We were excited to welcome first time GoodGymmer Salvatore, and somewhat experienced GoodGymmer Louise this week to Elephant & Castle as the gang limbered up for a nice run down for our second visit to the Trinity Centre. It felt like an extra treat staying dry after some spectacular rain earlier in the day.

Graced by the presence of Newham OG Hilary, and Charlie (winning best yellow jersey award, almost as significant as when they do it in other sports), we double gloved and doubled down! (I'm quite pleased with that).

Hils rightly got her head stuck straight back into the extractor fan she'd been wrestling with at her last visit to Elephant, and the rest of us divided and conquered deep cleaning ovens, trays, oven trays, oven doors, you name it. Everything oven. And one bin.

After some seamless photo directing we ran back up to our Castle home and Zoe led a perfect cool down stretch.

Heading to Burgess Park to litter pick on next week's group run - and the Friends of the Park are rich in litter pickers. So come! Bring your friends! Bring your (friendly*) dogs! Bring anyone and anything (other than litter). See you there gang! :)

*to note Manuel

With Saturday's fête fast approaching, three GoodGymers joined forces with a group of dedicated church volunteers to help spruce up the grounds of Emmanuel Church.

The weather wasn't quite as kind as the forecast had suggested. What was supposed to be a light drizzle turned into something a little more persistent, but that didn't stop anyone getting stuck in. Armed with brooms, rakes and plenty of determination, we set about sweeping leaves and tidying the churchyard to make sure it was looking its best for the weekend's visitors.

Working alongside friends of the church, we cleared paths, gathered piles of fallen leaves and generally gave the outdoor spaces a much-needed autumn refresh. Despite the damp conditions, spirits stayed high and it was great to see everyone pitching in to help prepare for an important community event.

As with many successful GoodGym tasks, there was a reward waiting at the end. Once the work was done, we were welcomed inside for a generous spread of sandwiches, providing the perfect opportunity to warm up, chat and admire the results of our efforts.

A huge thank you to everyone who braved the rain to help out. Here's hoping the churchyard stays looking tidy and the fête enjoys much drier weather than we did! 🍂🥪☔

Autumn is truly upon us judging by the chill in the air first thing this morning and the leaves on the ground, but that didn't deter 50 keen runners arriving at the Fields for another Sunday morning two lapper - including two first ever timers, 10 PBs, and some overseas visitors from Germany - quite a selection to cheer on.

As always our volunteer force were able to make it all happen successfully - so much thanks to Sarah, Hilary, Rue, Md for helping Run Director Nick navigate event #393 and keep it all on track.

Our first finisher today, a first time visitor, sped round in 8:13 and had quite a gap behind her as she crossed the line before our next group of lead runners came down the finish funnel, and after that it was the usual steady stream of slightly breathless smiling faces collecting a token before we got to the tail end of the pack who were clearly enjoying their morning run/walk in the sunshine.

Meet us under the Big Tree for more of the same next week.