We thought the weather was going to be wonderful this evening… however it then began to rain! Nevertheless, 20 undeterred GoodGym runners still showed up in defiance of the bad weather… keen to get out running and do some good - That's the spirit!

A huge welcome to 3 new GoodGym runners this evening!!! Welcome Sophie, Helen and William, it was so lovely to have you join in the fun – It really is the best place to be in Cardiff on a Tuesday evening. Emyr brought along William and Sophie brought along Sophie. This means, wait for it… You’ve got yourself a red lace each for bringing along a friend #LifesGoals #RumourHasItItMakesYouFaster. We then did a headcount and Andrew pointed out that Ben hadn't asked anyone to state what their favourite ___ was... so this week runners were asked to state their favourite colour! (Thank you Andrew... I won't forget this again now I know it's appreciated :) ).

There was no more time to waste… we’ve got to get running! As we exited the shop ready to go for our run THE Aimee Giles flew down St Mary’s Street on a Next Bike. “Wait for me” she cried whilst dinging her little bicycle bell! – This has got to be one of the best entrances to GoodGym ever?!?

Aimee then joined us and we then began our journey... off we go to school (quite literally!)... and we don't want to be late for school!

We ran past the Atrium and then passed Lidl. We then increased our pace slightly and did some squat jumps... You know that saying… treasure the moments that take your breath away… well… doing squat jumps after a sprint isn’t a moment I think will be treasured anytime soon, however it sure was good fun!

After running down a few more streets we had arrived!

We’ve arrived!!

Upon arrival, Ben accidentally made the headteacher of St Alban's Primary School , Rachel, jump out of her skin by peering through the window of the school entrance. Despite being startled by Ben’s handsome face, Rachel let in all 20 of us GoodGym runners into the building (Yes, thankfully we all made it to school safely). Rachel then told us about the wonderful school and explained our tasks for the evening (That we only had 30 minutes to do!). Chris, who also works at the school, also welcomed us in and was on hand to make sure we were hydrated and had everything we needed to do the tasks. Our tasks for the evening were to build 4x bookshelves and paint the school hall wall - What a class task!

Ben then set the timer... "You've got 30 minutes folks, work your magic!"... Immediately the group split up into 5 teams. 4 teams took to building the flatpack bookshelves whilst the other team grabbed rollers and began painting the wall of the school hall. After 20 minutes 2 bookshelves (1 large and 1 small) were complete. Peter was working hard to create instagram stories of us in the action! The teams who had completed building the bookshelves went into the room next door and took all of the books off the worktops, moved the newly built bookshelves onto the worktops and then put the books inside them. 10 minutes later the remaining two bookshelves were built! ”Fantastic work” said Rachel; This was the moment we knew we had passed our GCSE Design and Technology practical with flying colours.

Thank you all so much

Rachel and Chris thanked us for our hard efforts; They bid us farewell and waved us goodbye as we ran into the rain, making our way back to the centre of Cardiff.

We ran back with a sense of achievement in each stride we took. Adam led the group back and Ben backmarked. We then regrouped outside Run and Become and warmed down together. Lucy let everyone know about the community mission coming up later this month and we then gave ourselves a round of applause for a successful run!

Check out Peter with his blazer on over his GoodGym top... I'd give him a job if he wore that attire to an interview!

A MASSIVE well done to Martin Graff! It has been a long time coming and this evening he FINALLY won the tweet off! Will this be the first of many for Martin? Only time will tell...

WELL DONE EVERYONE - YOU ARE AMAZING!

A whopping 33 runners showed up to GoodGym this evening! This was the second largest turnout we have every had at GoodGym Cardiff and the Vale and this is most certainly a reflection of the passion there is amongst GoodGym volunteers to make Cardiff a better place to live.

