Thornhill Square Gardens
A quiet oasis off Caledonian Road with plenty of space to picnic, rest, read, and walk a dog.
'A quiet oasis off Caledonian Road. Plenty of space (it is the largest square in Islington) to picnic, rest, read, admire the flowers shrubs and trees, and walk a dog. Volunteers, with the council are working to encourage healthy activities, including walking and yoga, and also to improve the diversity of wildlife in the park.'195 GoodGymers have supported Thornhill Square Gardens with 54 tasks.
Top supporters
Previous sessions
Green Day
Monday 22nd April
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On a slightly overcast Monday evening, Dan, Alison met with Kim and Area Activator Simon outside Caledonian Road and Barnsbury overground station (Thank you for accomodating for Simon's stress fracture recovery- we are making progress!) before walking together to Thornhill Square Gardens. We chatted about our activities over the weekend (such as helping at Canonbury Square Gardens on Saturday, and joining the Goodgym cheer squad at London Marathon on Sunday) on our way over.
Upon our arrival, we met with Anna, the local resident gardening expert within the square who had a variety of tasks available for us! Lucia and first timer Milena (welcome!) picked up trowels and forks and helped with picking weeds, green waste and sycamore saplings out of the rose bushes surrounding the south side of the gardens.
Emre and Kim chipped away at the moss and weeds growing out of the walling at the entrance of park using hoes and "zombie knives", while Alison, Dan and Emily gathered the greenery into wheel barrows and towards a lovely composting system towards the back of the park.
Within 50 minutes, we did an awesome job- almost all of the weeds in this overgrown patch had been gathered within a single evening. Well done everyone!
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GoodGym Islington News
Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions
Every Thursday, 6pm, Various London locations
On Thursday evenings, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location.
Here is a list of our upcoming events and sign up pages. Runners, supporters and guides of all abilities and experiences welcome!
Thursday 25th April- Stratford Olympic Park
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Thursday 2nd May- Green Park
Thursday 9th May- Paddington Rec Track (Maida Vale underground)
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The Garden Classroom- Weekly Volunteer Mornings in Islington Parks!
Wednesday mornings, 10am - midday, Newington Green
The Garden Classroom has started multiple weekly open garden mornings in Newington Green, Market Road and Hillside Park (near Caxton House). Set up by trained horticulture specialists and open to all!
Newington Green Next Wednesday- 10am - midday
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Highbury Quadrant Greening with Elizabeth House
Every Saturday, 10.30am - 12 midday, Highbury Quadrant Meadow
A fantastic task for post-parkrun runners at Highbury Fields or Finsbury Park!
Elizabeth House Community Centre, in partnership with Islington Council, Highbury Quadrant Tenants and Residents Association, Highbury Councillors and community organisations transformed three unloved and unusable green spaces on Highbury Quadrant estate.
These green spaces have been designed into three distinct spaces, improving bio-diversity and the local environment. There is now a beautiful meadow, an orchard and woodland areas.
Local residents have the opportunity to access these green spaces and take part in gardening and nature based activities, every Saturday mornings 10 am to 12 pm.
Saturday 27th April
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/highbury-quadrant-greening-with-elizabeth-house
Saturday 4th May
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Penn Road Gardens Volunteer Open Day
Sunday 28th April, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
Night of the 10,000m PBs- Volunteer marshals for the UK athletics party of the year!
Saturday 18th May, 2pm - 10pm, Parliament Hill Track
Help the UK's premier grassroots athletic event go ahead on Parliament Hill!
The event is an annual full day of endurance distance racing with the most competitive runners on the scene. These races have been listed as part of the European 10,000m qualification criteria, so some incredible running will be on show!
Hackney Half Volunteer Aid Station!
Sunday 19th April, 7am - 1pm, Hackney Marshes Centre
Help our fellow runners at this incredible local half marathon party! Join the Goodgym team at an official water and aid station to cheer on the participants!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/hackney-half-aid-station-volunteering
London Orienteering Klubb- Finsbury Park Go Orienteering Event
Tuesday 21st May, The Twelve Pins, 6pm onwards
Orienteering is really great fun! All abilities running, walking and map reading.
Follow a map offered by London Orienteering Klubb, and find the "controls" (flags and scanning points) across Finsbury Park in order.
2.5km and 5km distances on offer
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/london-orienteering-klubb-finsbury-park
Hedge Fun Managers
Monday 19th February
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
We almost had our first Goodgym group run starting in daylight!
