This evening 24 GoodGym runners got their plog on, running the streets of Cardiff cleaning rubbish with each stride.

It's Tuesday which means GoodGym is in town! (This makes it the best day of the week!). This week we went plogging. Before our run we put our gloves on and got some empty bin bags.

Warming up before the run!

It's important to limber up and get our bodies ready for intense plogging, and what better way is there to do that than with some games!

• In the Race / Over the line
• Pirates life for me!

We then did a headcount and welcomed new runner, OLI to GoodGym. Welcome to GoodGym Oli!! I know we're a very enthusiastic bunch and we really hope you come running with us again :)

Let's go plogging!

Mikey was ready to lead the plog. Armed with the route he led the runners towards the Castle. They were going to continue following the route however the perimeter of Cardiff Castle had been littered following the heatwave we've experienced in Cardiff over the past couples of days. After a few minutes of plogging along the grass, the grounds were beautiful and they carried on following the designated plogging route.

The plogmentalists, Adam and Chay, couldn't stop themselves from picking up even the smallest pieces of litter. The ploggers also ran past hundreds, thousands? of football fans who appeared to have no idea what on earth we were doing... (((Nathan - did you see us???))) Runners then split into teams, taking one side of the road each. FIona was quite territorial not letting any plogger from the other team collect litter that wasn't on their side. There were THANK YOUS from many members of the public, who appreciated our efforts.

Fitness session

With plogging done it was time for some fitness! A 1 mile sprint around Victoria Park was in order... 321, GO. Blink and you would have missed them.

Cool down

We then ran back to Big Moose where we reflected on the evenings plog which was PLOGTASTIC!! We ARE going to do this again that is for sure.

21 runners turned up to GoodGym tonight with a plan to accomplish Cardiff's January Challenge target and be the ONLY GoodGym in Wales to reach over 200 good deeds!

They are going to write about this run for years to come… the day that GoodGym Cardiff, for a second time, reached their January Challenge target (And this time Mikey’s legs will still be working into February!). It’s fair to say that there have been a number of obstacles that we had to overcome to reach this goal, from Darren planning a skiing holiday, the GoodGym offices running out of missions to meet our demand, Mat having to attend lectures on a Tuesday evening, and finally, to Martin having to lecture on a Tuesday evening (He’s also battling his upset at not winning a tweet off yet… but your time will come Martin!!!). Despite all these challenges… WE DID IT!!!

So now back to this evening’s run. As Big Moose remains closed, our friends at Run and Become have again agreed for us to use their shop as a meeting point. The store is wonderful and the staff are always welcoming. There was 1 new runner who turned up to GoodGym this week… Welcome Adam!!! - Adam you looked fierce on this evening’s run… choosing to run in the speedy group and running gallantly. We also celebrated Lowri reaching the 50 good deed milestone. Well done Lowri, you’re inspirational. Lowri has earned good deeds helping out community projects throughout Cardiff and also helping the isolated older members of our community; Lowri has now achieved the special black GoodGym t-shirt and a badge to wear on tonight's run – Wahooooooo!

This week we split into two groups to run to the task; The Sexy Runners - Runners who are renown for consciously thinking about their form and technique as they run through the lands of Cardiff. The Speedy Gonzales - Runners known for their speed and finesse… Blink and you will miss them.

After running the streets of Cardiff for 20 minutes, regrouping at the traffic lights, we made it to St Edward's Church.

Welcome back GoodGym!

Kathie from Forget-Me-Not welcomed us with the warmest of smiles. She let us catch our breath and told us about the wonderful organisation she helps run. Forget-Me-Not provide a friendly and welcoming environment, suitable for people with memory problems and their carers. They also support people recovering from a stroke or people who feel isolated and vulnerable. Click here for more information.

Kathie explained that our task for this evening would be to move all of the chairs from the main church floor (the nave) to the area that leads up to the alter (the chancel). The nave would then need to be hoovered, mopped, dried and then the chairs would need to be returned back to their original positions. In addition, the bushes in the church gardens are becoming out of control (not to the same extent as Jumanji, but like Ben’s hair last week, it needs a cut).

With clear instructions, enthusiasm and determination running through our veins we immediately got to work. All 21 runners began moving the chairs, making light work of it as they went. Then a team of moppers are hooverers got to work, coordinating their efforts so they could work as effectively as possible. Andrew grabbed a rag and fell to his hands and knees… he then began drying the floor as quick as he was able, he looked like Danielson from Karate kid “Wax on Wax off”, but there was no wax… Su was lunging whilst hoovering and her and Fiona also began playing robot wars with their hoovers (Su's hoover even had flashing lights)... Fiona was reassuring Henry the Hoover that he didn't need lights to be accepted and that his beaming smile is enough.

25 Minutes later the floor was clean, gleaming one might say, and the chairs were all in their original positions. 3 bags of garden waste got filled and there were smiles all round!

Thank you GoodGym – You’re amazing and you make light work of a task that we wouldn’t be able to ourselves

Kathie offered us some biscuits as we left as a thank you and also to give us some energy for the run back. Our run back was quick and well-coordinated. We ran back as one group with Mikey leading the pack and Emma double barrel back marking.

We made it back to Run and Become for 8 for our cool down and to reflect on the evening’s run.

Well done Ben and Emma who came up with the Pun for the Run! You both share the virtual & imaginary RunPunStiltskin award - that's 3.5 days each!