There were new faces tonight at GoodGym, and I don’t mean Santa Adam and Elf Ben. I’m talking about 4 new runners who have never been on a GoodGym run before - A HUGE welcome to Hannah, Liam, Rachel and Laura! It was so fantastic to have you come along tonight. Your enthusiasm was motivating, and it’d be lovely to run with you again :) Marie brought Liam and Rachel along to GoodGym... Guess what that means!?! She earns herself two red laces! #LifesGoals Hannah T also brought Laura to GoodGym, that means Hannah has also earned herself a red lace too #LifesGoals - With Hannah and Marie earning red laces, they are 'living the best life!'

A Christmasy themed warm up, thanks to Lucy

Some of our traditional GoodGym games were changed to fit in with Christmas. Lucy helped provide the quick renaming of the games to make them Christmas themed; To warm up this week we played ‘Stuck in the snow’ and ‘Jingle Bells.’

How do these games work you ask? Well, Jingle Bells is better known as Fish and Chips at Goodgym, and contrary to its name you actually burn more calories than you consume. Runners run in a space and when Santa Ben shouts out “JINGLE BELLS” runners find a partner and say either “Jingle” or “bells” to one another. If they say the same then they have to do 10 star jumps, however if they say different then they have to do 10 press-ups. I know what you are thinking... this will be one to play at home with the family this Chirstmas, we encourage you to give it a go... post about it and tag us if you do!

Stuck in the snow is like stuck in the mud… If you don’t know this game then come along to GoodGym, request it and we’ll play it! In summary, it’s like tag!

Worthy of a mention - 100 Good deed champions

It was Mahatma Gandhi who said, “be the change you want to see in the world”. When I think of these words, I think of GoodGym runners who volunteer their time every week to help out in the community. Aimee and Ellen are the epitome of this phrase this week. They both reached 100 good deeds which means they have combined their running with doing good in the community 100 times. Well done both of you - Not all heroes wear capes... instead you both get to to wear the rainbow wings! These wings are proven (not sure by whom) to increase your running speed. NB. At the end of the run Aimee said she was flying on her run tonight!

It’s time to run to Samye

After a very informative safety briefing that reminded runners not to trip over curbs and to check both ways before crossing roads, it was time to begin the journey to the Samye Foundation. We split into three groups this evening;

• Ben led the speedy runners, a group backmarked by Ellen
• Mikey led the sexy runners, a group backmarked by Fiona
• Lucy led the walking , talking group!

After an exciting journey through town, past the Reindeers outside Cardiff Castle and up Cowbridge road, we had arrived!...

Hello everyone and welcome to the Samye Foundation

Arriving at the Samye Foundation first were the speedy runners. It wasn't long after that when the sexy runners arrived (wow they look GOOD!) and then the walking group... After having squash to rehydrate, Lorraine told everyone about the Samye Foundation and what they do there;

The Mindfulness and Well-Being Centre, part of Samye Foundation Wales, exists to provide mindfulness courses in the community as well as access to complementary therapies, psychotherapy and counselling. Our charity targets diverse markets such as corporate business, health and higher education providers, voluntary and community sector, local community groups and private individuals.

Inspired by what goes on at the Samye Mindfulness and wellbeing centre everyone was keen to get involved and provide a helping hand. With an unprecedented number of runners tonight, Lorraine was having to think outside the box of more tasks to do to make the most of the runners. So what tasks did we do? ;

• A therapy room needed painting; 7 runners got stuck into this.
• An upstairs door needed an undercoat; 4 runners work together to get this done - They really a'door'red this task!
• 2 runners potted plants. - There was planty to do.
• 2 runners painted the dado rail in the front room of the building on the left-hand side. - Look at the photos, didn't dado a good job?
• 11 runners worked as a team to empty and sort the shed at the back of the Samye Foundation. - Shed responsibilities makes light work!
• 4 runners got stuck into weeding. - Weedly enough they weedly enjoyed themselves!
• 2 runners got into the loft and organised belongings brought up in the shed so that they could be stored neatly in the loft - These runners had lofts of fun!

After 30 minutes, time was up! The shed had been sorted, plants were now potted, the upstairs door had an undercoat, the dado rail was painted, and the therapy room was almost finished! Wow, it is even tiring saying all that!

