Today's mission was an attempt to answer the perennial question as to whether it's better to do weights or cardio first, albeit we had no choice as the first thing Hilary and I needed to do was lift Miss T's 25 kg running machine (box) up a flight of narrow stairs to the room that she wanted it assembled in. Fortunately with two of us doing the heavy lifting, this proved to be reasonably painless, and we made sure we kept our form throughout the full range of motion...

Once unboxed, the running machine proved pretty straightforward to assemble, and Miss T had sufficient space that we could position it where she wanted it (and give her a good view of the garden whilst exercising too).

Of course we couldn't resist at least giving it a short test drive (just to check all was in order...), and it proved to be surprisingly quiet. Miss T has big plans to use it to get fitter, and we wished her well in taking on this challenge but cautioned about not getting too ambitious too quickly...the treadmill marathon can wait.

Lots of unexpected highlights greeted us at the Fields this morning - the best being a hint of blue sky and sunshine, which was most welcome, as there were still huge puddles on the ground and the going was definitely soft to muddy - unfortunately this meant an area of the course had been fenced off, which we neatly solved by putting the route flags around the fencing...

We welcomed GG regulars Rue, Sarah, Hilary, Nick, Louise and Nicolas today, who were all dispatched to various corners of the course to do their relevant marshalling duties in their hi viz, and Rue as RD then successfully filled the remaining marshalling roles with enthusiastic parents and we were good to go.

Highlight no.2 was welcoming Wendy Pallant to London Fields, who told us the story of Boomerang B16 which is one of ten boomerangs that started off a long journey in Australia, and been on tour in the UK for the past few months being passed each week from parkrun to parkrun around the country. Wendy led an entertaining Australian themed warmup with today's runners, which included boomerang throws, squats to pickup suitcases, kangaroo jumps and so much more...

Out on the course we were all impressed by today's first finisher, who crossed the line in 8:01, over 45 seconds ahead of the second placer - we witnessed 2 PBs, 2 first timers, and one runner collecting her half marathon wristband, and we had no fallers in the mud - another successful Sunday morning on the wet and muddy fields then!

A classic flat-pack mission today: helping Ms V assemble some under-bed drawers so that family are more easily able to visit her. A straightforward task on paper, though any seasoned GoodGymmer knows that furniture assembly has a habit of introducing plot twists just when you’re feeling confident.

Happily, Nick and I were spared any dramatic turns. All parts present, instructions broadly logical, and within the hour the completed drawers were sliding neatly into place under the bed without even a spare screw in sight.

Ms V’s home is no stranger to flat-pack arrivals — and as we gathered the packaging for recycling, we couldn’t help but notice there’s still space on the other side of the bed for another set of drawers. So the possibility of a further sequel remains…

For now though, mission accomplished — and a home made more welcoming.

Today GoodGym Newham were back at CleanGreen E15 - an area in Maryland that the local community are working hard to brighten up and add planting to discourage fly tipping.

After our first mission in January, clearing old soil and weeds from two of the planters and adding new compost, today we planted two cherry trees in there along several spring bulbs. We had to experiment a bit with the tent rope style system, designed to protect the new trees from strong winds, but got the hang of it in the end and even added them to a couple of the existing trees!

Thanks to everyone who came along today, shout out to Ash and Rob for their first ever GoodGym mission, hope to see you both back soon!

We’ll be back at CleanGreen in mid-March, so look out for the next listing 💪🌳