, along with colleagues Richard and Marufa.

Numerous tasks

This was our first time at the Royal London Hospital where we were booked in for a variety of different tasks.

David headed up the postering team, tasked with putting up information posters on as many of the hospital's 14 floors as the team could manage in the short time available.

Becky headed up the gardening team, whose job it was to weed, litter-pick, and generally tidy up as much of the hospital's designated green space as possible.

Issmaeel had the job of leading the walking-route-planning team, a key task that involved planning a hospital-based walking route as part of the End PJ Paralysis campaign ("For patients over the age of 80, a week in bed can lead to 10 years of muscle ageing, 1.5 kg of muscle loss, and may lead to increased dependency and demotivation. Mobilising (moving) has been shown to reduce falls, improve patient experience and reduce length of stay by up to 1.5 days.")

Leanne and Miranda has the task of spray-painting wheelchairs for the trauma ward, which proved to be one of the trickier tasks...

Our 45 minutes in the hospital flew by, and before we knew it we were congregating for our goodbye pics. It seemed no sooner had we arrived, than we were heading back through the revolving doors, returning to the hustle and bustle of Whitechapel Road, where we soon picked up the pace following tonight's speedy pacer Danny as fast as we could manage back to base.

New faces!

We were a group of 26 tonight = it was a joy to have both new and familiar faces in the team. Hello, and welcome, to new GG Stockport trainer, Lisa , who joined us on a busy night, and who stayed smiling, and unfazed throughout the whole evening, and lent a hand continually to all the teams.

Hello and welcome too, to Christie and Clare, not new to GG, but new to Tower Hamlets. Thanks for the hard work, so many smiles, and really hope to see you again soon. And welcome too to Insiyah who joined us for her first GG run - it was lovely to have you on board, thanks for all that hard work, and please come and run with us again soon.

And a big UK GG welcome to Colin , who was visiting us from Canada! What a treat for us, and well done for all your work.

...And to the thank-you's

And so to the thankyou's which seem to grow each week. Thank you to David , for being on board with last minute planning and for heading up the postering team. Thank you to task force member Becky for tonight's stats, heading up the gardening team, and for welcoming new runners and Lisa, and being such a warm and welcoming face of GG.

Thanks toDannyfor being our speedy pacer back to the hotel.

Thank you to task force member Leanne, for brilliant backmarking as usual, and more behind-the-scenes planning with me, and a massive thank you to Issmaeel, for bundles of behind-the-scenes planning (this started middle of last week for poor Issmaeel) with his insider knowledge, and for heading up the walking route team.

Thank you to Polly and Si, who we left in the hospital briefing Nancy on the team's brilliant walking work. That's above and beyond, and I was very proud of what you achieved. And I can't WAIT to do it all again next week...

SPEAKING OF NEXT WEEK...

...Moving on to next week, come and work off Royal-Wedding-party-calories on Monday! We’re staying local at Cranbrook Community Garden to help the team get ready for their big Open Day, before heading to beautiful Meath Gardens for a special Ab Attack workout. Sign-up is here.

...And don't forget the GoodGym Olympics on June 30th!

…And don’t forget the GoodGym Olympics on June 30th. A description of the events you can enter is here, while event info and sign-up is here. The deadline for signing up for an event is June 3rd.

Do come and join in the Olympic fun - whether you fancy a speedy Summertime sprint or just spectating & sandwich-eating, there’ll be something for everyone. And I’d love to hear from anyone interested in designing our flag and torch!