14 runners ran to Moulsham mill to help Interact charity.

The first run of 2017 brought some new faces to add to the familiar mix of regulars but before we gathered for the main task a few of us met to help Little stars circus take down their rig before they moved to new premises. Gerry, Joel and Rachel joined Ken to assist them in moving the frame work which had taken them a whole day to put up, and we managed to take it down in about 20 minutes!

On to the main event and it was great to welcome new people to the goodgym team, Maria and Lilian among the first to arrive. Also great to meet Sarah who had her documents signed so she can get set up and run to a coach. Please let me know if you would like more information on coach runs to the elderly and isolated.

After our introductions we set off on the short run to the Mill and met Adam who said a few words about interact and their work with young people with learning difficulties. the task was outlined and we all set to work washing down the walls before painting everything that stood still long enough! Newbies Lizzie and Kim were quickly in to action while Cat and Gerry led with their previously hidden decorating knowledge!

A second team including Richard and Lida headded off to clean the kitchens (yes two kitchens!) which included a game of how many Goodgymmers does it take to put a fridge door back together? (one if it's Caroline, apparently) and "can you post this photo, because my mum will never believe I am cleaning!"

Once completed, equipment collected and brushes cleaned we split into two groups, the "direct route back to base" group and the "extra bridge loop and see if we can catch them" group. As I completed an extra loop with Richard most people were back before me so I have no idea who won! either way we all arrived back safely to the hub and had a debrief whilst we stretched.

Really pleased with the session and the turn out on a cold evening, don't forget we are running back to do another coat of paint in our starter session on Saturday morning, meeting at the ideas hub at 10am, which will give some of us a chance to run or volunteer at parkrun first. Bring those red shirts!

Next week we return to Hylands school farm, always a firm favorite with the crew, but maybe not one to wear your best kit! Wellies and overalls can be provided if needed!

see you soon!

12 runners went picking litter and getting fitter

Another warm (ish) Wednesday evening saw 12 runners meet at the ideas hub for another fun session. We welcomed newbie Charlotte and Amy managed to catch us on the run and join in for her first Goodgym session too.

Tonight's task was to pick litter from alongside the river all the way up to the Chelmer village underpass. After our warm up we set off and ran up to the wooden bridge. We had a 10 minute blast round the three bridges and cleared all the rubbish from around this area in no time.

We continued with clearing round the records office and up to the hump back bridge and all the way to the play ground. Best finds included a bin lid and two separate finds of half a scooter! Here we stopped for a short relay to make sure everyone was fully awake with the light beginning to fade. The relay was close and produced an epic finish!

One more short litter picking section and we set off for home stopping at the wooden bridge for one more relay blast. This saw the teams spread out a little more and Caroline brought her team home for the win, Leaving me trailing in her wake. Our twitter followers will already know of this victory!

A sociable jog back and a stretch completed this session and we are raring to go for next week. I am currently waiting for confirmation from 3 projects but we are either going back to school, to church or on a mission for someone who needs our help. I will update when possible, but sign up anyway!

See you next week for more Goodgym fitness fun, where we will see the return of exercise of the week!

13 of the Goodgym crew were at Chelmsford Parkrun to help celebrate our historic partnership

Goodgym Chelmsford joined 500 other runners at Chelmsford Central Parkrun this week to celebrate last weeks historic announcement from Goodgym Central. The Partnership between Parkrun and Goodgym is alive and well in Chelmsford where several members are regulars at parkrun and Race director Gerry regularly attends.

We were even included in the run report! Read it here

We were introduced at the start and had a good spread throughout the run including Michael who volunteered as a tail walker as he was running a marathon the next day! we also had a couple of runners come over and speak to us after the event about how things work so hopefully more new members!

Apryl sent her apologies for not attending as she was running a marathon but promised to wear her Goodgym tee at the event in support!

Several of us headed back to the ideas hub for some coffee and cake and talked all things goodgym. It was great to chat to the crew and think of new ideas and see if we can get more fun tasks. Looking forward to arranging more social events and getting all our goodgymmers more involved!

See you Wednesday!

11 super hot Goodgymers ran 9k to North Melbourne library

On a scorching hot Wednesday we welcomed Angela from the soon to be launching Goodgym Colchester to help us on the task. After a brief warm up in the park we headed off on the epic journey across town.

feeling Blue On arrival we set out the task of clearing the garden and painting the trellis where we found out the paint was blue! we also discovered that the trellis was very difficult to paint, but set to work to make is as blue as we could.

30 minute make over The rest of the team set to work clearing the garden of weeds and laying a membrane, which we covered with gravel. we even had time to fill the planters with compost.

Park life Even though the painting was troublesome the run was no problem. We split into two teams and Angela led some of the group for an extra mile or so, and threw in some race efforts for good measure. The rest of us took a slightly shorter route back to base, running through admirals park and back via central park.

it's all down stream from here Next weeks run is down the riverside path to Springfield Park Baptist Church for a garden clearance, sign up here!

See you all next week!