Last time we went to the Berry maze the weather was horrendous so it was really nice to arrive to bright skies and sunshine today.

It was also the first time in a while that we had no new folks so we kept the introductions brief and got right down to our run along the Malago greenway with Shona taking on a new role of back marking after she had kindly agreed to come along an back me up today in case I got called away.

Once at the maze we were informed that once again some posts had sadly been ripped out so we were divided into three groups - post bashers, weeders and bramble removers.

The post bashers had fun with the post-bashing tool, ably reinstating the two removed posts from their position on top of the ladder.

The weeders demonstrated excellent hoe technique, especially when they worked out which way round the hoe went and the bramble removers managed to stop just short of removing any berries.

Half way through we even had time to take on a bonus mission, removing an old mattress from where it had been dumped on the river bank. There was a lot of to me-to you action with the added hazard of riverside brambles causing Liam's slip to be slightly more painful than it might otherwise have been , but with four pairs of hands fully employed it was eventually successfully re-deployed to a roadside location for pick up by Bristol waste.

19 jolly runners joined us on our trip to bramble hill farm.

Starting at the roll for soul, Bristolian goodgymmers embarked on a 2.5 mile adventure. They crossed rivers, ran through parks, over hills, up never ending steps, and in true goodgym spirit, nobody was left behind! We even saw some new faces - and great faces they were and, are for that matter, - give it up for Ben, who is going to be the trainer for GoodGym Cardiff, and also give a cheer for Molly, Robyn and Miranda who joined us on their first ever GoodGym run. Wahoo! We are looking forward to see you again!

Our adventure took us to Bramble Hill Farm. There Chris introduced the GoodGym fellowship to the task and explained what we had to do in the time given to us (30 minutes). We then put on our gloves on, picked up our axes, grabbed the hosepipe, placed the wheelbarrow in prime position, and took up the challenge. We tackled weeds, dug deep, put stakes in the ground and hit the ground hard. There was mud, sweat and sheers. We also fed the 3 little pigs, but no sign of the big bad wolf, only the little fluffy cat.

With 5 minutes left we packed up, knowing that there was scrumptious strawberry and raspberry cake, made by Kim, waiting to eaten! It was berry, berry good in deed.

After devouring the cake and saying an oinky farewell to the pigs, we headed back. Again we ran over hills, down endless steps and through underpasses.

Ben led the warm down and we headed back to roll in the soul for a well earned lunch, Nom Nom.

Thanks to the new Cardiff trainer Ben for writing the report. We're look forward to joining you for some group runs in Cardiff soon.

19 stars braved the cold on Saturday to run 4 km to clear leaves at a primary school in Windmill Hill

Well these Saturdays are becoming a bit of a good thing, aren't they? On the morning of the run we had around a dozen people signed up and heading into town in sub-zero conditions, I was hopeful that we might get somewhere close to 10 people turning up - but by the time we were ready to set off we had grown to 16, with another 3 due to meet us at today's task!

With comments ranging from "it's a bit chilly" to "it's sooooo cold out there!", it really should have come as no surprise that Chris (who is quickly taking over Deb's mantle of GoodGym Bristol ambassador) still managed to come along in T-shirt and shorts, whereas the rest of us were all wrapped up in our warmest gear!

It was great to see Charlene and Will joining us for their first GoodGym run (hope you enjoyed it both) and that Maddy, Julia and Anthony had not been put off by last week's very muddy affair and had returned this week for more!

After a quick briefing accompanied by jogging on the spot, we headed to St Mary Redcliffe Primary School, on the edge of Victoria Park in Windmill Hill where we were met, not only by Gary, Nick and Fiona, but also by our wonderful host, Simone, who explained today's task to us. Each spring the school plant flower beds along the bank at the front of the school and with the bank being covered in leaves, our job was to clear these using an array of tools, including rakes, paddles and bags.

Given the cold conditions, everyone was very keen to keep moving and quickly set about clearing up the leaves and in no time at all the bags were full - the only problem being there were still lots more leaves to clear, so we had to find a suitable place to dump our collection so that we could refill more bags.

It was also evident that the bags weren't particularly strong, so any stray twigs tended to split them, or if they were thrown to the ground, rather than placed, they had a tendency to pop and burst open (Chris!!) - almost leading to a "Breaking Bag" pun!

Having cleared the leaves, some of the group set about weeding the bank, but without suitable tools to do so, we agreed that this was perhaps best left for another day and with several members trying to find the small sunny spots on the roadside in an effort to keep warm with the task completed we decided to warm back up with a run back to base, but not before Gary had handed out Red Laces to those bringing along friends to GoodGym - our first recipients of these prestigious awards were Julia, Nick and Alice!

Arriving back at Roll For The Soul, we had stretches and announcements - for Tuesday's run to Portland Square and next Saturday's run to the Northern Slopes - and then into the cafe for some well earned refreshment. The discovery by Alice that you can mix and match your wrap was indeed a revelation - we even renamed my wrap a Falafelloumi in celebration!

