Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
November Project London recently had the pleasure of accepting 2nd place in the “Best Community” category on behalf of November Project global at the Challenge Awards (presented by Runners World and powered by Let’s Do This). The awards aim to recognise the best challenge events, organisation, charities, communities and individuals over the 2018/19 season. November Project’s success was due to our worldwide community coming together to make this happen – thank you!
The weather has hit 18 degrees, the rain keeps coming and our legs are so pale they look a bit blue…must be summer in London!
But while the weather isn’t great, this is still our favourite time of year as global NP-ers drop through our city on summer vacation. We love having you visit! So for all our traverbals (or those coming for an extended stay), the NP London hive-mind has built an NP guide to our city. Please excuse the formatting – the content is gold, the presentation a bit rough (kind of like us at 6:29 in the morning?)
Sunday April 28: London Marathon 2019. NP LDN takes its spot at Mile 23. 40,000 runners go by. “Never again!” they say. Most of them are liars – I can relate.
I do the first one after turning down an end-of-uni Asia adventure to spend the summer with family. I have some pent-up energy, so I decide to run a marathon. Toronto 2012. My “BQ’d-ten-years-ago” parents decide to do it too. It takes one run to know they’re faster than me. At km 21 a guy in full hockey gear sprints by. Very Canadian. At km 35 even my dad’s “pump-up” playlist (…Bob Dylan…) can’t keep him from realizing he’s been on the road far longer than usual because he’s keeping my pace (sorry, Dad). At km 37 I go to the bathroom and decide I much prefer the outhouse to running. At km 41.8 me and my mother stop for oranges and my father loses his mind. At km 42.2 I swear I’m never doing another one.
What is a beer mile? I’m glad you asked…It involves drinking 4 beers and running 4 laps of a track for time. 1 Beer before each lap. There are other specific rules that apply (
Our main man Joe Batten has been organizing an NP CHEER STATION. So read his words below about how things are gonna go down.
The London Marathon on April 23rd. Where fellow NP members and friends become legends. Where everyday heroes come out in force to push themselves to the max for amazing causes, and ultimately come together to support something more, something incredible.
If you’ve not witnessed this before – it is an immense feeling! The buzz is electric and I feel very privileged to live in London for this.
On April 23rd – we’ll be heading down to show some support to all our incredible NP athletes, and all the legends running on the day. We’ll be on the south side of Lower Thames Road next to Mile 23 from 9am – they’ll be pumping tunes so it’s a cracking spot! Come and join so we can form one massive support group. Bring all your friends and show them what we’re all about! Meet at the red pin drop on the map below. Nearest tube stop is at Tower Hill.
If you’re travelling over for it – let us know your race number and they’ll be a ton of NP love for you!
Bring yourself a BLUE SHIRT so we are all matching and we will paint it for you. Full stash (grass roots gear). Also bring you loud cheering voices and get ready for some classic day time drinking. Plus some tunes – what else could be better?
Come get your year’s full of positivity (and Pimms) – you’ll be buzzing for weeks!
And if you’re running – GOOD LUCK and see you soon!
This is your co-leader Jake sending you a post card to remind you to register for the hackney half. Incase you haven’t seen it posted on the FB social page, I am including the link and discount code below so you can get registered. Click on the link, and sign up! It’s going to be amazing race and there is still time before the price increases on March 1st. ALSO, if you want to roll the dice you can come to every single workout in march to have a chance at winning a FREE entry to the race thanks to our good friends at Virgin Sport. They are always looking out for us, ensuring we have plenty of places to toe the line and test our speed. We are keeping track of who shows up each week. So make sure you #justshowup!
£10 Discount code: hhnpldn006
This pic is awesome….
last week I was in France drinking all the wine, and this week I am in Boston paying homage to the NP mother ship…the Harvard stadium…have fun on Wednesday. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and give Tom a hug for me.
Jake
We are hosting this workout outside the Canary Wharf tube station (exactly location here) at 6:30PM (yes PM) on the 16th of February which is two days after Valentines day. Spend the 14th being romantic with that special somebody in your life, and the 16th building community with your tribe in the most romantic place on earth, Canary Wharf.
These workouts are a great opportunity for us to reach new groups of people who have never been exposed to NP before. So we need ALL OF YOU there to really make a scene.
