17 runners ,including three whole newbies (Bryanne, Andy and Dan) and a last minute Stuart addition, met at Leisure World for our last group run of January. Tav gave us the exciting news that nationally GoodGym is very very close to its national target of 6,000 good deeds in January - this meant our run to Emmaus made a very important last minute contribution to this amazing target (which hopefully by the end of tomorrow will have been reached!). Well done all on contributing to this goodness! Other news included Emily being paired with her coach who she will run to on Thursday and Vanessa and Andy on their way to being mission verified.

After a brief but important warm-up in the cold, we headed up the hill and away to Emmaus warehouse in Colchester town centre. We met Jacko there who told us our task was to sort out the bags of donations and separate them into clothes, curtains and shoes. Most importantly, items in the black bin bags needed putting in to clear bin bags so that it was clear what they contained, for their future destinations. It is fair to say that it was curtains for the black bags. We steadily got to work in three teams, with a little bit of dressing-up in between. If the shoe fits... Kudos to Bob for the most fetching outfit and we think Chrissie has some close competitors for a traditional wedding dress! After 30 minutes of sorting we managed to bag roughly 30 bags of donations and cleared a whole section of the warehouse. Jacko was duly impressed and it is good to know that all the money raised from the selling of these donations goes directly back into Emmaus' great work with homeless schemes.

After the task, we headed to the outdoor gym near Leisure World for a fitness session with three parts: some running, some equipment and some squatting which got us all saying 'oh my quad..!'

We finished off with some stretching back in the warm at Leisure World. Hope to see you all back next week and/or at parkrun on Saturday. Good luck to Ian running Great Bentley half on Sunday - we hope he gets a wig(gle) on ;)

8 runners ran into the atmospheric moonlight of Colchester to help Emmaus.

I wooden reframe a thing, reflecting on another good year with GOODGYM!

This year has seen some wonderful moments. New members and established members getting on so well and helping so many organizations and people in the process. Missions have been done and coaches been run to. Olympics competed at, Romania visited, socials attended and carols sung.

The evening began with news. I would like to mention a man who loved garden birds, had traveled by sea to the middle east, spoke some Arabic and enjoyed a good moan! Goodgym helped him to sleep in darkness for his last days by putting blinds up and I hope he inspires Goodgym Colchester to reduce loneliness in our community. A reminder of how simple acts really help. Thanks Goodgym for setting this up.

Additional news was about the new Goodgym Colchester Trainer. ME! *Also Vanessa, who was fashionably late(ish)but so welcome, has hit the magic 5 0. *

So off we went to Emmaus with Michelle and Ian back-marking - warming up and stretching on the way. We met Jimmy at the Warehouse and he explained our task. A room full of framed pictures and mirrors. Picture this - a reflection of true community spirit.

We had to dump broken stuff in the skip and sort the rest into size and mirrors. Some classic Kandinsky amongst some less classic artwork. Each to their own but the creepy clowns, some girls with bonnets, some white horses frolicking in the midst of a waterfall and Bob found something that took his fancy too!

We had 35 minutes and we completed the whole task. Jimmy explained the impact we have made saying that they have two people working in the warehouse and it can be tough to complete essential tasks. The artwork can now be sorted and sold in shops. So pleased we can help EMMAUS.

For treat I surprised the runners with some bowling! Strikes and spares all over the place and looking fab under the UV lights.

See you at the Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - HAPPY RUNNING!

Goodgym reframe fitness so your resolutions will need to be about something else! (If you believe in them)