After helping we had a group photo. We made sure Aimee and Sue were both down from the loft before taking the photo. If there are any blurry faces, then those are the culprits who moved when the photo was being taken.

Lorraine then invited us next door into the lounge for homemade pizzas… mmmm delicious! The Samye Foundation really go above and beyond to make us feel welcome, ensuring that we have enough energy to run back after helping out too.

Have the merriest of Christmas’ Yin and Lorraine

It was now time to run back. There are no more plans to run to the Samye Foundation before Christmas, so we wished Yin and Lorraine a very Merry Christmas.

We then headed back as one group to Big Moose Cafe. Whilst running past Cardiff castle Ben said to everyone, "When Santa asked his wife what the weather was like outside, she pointed out the window and said there is some Reindeer." A member of the public began laughing and said that was quite an awful joke! In all honesty, I completely agree - I do love the 'dad jokes'!

Next week I promise a very special run to end 2018

The task organisers have said fancy dress would be wonderful! I will also be planning a selection of Christmas games, including 'Avoid Mr Grinch' and 'Don't get caught by the Christmas Tree.' Last year we also did an on the spot, unplanned, rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - What are we going to have next week I wonder?!?

THE WINNER OF THE RUNPUNSTILTSKIN AWARD

Holding the RunPunStiltSkin award in high regard, a big mention has to go to Lucy. who is this week’s winner! You are just amazing and you can have the award for the whole week. Show it to your friends and your family but keep it safe!

If you aren't able to run with GoodGym next week then have the merriest of Christmasses!

Tonight was a run like no other! 23 runners showed up in spite of the rain to get fit, do good, socialise and have an INCREDIBLE time at GoodGym Cardiff

After a day of no rain it was all too coincidental that the rain should start at 5.30pm - This was going to test all those willing to push all limits and run in spite of the rain! We also had TWO new runners with GoodGym this week, Megan and Marie - A warm welcome both of you :D As Marie was brought along to GoodGym by Martin, this means Martin earned himself 1 red lace - Woopeee!!! #LifesGoals ... Martin was holding the red lace for the remainder of the run looking at it at various times saying "my precious."

• Megan is our parkrun star this week. She was the only runner who took part in Parkrun on Saturday... Come on people we need more of you getting involved in parkrun!
• A HUGE well done to trainer Ben who ran a PB marathon on the weekend in Valencia - He definitely practices what he preaches! A sub 3 hour marathon - Blimey!

Our headcount involved saying our name, headcount number and a brilliant suggestion by Ellen got everyone stating what their favourite race is that they have ever done or what they would like to do; Wine lovers said "any race where there is wine." It is safe to say that there will definitely be runners from GoodGym Cardiff heading to compete in the Medoc Marathon next year!

After getting warmed up it was time to run to St Edwards Church by Roath recreational ground... Off we go.....

zoom zoom zoom crossing over roads and after running through Cathays and Roath we had made it...

It's lovely to see you all again GoodGym

Kathie, from the charity Forget-Me-Not greeted us with the loveliest of welcomes. She told us all about the wonderful initiative Forget-Me-Not is and how it tries to help people find comfort who are older and lonely, who have dementia or who have suffered a stroke. Kathie told everyone about the wonderful project we are helping out with and explained that they are trying to start up a therapeutic gardening project at the church that they need our help with.

It was really beautiful to hear about the wonderful charity and the good they are doing and we were all really inspired by what Kathie had told us and this really motivated us to help them out as best as we could. Our task this week was to cut down a big bush that had become overgrown and cut back another bush that was encroaching onto the pavement next to the church. We were also tasked with sweeping the leaves up in the church grounds.

Marie and Megan were both getting stuck into their first GoodGym task, making light work of the branches! Jess was pretty epic holding the portable floodlights with her arms outstretched - This must have been good training for your arm strength (This helped ensure everyone was safe carrying out the task). Matt and Ellen were working as a team tackling one of the bushes that had begun encroaching onto a road and path. Lydia said "leaf this to me", before grabbing a rake and raking the leaves on the grass into a pile. Matt and Welsh Dave were breaking up branches and bagging them up.

