14 people ran 7k to complete a litter pick on the canal

Tonight, we welcomed Lydia to GG Brum, it was great to have you with us!

Tonight’s task was the canal litter pick, so on a rather muggy evening we got armed with our litter pickers and headed for the canal. On arriving we split up into four groups, each group litter picking on a different section of our adopted part of the towpath.

Probably due to the good weather there was plenty of litter to clear. We also had to navigate our way past a hissing goose with its goslings, I’m especially not keen on these, having had many a ‘run in’ with these creatures on my runs to and from work, but eventually it let us past. Maybe we should take a white flag next time!

Once we had five full bags of rubbish we headed for the time-trial

The mile

Once at Millennium point the group went for their 1-mile best effort. It was nice to have a group of teenagers cheering the group on and ‘high fiving’ some of the runners as they completed their three and a half laps.

We had four new PB’s tonight! Lydia, Fiona and Nick put in a sterling effort on their first pop at the mile. David was first back just an agonising second outside his pb! Rob beat Sam in a sprint finish after tailing him the whole way around! It was very close, at one point I thought we might need a VAR intervention! Abbie, put in a great performance with a new pb and breaking the eight-minute barrier in the process looking very strong coming down the home straight. As ever though everyone was amazing at pushing each other a long, so well done to you all.

Once done I got a great picture of Nick lying on the grass, completely ‘cream crackered’ followed by a nice group shot, everyone looking pleased with their efforts and why not!

Once all that was done, we had a study run back to 1000 Trades.

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

15 people ran 7k to drop off Suit Drive donations to Suited for Success

After a rather chilly morning the sun shone down brightly on us GoodGymer’s this evening.

It was great to welcome Dave back after a while away for tonight’s run.

Karin led the way initially tonight as we had a very short 300 metre ish run to her place of work to pick up lots of donations for Suited for Success, as tonight was the GoodGym Brum/Suited for Success Suit Drive! These donations had been dropped off by various offices in the surrounding area. On arrival we had five flights of stairs to climb up to get to the office in question, so it all worked out as part of the workout. On arriving at the office there seemed tons of bags and we were unsure if we would be able to carry all of them. However never fear when GoodGymer’s are nearr, as we collected each and every one! Once outside the office, apparently called ‘The Peg’ due to its appearance we had a few piccy’s.

Next job was to carry the stuff to Suited for Success. It’s only around 1k, so with some of us carrying two bags it was decided we would walk this bit, well it was a lovely evening anyway!

Once at Suited for Success we were warmly greeted by Janice, having some more pics as we dropped our donations off.

Untimed time-trial

On leaving Suited for Success we were going to head to the Reservoir to do a one lap (2.4k) time trial. However Rob and David suggested doing the Soho Loop as a time-trial instead. I had never run this loop, as hadn’t most of the group, so we thought we would give it a go. As it was the first time and we were unsure of the exact distance, it was decided not to time it, but to just use it as an ‘effort run’. Dave shot off like a scalded cat, with Aaron, Rob and Sam not far behind. I got towards the front so I could catch some good shots of the group coming over the bridge on the canal. In the end the distance was 2.7k, so just over a mile and a half. Once done the group waited for everyone on another bridge which crossed over the canal, looking out over the gleaming canal water. You don’t get many nights like this in England, so it's good to enjoy them when you do! While the group were getting their collective breaths back Run Birmingham bumped into us, with Taz doing a bit of filming, so keep your eyes peeled as I’m sure we will pop up on social media somewhere!

After that we headed back along the canal, past Brindley Place, back to 1000 Trades and that was mission complete for another week.

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here

13 people ran 5k to help out at Birmingham Mission Care Centre

Tonight we welcomed Seema to GoodGym for the first time. It was great to have you with us. Tonight’s ‘pun’ was inspired by Karin, but more about that later!

No bottle

After a few stories from the Birmingham 10k at the weekend it was on with the run. Just before we set off I realised I had left my bottle of water in the gym I work at, no problem, we just did a slightly longer run to Brum Mission so I could pick it up!

Once at the mission the group was split up into three groups. One group serving food, another sorting clothes upstairs with Maureen and the other were in the basement organising the tinned food. Once done, the groups efforts were mucho appreciated by guys at the Mission and we headed on our way again

No hills???

So usually when we go to the mission we do a hill workout but tonight due to it being a nice dry evening I thought we would use the grass in St Paul’s square for the first time this year to do a bit of Bootcamp stuff.

Bunch of plankers

The task was to do some side planks, followed by some standard planks, fantastic for those all important core muscles. That’s when we found out Karin had never heard of the phrase ‘it’s not cricket’! I was explaining to watch out for any dog poop on the grass, as putting your arms in it ‘just isn’t cricket’! Anyway after it was explained what it meant we were on with the planks. Sides first, top work by everyone, David, Laura and Catherine held excellent form, Seema held a good side plank on her first session showing she has a decent core. Next it was the standard plank, again there was some great form on display by the whole group. There was not a camel in site (that’s what you call it when someone sticks there backside in the air!!) After the planks were done we finished with a heart racer....burpees. Karin showed top form on these as did Aaron and Aidan, but again the group put a top shift in. That certainly was cricket!

We then all headed back to 1000 Trades. Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

16 people ran 7k to complete a litter pick on the canal for The Canal and River Trust

Right first things first, this is going to be a short but sweet report as we lost the initial report as the pun suggests, due to a technical error! Bummer! We were completing the report as a group in the pub as part of our social with everyone adding their own time-trial time followed by how they felt after they finished only for it all to be lost!

So here goes......we all ran down to the canal armed with litter pickers. We split into four groups, each picking litter on a different section. We then ran to Millennium point, did a 1 mile time trial, most people achieving new pbs and everyone broke 9 minutes! Top work! The group then ran back to 1000 Trades and enjoyed a few ‘Ray Mears’!

As I said most of the group entered their times and how they felt after the time-trial in the initial report. I can’t remember what most put, but Lee mentioned something about being old me thinks and Morwenna was hacked off she got beat by Rob, oh and Karin didn’t make the time-trial as she was already in the pub! Apart from that I can’t remember much more!

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.