Credit: Good Gym
I’ll begin by saying I can’t stand running. I’m not unfit, I’m just not run-fit. I can’t motivate myself to run. Even when I do, I can’t keep it up for long. Fitness isn’t the issue –it’s just boring.
GoodGym, however, is no ordinary running club. Founded in 2009, it gives running a purpose by helping people keep fit while helping their community.
“GoodGym creates meaningful ways for people to exercise,” says Ade Aboaba, the co-ordinator of tonight’s group run. “It’s basically achieving the same thing that you would in a gym, but with far more social benefits.”
I’m at Coffee Is My Cup Of Tea, next to London Fields station, a delightful little café whose owners have kindly offered up their place as GoodGym’s rendez-vous point. I’m the first here, and have no idea what I’m letting myself in for.
In no time at all the café is full of people, of all ages and experience levels. Some are hardened runners, training for marathons. One woman has bravely prepared for this evening by running the nine kilometres between here and her home.
James has been doing this for about two years now. He once shared my lack of enthusiasm.
“When I started I hated running, hated every minute of it, but quite enjoyed the tasks. Now that I’ve been doing it for a while I love the running and like the tasks too.
“GoodGym just makes a lot of sense. Basically it did exactly what it says on the tin, it created a way for me to learn, to get comfortable running while doing something that mattered to me.”
Good for the body and the soul
The tasks James refers to aim to help out charities and small organisations with physical labour. It’s not just a physical workout, as Ade tells me. “It’s good for the body and good for the soul as well”.
It might be good for the soul, but for the body it sounds pretty gruelling. We’re running to Dalston Roof Park, an eight kilometre round trip, to help Secret Seed Society move a few dozen heavy planters from the roof to a new garden at street level.
“It feels like in the past six months it’s really taken off,” James tells me. “The groups are now easily two or three times the size of when I started.” The 30-plus people here prove his point. It means a job that should take several hours will be accomplished in little over 45 minutes. Companies like Secret Seed Society would struggle to recruit this many people at one time but GoodGym is providing them with around 15 man-hours of work. And the organisations GoodGym helps are always appreciative.
After a brief warm up (if 30-plus people running and skipping in a circuit outside the café seems a little bizarre to me, it’s probably stranger for the motorists stopping to let us pass), we set off, at half-marathon pace, through the streets of Hackney.
In between gulping Lucozade and gasping for breath, I ask fellow runners why they choose GoodGym. At least two I speak to work for charities, hardly surprising when you consider the emphasis placed on helping others.
“It ticks all my boxes for everything I believe in,” Kathryn tells me. “I hate the gym, and I find normal running clubs quite pretentious. From the first week I just turned up and it was like, ‘yeah, these are people that it’s nice going for a run with.’”
I naively expect some respite upon arriving in Dalston, but no sooner have I arrived when I find myself lugging heavy bags of mud back down a seven-storey fire escape, creating fresh blisters on my hands to go with the ones on my feet. But there’s a definite satisfaction in knowing that not only is this a good physical work out, I’m also helping people.
“GoodGym is basically achieving the same thing you would in a gym, but with far more social benefits,” says Ade. “Going on a decent run; lifting, pulling, pushing. Things you would go to a gym and pay a large amount for monthly, but these are things that you can do as well as helping a community group or an isolated older person.”
Coach the community
Another way members can help out their community is through GoodGym’s coaching system, a mutually beneficial partnership which sees an elderly or an isolated person become a coach, pushing and motivating runners towards achieving their goals in exchange for companionship.
Becky, a 26-year-old student, has turned up tonight straight from visiting her coach Barry, who is very immobile and has few visitors. He’s loaded her up with cake and ice-cream; it’s a miracle she’s able to keep it all down.
“We play games, he draws me puzzles, he creates playlists of different music to introduce me to,” says Becky. “He checks how my run was, how long it took me, he makes sure I wear hi-vis to keep me safe.
“He does all these things every week that is supposed to encourage me on my running, but it’s more the friendship part that I think I benefit from.”
It’s fair to say that tonight has been more than a little inspiring. It’s also given me a completely new perspective on keeping fit. I don’t mind the blisters and next-day soreness as much as I normally would, because there’s a huge sense of satisfaction in what I’ve accomplished.
Well, apart from one thing. On the way back I’ve got a little bit lost. Fortunately for me, Tamzen, a fellow first-timer, knows these streets well, and leads us back by way of a shortcut (shhh, don’t tell anyone). I just can’t help but feel I’ve cheated myself out of half a kilometre.
Maybe I’ll have to go back.