After 25 minutes of helping out, making light work of the tree, we had completed the task!

Thank you everyone for coming to help us out tonight - You are amazing, you truly are

Kathie thanked us all for helping out. She also gave us all a biscuit to replenish our energy reserves for the run back. Thank you so much for asking us over to help and giving us an amazing #ReasonToRun

Ben, that's not the way!

Ben began leading everyone in the direction away from town... "Uh Oh" everyone said, "what does he have in store?" Ben led everyone along a route to the bottom of a nearby hill with a steep incline. He explained that everyone was to run up the hill as fast as they could and then jog down at a very slow recovery pace and when they reach the bottom to go again.

You did wonderful everyone! The extra fitness activity this evening was 'well' received. Ben explained the importance of hill training and told everyone that back in 2012 when training for his first ever marathon he would do hill sprints on this very hill!

It is time to run back!

With no time to waste it was time to head back to Big Moose. To get back we crossed roads, ran through student areas and over bridges. When we got back we then did a warm down and gave one another high fives to celebrate a great run!

EXTRA BITS TO MENTION

• Would you like the opportunity to write a run report reflecting on the Tuesday evening run? - Let me know and providing nobody has requested to do it already, then you can have a go at writing the run report :)
• There is a GoodGym run on the 5th December to help put up the Christmas decoration in the Tenovus Charity shop on Clifton Street. Click here to get signed up
• There is a run this friday daytime to help fill shipping containers with donations that will then be shipped off to Sierra Leone. Click here to find out more
• Don't miss out on next week's run!! Click here to sign up to the fun!
• CHANGE OF DATE FOR ICE SKATING - It's now taking place on Thursday 13th December. Click here to get signed up

It’s Tuesday I hear you say? Yes, that’s right! It’s Tuesday and that can only mean one thing… It’s GoodGym day.

A great turnout at GoodGym Cardiff tonight with a whopping 24 runners making an appearance – You are amazing! We started our run with a headcount and by shouting out our favourite fruit. There were plenty of kiwi, banana and mango lovers amongst us... and now the whole of queen street know! Does anyone know why the banana went to the doctors? It wasn’t peeling well – I know, I know, comedy gold – You’ll find me at Glee Club sometime in the future. Feeling warm, ripe (nice inserted reference to fruit) and ready, we had no more time to waste.

This evening we banana split ourselves into two groups to run to the task; Darren, who did his hair especially for this evening’s run was, of course, leading the sexy runners. Ben led the speedy runners. The sexy runners, flaunting their running legs, took a direct route to the task whilst the speedy runners, not flaunting their legs as much, stopped to do press-ups, star jumps and squat jumps – Martin said he was tired so this was the plan to wake him up! He claimed it didn't work but we didn't see another yawn out of him!

Welcome to the YMCA you amazing GoodGym lot

Tony invited us into the store and greeted us with a warm welcome. There was no messing around with Tony and he was quick to let us know what our task would be that evening. He said we had to put small cubes that corresponded with the size of the clothes onto the correct hangers…. “No problem” we all said and quickly everyone got stuck straight in... Weeeeeee.

Lowri caught sign of the card game ‘Stare’. She took the name of the game quite literally and was captivated by it, staring at the box for what must have been 10 minutes. Darren began riding on a child’s rocking horse… living the dream. Matt from Let’s Make Good Happen had his picture taken with a teenage mutant ninja turtle - New profile photo? Mike was back for his second run with GoodGym and he appeared to love this week’s task, really relishing in the opportunity to do good! Both Molly and Katy tried out the sofa, their verdict was that it was so comfortable that they struggled to get up from it... Unfortunately for the sofa has already been sold. There is also a photo of Owen with a new friend he met at the YMCA and Lewis with Peppa pig!

