Living just off the route of the Great North Run, it's easy to see the GNRE (Great North Run Effect) in full swing at the moment, with a lot of what I like to call panic-running going on, and I'm not sure if that's also what happened tonight too as our group number flew up! 23 of us trotted out on our longest run to date to help clear a section of the Hadrians Cycleway with Sustrans and some of their ace volunteers. The route was a new one for us and for huge fans of running alongside dual carriageways it really had it all. 4K of the iconic Blaydon Race route to be exact!

We said a big hello to new runner Sarah who is a new resident of our beautiful city and I managed to give her a guided tour of all the sights on the way. It's true that GoodGym gives people the chance to explore places they never knew existed as well as getting fit and doing good. I just may have to work on my tour guide banter which isn't great. "Tell me something great about the Newcastle arena!" ... "Um, bands play there".

Running out to the task in two groups, the speedies led by Paul and the speakies with me tonight, we were met by the fantastic Sarah from Sustrans with a bag of tools and tricks every task owner would envy. The task tonight was to clear back bushes and paths, collecting litter and tidying up as we went to make this an appealing, safe and open space for the hundreds of cyclists and walkers who use the NCN72 path every day. Louise celebrated her tenth good deed tonight by finding a haul of 20 Newcastle Brown Ale bottles (sadly empty) which delighted me with the immediate offering of a pun for the report.

Go Louise!

This particular section of the Hadrian's Cycleway is called Paradise Ramp which we all loved too. We need to start keeping a log of all of the quirky facts our task owners share with us!

The run back incorporated the fitness session tonight as we threw in speed play intervals, charging between lamp posts and in timed efforts. Katie absolutely smashed this and it was amazing to arrive back to a round of applause from the faster group. These are the moments that I always remember after a great group run!

We have a community mission this weekend if you fancy starting your Saturday with a good deed. Sign up here after you have completed your community missions training module. If not, I will see you next week for Bank Holiday GoodGym fun at Francis House followed by Bank Holiday drinks.

Happy running!

Anji x