It’s my life

We all know a runner can never have enough kit, just not enough space to store it all. A runners wardrobe, bursting at the seams, can act like a personal museum of their running journey. Memories of the ups, and the downs. Showing the shape we were, the shape we want to be. Helping us to hold on to our aims and aspirations, remembering where we started and hinting at where we’d like to be.

Just lace up and run

Running is popular due to its simplicity, accessibility, health benefits, and the ability to fit into various lifestyles and fitness levels. It has often been said that at its simplest running is the cheapest way to get fit. Just lace up and run. But not everyone is in the position to be able to access even the most basic of kit.

Community Support

Who better to approach to support disadvantaged groups being able to participate in physical activity than those who both value exercise, and support their communities. GoodGymers never disappoint. 190 items (literally enabling kitting out from head to toe) have been donated, all of which have sufficient life and wear in them to support someone starting out on their fitness journey.

And come on, own up, who has already got their eye on replacements to fill those wardrobe gaps!

301 good deeds

It was good to be back with the gang tonight and especially to be with our very own John, who was celebrating his outstanding 301 good deeds . John's GG journey started during the January 2018 challenge. Literally from the sofa to the tasks John has completely embraced the groups activities. You may or may not be aware that he also gives me a lot of support behind the scenes for which I truly appreciate 🙏

John was very relieved to see Megan back after her first task with us last week when he was in charge of the team ! Luckily Megan appeared happy to be back and together with Stéphane set off for some fitness running interval drills. El joined them for the warm up rep which was ideal for her for this evening. Megan and Steffe did some escalating interval training. Same distance each time but with increased effort using the perceived exertion scale.

Meanwhile the rest of the team were ready for the big dig ! We have been visiting this community garden for a while and its been an up hill battle to keep on top of the weeds. With a great number of participants this evening and plenty of forks everyone was able to work together and get a real grip on the task. I couldn't help but notice that Paul had a very impressive fork , Roxy , Anne and Ricky andEl all dug in hard clearing around 75% of the garden. We will return!

After their fitness session. Megan and Steffe helped tie up the bags and transfer them to my car. John and I then drove to the seafront bins where the refuse team will ( hopefully ) pick them up.

Finishing up, we headed to The Brew House for a cheeky drink. We presented John with an engraved tankard to mark this special occasion. We also celebrated that Megan was wearing her new red GG teeshirt! Nice one Megan - same time next week?!

Looking forward to seeing you all next week :)

Julia xx

We kicked off GoodGym Mondays in style with 11 of us gathering at Splashpoint for a litter pick. The weather was kind to us, so under a clear sky we paired up and one group set off in the direction of the pier, the other headed off towards Windsor Lawns. Amongst today’s notable finds were a very new looking, single flip flop, a reflective ankle band which had looked remarkably like the inside of a role of sellotape as it went into the litter bag. When asked by someone cycling with their daughter Paul swiftly dropped his phone into the litter bag to give light for a rummage. After a successful search the reflective band was returned. Not sure it would have happened if the full nappy had already made its way into the bag.

It was great to welcome everyone back for the new year. It was especially good to welcome Megan to her first task, and Belinda back able to actively take part after her recent operations.

Please remember, that January Saturdays are parkrun support days. If you are able to help please sign up on both GoodGym and parkrun (email worthing@parkrun.com). It’s a great opportunity for us to share with parkrunners our love of GoodGym.

After next week’s task there may just be the opportunity for our first social of the year. Go on, you know you want to……

Julia's edit John is too modest to tell you all that he will have reached 300 tasks by next Monday 13th January so we will be at The Brew House after the task. All welcome whether you come to the task or just the celebration. We will be there from 7.15pm onwards.

Tonight we returned to Haviland House to bring some Christmas cheer to the lovely residents. It was the first time since 2019 that we were were invited so it was with great excitement that we went along there this evening.

Huge GG welcome to Susan who joined us for the first time tonight - hopefully the first of many.

Natacha and Stephen brought their beautiful 10 week old baby boy, Ben, with them . Looking adorable in his elf outfit, he doubled up as a modern day baby Jesus and everyone just loved him. It was lovely to welcome Natacha's mum too, who was over from France on holiday.

6 years ago Jemima was our little 4 year old angel who came along to the same event in 2019 Tonight at a grown up 10 year old, she returned with her Mum, our very own social secretary, Tamsin Well done both of you - it was so lovely to have you at this event tonight.

The turnout tonight was great. Many thanks to Paul for his choice of dongs and hymns Nick who not only sorted all the sing sheets but came out of GoodGym retirement and joined us for singing too ( still looking great in the GG black t shirt ! ) Special mention to John too for bringing along a speaker so that we could have a musical accompaniment- not sure how it would have turned out without it ! 😄🙈

Thank you to you all also, that I haven't yet mentioned for your energy and enthusiasm not to mention the vocals you brought to the party! Gillybean Roxy Barbara El Mel Paul

To see the delight on many of the resident's faces was most definitely worth all the effort. We were not any where near perfect but for a scratch performance I was extremely proud of you all and what we achieved ❤️

Some of went on to the pub to re lubricate our vocal cords afterwards- that was very nice too !

Hope to see all of you fur our soldier walk this Friday. Meet at Splashpoint LC at 6pm Finish at The Egremont pub at 7pm for a quick drink.

If you can't make it then it's a very Merry Christmas from me to you all and here's to 2025

Julia xx