Only 7 of us met at the gym last night but we doubled in numbers for maybe one of our biggest groups (?) to hang out with The Ideas Hub and friends in the park.

Richard made a surprise appearance, spotted Mohammed maybe doing some warmup laps before 6.30. Leah provided mobile security services (the car boot) and Rich was very happy to talk about his new shoes to someone other than poor Jane. Martin arrived and we were all officially early to set off for a loop of the park before 6.45.

At the park we found Fay and Sallyann and waited for Edith from the Ideas Hub.

The plan was to chat and have fun with some people who have recently moved to town and want to practice English where it might not be their first (or second!) language. It was clear that football is universal, and there was some light jesting about who is currently losing to who while we walked to the gym equipment in Admirals park for a very serious and structured work out.

And by that I obviously mean have a mess about.

The plan is to do some more of these going forward, so if you want to show us how many chin-ups you can do or just have a wiggle on the surfer, come and have a chat!

2 sacks collected, 1 mile covered, Area looks better.

On a glorious sunny spring evening Jane and I arrived at the old factory gym ready to strut our sexy selves along to Hearing Help Essex .

Tonights task was to paint some of their picnic benches in their garden ready for the summer months. After a brief chat about Robert's excellent double half marathon weekend and Mohammed's brand new Goodgym T-shirt we set off at our usual Sexy pace ( apart from Erin and Jane who ran off chatting away ).

Just before we arrived we met Sallyann in the car park as she is recovering from a sore back but ready to paint those benches.

Unfortunately, Sophie from HHE wasn't able to meet us as she had a family emergency but left us instructions of where to find the paint and brushes, and what they were wanting us to do.

Richard and Mohammed posed for a photo with the benches before we got started ( before photo) and then we moved them onto the grass, the benches not Richard and Mohammad. The paint and brushes were in the greenhouse and as i collected them i realized that the 2 pots were different colours. I decided which one looked nicer and we set to work. Kate was alittle worried about getting paint in her goodgym t-shirt until someone pointed out Joel's t-shirt and that all the paint and stains were in fact badges of honour for years of service.

With all 3 benches painted we washed the brushes and trays and stood for a group photo (after photo). I took this as an opportunity to try and do a group heel click photo. Some heel clicks were done internally 😜. Andy's , as always, needs work 😎

A job well done, we set off into the sunset with a smile on our faces and again continued our sexy pace back to base.

If you'd like to know more about sexy pace please read https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jul/24/slow-running-revolution-sexy-pace-enjoy-the-race

its a way of life and what we are all about.

Thanks for coming guys and see you all next time.

Run Happy

Rich

Turns out, only I wanted to!

Anyway, we had a longer run tonight ahead of us to Beaulieu and were so raring to go I even forgot to take a pic. Did an action shot and happy with how clear it is!

Leah was very confident she knew the route there (ish), and led us right to where we wanted to be - a playground! Richard climbed into the tunnel after deciding he wouldn't get stuck, Mohammed clambered on top, and Steve surfed his way to glory.

We then crossed to the new pavement they'd built since last time we were there and met the rest of the gang. While it was supposed to be a painting task, it had switched to cleaning walls and windows after a paint snaffoo.

Leanne began to shamelessly brag about how she is one of a hundred people who is going to be swimming the marathon equivalent in September this year (everyone who knows her knows how much she loves to brag). Fay rudely asked me what was up with my face. Sallyann has sadly put her back out so had to do photos and joyfully pose with Charles with me. We finished up after Martin opined that he had deja vu in cleaning walls, right down to being asked to do the high stuff.

As we were leaving, it happened. Andy Holmes. Voted greatest DJ of all time (or something like that). Congrats! Sadly he turned away when I pretended to drop the trophy.

We headed back to get out of the car park before road closures and went on our merry way. Next week is painting at Meadow View!

We were back at Barrow farm helping dig a trench along the fence to keep the brambles at bay. Mohammed worked like a trooper while I opted for some slightly less energetic weeding! Good progress was made and Mohammed tried his first Jaffa cake. The verdict: delicious (obviously!)

Our next session is some painting at Beaulieu Community Centre, which means a slightly longer run this week. Sign up here

We said a very warm welcome to Mohammed for his first GoodGym task, looking to get fit and help out, as well as improve his English. Big thanks to Richard for helping Mohammed to register on the website and to request his t-shirt. Also thanks to Russell for reminding me to do a headcount before setting off; I'm a bit rusty on the old run leading protocol. We were pleasantly surprised to see Jane without Rich, apparently he had better things to do?!

Joel and Ben led us out along the bunny walks in the sun (it was still light?!) and up to Tyrells Primary School. Our task was to excavate heaps of soil and gravel and dig out the patchwork of weed suppressing membrane underneath. Fay was already digging when we arrived, and Sallyann was on photo duty.

Everyone grabbed a shovel and started digging. Some of the membrane was easier to get at than other areas; Martin, Joel, Russell, Fay and maybe Andy, worked particularly hard on one area and dragged out a large sheet of membrane as the last triumph of the evening.

There was some question as to how hard Andy was working, judge for yourselves from the photos.

Excellent work everyone. We'll be back in May for some more hard work.

We've got a community mission at Barrow Farm on Sunday morning and the quiz at the Ale House on Sunday evening, and next week we're painting at Beaulieu Community Centre.

See you all soon,

Laurie