8 excellent GoodGymmers braved the uncertain weather for our group run and litter pick this evening. We welcomed back Meera who is gonna be sticking around Coventry for a bit so we hope to be seeing more of her :)

We all set off on the short run to Stoney Stanton Road where we were starting the litter pick. We were due to meet Joe at the Canal bridge near the Leicester Causeway.

We arrived at the beginning of Stoney Stanton, splitting into 2 teams on either side of the road Meera, Lilian, Allan and Georgia on one side and Graham, James and Laura on the other and got cracking. After a few minutes we quickly realised that making it to the canal was a bit optimistic given the volume of rubbish around. We contacted Joe and told him it would be best for him to start walking to us to join us on the pick as there was no way we would make it that far in the time we had. The bags were soon filled so we decanted what we could into the roadside bins and Laura had to pop to the shop for extra bing bag supplies to keep up with the demand!

It was sad to see so much rubbish around, we chatted with a fellow litter picker from a local Mosque who was telling us about what a mess it can be around there. At the end of our session we got rid of the bags of waste and head back. It was just starting to rain at that point but we very much welcomed it, hoping that it would wash off the bin juice! Luckily it was only a light drizzle and the heavy rain only just caught us during the cool down but we managed to get shelter inside Coventry boys and Girls club.

Brilliant effort tonight everyone, well done!

Four GoodGym Coventry members walked 6 km to support the Canal and Rivers Trust and Sustrans keep the paths clean. Without a run leader present, we enjoyed a warm and sunny walk to the canal, starting at bridge 4 making our way to the canal basin. We welcomed Graham on his first session with GoodGym Coventry, it was great to have you along!

We split off into pairs, Grahamand Allan trotted on ahead (we decided it was too hot to run but not to hot to trot) leaving Georgia and Laura at the start. Graham and Allan then picked a point and started walking back towards Georgia and Laura so that we would meet in the middle. Once we met in the middle we did the same again, mixing partners so that we could all have a chat. By this time the temperature had cooled down so it wasn't too uncomfortable collecting all the litter. Most of the rubbish was empty cans of beer and pop, we did find a barbecue which was a bit too big to fit on our bags and saw a floating childs car seat. The paths were actually fairly clean and we didn't have too much to collect but did still get 2 bags of rubbish. Was lovely to see all the flora and fauna, bees, ducks and swan family and a not so nice dead rat! Along the way we passed runners, walkers, people fishing and a group of children kayaking.

Fab work guys, hope to see you next week!

4 GoodGymers ran to help the Canal and River trust keep Coventry canals tidy and we welcomed back Andrew on his second group run with us.

We started at the normal spot, Priestley's Bridge (4) off the Leicester Causeway with our head torches shining bright! There was the usual suspects, take away boxes, cans and bottles but our strangest find was a poor little bag of bait looking very sad indeed - which we decided to leave rather than them going to waste.

With not much litter to be picked along the paths, we only managed to fill one bin bag between us. As we dropped the bin bag at the normal spot for collection we started to feel spots of rain, luckily it didn't get much heavier as we made our way back to base at CBGC.

I have returned to find a message to say that this evening was my 50th good deed and my much awaited black t-shirt is on its way, its only taken me 3 years!

Next week we will be back at Clothing Coventry so hope to see you there!

This evening 3 GoodGym Coventry members ran 6 km to support the Canal and Rivers Trust and Sustrans keep the paths clean from bridge 4 to the canal basin.

It was great to catch up and hear about Laura's recent running exploits andLaura 's busy weekends with social engagements.

Although we had started in fairly grey skies we kept mainly dry. The paths were actually fairly clean and we didn't have too much to collect but did still get 2 bags of rubbish.

It was great to see the canal looking so lovely and some runners, walkers and people fishing were enjoying the canal paths.

Next week we are supporting the Social Supermarket.

7 Goodgymers (plus an honourary Goodgymer, Luciana) met on a balmy summer's evening for a pick along the Coventry Canal.

After a quick warm up, we soon realised very little warm up had been required(!) as the evening's humidity quickly became clear as we jogged the mile or so to the canal bridge in Foleshill. Jackie decided to cycle instead of run so she was already waiting for us when we arrived at the canal.

We took a two pronged attack, with 4 of us continuing our run along the canal to the next bridge whilst 4 started to pick immediately, with the two groups meeting up again along the way back into town.

More unusual items found included what looked like the frame for a shopping trolley bag (minus the bag) and some rather friendly cats that seemed to be playing it cool hanging out under one of the canal bridges.

It was great to see that there was considerably less rubbish than there has been during our previous picks along the canal, although we still managed to collect around 6 full bags of rubbish.

We then had a quick fitness session including some friendly competition in the form of a relay race before finishing our last stretch of the run back to the Boys and Girls club.

It was lovely to welcome back some familiar faces after a bit of a break over the summer including John, Jackie, Deb and Susanne. We especially enjoyed meeting Susanne's friend Luciana for her first ever Goodgym group run.

Three Goodgymers braved the heavy rain and families of swans and geese to run 6km and collect three bags of litter on the Coventry canal.

Having not looked at the forecast, we left our waterproofs at the start point and started our run out to the Coventry canal. What started off as a light shower quickly turned into heavy rain as we plogged our way back towards the canal basin. Not long after passing under bridge three we encounted two swan parents and six cygnets blocking the path, so after a quick diversion, we rejoined the canal only to be diverted once more by a family of geese!

Absolutely soaking wet by this point, we made our way back through the city centre, wrung out our goodgym tshirts and went home for a hot shower and a cuppa!