14 people ran 3.5km to plant some trees on the Canal

It was welcome to two new GoodGymer’s tonight, with Andy and Dave joining us for the first time. Please give them a cheer! We set on our way with Lee being the front marker and myself taking on the role of back marker as I was struggling somewhat with a calve strain I had picked up earlier that day! We ran just over a mile to the Canal and River Trust offices where we met Nick who bought the trees down for us to plant.

Papped!!

To make tonight even more exciting we had a full media team joining us both from The Guardian newspaper and the Canal and River Trust’s own media section! Firstly, the group got videoed and photographed running on the canal, I had more photos taken of me then when Kim Kardashian does her grocery shopping and there were interviews galore. After all this, we eventually got on with planting the trees! This was done in no time with a good numbered group tonight. Once the ‘plantathon’ was done there was a couple more videos taken of the group running and a few pics for good measure and it was ready for our run back! Keep an eye out for the Guardian online this week!

Who is the best planker?!

Once nearly back we stopped in St Paul’s square where we did some press ups, Phill smashing them out like usual, followed by some core work, both John and Sandy showing great determination. Then it was onto the grass for some lung busting burpees, (everyone loves a burpee…..yeah right 😉), Sophie and Alex working hard, putting their all into each set. Once this was done we finished off with a plank challenge, who could hold it the longest? Well Sandy and Dave showed they had great cores both holding the plank for 3 whole minutes! Well done fellas!

Once done and everyone exhausted it was time for a gentle run back to base, for a bit of a stretch Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

14 people ran 6k to clear rubbish from a driveway into a skip for a homeless hostel

It was great to have a virtually tropical evening for tonight’s run. It was great to see first time GoodGym’er Sandy at tonight’s gathering. After the intro, we were on our way, running through the city centre, passing the bull ring, down the steps and on to Highgate. Nearly at the hostel we added in a couple of ‘lung busting hill sprints’ before arriving at our destination.

"What a stink!!"

The task was to move all the rubbish which included mattresses, Tv’s, chairs amongst other items into a large skip. Unfortunately, there was a little surprise, a big plastic bin was full of water, which spilled over the drive, causing one hell of a stink!! I think the water must have been in there since the 19th century!! Oh well Goodgymer’s are not fazed by this sort of thing (though I did think for a moment a few might pass out!), so we took it in turns in going back and forth to the tap to fill a bucket with water and swill the ‘stinky’ water away. There you are an extra work out! Once the task was completed and the skip couldn’t take anymore rubbish we were on are way back.

"Time to burn"

On are way back, again we incorporated a few sprints on the hills, James showing great determination powering up those hills and Phil showing his 400-metre runner speed. After that we ended up in St Paul’s square we got those thighs and bums burning with some lunges and a 1 minute wall squat and we even threw in a few tuck jumps to get that heart racing! Chan showing a great technique, Charlotte getting nice and deep with those lunges and Suki offering great encouragement as always

We then finished up with a short jog back to base, finishing with the all important stretching.

Next week we are going to be cleaning a gym at the Salvation Army, it would be great if you could join us sign up here

Ps. Thanks to Chan for the couple of ‘task photos’ top man!

13 people ran 6k to clear rubbish and weeds from around the Girl Guides Headquarters in the city centre

A rather wet night didn't deter 13 GoodGymers doing good in Birmingham on Tuesday night. On only the second ever GoodGym Birmingham run it was great to welcome new faces Suki, Sophie, Phil, Anjali, James and Katie. So after meeting at our new base of 1000 Trades in the Jewellery Quarter we set out on our way to the Girl Guides Association.

"Weather for ducks"

As it was the kind of weather you would love if you were a duck, we took the canal towards the Mailbox to see if we could spot any of our feathered friends. No such luck, too wet for them maybe?!

Once arriving at our task destination we did a great job in clearing the car park and surrounding area of rubbish and weeds at super sprint speed! We even had a bit of time to do some 'squat holds' to get those bums and thighs burning.

"Hills, Hills, Hills"

So in no time at all we were on our journey back, this time we went through the city centre, stopping by the post office to do 6 minutes of killer hill sprints! We had 'Phil the Power' leading the way, Eva showed great technique getting up on to those toes, Sophie had great arm action driving her up the hill, John showed power in those thighs as he powered up the hill, but every single person put in an absolute fantastic effort and it was amazing to see! Next time maybe we will go for 8 minutes?.....

We then finished up with a steady run back to base, finishing with the all important stretching.

Next week we are going to be clearing rubbish into a skip for a homeless hostel in Highgate, it would be great if you could join us sign up here