A septet of runners eager to do a good turn for the community and some sheds to paint at a local infant school.....this has to be another job for GoodGym!

Due to a Huddersfield Town Playing Wolves at the Stadium (and I believe achieving an all too rare victory) Lockwood Park Health Club hosted GoodGym yesterday evening. I’m not sure if the alternative start point was responsible but we were very happy to welcome two new GoodGymmers to our number. It was great to have Rachel Seymour and Erica Ward join us both of whom seemed very keen to get out, get running and get busy to benefit the local community.

So introductions and a brief briefing done, it was warm-up time. Instead of our usual dark car park at the Stadium we had the benefit of Huddersfield Rugby Union Club’s floodlights under which to perform our high knees and jumping jacks. Then it was out along Meltham road for the 2.5K(ish) run to Berry Brow Infant School. The unseasonably warm and sunny February day had now become a chilly evening and under clear, starry skies we headed on through Armitage Bridge and Berry Brow before the steep (and only) significant climb of the run up to the school itself.

When we visited Berry Brow Infant School earlier in the year to dig over some raised beds, Katrina Whale our task master had promised us plenty more work. And true to her word she had delivered, this time Katrina met us with paint brushes, two huge pots of woodstain and the challenge to paint three sheds in our 45 minute work window.

Always up for a challenge GoodGym were straight on with the job, dividing into two teams we set forth making the slightly sorry looking storage sheds somewhat smarter. As is usual for GoodGym many hands make light work, and the whilst the 14 hands of Kati Law, Ben Godfrey, Heather Wilshaw Jones, Louise Galvin, Rachel Seymour, Erica Ward and Katrina Whale painted, I busied my mitts with taking photographs and helping Katrina’s medical student daughter Molly with a bit of weeding. There was even time enough to do a little GoodGym recruiting, grabbing the opportunity to chat to Katherine, a passing Acre Street Runner who promised to join us for a future GoodGym session.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye three sheds were stained and the crew spent the last few minutes painting some wooden arches in a corner of the playground. Then it was time to depart, so after the obligatory “job done” final photographs, we said our farewells to Katrina and Molly before heading off for the slightly shorter (and predominantly downhill) return run to Lockwood Park.

Thanks as ever to all last night’s GoodGymmers, another top task performed.....you are all wonderful people and I shall look forward to seeing you once again next week to do another good deed for our community.