Last night 12 Goodgymmers ran 3k (and back) to the Old Alleynian Rugby club. It was an unusual session because Sam was not leading, and instead it was me - Paulin! The session started with cake - a surprise from Sam to celebrate my 300th good deed. Then it was over to me, starting with the welcome speech and the warm up.

The ice-breaker was a work-related question from me about things you’d ask to a chat bot that recommends recipes. The questions we came up with ranged from practical “What can I cook with only two tins of beans?” to morbid “What should I eat that is less than 50 calories?”. Either way, very useful market research, thanks a lot!

Once we arrived at the rugby club, we were met by Ian, who had the floodlights on ready for us. Our first task was to seed a muddy pitch, and it was great to see everyone self organise to methodically cover the whole area. After that, we did some edging - which means scraping off the edge of some grass which had overgrown into the carpark.

After a quick photo and some chocolate treats from Ian, we ran back to Old Spike. At the end when we were cooling down and stretching, we “collaboratively” remembered the task for next week’s group run, as well as a few missions that are on this week-end (Thorlands on Saturday at 12 and Peckham Rye Junior parkrun on Sunday at 9am.

Sam met up Ian and Marie from the Old Alleynian Rugby Club Green Team to focus on clearing the ivy and brambles that had built up for years behind the nursery playground.

Using shears and rakes we cleared this space within an hour and a half, dragging five tonne bags worth of green waste to the pile.

A proper workout was rewarded with chocolates from Ian at the end. Oh, and it was Sam's 1,300th good deed 😉

We will be back the Sunday before Easter Sunday in March!

Daryl, Ed, Maria, Richard and Sam met up Ian at the Old Alleynian Rugby Club as this month we focused on draining and clearinf the ditches as it had become clogged up with leaves and could affect the playing fields as these ditches are used to drain the water when it rains.

Richard had the pleasure of using the leaf blower as the rest of us used rakes and leaf pickers to clear the ditches of leaves.

An hour and a half later, the ditches were primarily unblocked.

We're talking about gardening here.

Ed and Sam met Ian and the Green team at Old Alleynian Rugby Club for one last time this year as they cut and cleared the front bit of the rugby club. They even had the chance to saw off a fallen tree.

It was an hour and 45 minutes of hard work, but they were rewarded with brownies from Sally. 🍰

Maria and Sam ran from Peckham Rye Juniors parkrun to meet up with Ian and Anne-Marie from the Green team at Old Alleynian Rugby Club to do some clearing and cutting back in the car park area as the ivy and brambles had overgrown (but not as much as last year). The technique and shift that they put in was to use the shears to cut the overgrowth to a manageable state before clearing it with a rake. They would put this all in a pile before Ian and Anne-Marie would bag this up and take it away.

It was a marathon workout as the team took their time and swapped roles, but they were treated to chocolates by the end of the session!

Pinch, punch, first of the month, Sam waited for everyone at Old Spike as we had a special celebration tonight, which he announced during his GG speech. Nope, it wasn't the fact we have our monthly social tonight (as it's the first Wednesday of the month), but Maria reached her 50th good deed within 52 days! Almost one a day! Congrats! 🎉

Since it was the 1st of November, Sam's ice-breaker question for tonight was about today: On All Souls Day, please if you would like share a cherish memory of someone you lost? or Tell us your best vegan dish on World Vegan Day?

For World Vegan Day, Mikhail said sweet potato and spinach curry, which was similar to Andrada saying butternut curry. Louise said Mapo tofu with vegan mince and Gemma told us about a lentil style lasagna dish whilst Sam craved Gregg's vegan sausage rolls.

For All Souls Day, Nelly remembered her Dad who sadly passed away earlier this year. David told us about his friend who passed away a few years ago on this day, Emma remembered her best friend, Bo, her beloved dog. Maria told us about her grandmother whom she lost seven years ago and doubled up her ice-breaker with the fact her grandmother would make veggie or vegan alternatives when her family were big meat eaters....yet then lecture her on her low iron levels.

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50 Good Deeds (Maria's Version)

After our warm-up in the alleyway, Sam lead the way whilst Mikhail backmarked as we ran through the backstreets of East Dulwich, up Crystal Palace Road and Lordship Lane to get to the side of Dulwich Park to finally reach Ian and Emma, who met us there. Whilst Andrada walked over to the task, but ran back with us.

Ian had a wheelbarrow full of shears, loppers, rakes and leaf pickers. The task was simple: clear the pedestrian path going along the South Circular of anything protruding through the fence. So, in barber language, short back and sides. Everyone took a tool of choice as we split the group in half quite evenly. Mikhail was our photographer for the night and ensuring he captured the task at hand.

Working our way from two ends of the rugby club along the South Circular by the end of the session, both groups met in the middle fueled by Taylor Swift's version of the 1989 album playing on Sam's speakers.

As the clock hit 20:00, we just about finished the task and Ian kindly gave out a sweet treat before we ran back to Old Spike via Dawson's Hill to take in the night sky of London. Laura backmarked this leg of the run. Everyone was up for our monthly social and another chance to celebrate Maria's 50 good deeds at Jazu bar in Peckham!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Unlike people thought, it was just over a 3k run each way (and not closer to 4k...). Thank you for working as a team to complete the task in the time as we worked from two ends to meet the middle (more or less). Thank you for coming out for the monthly social at Jazu bar too, it was great to catch up with you all!

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Thank You to Ian

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ian for preparing all the tools for us in advance and giving us an achievable task as well as the delicious treats at the end of the session - always appreciated! We have two more sessions this year, both on Sunday mornings, so we will see you then!