After 30 minutes of helping out Tony was pleased with everyone’s efforts. He said “you’ve done exactly what we wanted and it’s great all the clothes now have sizing cubes on their hangers”. Tony then invited us to stay an extra 5 minutes to have mince pies and a group photo before we headed back.... Oh go on then, if you insist ;) Aware that it isn’t long until Christmas and that it is unlikely we will be visiting the YMCA before then, we all said Nadolig Llawen to Tony when we left and thanked him for giving us an AWESOME reason to run.

The time has come to run back

We began the run back to town as one group and then split into smaller sub groups, regrouping at the Big Moose Café at the end of the run. Whilst doing our warm down exercises we reflected on evening's run which we all agreed was absolutely great fun! A successful #GivingTuesday run if I do say so myself!

Unsure about getting involved? Just come along :) Everyone is friendly and we make sure nobody gets left behind!!

Don’t forget folks…

• Sign up to get involved in putting up the Christmas decorations at Herbert Thompson Primary School on Thursday 29th December by clicking here
• Help set up the Grangetown Christmas market on Saturday 1st December by clicking here
• Celebrate Christmas with residents of the Vale who rarely able to get involved in events in their community. This is taking place on the Monday 1st December. Click here to get signed up
• Don’t forget to join in next week’s group run by clicking here. We will be running to help out our friends at the Forget-Me-Not charity again.

So in summary, there is lots of stuff going on that you can get involved with!

The GoodGym run was pretty epic tonight to say the least, and GoodGym runners came from afar (afar away as Bristol) to take part in tonight's run. We gave the warmest of Welsh welcomes to GoodGym Bristol runners David Guest and Richard Giddings... Okay, maybe not the warmest as we didn't give them a cwtch, but there is always next time. We've also been assured by them that they are going to be visiting more often next year when the bridge tolls on the Severn Bridge are lifted - Wooppeee

We were also blessed with two new runners joining the evening's run. A HUGE welcome to Anthony and Mike. Mike is Ellen's friend... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... This means Ellen earns herself 1 red lace # LifesGoals . Ellen did not stop smiling the whole run, proud of her red lace prize.

Even though it was mighty cold this evening... and by mighty cold I mean even snowmen would be shaking, we still had an amazing turnout of 20 runners.

The warm-up was brief so we could get running.

Before the run Darren pleaded with Ben to be able to lead the 'sexy' group of runners. Ben kindly said to Darren that this would be fine and so before the run Darren spent time doing his hair and spent time making himself look as sexy as possible. N.B. The sexy group of runners are the group of runners who want to run at a slightly slower pace, concentrating on their technique and form.

Ben led the speedy runners. Those runners who wanted to push themselves at a quicker pace.

The run to the task was approximately 2.0 miles.

Welcome to St Alban's Primary School!

Rachel greeted everyone at the school entrance with a smile. She told everyone about the school and explained the tasks that needed doing. Rachel had really gone all out in planning the task... paint, rollers and trays were laid out ready, clear instructions were projected onto a screen in the hall, and there was water waiting for us to keep us hydrated. Rachel was so lovely, even offering everyone teas and coffees.

• Darren and Aimee made light work of the playground, sweeping up the leaves and tidying up all of the equipment.
• Lucy, Emily and Lowri were painting in the school library.
• Anthony, Lydia and Su were painting in one of the classrooms - Faces of concentration... Grade A for you lot!
• Richard, Welsh Dave and Mike were painting in another classroom - Grade C guys... JOKE! Grade A for you too!
• Lucy, Owen, Ellen, Molly and Katy were all painting the wall in the entrance foyer grey... Greyt work folks!
• Emma, David and Adam were making light work of rearranging the school offices - Very impressive work.

Thank you so much for all of your help GoodGym - You're all amazing!

The task took 30 minutes and then it was done! Rachel was so pleased with how much was achieved in the time... and she wants us back!! We had a group photo before we headed off and then we made our way back.

Darren led the run back... everyone was now a sexy runner! Emma was backmarker, making sure nobody was left behind.

