This Tuesday, 26 bright and beaming runners gathered at the folk house to embark on another classic GoodGym midweek run, recovered and raring to go after their 10k weekend efforts. The rain had been pouring during the day, but in typical GoodGym fashion, the sun was out when everyone gathered together. After a brief introduction from (Northern) Chris and Gary, who were leading the run, the group set off. This week there were not one, but two missions. The first, to the Scrapstore, a great local organisation who provide children with play art and craft materials through recycling, and another special mission, helping an elderly Bristol resident in need to some gardening help.

The runners set off together, through the streets, under the Bearpit and onto Wilder Street where four adventurous souls led by Gary split off from the main pack to embark on the secret mission. A lovely local lady called Ruth was in need of our help. After the recent rain it had become apparent that her garden was not draining properly and in order to get the problem fixed most of her well tended potted plants needed to be relocated. The problem was that Ruth had just had her hip replaced and could not manage the job on her own. As ever Team GoodGym were happy to answer the call and set about with the lifting and shifting. In no time at all the job was done. So like a hurricane of helpfulness the four of us left with a happy Ruth and a clear garden in our wake and headed to rejoin the masses at the Scrapstore for more tornado tidying!

When the group arrived at the Scrapstore, buzzing to get stuck in, we were briefed on all of the activities that we could help with. These ranged from cutting nets into hammocks, to taking the cables off keyboards, cutting fabrics and stripping tubes, plenty for everyone! Not forgetting that GoodGym Scrapstore staple, de-boxing business phones (which after many Scrapstore tasks we are nearly at the end of, wow!). Very soon the air was full of the sounds of busy cutting, snipping, tearing and chatting. After some frantic work (and impressive highland games caber-esque tube balancing by Richard W.), we all gathered outside for a group shot, the first at the Scrapstore in the sun.

During a fairly pacey run back, the route back was altered slightly, to include a rapid dash up Christmas Steps, before returning to the folk house for some stretches to bring ourselves back to earth after all the Scrapstore excitement.

A big thanks to all that came along! A special cheers to all those who took part the 10k at the weekend and came along tonight, and also to Kim who completed the Edinburgh marathon this weekend, and also Nick, who recently completed a staggering 40 mile run event, wow what a talented bunch!