Arriving early tonight, I was reminded by Will that this would be his final GoodGym run in Birmingham. Not as a protest about me leading the group for the first time, but because he is relocating to Somerset for a new job. Hence the pun above and all which will follow (I have tried to remember some of the many created by George).

Binned there, seen it, done it

During a nervous first briefing I informed the group that over the last 4 group runs to the Birmingham City Mission, all of the fitness session hills had been ‘binned off’ due to weather, extended tasks and for pre-Christmas drinks. So tonight, I left it for Will to decide what type of hill reps we would do to get our sessions back on track.

Tonight we welcomed Rory to his first GoodGym session and Lucy joined us for her second group run. Please give them a cheer and your support. We also celebrated Laura wearing her 100 T-shirt and Ben joining the TaskForce after completing 10 good deeds.

Last Will and Testament

After a quick headcount, Rob led us to the BCM with Liam and Tousif taking on the back marking duties. It was great to see lots of good spirits in the group as pairs and threes ran and chatted along the way. We negotiated the quite busy city centre streets and found ourselves at the task rather more at the time we usually set off than the time we arrive. The usual stalling tactics of getting a cricket discussion going mustn’t have worked on me!

Where there’s a Will there’s a way

We had a slightly different task for some intrepid adventurers tonight as we were asked to look through the pantry and check the dates of the food items. Rob identified Liam and George as ideal candidates following their ‘Speed dating’ at the Foodbank last night. In the end, Liam went for it along with Rory, Laura and Chloe. The group found an enormous collection of salt, an even bigger pile of doughnuts and cakes (which I was assured that they didn’t eat any of, even though it was likely they were going off soon and needed eating) and some out of date items carefully removed. George applied himself diligently to the washing up along with Rob and Francesca, as Ben used the in and out doors well to bring in the dirty dishes. Outside the kitchen, Will, Lucy and Tousif kept very active by serving the food. Tousif even managed to grab a few photos when it got quieter.

After a few thank yous from the staff at the mission, we were ushered out as they got the next part of their evening started. So we turned our minds to the fitness session and jogged to our usual spot around the corner. Ben said his farewells at this point as he was feeling an injury from his run at the weekend, so it was great that he joined us for this much of the group run. Best of luck resting and recovering.

The illusion of Free Will

At this point I gave Will the choice between two four minute hill sessions with recovery, or a six minute session of Kenyan hills. He quickly got wise to the fact that I’m a soft supply teacher and asked for another option. I did indeed offer the option of just a four minute session, but as he went for this it was quickly overruled by Rob, who was looking forward to the challenge! Still, at least it wasn’t binned off!

Will Power

Everyone got earnestly into the four minute session, especially Chloe who showed great form as she charged up the hill, and Rory on his first session as he made great efforts to catch her. Everyone stayed committed all the way through, Rob showing he meant business and Lucy showing no weariness from her recent half marathon efforts. After a minute of rest I set everyone straight off for the two minute finisher, with Tousif fighting through it really well, Francesca maintaining a great pace and George making fierce effort look effortless. After reflecting on how much I’d rather have been doing the hills myself, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath and getting a group photo, we set off for 1000 Trades.

My Heart Will Go On

Which can only mean one thing - more hills. All the way back, more or less, so we all enjoyed the rest, stretches and beverages at the end point! Thank you to all of the group for supporting me tonight leading my first group run. All the best to Will as well. I hope all of the puns aimed at you will not put you off returning to us when you inevitably come back to see all of the unseen attractions of the second city! Only time Will tell!