Area Activator Simon met with a top crew of Goodgym Islington runners (including first timer Lucia- welcome!) for another smashing trip to Thornhill Square Gardens, near Caledonian Road. After a swift series of dynamic warm up exercises, we ran together around Holloway Road, up McKenzie Road and down to Thornhill Square.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Anna, the local resident gardening expert, who had been busy setting up a special task for us. After receiving a grant from Rural England, the gardening team have set to a project of building hedgerows around the flower beds in wonderful green space. A boost for the nature population in the surrounding area. First task was to create a trench around the beds, to allow the hedge rows to be planted. Then our team mixed up the remaining soil and added grit and fertiliser to the newly channeled holes, before planting the hedgerows. We wanted to make sure these new plants are prepared to grow big and strong over the springtime.
We gathered our tools together (wheelbarrows, spades, shovels, forks) at the end of the evening, and brought them to the community shed first. Anna alerted us to the fact that the daffodils planted by Goodgym Islington are starting to bloom! Congratulations everyone!
Goodgym Islington News
Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 22nd February, 6pm, Maida Vale Underground station
Every Thursday, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location. This week, we will be meeting up at Arsenal tube station, ready to run around Emirates Stadium. Open to runners and guides of all abilities! Follow the link to get involved:
Next week, we will be trying out a new run location for the first time- Stratford Olympic Park. And we would be thrilled if you were to join us on Thursday 29th February:
ON Running and JENKI run club- Thursday morning matcha runs!
Thursday 22nd February, 7am, ON Running Spitalfields, Brushfield Street
Area Activator Simon has set up a series of morning runs, hosted on Thursday mornings at the new ON Running store in Spitalfields market.
A social 5km before work, with the option to take out a pair of ON Running shoes for a test spin. Followed by hot drinks provided by the team at JENKI, Brushfield Street.
Next run is on Thursday 22nd February:
Penn Road Gardens Volunteer Open Day
Sunday 25th February, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
Slow Ways and Goodgym Islington Social
Monday 4th March, 6.45pm onwards, Arsenal Community Hub
For our first group run of March, we will be reviewing a running route for the Slow Ways mapping network, starting in Highbury and Islington, and finishing in Wood Green. Great social running times!
And afterwards, we are planning on visiting Ezra's Cafe in Wood Green for refreshments, food and chat
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/post-group-run-social-ezra-s-kitchen
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Compton Terrace Gardens Open Volunteer Morning
Saturday 9th March, 10am - midday, Union Chapel, Islington
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people.
A smashing community mission for those partaking in Highbury Fields or Finsbury parkrun on a Saturday morning!
Festive Thornhill Square with the Goodgym HQ team!
Wednesday 13th December 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On a brisk Wednesday morning, Islington Area Activator Simon caught up with many many familiar faces from the Goodgym HQ team (often from community missions, group runs or our annual Shindig visits) in Chancery Lane, ready for a special trip out of the office. Our plan for the day (as effortlessly scheduled by Chalomi) was to make our way over to Thornhill Square Gardens, a beautiful resident maintained green space between Caledonian Road and Islington. We set off in two separate groups- a walking crew directed by Chalomi and Kim, and a running team hosted by Simon. Our running squad enjoyed a slightly extended route (just under 5km), passing through Fetter Lane, Bell Yard (Dickensian pubs and churches), Jockey's Fields (and the surrounding lawyer's chambers), Lincoln's Inn Fields, The Post Office Museum and Barnard's Park, before arriving at our final location. We even passed a fellow Goodgymmer on route- Thank you to Martin from GG Luton for saying Hi!
We re-grouped by the communal gardening shed in the centre of Thornhill Square Gardens, and gathered up all of the tools required for a variety of tasks - wheelbarrows, rakes, spades, shovels, brushes, saws and loads of green waste bags. Our first objective was to shovel piles of wood chip into wheelbarrows, and then to transport and spread the load evenly across the many flower beds within the park. Group 2 helped out by picking up rakes, brushes and leaf collecting devices to gather up as much foliage as possible from the pathways surrounding the park. We were looking for the leaves of horse chestnut trees in particular, as leaf mining moth larvae tend to use these fallen leaves as a habitat throughout the Winter. These particular bugs are known damage trees, so we want to avoid this situation as best as possible, while keeping the park tidy! Finally, group 3 had great fun searching and picking up sticks, fallen branches and logs from around the gardens (especially after the strong winds last week). Together, they sawed down the wood to smaller bundles, ready to be used for dead hedging (lining flower beds and spots where bulbs are to be planted in the new year) or for protecting saplings around the green space.
