DOING GOOD

Yesterday we headed out from the Jurys Inn through Derby City & enjoyed an undulating route to Osmaston Park Allotments, where we were met by the delightful Sharron from Derby City Council & Terry from the allotment committee. Even refreshments had been laid out for the GG Derby tribe this week (winning!) & after sipping on an ice-cold beverage & enjoying a fizzy kitty (fancy sweet FYI) it was time to get stuck in!

Our task this week was in preparation for a bigger revamp of Osmaston Park Allotments, scheduled for the end of September where different volunteer groups from across Derby will work for a day to improve & renovate this space. As the heroes in red tees, we were coming in early to make a head start on two of the plots; one of which is owned by a younger couple whose plot had fallen to neglect after they'd sadly experienced health problems & the second plot owned by an elderly gent, who had grown some impressive pumpkins on one half, but where the other half had grown too unruly for him to manage.

On looking at our wild-work stations we almost lost the plot (hehe) as we were a little unsure of how much impact we could have in 40 minutes, but we need not have worried. With our red tees & Cath Kidston gloves donned & tools in hand, we set to work in two highly rotivated teams & dug, raked & weeded the heck out of those plots! The before & after shots do our hard work justice; taming the wild in the name of home-grown produce.

Sharron - delighted by our hard work - has already been in touch to say:

It was fantastic and they are amazing!

Mission Achievements:

• TWO plots raked, weeded & dug to perfection

• ONE huge spider saved (or maybe one Tracey saved from the spider?)

• A total of over SEVEN hours of volunteering

WHILST GETTING FIT

This good-deed took us to a different part of Derby & there were definitely a few hills along the 10km route there & back (the give away was the faces as red as the GG tees on arrival at the allotments!) To maximize time at the task we incorporated the fitness session into our run, covering approximately one mile in speed-work, using Fartlek training as our torture method. We sprinted to one lamp post & then jogged to the next, catching our breath before the next sprint effort.

As well as a tough run this week, we shoveled, pulled & raked those plots, getting in a work-out as good as any session at the gym! Who's aching today?

Fitness Achievements:

• Approximately ONE-HUNDRED-&-TEN km covered on foot (combined effort)

• ONE mile of speed-work bossed per GG member

• FORTY minutes of raking, digging & weeding

AND WE VISITED THE MOON!

On our run back, we stopped our Garmin devices just before the Jurys Inn, at the Derby Cathedral to check out the amazing touring moon (happy dance from Emma!) Breath-taking... literally, as we'd just ran up a hill to get there.

Thank yous...

• Alistar for joining us for the first time. We hope you had fun!

• Peter, Ashley & Steve for the puns, some of which I've tried to include in this report... comment any I've missed!

• Sam for back-marking (& limping through the run on post-ironman legs)

• And to everyone else for smiling, getting in stuck in & being awesome

See you all soon!

DOING GOOD FOR GG TURNS 10!

18 runners from around the UK (GG Sheffiled's Kat, Andrew, Ash & Celine & GG Norwich's lone ranger, Brad, as well as 13 Derby runners) headed to a green space to support the Friends of Markeaton Park (FoMP) give a new lease of life to the rockery. On arrival, we were greeted by the wonderful volunteers who showed us the somewhat secret walled garden before we made our way, wheel-barrows & gloves in hand, to the rockery. So overgrown with no rocks in sight, some of us wondered where this illusive name had originally came from...

Alas! After 40 minutes of weeding, removing unwanted plants, clearing dead leaves & trimming (not forgetting the shaping!) of the hedge, the rocks were revealed & the rockery transformed from an abandoned, overgrown hidden-rockery for accumulating park litter, to a beautiful feature of Markeaton Park once more.

