We had a new task location last night in Hounslow, so after a warm up and a race to beat the falling light, we met Auberon from Cultivate at some of the beds they take care of on Chiswick High Rd.

While some of us took the more direct route, the other group opted for a more scenic way and a little bit of extra mileage, but we all ended up in the same spot ready to tackle the job in hand!

Local charity Cultivate has stewardship over several large beds, but it has turned into a bit of a litter hotspot as its on a main thoroughfare. Our task for the evening was to pick litter and clear leaves, making it a much more pleasant and healthier place for passersby. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the council had paid a visit earlier that day and done a sweep of the area. That meant all we had to really concern ourselves with was the leaves.

We collected bag after bag, which not only means the plants in the beds aren't fighting for sunlight and can thrive, but also that the collected leaves can be turned into mulch which Cultivate can then use. Everyone's a winner.

We enjoyed a steady run back to Turnham Green before the fitness fun commenced. First of all was a run round our familiar circuit at a good pace, recording individual times. Then we turned our attention to our previous GG fitness challenge where we had to complete a full set of various reps. It was absolutely amazing to see every single one of you beat your previous time! A huge well done. If that wasn't enough, we finished off with another sprint, this time even faster than before now our major muscle groups were fired up. Great work everybody. Next week's session is just being confirmed, It'll be up asap, so keep an eye out!

There was a great turnout for the first GoodGym cheer station at Ealing Half Marathon. Many from the earlier Warm Up came to encourage the runners, along with a few more who felt that the 7:55am warm up was too early a start on a Sunday morning 😂. They lined the route at their commandeered bus stop, standing in front of the GoodGym flag.

Milly took control of the motivational tunes while Tish brought her race cheering experience, with shouts to charge the runners up. There were a few problems with the flag... the gaffer tape wasn't great and keeping it stuck to our bus shelter, so running repairs were needed which kept people busy.

The runners passed at 1 mile in, then again at mile 11 with many GoodGymers, current and lapsed being spotted. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves were cheered on, as was a half-man-half-T-rex and thousands of other runners who took part in the amazing community driven event!

P.S Milly also gets a bonus 🌟 for helping a runner tighten up her running belt.

Yesterday was National Fitness Day, and what better way to celebrate than a run to a labour intensive task at a local space? Unfortunately for us our weekly post task fitness session had to be postponed due to the non-stop rain - but don't worry, we'll make up for it next week!

It was our regular session at Chiswick House last night and we were back at the café area to help de-thistle and clear the ground. On the plus side the rain had softened the soil, making it really easy to pull out the unwanted interlopers amongst the beautiful tall grasses.

On the less than positive side, the rain was getting harder by the minute. After a good stint of hard work we all decided to take shelter at the café, taunted by the menu of hot sourdough pizza, to wait for the deluge to let up. All of us that is except for Michelle, who bravely fought on in the midst of the grasses despite the downpour!

We decided on ten more minutes of hard graft before calling it a night and heading towards the comfort of hot tea, baths and pubs! Well done for making it out team, your commitment to community in the face of unpleasant circumstances is to be highly commended!

We heard rumours of impending hot weather from head gardener Chris, so fingers crossed next week will be a lot more pleasant for our litter picking session with Cultivate. We'll also be seeing how our times compare with last week's fitness challenge, so start limbering up!

Last night it was our regular trip to Chiswick House and garden, and probably the last of our lovely summer evenings in the light there - the next time we're back it might be head torch o'clock! It was lovely to see it in the fading light, and even lovelier to have Gwen along for her very first session - give her a big GG cheer!

After just a short run down to the garden we met the rest of the crew along with gardener Chris who took us to our location for the evening. Chiswick House and garden is run as a charity and the team want to keep it as welcoming and beautiful for everybody that visits here for free. The area by the café has been left to its own devices for quite some time now, and the result was a jungle of weeds that were swallowing up the beautiful grasses there.

We got stuck in, and we're presently surprised that the giant weeds came out really easily. It was a surprisingly satisfying task, especially as we could see what a big difference it was making to the area. While we worked we chatted about the upcoming Big Half this weekend - good luck to everyone running!

After 40 minutes of hard work we had made a big impact so there was just time to clear away before deciding on fitness. The original plan was speed or tabata, but ahead of a racing weekend we decided to go for a core workout instead. It was an abs-olutely tough session with 8 minutes of pure core work, but everybody smashed through the dead bugs, hollow holds, planks, v crunches and more!

Don't forget there is a community mission tonight to help save the frogs of Chiswick Business park which definitely needs a few more pairs of helping hands, and one on Saturday to support the Friends of Harvard Hill. Happy GoodGyming everyone!