Well done to Ben who came up with the Pun for the Run and is this weeks RunPunStiltskin winner! Enjoy the virtual award... spend time with it but don't get too attached as there will be a new winner again next week.

Reminder of what's coming up;

• Sign up to next week's group run by clicking here
• Join in the community mission this Thursday evening by clicking here
• Run to help set up Grangetown Street Market on the 1st December - Find out more by clicking here

A huge well done for everyone for a successful task this week - You're incredible!

23 runners attended GoodGym this evening with an appetite to get fit and do good!

As the clock turned 6pm runners began entering big moose café thick and fast. Everyone was raring for 6.30pm for the start of the run, and when the clocks eventually hit that time Ben led everyone outside for the warm up and to do the briefing.

There were some new and for a long time not seen faces at GoodGym this week. A HUGE, GIGANTIC welcome to Sophie and Dom! Katy brought Sophie along to GoodGym this evening so that means she earned herself 1 BRAND NEW RED LACE! #LifesGoals

The warm up consisted of everyone running around in a circle whilst Ben led everyone through a rather bizarre warm up. Ben shouted out the names of people ‘Miss High Knees’, ‘Mr Butt Kick’, ‘Mr Jump’, ‘Mrs Lunge’ and ‘Dr Jump’ and each time he called out their names they had to do the fitness exercise that corresponded… needless to say it was weird, but great fun!

What!? Is it really Two Task Tuesday!!?

Ben then explained that this week there were two different tasks. Task 1.) You will be running to the Tenovus Charity Shop on Clifton Street. Task 2.) You will be running to Grangetown Pavilion to declutter the AstroTurf of all the leaves…. Choose wisely!

Helping out at Grangetown Pavilion

Ben led the group of runners helping out at Grangetown Pavilion; the group included Ben, Lucy, Martin, Marion, Adam, Darren, Lydia, Andrew, Nic and Peter. The run to the Pavilion was adventurous, we did step ups on benches on St. Marys Street and squatted outside the Millennium Stadium.

After about 1.7 miles of running we had arrived to Grangetown Pavilion. Our arrival was celebrated, maybe next time though we don’t need fireworks… Ali welcomed us all to Grangetown Pavilion. He told us about how the leaves collected on the Astro pitch has been a nuisance and made it difficult to use the pitch safely (as it becomes really easy to slip when there are leaves on it). This was what Ali needed our help with – Our mission was to collect all of the leaves and put them into green bags. Ali provided the green bags and the gloves were taken from Bens backpack. … We weren’t left to do this alone, though. There were groups of teenagers and fathers and sons playing on the football pitch and they joined in too. Approximately 18 of us all worked together to clear leaves from the Astro turf and after about 20 minutes the task was complete.

Well done to everyone for doing so well! I’d also like to extend a special thanks to all of the teenagers, fathers and sons who were using the Pavilion facilities at the time and who joined in with making a positive difference.

Helping out at the Tenovus Charity Shop

13 of us ran to Tenovus, a short run in the darkened cold months, but not to be stopped extra time was added on with the wonders of step ups. Also the shouts of ‘we should have gone on Ben’s run’, but after a couple of minutes we were off again. Introducing Dom to the lovely night Cardiff we ran around the prison that the City has grown around. It wasn’t too long until we arrived at our destination, the Tenovus charity shop, with a mixture of tasks to come. Carl opened the doors with a welcoming smile and introduced us to the shop, tonight we had old clothes to de-hang so that we could re-purpose the hangers and hang NEW clothes, but first they were to be steamed and then put out on shop floor. More to do, a seasonal display in the window – OOOOoooh Christmas Jumpers, rearranging DVDs, in age classification and then alphabetical order, now there is dedication.

We had a dancing Xmas toy, sparkling shoes, soooooooo many Christmas jumpers, an inappropriate dinasour, bikers outfit and a weird head in a cloche. Oh it was so much fun, but we did it, we made the store ready for the season and so much more.

But wait, why was there a cat blanket left, should this not have gone home with Dom. Just to confirm, that’s a blanket with cat’s on it, not a blanket made of cats.