Mission achievements

1. The equivalent of 12 hours of volunteering (wowza!)
2. 1 extremely happy Friends of Markeaton Park volunteer group
3. 1 rockery restored to its full & former glory
4. 18 heroes in Derby (who's favourite colour is red, especially on t-shirts)
   

WHILST GETTING FIT

The location of Markeaton Park from our base at the Jurys Inn meant that we got opportunity to do a circular route to show our GoodGym tourists a little more of the city. We headed from the Jurys Inn towards the University of Derby on Kedleston Road, then cutting into Markeaton Park, admiring the huge play area (including the climbing wall & pondering a possible fitness session there) before looking for our lady-in-hi-viz near the illusive walled garden.

After our task & because we were at the rockery (this is key to the pun...) there was a Rockery-Balboa themed fitness session with Eye of the Tiger - for those 91% of you that couldn't hear it, that's what was playing on my phone! - blasting across Markeaton Park. With lots of high knees, butt kicks, planking & some air punching... because you have to, its Rock-ery!... We were ready to run back to base. Through the park, down Ashbourne Road, across the Bouncy-Bridge & to the Jurys Inn!

Fitness Achievements

1. Total collective distance of 90km powered by foot
2. Well over 400 high knees during the Eye of the Tiger saga
3. 100 weeds pulled out & biceps worked

GG TURNS 10

It was brilliant to be part of the celebrations flying the GoodGym flag in Derby last night & I think you'll agree we got some pretty snazzy photos on the Bouncy-Bridge! A huge thank you to the Derby tribe as well as the touring GoodGym'ers (especially Andrew for back-marking) for making the evening so splendid. Now one more time...

It's the eye of the tiger, its the thrill of the fight (weeding), rising up to the challenge of our rival (weeds)....

Have a super week everyone & see you next Tuesday for some more gettin' grubby fun & puns at Osmaston Allotments!

Dani x

THE HEADLINES

14 GoodGymers

140km (approx) total distance covered on foot

300 leaflets distributed & many, many books saved

DO GOOD

Our second good deed task saw us heading out for a longer run from the Jurys Inn to Mackworth Library, where we then broke into teams (originally the Left & Right team) to flyer the local houses, using more running. The Direct Help & Advice charity (DHA) are in the process of taking over 10 libraries across Derby & converting them into community-led libraries & our mission was to support this initiative by spreading the word via our GoodGym flyer'ing force that volunteers are needed!

Fair to say that things got a little competitive. Once split into a Left & Right team, the task was simple...

The Mission: 1. Flyer your teams' side of the street & the first team to make it (with all members) to the top of the street, wins a point 2. Repeat until there are no flyers left

The Rules: 1. One leaflet per house 2. Stick to the street; no side-streets, excursions etc. 3. All members must make it back to win the point

The Results:

Left Team: 4 POINTS

Tracey, Mark, Katherine, Alice, Steve, Emma, Rachel

Right Team: 1 POINT

Sam, Peter Lehann, Alice, Nathan, Salvo

Total flyers delivered: 300!

Left team (later deemed the GoodGym'ers) stuck to the above rules & won 4 out of 5 rounds. The Right team, aptly named as the BadGym'ers due to a rogue member, decided to take leaflets... I mean matters, into their own hands. We can't fault their enthusiasm as they darted down side-streets & took detours to get all of their flyers delivered. But in the end, it was the Left team that flyer'ed home with the win! (There's that pun again in case you missed it in the title...)

Our task - which teamed as a killer fartleck session! - ended the way all friendly competitions should, with the sharing of Haribos & tropical photo props to celebrate the wonderful city of Derbados. Even the team that didn't win (the losers, but that's too mean to say) enjoyed their sugary treats & photo time.

GET FIT

3km run out to Mackworth & 3km back to base, with roughly 2.5km (depending on how many side-street excursions were tackled) of fartleck-training sandwiched in the middle at our flyering-made-fun task.

As well as the best part of 10km tackled, the Derby GoodGymers warmed up with mobility drills using resistance bands to activate the glutes, hip flexors & quads, aiding good running form. To finish, we did a standing figure-of-4 pose to release those buns of steel & boy did we feel it!

UP NEXT

Already excited for next week? I bloomin' am!

