23 runners headed to the phenomenal community arts charity Stitches in Time this evening to help the team out with a huge variety of fabulous tasks!

We headed down to Limehouse in two groups: Bryon headed up the runners who wanted to enjoy a speedier pace, while I led the crew who’d opted for a more conservative pace (although according to Charlotte, it was a fairly speedy pace too, that had been mis-sold. #youhadonejobLaura).

HOW many tasks?

On arrival at the task, we formed multiple different teams of the following:

• Dismantling shelving units in the studio
• Dismantling benches in the hall
• Shuttling large panels of wood to the basement
• Filling in wall plaster
• Sorting through haberdashery rubbish
• Drilling wood floors
• Clearing and cleaning the performance hall
• Scrubbing and cleaning in the studio

…And that’s just off the top of my head.

It was a brilliantly organised task by the Stitches in Time team, Paul, Esther, Brian and Sam, who had new tasks ready and waiting every time one job was finished. And all the work was accompanied by the best snack stash in East London: gingerbread men, Chupa Chups, bananas and flapjacks. Truly something for everyone.

The town hall was a hive of activity and before we knew it, we were gathering by the resplendent staircase for our cheerios and some fabulous pics.

MORE running

We headed back to base, beautifully navigated by Kat, via churchyards, and the quietest streets – thank you, Kat! What another glorious GoodGym night, full of fun, productivity, and fitness gold. Well done everyone.

Shout-outs aplenty this evening…

Thanks to our wonderful task force, who help behind the scenes so much, from route-planning to run-leading, making new GoodGym TH adventures possible. Thanks to Kat, for backmarking, route navigation this evening. Thanks to Bryon for stepping in over the weekend to help plan, and for leading the faster runners. Thanks to Isabelle for brilliant route-planning and navigation.

Thanks too to Philippa for extensive route-planning on arrival at the hotel; thanks to Leo for great pics. Thanks to Jo for brilliant and steady back-marking.

And a huge big welcome to our first-time-Tower Hamlets runners, Philippa and Flavia – please do come back and see us again very soon.

What’s coming up…

Guess what? You don’t have to wait until Monday to do it all again! No – our Lieke is running another Community Mission at one of our best established tasks, Cranbrook Community Food Garden, this Saturday. You’re in for a treat – Janet and her dedicated team have got all manner of gardening tasks lined up for you, from digging over veg beds to painting benches. Do come and join in this fab task if you can.

And next Monday we’re headed to Meath Gardens to try out our new outdoor lights as we help Joanna with some digging and other serious gardening projects! Come join in the fun?

Until then, have a really good week won’t you.

A lovely sized crew of 34 gathered for tonight's two tasks...

Stitches in Time SAVED by nine...

Following a recce of our new task at Stitches in Time in Limehouse, our wonderful Task Force were heading this one up like a military operation: numbers were planned, runners assigned, task owners instructed, routes mapped...It was all systems go from the weekend! And so a team of 11, headed by Lieke, headed to this fab new task along the canal. Writes task force member Dave, "Community arts charity Stitches in Time is worth nine plucky Goodgym-ers taking a scenic 7km circuit along the Regents Canal to the deceptive Limehouse Town Hall (which has never actually been a Town Hall, FYI).

On arrival at this new task location, task owner Paul quickly set us to work removing a lot of lengths of wood, screen-printing materials and some large wooden structures, to make way for the dismantling of shelving and a tougher-than-it-looked dark room.

The sound of creaking crowbars and banging hammers soon filled the building in a hive of activity, and excellent team work, making a very large dent in this terrific task. Time ticked on, our planned fitness session came and went, but finish we did, before the team returned to base along the dusky canal, for some final mileage for the day."

Glossing at Hollybush Gardens

Meanwhile, I took the rest of the team around the corner to Hollybush Gardens where Michael and Margaret had some fun outdoor painting work to do. Due to the recent rain, the outdoor furniture still hadn't received a lick of summer paint, and so 22 runners were put to work with pots of gloss to get the chairs, planters and outdoor benches looking bright and shiny for the Autumn months ahead.

A splinter crew of 3 headed to the garden for weeding, and industrious they were filling bags and bags before we wrapped just before 8.

Fabulous team fitness work

With a few minutes to spare for this evening's task, the team did a superb job taking the fitness reins: Si headed up the route operation, taking us straight down to Bethnal Green Gardens, while David took creative cardio control and led this evening's speedwork, planning and directing a tough lap of the park, with teams divided into two. And what fitness work it was, with all runners arriving back at The Fitness Clearing panting for breath and begging not to brave another lap. And so we settled for a real full-body blast of a workout, with plank-and-pushups, jumping single leg deadlifts, abs cycles and the sprinter lunge to name a few. Incredible work, yet again, from everyone. Your fitness - cardio, balance, flexibility, and strength - really does seem to be improving by the week.

And then David led the crew back to base, and through some brilliant calf and quad stretches on our favourite hotel stretching steps.

What a night.

Great big, glorious Monday shout-outs

Where to start this evening?

First up, welcome and thank you for a wonderful first night to our new runners, Victor and Kerenza. You were amazing and we hope you'll come back very soon.

A big pat on the back to our David who last night celebrated his 50th good deed and our Chris who celebrated his 70th. Thanks for being a great, big part of our group.

Thanks to David and Si for their fabulous fitness input tonight.

To Joel for pretty spectacular pun input as usual (and sorry for my eleventh hour change...).

Now. A huge shout out to the totally brilliant team who headed to Stitches in Time, including Leo and Dave for pics; Dave for report-writing and leading the runners back to base at 9pm, and Lieke for heading up. And to our wonderful task force who were all on board with planning over the weekend. Thank you from us all.

Next week sees a fitness double bill!

Yep, come out and celebrate the Bank Holiday Monday with a fun leafleting task, followed by running and Pilates: swap sofa for sweat and strength work at this fun Monday session. Details and sign up are here.

Right, that's it for this week. So until next time, have a thoroughly good week everyone!