16 of us ran along to Alice Park to do some important maintenance work to the beautiful public space there. We spent a gorgeous and sunny evening running along the canal to paint some benches and sweep up the entrance to the park. We were really happy to run nearly 7km at a good pace.

Welcome Vicky and Kathryn!

We met at our usual spot outside the leisure centre, by the river. We had a good turnout tonight, including two new runners. We welcomed Vicky and Kathryn to their first run with GoodGym. Thanks for getting stuck in and helping us out last night! I hope you had fun and I hope you will be back to run with us again soon!

We took the scenic route along to Alice Park. We joined the canal path and ran by the water. It was a warm and sunny evening and we all enjoyed being outside. We paused at one point to gather our breath and managed to get some extra training in by doing some squats.

Our host, Tony, met us at the entrance to the park. Tony gave us an overview of the park and introduced the tasks for the evening. Our tasks revolved around maintaining and improving the facilities in the park. We broke into small teams to make sure we got everything done in the time we had!

We deserved a sanding ovation!

There were lots of small teams of runners painting benches. The benches are constantly exposed to the elements of English weather and haven't had a coat of paint in several years. First we sanded down the benches and then thoroughly painted them. We really let our inner-artists shine through!

We found that most of the benches drank up the paint really quickly, so we needed to give them several good coats of paint before we left. This was surprisingly more tiring that we first thought and we came away having done some good exercise.

What a sweep idea!

Several of our runners were on sweeping and tidying duty last night. The area around the cafe and entrance to the park needed a good sweep up. The area is used a great deal by community groups and all manner of leaves, rubbish and dirt builds up over time. We gave the area a thorough sweep and scooped up the rubbish for the bin. As well as making the park look tidier and appear cleaner this also makes the paths less slippery and safer for everyone to use.

I feel like we were going around in circles...

The park has recently had a circular path installed all the way around it. The path is exactly a third of a mile long and one of the purposes of the new path is to encourage more runners to come and train in the lovely outdoor space. Challenge accepted! We sent one of our speedier runners, Dan, for a lap around the path while were packing up the paint and paintbrushes. He just missed out on the course record (which is pretty good since he had been training earlier in the day and ran all the way there with us!).

We said goodbye to Tony (and his doggy, little Susie!) and thanked him for arranging for us to come along. There are plenty more opportunities for us to get involved and help improve the park so we will be back again soon, I am sure!

Goodbye, for now, Dan

We said goodbye to one of our regular runners, Dan, last night who is moving away from Bath. Thanks for all of your hard work and commitment over the past few years! Make sure to come back and visit us!

Upcoming runs

• This Saturday (25th May) we have been asked to clear a garden at a care home in Bath
• On Saturday 1st June we are gardening at Dry Arch Growers
• On Saturday 8th June there is a Community Mission to paint the children's section at Moorland Road Library
• On Saturday 8th June there is also a chance to help out at the Saltford Summer Festival
• Next week we are heading back to Alice Park to do some gardening!