It's GoodGyms 10th Anniversary & so our next group run will see us finding the perfect spot to take a photo with a giant GoodGym prop... Somewhere en route to our task or at the task that represents who we are as the GoodGym Derbados community. Get your thinking caps on teams! It'll be a shorter run to Markeaton Park, where we'll be rockery arranging - anyone know what this is? - to make the local park even more beautiful. I'm sure we can weave another competition in somehow. First Haribo goes to the best suggestion for the group photo!

Finally, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came along for their 2nd run with us & a big welcome to our first-timers, Alice & Peter! Ps... Nathan got married at the weekend & is off on his honeymoon so a big cheer from all of us to the happy couple! Congratulations!

See you all soon,

Dani x

We've launched!

55 runners (not including our special VIP guests from the council, including Mr. Mayor!) met at the Jurys Inn yesterday to mark the launch of GoodGym's 54th hub & to kick off doing good, whilst getting fit in our wonderful city.

It was brilliant to see so many new faces to GoodGym starting this journey together (we're sure you'll all be hooked from now on!) as well as seasoned GoodGym'ers from other areas supporting the launch; a huge thanks to the GoodGym Sheffield crew & those who travelled from the depths of the south (London!) to celebrate with us yesterday.

Doing Good

Our first task took us through the lovely green space of Darley Park to support the Friends of Darley Open Spaces (FODOS) begin the transformation of the Butterfly Garden into the Wildlife Garden & boy did things get WILD!

From dead-heading buddleias (I only learned what that meant yesterday) to weeding, sweeping, hoeing, digging & admiring the UK's largest collection of Hydrangeas, our tribe of 53 runners made an incredible difference.

To put a number on that difference (we like stats!) the 40 minutes each of us spent last night volunteering, collectively equates to 36.6 hours! Amazing right!? That's 2,200 minutes! I'm sure the fabulous volunteers from FODOS would agree that our first task has made an enormous difference to their garden & to the local community who enjoy that space. These numbers really help to highlight what GoodGym is all about... we might not be volunteering somewhere for very long, but as a large group of runners (come on, we work fast!) we can get a heck of a lot done!

(Pssst... We're back at the Wildlife Garden on the 29th October to support this lovely group again!)

Whilst Getting Fit

More stats, the running kind, the kind we love.... We traveled a total of 4km powered by foot last night, with a running group led by Dani (me) & back-marked by Rachel & a walking group led by Nicky (let's give the task-force a cheer!) as well as a mini fitness session which saw you all finding your glutes with squats & lunges. Plus we can totally include the 40 minutes of hard labour you put in at the garden, especially the diggers & wheel-barrowers!

Radio's back!

TV's overrated, we're going to be on the radio! & Sam from BBC Radio Derby is totally alive FYI. Keep your eyes peeled on GoodGym Derby's social media channels for an announcement of when you can hear your claim to fame on the BBC Derby Radio Breakfast Show. Thanks Sam for joining us & doing double the mileage running & back forth to do interviews!

Ready for task two!?

The launch event is done & dug (hehe), but this is only the beginning!

Every week (on Tuesday, don't turn up on a different day, we won't be there) at 6:15pm we'll meet at the Jurys Inn & run to a task, smash it & run back! Next week we're going a little further afield, running a total of 10km to do a leaflet drop in Mackworth for a community library. This isn't any old leaflet drop; there will be an option on the run out to work on your speed (getting some practice in) because once we hit Mackworth, a friendly teams-based competition will unfold! Don't let the sound of speed-training put you off, all abilities are welcome as always.

10km too much at the moment? Our third task takes us to another beautiful green space, with a total distance of 5km.

The Snaps

Big thanks to Ashley for taking amazing photos on last night's launch. If you haven't yet set a profile photo for your GoodGym account, find yourself in the snaps & use one of these beauties!

THANK YOU!

Finally, a huge cheer to every single one of you for being such a wonderful group last night; for getting stuck in, being super friendly to everyone & generally just a delight to be around. Here's to next week & the start of something beautiful with GoodGym Derby!

Happy running & exploring,

your trainer, Dani x