Tuesday 9th April 2019
Report written by Benjamin Annear
Another week, another fantastic GoodGym!!! People come from far and wide to run with GoodGym Cardiff. The truths about how great we are to run with and how much fun people have have reached the most desolate places on earth.
Despite not having any new runners this week.. we shall not dwell on this... and dwell on it we did not! 13 runners showed up at GoodGym Cardiff this evening... Less than the usual number however we know how the rain can put people off. :D Ahhh it burns.
To wet your appetite to bring a friend to GoodGym next week, I am offering you the opportunity to bag yourself two red laces... that's right, two folks, because it is TWO LACE TUESDAY - You and your friend can then have 1 red lace each #LifesGoals #WhatANiceGuy
To begin the evening's session, Ben led a pre-run warm up and then we completed our customary headcount. This week's ice breaker involved sharing with everyone what your favorite type of Easter egg is; Emily said buttons! Reece's peanut butter for Aimee - some sort of raw easter egg for Lewis... and other runners said that their favourites ranged from Cadburys chocolate to Peanut M and M easter eggs. (If I named your favourite type of Easter egg incorrectly then comment it below!)
This week we had three groups that runners could opt to join (1) The speedy runners - Led by Adam (2) The SEXY runners - Led by Welsh Dave (3) The Walkie Talkies - Led by Ben. We are now offering the 3 different groups more or less on a weekly basis. Remind your friends that there are different ability groups and that they should come along too - Nobody gets left behind at GoodGym!
Whilst heading to the task the sexy runners and the walkie talkies noticed a massacre of rubbish on the pavement by Roath park. Yes, there was rubbish everywhere and to leave it would have been sinful! "Nobody panic! I've come prepared" Ben said with a sense of urgency, reassuring everyone that they would be okay and that they could clear the rubbish. Inside Ben's mini backpack he had emergency litter picking supplies... gloves and bin bags. Runners dove into the bag, put gloves on their hands and before you could say... "Oh goodness look at all this rubbish, isn't it rubbish"... all of the rubbish was collected and the pavement looked wonderful once again.
They then carried on running 0.5 miles to St Edward's Church.
GoodGym are back at St Edward's church helping the charity Forget-Me-Not - Welcome back GoodGym!
Kathie welcomed us back to St Edward's Church, her big smile warming us up on a partially chilly evening. Kathie gave us a brief summary about the wonderful projects Forget-Me-Not have taking place on a weekly basis. She told us that earlier in the day they had 28 people attend their cake and tea get together.
Wait where is Welsh Dave?
Welsh Dave, who was leading the sexy runners, managed to get himself lost from the pack. Oh Welsh Dave... we suspect members of the public loved his sexy running style so much they stopped him for photos!
Feeling reassured that Welsh Dave wasn't running the streets of Roath any longer, everyone felt at ease and began choosing which tools they needed to carry out the tasks. The tasks for the evening included cutting back overgrown bushes, pulling up ivy and removing moss from outside the fire exit that was a slip hazard. Adam was the lead photographer during the task, catching everyone's smiles from all sorts of angles. Adam also complimented Ben on how good he looked and told him that it was definitely a good call for him to take a break from taking photos and be on the other side of the lens!
There were some epic scenes of Lewis was fighting with the ivy... we really weren't sure who was going to win either. Martin and Aimee had a lovely photo together that they plan to hang in their offices at work. Emma officially hides whenever Ben takes a photo but will pose when it's not him :P
Thank you so much GoodGym Cardiff - You're literally the best GoodGym in the UK and we think you're amazing
Kathie was amazed by everything we managed to get done in the short space of time we were there for. She thanked us for helping at the church and invited us back to help again whenever we wanted. I find it really lovely how appreciative people are! We will definitely run back to help Forget-Me-Not again soon. Kathie then offered us cake and cookies before our run back to Big Moose - mmmmmm scrumptious - Tnak you!
Everyone then ran back to Big Moose at good speed. At the warm down we were joined by some overly familiar individuals who shared with us their thoughts on how they exercise... may have been a little too much information... and joined in some of the stretches. We then went into Big Moose to reflect on the run and chat about other upcoming community missions and group runs... Including our 2 year anniversary run that you can sign up to now by clicking here - woop woop!
Would you believe it?... They will be writing books about this moment for many years to come
The tweet off winner this week was the Graffinator... Yes, Martin Graff. Martin has now won the tweet off on two separate occasions this year, an achievement he plans to add to his CV if he hasn't done so already.
We are now nearly a quarter of the way through the year and the competition is getting more lively each week. Lucy Marsh is the current leader by 4 winning retweets. Emma Wilkins is currently joint second with Martin Graff...
The Tweet Off Leaderboard
We provide a safe, friendly space for people to meet, have musical entertainment, play table tennis, play draughts, chat, colour, do some art and now wish to extend to provide gardening as therapy. To the latter end we need to clear out a cellar of various bits of rubbish and make it into a storeroom for pots, gardening equipment etc.
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