Between all of the groups, we achieved a huge amount of progress within an hour of lifting, shifting, raking and sawing. We actually ran out of green waste bags at exactly the right time! Before dropping off all of our tools back in the shed, Chalomi, Ivo, Ed and Ged wheelbarrowed three large bags of collected leaves outside the house of one of our regular task coordinators at Thornhill Square Gardens, ready for a council pick up tomorrow morning.
Congratulations on an excellent morning of green space maintenence, everyone! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
Stop horse-ing around, We are moth-ly done!
Monday 11th December 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
After getting through one of the coldest weeks of the year to date, 6 intrepid Goodgymmers were treated to a beautifully mild Winter's evening for our Monday night group run. This week, we had planned to help the team at Thornhill Square Gardens, just off Caledonian Road prepare there residential green space for spring time.
Simon, Kim, Caitlin and Dan caught up at the Arsenal Community Hub (a buzz of activity from local groups enjoying Christmas parties) before engaging in a warm up on the Emirates Stadium slopes. From here, we ran approximately 1.5 miles (3 mile / 5km round trip) to Thornhill Square Gardens. But not before passing one of the brightest houses in Islington!. One of the residents of Mackenzie Road had really gone all in on the Xmas decorations, and good for them!!!
Upon our arrival at Thornhill Square Gardens, we met with the wonderful Anna McKane, who set us a variety of tasks for the night. Emily and Lucy were already busy with raking up horse chestnut leaves- keeping invasive leaf mining moths from burrowing into the delicate trees. Gathering up the foliage for green waste collection also keeps the paths clear and safe for other park users (including adorable pups like Darcy!). The rest of our crew helped with shoveling mulch into wheelbarrows, and spreading the contents across as many flower beds as possible across the gardens.
We closed out the evening by gathering up all of our tools, returning them to the main shed and taking a team photo together. A huge job, well done. Great work everyone!
Goodgym Islington News
The Garden Classroom- Weekly Volunteer Mornings in Islington Parks!
Various parks and gardens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
The Garden Classroom has started multiple weekly open garden mornings in Newington Green, Market Road and Hillside Park (near Caxton House). Set up by trained horticulture specialists and open to all!
Newington Green Next Wednesday- 10am - midday
Hillside Gardens, Caxton House Next Thursday- 10am - midday
Market Road Gardens Next Friday- 10am - midday
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GoodGym London - Christmas Social Celebrate the festive season with other GoodGymmers
Thursday 14th December, 18.30 onwards, The Rocket, Euston
It's the festive edition of monthly drinks in London. Come and meet other GoodGymers and toast each others achievements.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-london-christmas-social?legacy=true
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Friends of Canonbury Square- Volunteer Morning (December Xmas Special!)
Saturday 16th December, 10am, Canonbury Square Gardens
Lending a hand with this beautiful neighbourhood maintained garden in Islington, a perfect post-parkrun task! This will be the December Xmas special too, so come and enjoy some festivities!
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Goodgym Islington’s Final Group Run and Social of 2024!
Monday 18th December, 6.45pm, Arsenal Community Hub
On the last group run of the year, Area Activator Simon will be leading a festive run to just a few of Islington's 121 green spaces (as listed by The Garden Classroom). Our objective is to try and record a visit to each one by the end of the January challenge!
And afterwards, we are going to enjoy a social visit to Non Vietnamese, Holloway Road for delicious soup, noodles and refreshments!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-christmas-tour-of-islington
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/post-group-run-social-december-non-vietnamese-islington
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Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 21st December, 6pm, Arsenal Underground station
Every Thursday, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location. This week, we will be meeting up at Arsenal tube station, ready to run around the Emirates Stadium concourse. Open to runners and guides of all abilities! Follow the link to find out more:
How many Goodgymmers does it take to plant some light bulbs?
Monday 13th November 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Area Activator Simon met up with a bumper team of 11 Goodgymmers at Arsenal Community Hub last night (including first timers Daniel and Maggie- welcome to you both!). After a full dynamic warm up on the Emirates Stadium slopes, we ran together (with Adam following us on his bike) over to the wonderful Thornhill Square Gardens (about 1.4 miles total, along Mackenzie Road).