Pop-up workouts are also a great opportunity for you to introduce people to NP who have otherwise not made it to a workout yet. Whether they have been throwing up excuses, or they just haven’t been invited, this is a turbo-shot of the community we are building every Wednesday morning. So over the next week, let’s reach out to all our suited brethren who work in Canary Wharf and tell them where they can come scream “fuck-yeah” smile, hug, and sweat, with a bunch of people they barely know.
The workout will start at 6:30pm and will last for about 45 minutes. Like the Duke of York Column, there will be a space we can pile our bags and watch over them during the workout. When we are finished we will go grab a beer or six at a local pub.
Spread the word, let us know who you are bringing or how we can support you.
Peace and Love,
Jake and Tom
The best part is how you guys push each other to get better. Groups of people working together with such positive energy to get through the course is what NP is all about. Whether you are the fastest or the slowest, giving the person next to you that little extra “good job” or “you got this” goes a long way. And we can’t thank you all enough for the other little contributions you make to the group- whether it’s a new exercise idea, Jim’s breakfast spread, or Joon’s key chain smuggling racket…this is truly YOUR community, and you guys are owning it…Tom and I just make the workouts…
Oh! And about today’s bounce: you may have thought dance circles were something reserved solely for weddings and school dances, but now they are part of working out. So keep your signature move in mind when it comes to PB day… or maybe next time it will be a Waltz, or salsa, or the Harlem shake, or maybe we won’t do it at all?!?
A few other announcements:
We have created a google doc to track our PB times. You can find the link to it on our Facebook social page (join the page!) there is a tab for each month where you can record your name and enter your time for that month- this way it will be easier for you to track and access the information whenever you want it. Boom.
At coffee today Jake said he would get a November Project tattoo if we had 200 people show up at a workout. Though he was serious, Jake seemed pretty carefree and lackadaisical about the whole thing, while Casey Cutting had an evil twinkle in her eye as if she was excited to etch the tattoo into Jake’s skin herself. Is this even possible? What would 200 “fuck yeahs!” echoing around the steps even sound like? How much positive energy can that place even hold? Would the queen wake up? Would Jake get that tattoo on his ass? 200 people, how freaking crazy would that be?!?!
We shall see…but it all starts with a simple question to your friend, your mom, your sister, your boss, or your barista… “will you be there next week?” because this shit is good, and we want them all.
We love you,
Tom and Jake
On to important matters:
On December 1st we will be screening the film “showing up”, a documentary by the amazing film crew at Dooster. This dynamic duo who has shot loads of NP footage over the past several years have put together an inspiring piece. It’s not about the leaders, not about the hype of NP, but about the people who make up the fabric of our community and live by our motto “just show up”. The film profiles 7 individuals across 7 different NP tribes and tells their stories.
The diverse backgrounds of all these individuals really typifies the fact that NP is for EVERYBODY. One of the things this film reminds me of is that everybody has a story. All the interesting lives and experiences of NP tribe members I meet across the globe never cease to amaze me. It shows that if you take the time to hug it out, say hello, be kind to strangers, you never know what you might find. And to me…that’s a big part of what NP is about. And this doesn’t stop when the workout is over! If you make this a habit and carry this attitude out into your life, we think we are making the world a better place. Even if it’s just a little bit. But hey…you gotta start somewhere.
So on December 1st we are inviting you to come join us for a workout, some beer, some chat, and the screening of “Showing Up”. Meeting right outside, WeWork Paddington at 6:15pm, we will host a pop-up workout for those who want to get a taste of what an NP workout is like. Then at 7pm we will head inside for a few drinks before we get the film going around 7:45pm. We should be done around 8:30pm. For those of you who can only make it for the film, great, just try to get there in time to have a beer before hand. And please bring whomever you’d like! Tell all your friends, your enemies, your family that we would love to meet them and show them what we have been up to on Wednesday mornings.
Like everything at NP, this event is completely FREE. However we do need to let WeWork know you are coming so please RSVP using the Eventbrite link HERE.
Looking forward to it guys. See you on the 1st.
Jake and Tom
I mentioned the catalysts for Tom winning the positivity award today; his sense of adventure, willingness to push the limit and try new things, and his leadership that we see each and every week. But as you peel away the layers of the onion that is Tom, you’ll find that there is much more amazing stuff than meets the eye. Thank goodness I have a blog, so I can give you a little taste of what’s there, but what I really suggest is you find him- ask if you can buy him a beer or coffee (he won’t refuse either)- and get to know him yourself, you’ll be happy you did.