Tonight was the 10th anniversary celebrations for GoodGym, so with the flag ready we headed to Stanhope for the last time this summer.

On arrival we got Liam to help hold up the flag, with it being his birthday as well! He is slightly older then 10 of course! That is obviously the reason behind this weeks pun, thought up by John. Once inside (well outside of course!) we did plenty of weeding as the sun was going down. After that was done and we headed off from Stanhope for the last time until next spring, the group were ready for some interval training, in the last of the light.

Pyramids were the order of the day. A mix of 30, 45 second and 1 minute efforts. Everyone worked well, John and David pushing from the front. Naomi worked hard on each effort, showing great form. Mariam pushed hard in preparation for her run at the Midland Road Relays on Saturday representing Bourneville Harriers. Laura and Morwenna pulled each other a long with Charlotte and Jane doing likewise. As ever it was a great sight to see the group charging a long the wide open road, giving it everything, top stuff!

Once done there’s always the tough run back and of course it’s always up hill! However as the temperatures dropped and the light started to go (yep sadly winter is on its way) a hilly run kept the chill away as we headed back to 1000 Trades.

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

Tonight we had a dozen GoodGymers ready to do some goody. It was off to Birmingham Mission for this evening’s task. Balal did the front marking job and John the back.

On arrival we were told that the meals had already been served as they had received a pizza donation, hence this weeks great pun thought up by David! Therefore the job was a bit smaller tonight, just some washing up for the group to do.

Once that was done it was on to the hills! Two sets of four minutes of Kenyan hills, with ninety seconds rest between the sets. That’s continuous hard running, both up and down the hill, certainly not easy! John was flying up them tonight, with Antonio giving everything not far behind. Karin and Laura pushed each on along as usual, as did both Charlotte and Laura! Fiaz pushed hard especially on the steepest part of the hill, Oh and Rob added in his customary sprint finish in the last 20 seconds!

Once done we headed back to 1000 Trades and that was job done.

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

This week we headed to Stanhope garden for another bit of green fingered action. Liam did the front marking and Charlotte the back. We ran the just over 3k to the centre, on arrival we were told we could do ‘what we like’ in the garden! Yep they must trust us that much now, they don’t even need to direct us! This weeks pun came from Mini, as we literally were ‘running wild’ in the garden! Well not exactly, plenty of weeding took place actually!

Once done we headed back to base, but of course first it was fitness session time. Short, fast efforts off short, fast recoveries was the order of the day! Yep ten lots of 20 seconds with just a measly 10 seconds recovery. George and Liam sprinted off into the distance. Miriam and Naomi pushed hard on each rep and Fiona put in some hard graft. John preparing for his assault on the BRAT 5k road race tomorrow night, held back somewhat, to preserve those legs. As ever everybody worked well, we even had some impressed on lookers for good measure!

We then had the infamous up hill run back to 1000 Trades. Karin even nearly had a collision with a Seagull on the way back! If it’s after the sea, me thinks it’s lost in Brum! Anyway everyone arrived back in one piece, albeit somewhat tired, after a great workout, so job done!

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

It was great to see everyone tonight, especially our two newbies Mini and Gavin, a very warm welcome to them both!

Once all introductions were done it was time to head off to tonight’s task, Mission Care. With Dave leading the way and Balal on back marking duties, no one was going to get lost en route!

Once we had done the short run to Mission Care, it was time to split into two teams - one heading upstairs to sort clothes and find some for the users, while the second group helped serve food and wash up.

After all tasks had been completed, it was time to say our goodbyes and head on our way to tonight’s fitness session: 6 minutes Hill Sprints on our favourite hill.

Everyone pushed really hard, chasing each other down, or should that be up! Not only is running uphill great for your stamina, but it's also great for building leg muscles, which helps with your speed. Downhill running engages your lower abs and works your quads.

Once everyone had their breaths back, it was time to run back to base the slightly longer route of course! We ran through the centre past the Primark, up into Cathedral Square, then onto the very nice downhill Newhall St for a short recovery!

Once back it was time for a quick stretch and to come up with tonight’s pun - credit goes to Emily, with a little help from George!

Sign up here for next weeks run with Jonny as Sub 14 minute 5K runner!

See you all then,

Rob

On another near on perfect night for running, we were off to the Birmingham Mission for our monthly visit. Liam did the front marking job and Sam preparing for the Birmingham 10k on Sunday did the back marker stint.

We arrived at the Mission too our usual friendly welcome. A few of the group were serving while the others were plating up the food. Charlotte, Karin, Jane, Rob and Liam had a bit of a conveyor belt going, plating up the food, then passing it out to be served. There were plenty of pasties, sausage rolls and peas.

Once done, it was hill work time! Eight minutes tonight of running up hard and then easy back down. Liam and John, (who was preparing for being part of the GoodGym Race Team at the London 10k on Monday) led the way. Rob and David pushed each other a long, especially right at the end when they had a little sprint race. Fiona worked hard, Charlotte drove her arms hard to power up the hill and Jane and Karin kept the intensity up all the way to the end. Once done everyone was pretty ‘cream crackered’ (see the picture of some of the group sat down and some leaning against the wall!)

Once they had got their breath back we headed back to 1000 Trades via the canal and luckily we didn’t run into any hissing geese this week!

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

On a perfect evening to be outside, we were lucky to have the canal litter pick as tonight’s task.

Myself doing front marker duties and Charlotte the back we headed to the canal. We split into two groups to pick the litter, whilst watching out for the Canadian geese, who having just had their babies, did like a good hiss at us! We filled plenty of bags and John even found a fancy dress outfit that Charlotte modelled as you can see in the picture.

Next job was to run to Millennium Point for the one mile time-trial. Tonight John had brought a new stop watch that I could ‘click’ everytime somebody crossed the line making it much easier to time everyone! We had more PB’s tonight, George sneaked under 6 minutes, having a great race with John. Will posted a fantastic 7.17 clocking on his first time-trial, Morwenna was only two seconds behind with another PB! Karin also got a new personal best and Jane put in a great effort just behind on what was her first time-trial. Fiona ran just under ten minutes, which wasn’t bad considering she missed the start looking for a toilet! Anyway that was a ‘Pee-B’ for her!

Next it was the small matter of the 2k up hill slog back to base, but we made it, so top work everyone.

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

On a near on perfect night for running, we welcomed Gwen to GG for the first time, it’s great to have you with us!

Tonight’s task was running around the city centre handing out fruit and information cards for SIFA Fireside. We quickly used up our fruit, hence this weeks pun! But carried on giving out plenty of cards.

Once done, we headed to St Paul’s square for a circuit workout. It started with press ups, followed by some high knees running. Next we went onto the grass for the first time this summer and did some core stuff. Starting with superman’s, Tom showed a very stable core. Next it was the plank, Laura and Liam showing good core strength. Next it was a back extension, a fantastic exercise to improve posture. Fiona worked well on this one, it really is a tough exercise, considering you move very little. Last of all was the wall squats. Two sets of 45 seconds, with just 15 seconds recovery, a right killer! Morwenna held it in perfect position and Tatiana and Gwen, gritted their teeth together to hold it for the whole duration. Then one very last thing was added, two sets of tuck jumps! 20 seconds effort with 10 seconds recovery. Two sets was the task, but much to Rob’s disgust of course I added a 3rd ;-) And that was the end! It was tiring writing all that never mind doing it!

Oh yes of course, well we were virtually done, we still had a short run back to 1000 Trades, then that was definitely it!

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.