An impressive 27 GoodGymmers congregated at the Arch Gallery this evening, which in its ever-evolving state is currently very dark and incredibly warm, with a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling and a coloured lighting effect which makes it feel a bit like being in a cross between a 70s disco and a planetarium.

Heading out into the brighter and cooler real world, we made the short run to Victoria Park where Tom gave us a few quick warm-ups courtesy of the Ministry of Silly Walks, with various other park users shouting their words of support (or just shouting at their dogs, who seemed equally interested in our activities).

We then ran round to the pub formerly known as The Britannia (now the People’s Park Tavern) where we were met by the Victoria Park Rangers and were shown the piles of mulch which needed spreading out over the area running down the side of the fence by the pub. There were only 6 shovels and 6 rakes to go round, which could have meant half of us standing around like lemons while the other half worked.

Not on Tom’s watch though - those of us without tools were treated to a mixture of core exercises and extra running drills, before swapping over with Team Mulch. What had initially looked like a fairly easy task actually proved quite demanding when we realised how many huge piles of mulch there were, and the size of the area over which they needed to be spread. But we got a good amount done, finishing a little later than planned and just as it started to spit with rain.

This meant a little less time for more core exercises, but we weren’t getting out of it completely, and were subjected to a gruelling three repetitions of planks and side-planks, which we will definitely all be feeling come tomorrow morning. This was followed by a run of a couple of kilometers around the perimeter of the park, back to where we had entered, and a gentle jog back to the Arch Gallery.

Inside the ‘Discotarium’, we did a few stretches for both upper and lower body. A few people remarked that it felt like the floor was moving - thankfully it was just the weird lighting effect causing that, rather than us feeling giddy after our long workout! Well done to all on a harder evening’s activity than usual, but an enjoyable one, with a few new faces among us who we hope to welcome back next time.

See you next time!

David