A few GoodGym members came together for a second time in a week to help the East Finchley playground project with its, small vegetable patch. Last week we cleared weeds and roots. This week we turned over the soil for planting. Most of us gathered at the Phoenix Cinema to warm up and chat. Introducing ourselves and our favourite colour . Green seemed dominant. Appropriate for a night of gardening. We did a small run, including some power skipping before reaching the green space. We set to work turning over the soil with folks and spades.

When complete, all of us ran back for a warm down, and some refreshments.

Thanks for coming running and doing some good.

A magnificent, seven GoodGym members gathered to help a new green space in East Finchley connected with the development of a nearby playground. Some of us gathered at the Phoenix Cinema and we met Jyothsna or Joe on her first GoodGym run. Very bravely she had not been running much, but was happy to try and get involved. On the way to the venue, we did some fartlek training. Using the variable speed technique we ran in a local close. We also did some power, skipping and squats. fantastic effort! After about 10 minutes, we ran on to meet with Shirley our host and the rest of the team already working. Using Mattocks, shovels and rakes, we did a fantastic job clearing the site of weeds. The plan is to cultivate some edible plants for the community and particularly the children. We hope to continue to be involved in developing the site as these things do mattock to us.

Thanks for coming running and doing so good!

also..

Best wishes to Theodore who is now off for a month volunteering in Portugal. We hope to see you in May.

We are looking forward to an accordion recital from Rachel who just purchased the instrument that day. see photo.

Have a great holiday Moya & Antonio

We also wish Kirsten a speedy recovery from her knee injury.

...And it was great! Eight keen GoodGymers took to the streets, full moon lighting our way (and one or two lamp posts). Armed with a sizeable batch of leaflets and brochures for 'Kinoteka', the 21st Polish Film Festival also being hosted by the Phoenix Cinema, Rachel, Kirsten, Cloud, Niki, Emily, Theodore, Moya and Antonio, delivered everything in no time. The session was co-led by Cloud and Antonio and once all was delivered, we made sure to complete a 5K run, stopping along the route to do some stretches and sprinting. And even though we received a weather warning on our phones (sorry, did I mention it?), we soldiered through.

In Greek mythology the Phoenix is often depicted as a self-generated bird, born from its own ashes requiring no assistance in taking flight, in some variations of the myth, the Phoenix is aided by the gods in its ascent to the sky. (thanks Chat GTP!) Today we were the gods!

Kirsten met up with Wendy at the incredible edible seed swap!

A magnificent seven, Goodgym Members came together at the Phoenix Cinema to help Martin Primary School in East Finchley. Most people met at the cinema to chat and warm up. We set off, on a cool, cloudless evening, , at a slow pace along the High Street . We met Kirsten and Cloud before joining up with our host John at the school. He provided us with the tools to spread the woodchip over the paths inside the forest school.

Goodgym Barnet loves this mission!

After the mission Cloud took us through some Fartlek training in the school field. This involved simple jogging in One Direction and various levels of sprint back before repeating over four minute period.

We then jogged back to the cinema for a warm down and refreshments.

Thanks for coming running and doing some good.

Happy Valentine’s Day!