After distributing head torches and gardening gloves, we met up with Anna, one of the residential gardening champions of Thornhill Square. Our task for the evening was to dig up an abundance of holes within the rose bushes of this public green space with forks, spades and hand trowels. Once an 8 inch hole had been dug, we would fill the holes with about10 new narcissus bulbs each.
Daniel and Louise took it in turns to bring wood chip to to spread across these newly cultivated beds, to keep these little bulbs safe from wandering dogs and hungry birds over the Winter months. Sarah and Patricia did a smashing job of preparing their own gardening spot, around a dead head fence created during one of our previous Goodgym Islington group runs earlier this year!
After about 40 minutes of digging, planting, wheel barrowing and bark spreading, we packed up out tools back in the community shed in the centre of the park, and bode Anna farewell until next time. Hopefully we can return to see our bulbs growing in Spring! We completed our session with a trip to The Swimmer, at The Grafton Arms for our November social, enjoying refreshments and delicious food on a gorgeous autumnal evening. Well done everyone!
Goodgym Islington News
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS)- November 2023
Sunday 19th November, 11-1pm, Hanley Tennis Club Car Park
Our monthly woodland regeneration session with the CREOS volunteering team. Forest path building followed by a smashing picnic with Crouch End locals!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-november-2023
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Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 23rd November, 6pm, Arsenal Underground station
Every Thursday, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location. This week, we will be meeting up at Arsenal tube station, ready to run around the Emirates Stadium concourse. Open to runners and guides of all abilities! Follow the link to find out more:
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GG Race Team- Met League Hill Training Session! - November
Friday 24th November, 6.30pm, Pembroke Castle, Camden
A monthly hill training group run session led by Goodgymmer and CIRF Simon. All abilities Kenyan Hills running over at Primrose Hill, in preparation for our next cross country fitness at Uxbridge!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-november
Simon's 200th parkrun (& 100th volunteer shift!) @ Mile End parkrun
Saturday 25th November, 8.45am, Mile End stadium
Join Area Activator Simon for his 200th parkrun at Mile End, and his 100th volunteer shift! We will head to the lovely Yurt Café in Limehouse afterwards for breakfast, hot drinks and good times!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/simon-s-200th-parkrun-100th-volunteer-shift-mile-end-parkrun
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Penn Road Gardens Volunteer Open Day- November 2023
Sunday 26th November, 10-midday, Penn Road Gardens
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/penn-road-gardens-open-morning-november
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Met League Cross Country - Uxbridge
Saturday 2nd December, 12 midday, Hillingdon Athletics Stadium
Run with GoodGym for some cross country racing- the 3rd fixture of the amazing Met League season. Approximately 7-8 km of muddy fun, open to all!
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Freightliner's Farm Sunday Special- December
Sunday 3rd December, 11.30-1pm, Sheringham Road, Islington
We are so happy to be invited back to the wonderful Freightliner's Farm just off Paradise Park for our first regular weekend volunteering day!
The team will be on hand to offer some animal friendly tasks around the site.
Sign up here:
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/freightliner-s-farm-sunday-special
Who Turned Out The Lights?
Monday 11th September 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
It was been a hot and sticky weekend during this unprecedented heat wave in September. However, 6 Goodgym runners braved the muggy climate and joined Area Activator Simon for 1.6 mile run to the wonderfulThornhill Square Gardens. After a warm up on the Emirates Stadium slopes (engaging some sore calves and glutes!), our crew ran together up Tollington Way, and down to Caledonian Road, passing Penn Road Gardens on route (the park was full of bunting and signage after their resident volunteer celebrations). We spun round Offord Road, and met the lovely Anna in Thornhill Square Gardens.
Anna had already set out a full array of tools and wheelbarrows for our team, so we got straight to work for the evening! Our first task (taken on by Michelle and Sarah) involved using a hoe and a beautiful Japanese gardening knife to trim foliage away from the edges of the flower beds within the park. A very satisfying project. Meanwhile, Alison and Caitlin used clippers and secateurs to chop down a collection of overgrown bushes and branches on the opposite side of the park. And Katie used a gardening fork to pull out some stubborn grasses from the middle of some prime flower beds, before carting all of the green waste over to the compost waste bins in the north of the park.
Within 45 minutes, our group had successfully made a great improvement on various overgrown sections of Thornhill Square Gardens. Great job everyone! It was a shame that we had to finish in the dark this week.
