It was a lovely autumn day for the final RNLI 10k and Pieces of 8 races. The races both went well with lots of happy runners.

Ami & Rosie did sterling work on the registration, set up and finish. Angela and I had the furthest road closure and Vicki & John came from the utopia of junior parkrun to the purgatory of the Fort Cumberland car park and route split.

Unfortunately the sun wasn't shining for the motorists who were mostly very "dissatisfied" with the fact that there were road closures and decided to express their dissatisfaction to our GoodGym marshals. Let's just say, none of those people will be joining GoodGym soon, they were definitely BadGym.

One of the reasons the race is no longer going to happen in this location is the issues around the road closures, it's disappointing that 2 hours of road closures seems to be so intolerable to a handful of people.

Let's just keep on being good role models and reminding people how to be kind, smile and stay calm. Every GoodGymer did a great job of that. 👍

Also congrats to Tony H who came 8th in the RNLI 10k in 42 minutes. He then also did some impromptu marshaling to deter the angry drivers.

It was a busy evening on Langstone Harbour, with multiple groups of wind surfers and kayakers - so good to see people taking advantage of the beautiful resource on our doorstep.

Once out on the water, it was calm and peaceful. We were lucky enough to see a group of seals basking on one of the sandbanks and Louisa got some fabulous photos.

Another seal popped up to say hello to Rich and kept reappearing nearby as we kayaked up and down the harbour.

Unfortunately Tracey had a bit of a dunking as she got out of her kayak, and kindly Louisa joined her in the mud, when she went to the rescue!

Sorry no action photos, just a few seal shots borrowed from Lou.

Expecting to be marshalling the Soggy Bottom Triathlon in pouring rain it was a lovely surprise to not only have a dry morning, but to see the sun as well with just a few clouds. Ami, Mel and Darren a fellow volunteer from Achieve & Believe the organisers were in charge of one of 5 groups going out. Managing numbers and spacing due to covide, it was very well organised. Entrants were to Kayak 2kms first, followed by a 15kms cycle ride and finish with a 5k run. First group went out at 8.30 am and the last at 9.50 am. We had 17 people in our group and they all arrived in good time ready for a briefing and straight into the kayaks. The sea was quite rough today and a few people went in the water, but all made it back ready for their cycle ride. Jelly beans and mini cheddars were available as snacks and plenty of water to keep hydrated. We were checking people in, noting when they left for the run (so that we could check everyone got back safely), and logging their return time to give an overall time from start to finish. We had some really fast people in our group, with the first few returning before many of the previous group. There was a lovely medal for everyone taking part, plus a mug for 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each group. The event promoted lots of interest from the general public and we were referring them to the organiser’s website to sign up for future events (website here: https://www.fitprorob.biz/ ) . It was lovely to see people out and making the most of the nice weather. All the volunteers helped clear everything away and then Ami and Mel sat with a drink looking out over the sea making the most of the dry weather. Unfortunately, the rain did eventually arrive as we were leaving, so in Mel's case, soggy bottom was pretty apt by the time she'd cycled home!

5 hardy Goodgymers enjoyed the lightening sky of a cloudy summer solstice from the cool waters of the solent. It was fresh, bracing and a little bit chilly but there was agreement that once you were in it was lovely.

At the All Saints Church Garden today, Ami and I were tasked with weeding each with our own patch. Mel found some Lemon verbena and wild garlic plus a large bush with flowers and a beautiful scent, but no-one knew the name unfortunately. The tomato plants put in last week are thriving and in the last week onions, peppers, strawberries have also been planted. Ami after some weeding helped to put in some flowers, and Mel struggled to get some of the more established weeds out, managing to bend one of the forks! But succeeded n the end. There is still a lot of weeding and planting out to do. With two huge trees giving plenty of shade and protection from any sun or rain, it's a very tranquil and peaceful place to be.