And so to the philosophical question of the century, with the Gingerbread Man the Jesus of cookies……. Does the baking of the Gingerbread man create the life of the cookie man, or ……… does it kill him?

Answers to the dark question below please!

All from the dark dead gingerbread man Xmas jumper that was found in the shop, the poor guy snapped in two.

Happy Seasonal Greetings!

---

Well done to Darren and Ben who together came up with the Pun for the Run! - You guys get to have half of the RunPunStiltSkin award each!

Demonstrating defiance of the rain, 20 Goodgym runners showed up this evening to do good in their community.

This evening the weather was taking no prisoners, and 1 hour before GoodGym the heavens opened. We half expected a cruise liner to float down Queen Street, however fortunately this was not the case. As soon as 6.30pm arrived it was time to go outside to warm up in the rain – I get how this sounds a bit like an oxymoron but I’m no moron and we found a way to get warm!

We all got jogging on the spot to stay warm whilst we did our headcount. We welcomed Katy to GoodGym who was running with us for the first time – A humongous welcome to you and we hope you come back next week! As Molly had brought Katy along to GoodGym Molly earned herself 1 red shoe lace; It was at this point Molly really was living the dream and I acknowledged that she could check earning 1 red lace off her bucket list. Aimee told us about her mission weekend bonanza - She did a whopping TWO missions over the weekend - is this a record? I think so! Well done to Fiona (who wasn't on tonight's run) who managed to run her QUICKEST EVER 10K - You superstar!

Let’s not waste anymore time, it’s wet out here and we’ve got a task to do!

Feeling motivated by the challenge John had waiting for us at the Centre we began our run to the Llanover Arts. We actually felt like we were galloping to save the world, which I guess to some extent we kind of were but on a much smaller scale.

After crossing roads, puddles that could otherwise be described as lakes, turning corners and squat jumping between lampposts we made it to Llanover Arts Centre where John stood waiting.

GoodGym! It’s great to see you again! Come on into the warmth and let me show you what I need some help with

John is lovely. He manages Llanover Arts Centre and knows ‘how we role’. He told us a bit about the wonderful activities they have going on at the centre and how invested they are to make it a sustainable project. John said that in 1 weeks’ time they would be having an Arts and Crafts fair at the centre and so to prepare for it they need to take down the stage and paint the radiators. And this was where we came in. We only had 35 minutes to complete the task, so the challenge was on!

Runners split into groups with some diving into paint pots with their brushes and began painting the radiators. The majority of runners took to the stage to remove all of the chairs from the stage, followed by the stage platforms and then the metal support structure. The stage was taken into bits and moved to the other end of the hall. There is also another level in the hall, hidden at the back of the room. John climbed up to the level and asked runners to lift up objects and pass them to him so he could store them out of sight. There was so much going on all at once and everyone was really making light work of it!

You can check out some of the photos from the run above; Look at Andrew hiding under the metal stage structure, Matin lifting Lucy and Emma up on a pump truck, check out Katy and Molly painting the radiators, look at Matt from We Make Good Happen making light work of some challenging work and look at Andrew posing with part of the stage.

Thank you so much for your help!

John explained that what we managed to get done in those 35 minutes would have taken him all day. He was so grateful for our help and we were only too pleased to be able to help.

It was now time for us to go. We thank John for giving us a #ReasonToRun this evening, motivating us to use our fitness to do good! On the way back Emma and Aimme both back marked. The back markers make sure nobody gets left behind and they did a fantastic job of this as nobody got lost – Thank you ladies!

Lets warm down

Adam led the warm down. The warm down is important as helps the muscles wind down after a good workout.

Announcements

• This weeks RunPunStiltSkin Award goes to Ellen – A lovely ingenious rhyme Ellen, you made it look easy!
• Well done to Matt who won the Tweet Off – Showing everyone how it’s done! (There is a photo of the intense tweet off stand off too)
• Join in the next group run. Sign up to it by clicking here