With the weather turning against us, Sam was pleased to see Gemma, Nathan, Jess and Phil show up to Old Spike ready for the 2.8k run! Sam knew of 3-4 others that would meet the group at Thorlands, but when it approached 18:45, he guessed the others would meet him at the task too.

Sam's GG intro was quick as was his warm-up due to the slow raining falling. Yet, in the alleyway Sam had to get in his ice-breaker question for tonight, which was to do with the fact it will be "St. Patrick's Day" on Friday, so he asked: What is the best thing to come out of Ireland?

We had Guinness, Non-alcoholic Guinness, Jess' flatmate, an Irish breakfast and Graham Norton before all the others at Thorlands added their answers: Ring of Kerry, potatoes, an Irish accent, the Irish flag, Paddy McGuinness and Westlife.

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We were feeling quite chippy

After running 2.8k to meet everyone outside Thorland's "Walled" Garden entrance, we were waiting for one person...Simon. Running slightly late, Simon showed up and passed the keys, so that we could get all the tools needed for tonight's task. Jo and Sam had prepared for the task on Saturday. So, once we were at the "Kitchen" / "Forest" garden, we split the team:

• Jess, Jo and Paulin were part of team "dig to bury the wooden logs". The wooden logs were in place to mark the edge of the woodchip path and the beginning of the garden beds, where things would grow.
• Phil teamed up with Simon to saw off the extended Buddleia tree branch and trim it down for the compost heap.
• Jeff was tasked with prepping the cardboard to go down once the weeding team were done.
• The weeding team consisted of the rest of us: Benjamin, Emma, Folarin, Gemma and Nathan.
• Once the weeding was done, the team focused on putting the cardboard down and bring the woodchip mulch over to cover it.

Our 35 minute session was accompanied by "Westlife" top hits from Spotify as we celebrated the Irish in true fashion. Nothing could stop the love for the Irish, not even the slightest bit of rain towards the end of the session.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Great to see "power in numbers" as we blasted the task within 35 minutes. Thank you for your ice-breaker answers and for bearing with me whilst we listened to "Westlife". Also, kudos to those who came for the run on both sides.

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Thank You Simon

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon for coming to Thorlands despite not feeling great and ending up going to hospital after our session, but I am glad to hear you have been discharged since. Hope you have a speedy recovery.