8 Goodgymmers went on the pull tonight at the White Hart Rec Tiny Forest Project as they helped weed and prune this small sliver of green in North London.

Making The Best Forest Impressions

A warm welcome to Raj, Louise, and Michelle who joined us for their first ever GGHaringey task. They were amazing and slotted into the GGH madness without a minute of hesitation. Hope we haven't scared you away!

What is this? A forest for ants?

Michelle L, the Parks and Greenspace Volunteering Officer for Haringey Council, approached us with an invitation from Michael from the Friends of Woodside Park to come and help them look after their Tiny Forest in White Hart Rec. Needless to say, that was the kind of invitation we couldn't possibly say no to and our 8 Goodgymmers all made their way to the site on an unseasonably mild but dark October evening (mind you, one of our GGH's shared jackets made its first outing of the season as one of its unnamed regular thermosensitive customers got a bit chilly).

Anyway, once on site, we were briefed on the history of the Tiny Forest as well as the species of trees planted a year ago to create this lovely 600-trees-deep forest in the middle of the Rec. Our mission for the evening was to free up the roots of the small saplings from a multitude of weeds without pulling up any of the young trees in the dark. Hilarity ensues.

Having said that, our Goodgymmers were meticulous in their pulling and managed to spend an hour in the pitch black without pulling up any trees (full disclosure, Gramps did act as a makeshift human lamppost for the evening so it wasn't completely dark but it was certainly ill-lit at best). Or, at least, that's what we thought - until Michael from the Friends of Woodside Park started waving a young oak at us that had been pulled in error. After an emergency replanting session, we prayed to the Tiny Forest gods and are pleased to say that we think all's well.

After an hour's honest work, our Goodgymmers packed up their things, took the customary group selfie, and then set off home with a few more smiles in their pockets than when they arrived. Boom.

Join us next week for more fun and games.

John, Cloud, Anne and Michelle joined Coach Simon for the first of our monthly hill running sessions on Primrose Hill, Camden- some of the most substantial slopes in Central London!

We jogged together from the Pembroke Castle over to the park, before engaging in a series of endurance specific warm ups (with a focus on arms, shoulders, quads and hip flexors). Next, we took on a series of strides (easy running, gradually moving into tempo effort, and back to easy running) on flat surfaces, and then on the slopes. Our learning point for the evening was about body posture and "pushing into the gradient" when ascending and descending. We also briefly talked about the connection between arm drive and cadence- a super useful tool for efficient climbing and safe descending!

Our crew then took on Simon's "figure of 8" Kenyan Hills loop up to the Primrose Hill viewpoint, and back towards Regent's Park- a great route with excellent climbs and fun downhills. 15 minutes of total interval time for this workout, before some specific stretches and cool down efforts.

Our next session will be on Thursday 26th October, starting at the Pembroke Castle at 6.30pm-

Sign up here!

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-october

After an animal-themed warm-up, nine GoodGymmers ran to the SHP to help them weed and tidy up their front gardens.

With so many volunteers, we were a little short on tools, so Dharmesh fashioned his own broom from leaves and bamboo.