Thank you all for braving the cold today - it warms the heart, it really does, to run with such amazing, dedicated and lovely people. Thanks to Mel and Chris too for back marking and helping to get everyone there and back safely.

Until next time! Falafeleaf!

Dave

17 amazing runners joined us to run 9k to and around Easton delivering flyers for LifeCycle for our first Saturday Starter session of 2017

A misty morning greeted us as we convened at Roll For The Soul, greeting our two new runners, Becca and Sally and welcoming back Becky after some time away - we really hope you all enjoyed your run with us today and hope to see you again soon.

Caroline, Mel, Gary, Matt, Dave and Becky had all headed down from Ashton Court parkrun, resulting in some impressive long runs today, including Chloe who had also run over from home and back. It was also great to see Paul back running today as he coaxes his legs back from injury.

Today's task was to deliver flyers for LifeCycle to help promote their new monthly Wellbeing Cafe meet ups, as part of their Bike Minded project, bringing the benefits of cycling to anyone in Bristol experiencing wellbeing issues. They had specifically asked us to target community centres, groups and shops in Easton, perfect for a relatively gentle start to our 2017 Saturday running sessions.

Heading out as one group to the Trinity Centre, we then split into two groups with Gary leading one group out to cover the Stapleton Road and St Marks Road areas, whilst Dave lead the other group down Easton Road and then up towards Greenbank. A special mention must go to Becca who, on her first run and using her local knowledge, assisted in leading us along some unfamiliar territory and seeking out suitable sites for our flyers.

Arriving back at the Trinity Centre first, Gary put his group through some lunges (naturally!) whilst waiting for the others to return.

Then it was back to Roll For The Soul for some well earned stretches and sustenance - and a chance to say farewell to Sion, who is heading up to Sheffield today and will no doubt be able to pass on her GoodGym expertise with GG Sheffield. We all wish you well in your next adventure Sion!

As Gary mentioned at the end of the run, we have some regular Saturday runs coming up so keep an eye on the website to sign up for these - it was great to have so many of you along today! Matt also provided an update regarding the Race Team - again keep an eye on the website for details of local races that we are attending and those further afield too!

It was really great to see everyone today and thank you for getting our Saturdays off to a great start for the new year! I only wish I had taken a few more photos of you all working your magic - my apologies!

Until next time you wonderful people!

Dave

For this week's Saturday run we were forecast heavy rain and really strong winds! But this didn't put off a brave band of goodgymers, and the weather luckily stayed dryish.

We met as usual on a Saturday at Roll for the Soul and then headed to Bedminster via Queen's Square for a bit of dynamic stretching.

In Bedminster our task was to work with the Patchwork group to transform a piece of land into a community orchard. By the time we arrived the trees had been planted so it was our role to clear some rubble and plant hundreds of bulbs all over the site. Working in twos and threes we got stuck in and got in done double quick!

There was just time for some cake before we headed back to Roll for the Soul via a longer run around the harbour. And we even stayed dry-ish!

Last Saturday, 12 wonderful runners covered a 6 mile there and back trip to help Easton Community Gardens get ready for the winter.

We met at Roll for the Soul and in two separate waves headed off, although the slightly slower wave caught us up as we waited at traffic lights. There were some post marathon legs, some injured legs and some self proclamed old and stiff legs, and as it was a reasonable distance, we took it reasonably easy.

We were blessed with absolutely perfect running conditions; cool and bright, no breeze, a wonderful autumnal day, but it was still hot work running up the very deceptively gentle hill on the cycle path - deceptive because it looks flat, and you feel like you're running at a normal flat road pace but just not making as much headway as you'd expect!

We arrived in a few groups, having spread out on the long cycle route, but Christina, our contact at the garden, had people working from the second they arrived - the very embodiment of organisation. Tasks included sweeping up a lot of leaves, turning over a compost bin that frankly smelt vile, adding leaves to another compost bin to make leaf mould, and also renewing the floor of the beautiful wattle and daub type shelter that dominates one end of the garden.

After about 40 minutes, it was time to make the run back - faster this time as we had the joy of the downhill slope, still deceptive but this time in a nice way, like having a tailwind. The group spread out again, but everyone made it back to the start point in one piece. Lovely.

It was a beautiful autumnal day for the latest Saturday run. It feels like its been a while since we’ve met at Roll for the Soul and it was good to be back. This week’s run was in Redcliffe, so a pretty short run, helping LinkAge to restore a community garden and rockery for older people in the community. We were joined by Steph from GoodGym Bath, who took us a through a warm up in Queen’s Square, running quick laps around the statue. When we got to the garden we joined members of the community who were already hard at work pulling up vegetation, shifting rocks and planting some alpine plants. We planned to run back a longer way, but we were given the option of having some soup instead, not a very hard decision! It was great to work closely with a community group, and we’ll definitely be back to give them a hand making the garden a reality.