Demonstrating defiance of the rain, 20 Goodgym runners showed up this evening to do good in their community.

This evening the weather was taking no prisoners, and 1 hour before GoodGym the heavens opened. We half expected a cruise liner to float down Queen Street, however fortunately this was not the case. As soon as 6.30pm arrived it was time to go outside to warm up in the rain – I get how this sounds a bit like an oxymoron but I’m no moron and we found a way to get warm!

We all got jogging on the spot to stay warm whilst we did our headcount. We welcomed Katy to GoodGym who was running with us for the first time – A humongous welcome to you and we hope you come back next week! As Molly had brought Katy along to GoodGym Molly earned herself 1 red shoe lace; It was at this point Molly really was living the dream and I acknowledged that she could check earning 1 red lace off her bucket list. Aimee told us about her mission weekend bonanza - She did a whopping TWO missions over the weekend - is this a record? I think so! Well done to Fiona (who wasn't on tonight's run) who managed to run her QUICKEST EVER 10K - You superstar!

Let’s not waste anymore time, it’s wet out here and we’ve got a task to do!

Feeling motivated by the challenge John had waiting for us at the Centre we began our run to the Llanover Arts. We actually felt like we were galloping to save the world, which I guess to some extent we kind of were but on a much smaller scale.

After crossing roads, puddles that could otherwise be described as lakes, turning corners and squat jumping between lampposts we made it to Llanover Arts Centre where John stood waiting.

GoodGym! It’s great to see you again! Come on into the warmth and let me show you what I need some help with

John is lovely. He manages Llanover Arts Centre and knows ‘how we role’. He told us a bit about the wonderful activities they have going on at the centre and how invested they are to make it a sustainable project. John said that in 1 weeks’ time they would be having an Arts and Crafts fair at the centre and so to prepare for it they need to take down the stage and paint the radiators. And this was where we came in. We only had 35 minutes to complete the task, so the challenge was on!

Runners split into groups with some diving into paint pots with their brushes and began painting the radiators. The majority of runners took to the stage to remove all of the chairs from the stage, followed by the stage platforms and then the metal support structure. The stage was taken into bits and moved to the other end of the hall. There is also another level in the hall, hidden at the back of the room. John climbed up to the level and asked runners to lift up objects and pass them to him so he could store them out of sight. There was so much going on all at once and everyone was really making light work of it!

You can check out some of the photos from the run above; Look at Andrew hiding under the metal stage structure, Matin lifting Lucy and Emma up on a pump truck, check out Katy and Molly painting the radiators, look at Matt from We Make Good Happen making light work of some challenging work and look at Andrew posing with part of the stage.

Thank you so much for your help!

John explained that what we managed to get done in those 35 minutes would have taken him all day. He was so grateful for our help and we were only too pleased to be able to help.

It was now time for us to go. We thank John for giving us a #ReasonToRun this evening, motivating us to use our fitness to do good! On the way back Emma and Aimme both back marked. The back markers make sure nobody gets left behind and they did a fantastic job of this as nobody got lost – Thank you ladies!

Lets warm down

Adam led the warm down. The warm down is important as helps the muscles wind down after a good workout.

Announcements

• This weeks RunPunStiltSkin Award goes to Ellen – A lovely ingenious rhyme Ellen, you made it look easy!
• Well done to Matt who won the Tweet Off – Showing everyone how it’s done! (There is a photo of the intense tweet off stand off too)
• Join in the next group run. Sign up to it by clicking here