Welcome to GoodGym Portsmouth!

What a great first night we had. We started out from our new home at Fratton Community Centre with a brief send off from the Deputy Lord Mayor of Portsmouth - he'd even worn a bow tie for the occasion (OK, so it might have been for the dinner he was off to after he'd popped in to see us!)

After a brief warm up in the grounds of St Mary's Church we headed north to Manor Infant School where Ashley & Anna had plenty of things for us to do. Many hands set to work on the "Global Garden" - digging over old flower beds, weeding, rescuing plants, digging new beds, avoiding killing worms and snails. To make sure the garden didn't get all the attention there were also a couple of fences that needed painting - a group of ladies set to work on that along with George. And the playground boundary got a great clean up too.

Many hands make light work

I think we were all pleasantly surprised at just how much we managed to do in our 45 minutes. Newly painted fences, a garden looking tidier and ready for planting and let's not forget about the playground clear of dirt. Nice work everyone.

We ran back to the community centre via Kingston Rec and a 500m (or half a kilometer - sounds further!) time trial. Hopefully everyone will build up their fitness over the coming weeks so that the lap feels easier. Unfortunately the new playground still had children in it but I'm sure we will get a go sometime! Finally we did a few stretches and gained Dom's top tip for a quad stretch - imagine you're holding a pint.

Welcome to all the new runners (that's pretty much everyone) and I look forward to seeing you again for another run - please remember to sign up on the website!

Next week we're at Buckland or there's the option of a longer run to Southsea. Sign up here.

Don't forget to follow us on facebook or twitter and tell your friends about how much fun you had tonight! I will put more photos on facebook - please feel free to share any you took!

Happy running everyone, see you soon!