Headtorch Group Runs
As we start to leave the Summer months, we are beginning to finish our group run sessions in the dark. We recommend bringing a head torch with you if possible, so help to illuminate our work spaces.
Area Activator Simon will be bringing portable clip lights and large construction lights, but additional light sources always appreciated!
Goodgym Islington News
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Achilles International VI Guiding Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 14th September, 6pm, Arsenal Tube Station
Achilles International are an amazing organisation who link guide with blind and particially sighted runners, and they are looking for potential guides for future training sessions.
Goodgym (and parkrun) communities have been very supportive of this team over the years, so we are looking to see if we can introduce more runners to the world of guiding.
Over the Winter months, Achilles International will be hosting fortnightly running sessions around the floodlit forecourt of Emirates Stadium, Islington. Every other week, we will train at Paddington Rec Track.
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City Race- Dartford Orienteers- Southwark Park
Friendly and welcoming orienteering event in Southwark Park! First timers encouraged!
Friday 15th September, 5pm - 8pm, Decathlon Surrey Quays
Orienteering is an exciting outdoor adventure sport which involves navigating around a course using a detailed map and sometimes a compass. The aim is to navigate between a set of control points and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time. It does not matter how young, old or fit you are, and you can run, walk or jog round the course and progress at your own pace.
Find out more here:
https://www.dfok.co.uk/info/new-to-orienteering
Come and give it a go at this super beginner friendly event!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/city-race-dartford-orienteers-southwark-park
THE BIG LONDON SOCIAL!
GoodGym London Monthly Social (GG Camden), Thursday 14th September, TBC
The first (of hopefully many) monthly drinks in London. Come and meet other GoodGymers and toast each others achievements. We'll be celebrating those on the Heroes Board from August and maybe even deciding which recent puns are worthy of accolade. The venue is TBC but will be somewhere fairly central with good transport links.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-london-monthly-social
Compton Terrace Gardens Volunteer Open Morning - September
Saturday 16th September, 10am - 1pm, Union Chapel
From the Friends of Compton Terrace Gardens:
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people. We meet once a month on a Saturday morning near the shed in the middle of the Gardens.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/compton-terrace-gardens-volunteer-open-morning-september
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day (September 2023)
Sunday 17th September, 11am - 1pm, CREOS meadow or Hanley Tennis Club car park
Join us as we help the team at CREOS, a local conservation charity, maintain and improve a lovely green oasis in Crouch End.
CREOS looks after the meadows and wooded pathways of the Crouch End Open Space. GoodGym runners have been helping them maintain this beautiful patch of land for a while now, and the CREOS team always has lots for us to do.
This month, the CREOS team are planning on playing down a load of hoggin (a mix of hardy sand, clay and gravel aggregate) for new paths along the forest walking routes. It will be a big job, so we can use as many hands as possible!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-september-2023
GG Race Team- Met League Hill Training Sessions!
Friday 29th September, 6.30pm, The Pembroke Castle, Camden
Goodgym Cross Country is back! We will be returning to the Met League in 2023 and 2024!
If you have never tried cross country, it is amazing muddy fun. A definite challenge, but accessible to all who want to give it a go, and are part of a UKA affiliated team (like the Goodgym Race Team).
To coincide with the events, Area Activator Simon Fitzmaurice (who is a UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness or CiRF for short) will be hosting a series of hill interval training sessions at Primrose Hill over the Autumn and Winter months.
The Pembroke Castle, 150 Gloucester Ave., London NW1 8JA, and we will run to Primrose Hill together to start our session.
September 29th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-september
October 27th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-october
November 24th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-november
January 5th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-january
January 26th (aka February fixture session) https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-february
Camino Ultra Epping Forest 50km and 25km Eco Trail- Aid Station Superstars!!!
Goodgym Crew are back for the exciting new installment of the Camino Ultra Epping Forest Race!
Saturday 7th October, 9am - 5pm (various shifts), Butler's Retreat, Epping Forest
DaznBone (aka Darren Strachan and David Bone) and the Camino Ultra team are putting together the logistics for their next 50km ultra race (running from Wanstead Flats, up the green corridor to Epping Forest and back), and have invited the Goodgym crew to get involved!
On the course, there will be 4 major aid stops, and we have been invited to take over the first refresh point and the penultimate aid station.
This will involve providing water and snacks to runners of all abilities during the key stages of their race, and to support them with smiling faces and enthusiasm!
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