On Sunday 1st October GoodGym Cardiff and runners from other GoodGym areas including Bristol and Bath took part in the 2017 Cardiff Half Marathon. For some runners it was their first ever half marathon and for others it was an opportunity to set a new PB.

At 9am GoodGym runners gathered outside Yr Hen Lyfrgell. Ben Jozefiak was already there waiting – who knows how long… It was a pleasure to see him again in Cardiff after he left to go to Scotland about 2.5 month ago.

At 9.25am we started our warm up. We jogged on the spot, did lunges, butt kicks, high knees and an assortment of other running drills so our bodies were ready to run. We then made our way to our allocated starting pens.

9.55am; Everyone was in their pens. Adrenaline was now pumping through veins and their hearts were far from resting pace.

10am; The gun sounded. 20,000 runners were now embarking on the 13.1 mile journey. The route took runners down Penarth road, across the Barrage, passed Cardiff Prison, - Wahey!!! Just before the 8 mile marker was the GoodGym cheer point! Thank you all for coming out to support, we needed you – continuing up Richmond road, down Albany road, around Roath Park, up hell hill and back to City Hall where the finish line lie in waiting. After GoodGym runners finished they all regrouped 300m from the finish line to cheer on the next lot of runners through (That was pretty cool as we then had two cheer points along the route!). Patrick’s words of encouragement drew laughs “come on ladies, less chatting more running”, “speed up you are about to get overtaken by a teacup” and “Come on Gary, stop playing on twitter you have a race to finish.” Our words of encouragement definitely got runners pushing themselves in the final stretch!

Special thanks to our supporters who gave us much needed words of encouragement along the route (Samina, Andie, Lexi, Ellen, Lowri and Adam!)

What an awesome day! Well done to everyone who took part :) Get signed up for next year!

Woohoo - on tour! We went North for the first time ever for our 'on tour' series and the wonderful GG Barnetwere our hosts! Thanks for your help with organising and for generally being awesome North London-ers!

So here's what you missed, didn't hear or just want to recap on:

Heroes:

• You can't keep Beth Hoskins down and she topped the good deed charts with 22 good deeds in August!

Speaking of Beth, in September she reached the incredible milestone of 500 good deeds - give her a cheer here, and read her story here and here! Congrats Beth, an inspiration to us all!

• Congratulations to GG Lambeth who had the most new runners last month with 25!

• Congratulations to GG Camden who not only smashed through the 200 barrier but also the 300 with the most total attendances last month of 317!

• Finally there were 11 new black tshirt wearers (50 good deeds) and 8 people earnt their wings (100 good deeds) - well done all of you!

News

• More new areas as we opened in Barnsley, Leicester and Ipswich!

• An amazing 61 GG runners took on the Tywyn train over various distances. Hats off to the four runners (Paul Bown, Graham Atkins, Sam Needham and Jacob Smith. Big thanks to our organisers Beth (is there anything she can't do?!) and Aidan!

• We're a big fan of getting the media and Ivo was at it again with a fantastic piece on the marathontalk podcast. Check it out from 51:50!

Boring Bit

• Hit up the missions please - we have loads, it's a great way to meet other runners, you don't have to run there and it can be a nice stepping stone to coach running too! Check out the new missions selector here.

• TaskForce - I keep going on about it but this is your chance to have your say in the way GG is run and to be a real influence in your own areas. Ask me or your trainer about joining or setting up a TaskForce in your area!

and last but not least...the International Pun of the Month:

"We've got to shovel what? You've goat to be kidding me" from GoodGym Lewisham!

Big thank you to GG Barnet as we broke the North for the first time!

That's all from me but get in touch with questions, suggestions and anything else! (pritesh@goodgym.org/07887802793/@pritski)

p.s. Please do follow me on twitter if you can for many many GG related updates and also join the 'Unofficial' Facebook Group here (remember to state your area) for more info on races, training runs, socials and other news from the GG community.