On Wednesday evening 19 runners, volunteers and good community-minded folks headed out into the evening to Litter Pick in Castle Park.

We met at Leisure World to hear an exciting debrief about the Colchester Half Marathon which took place on Sunday. A good number of our Goodgym group got themselves out in the beautiful (and warm) sunshine to complete the half marathon, with PBs being smashed left, right and centre. Well done everyone who took part and a huge thanks to those who came to cheer us all on. Sophie has decided to review her energy snack of choice after a few people reported struggling with the Percy Pig heads.. but we all appreciated the effort and sentiment! We also heard about some folks setting new goals for their running. Fantastic!

With Earth Hour coming up this Saturday (8.30.. turn off your lights for an hour) we joined Goodgymers all over the country in an environmentally themed task and took our litter pickers to work on our park. We were given an area to focus on and split up into small groups to tackle the challenge. Sadly, whilst beavering away, a member of the public approached one of the small groups and acted aggressively towards them, resulting in one of our long-standing and experienced members being hurt. This was a real shock to all of us. Thankfully the injury was not severe and the staff at Leisure World were fantastic in offering first aid and notifying the relevant people of what had happened.

It was also a moment where the Goodgym family jumped into action! It was great to see everyone pulling together to support the group members involved and reaffirmed, yet again, what a fantastic group this is to be a part of. Whether you've completed 1 good deed or over 100, this is a group of people who will step up and look out for each other. As Ian said, he won't be put off.. So let's keep going, keep each other safe and keep doing good!

Once we were all safely inside Leisure World Chrissie did a varied workout for us involving a range of core exercises which got our hearts pounding and a few muscles aching. We bid farewell, hugs were shared, and we look forward to our onward mission of providing positive input to our community.

16 enthusiastic Goodgym runners took to the Colchester streets last night to keep our town centre blooming beautiful!

We met at Leisure World, our usual Wednesday evening hangout, and were really pleased to welcome Chrissie on her first Goodgym run! Chrissie has recently completed her run leading qualification and is looking to become an active member of the group! It was great to see a mixture of old and newer faces as Tav delivered the weekly news, which included reports from Saturday's successful taster session and upcoming events such as new tasks and international women's day.

Before we set off we warmed-up our bodies whilst Tav warmed-up his brain trying to number us off into 2 groups in random order. We headed out into the evening towards the High Street, taking a slightly longer route via North Hill to get our hearts pumping and our legs working. The group then split into our 2 assigned teams and made our way to different parts of the town to tackle the planter boxes. Our task was simple, to tidy any litter, deadhead where needed and to make sure the plants were firmly in the soil following sad reports that people were removing them.

We then headed off to Firstsite for some fun and games. Team 2 arrived first and Helen took to ensuring that we were kept busy and warm with a few exercises. Once we were joined by the rest of the group Tav gave us simple game to play involving a ball and remembering people's names. Well.. I say simple, but it's fair to say a few of us struggled to grasp the concept. Following a practice round the idea was to complete the throwing and catching sequence twice through as quickly as possible before the whole team moved on to a relay. Team 2, led by Alex, strategised the most effective way of completing the game as quickly as possible (the phrase 'that's so cheating' may have passed Tav's lips).

The relay came down to a race between the final runner from each team, and despite Emily having a significant head-start, she was still worried that speedy Tav might catch her heels!

After the task some of the group headed to Three Wise Monkeys for some food, drink and socialising with a small group accompanying each other back to Leisure World.

Next Wednesday we're delivering leaflets for St Helena Hospice. We look forward to seeing you then!