For the fifth in the GoodGym Race Team 2019 'Big-Six' series over a hundred GoodGym runners came from across the country from Newcastle, Sheffield, Cardiff, Portsmouth, London, Swindon and a few other places in-between to the South West for the Bath Two tunnels race and a GG South West summer party.

Summary

There are loads of photos here, and a brief description below to make sense of the images:

parkrun

The weekend started at Somerdale Pavilion parkrun where runners both marshalled and ran the crazy 'curly wurly' course, the sight or #redthunder flooded across the course was lovely, it was agreed that trying to describe the course is nearly impossible it just needs to be run/walked to be enjoyed.

River Run

A few runners then enjoyed a trail run along the River Avon from the parkrun to the community mission, although the heat and owing to a few people not reading the event description it was tougher than some thought. but the joy on Dharmesh’s face when he saw bits of countryside was lovely "oooo a duck!".

Community mission

Next a GoodGym weekend would not be complete without a good deed (or a double deed day for the parkrun High-Vis Heroes) So we convened on Bramble Hill farm which would be our venue for the party, but we had to earn those burgers first! Therefore Chris (GG Bristol founder) set us all to work, weeding, watering and digging whilst we all talked to other GoodGym members from across the country. The sight of nearly a hundred GoodGym red t-shirts spread across the farm like a swarm of helpful locusts reminds us of the joys of GoodGym that many hands can achieve so, so much.

🎂Party Time

So, after the running and doing good, it was time to have the GG SW summer party and unlike last year the weather was in our favour with glorious sunshine!
So with the venue of the Northern Slopes (confusingly in the south of Bristol) and a backdrop of the Clifton suspension bridge (if you knew where to look) the party commenced with the running events of a Vertical 100m race (yes 100m of climbing) and 'what goes up must come down' therefore there was also the west country tradition of Cheese rolling down a hill with some crazy GoodGym runners chasing it (note the hill was not as steep as the real thing!)

Then it was time for a BBQ and general socialise plus the all-important Birthday cake judging.

After the food some further leisurely games were played including:

• Welly Wanging
  
• Three-legged race
  
• Wheelbarrow race
  
• Forward roll race
  
• Aesthetically pleasing forward-roll competition
  
• What's the time Mr Wolf?
  
• Bloody Knee - a Czech kid’s game
  

In addition, some relaxation was available including Goat Yoga and Pig-lattes.

Finally, it was also able to release some anger with a wet sponge throw and a Splat the Marrow game, special thanks to all whom volunteered to be sponge targets!

Race Day

Sunday was race day, and so the tonnes of #RedThunder pulled in to the Bath Two tunnels race station, with a multitude of options from 50K ultra, a 50K team relay option, a 10K, half or full marathon. Everybody had a race to suit them and a chance to challenge themselves.

There were so many achievements with race placings, Personal Bests and runners proving they were on track for an upcoming challenge, these included but are not limited to:
* GG Hammersmith and Fulham 50K mixed relay team - 1st place!
* Alex Moylett - 4th - Lady at Half Marathon
* Rich Dowling - 4th - Half Marathon
* David Ewans - 4th - Marathon

A few thanks and appreciation

Events like this weekend wouldn't be possible without a load of volunteers, so a quick note to say thanks to everyone who made this special weekend happen, from the organising team of the parkun takeover, the BBQ and party, the MC's the bakers, and the race logistics, the pub finders. Also, thanks to everyone who came and those cajoled and organised their fellow GoodGymers to come along too. It really wouldn't be the same without you all.
Matt

Thanks guys for organising today. You put a lot of effort into making it fun and memorable and it certainly was.
Ben

Thanks for a great day everyone.
See you tomorrow
💙 Team Portsmouth

Lovely to meet you all, looking forward to the next big GoodGym get together.
Sophie

Well done to everyone I know there were a lot of PBs 😃 love the two tunnels race!
Clo

Thanks to the organisers, the bakers, the bbq-ers, the farmers and of course the ever amazing support during the race. Safe travels home to those from further afield. (And happy birthday to Matt!).
Emma

What next?

• The next GG Race Team 'Big-6' is the [Scottish Half marathon and 10K (https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/scottish-half-marathon-and-10k)
• The next chance to cheer people on is at the Green Man ultra on Saturday 24th
• Cross country is coming, and the first race of the Gwent league is 12th October in Cardiff - other areas check locally for races.

On a muggy summer’s evening 13 of Goodgym’s bestest runners met to clean two sets of windows and ran up to 8km in the process.

It was another bumper week at Goodgym Redbridge with three new runners joining Goodgym for the first time - welcome James, Peter and Jenny. With Moloko joining us for the second week in a row and a number of the regular team in attendance there were plenty of runners keen to do good in the Borough.

With briefings done and Goodgym Olympics Captain Dharmesh recruiting for the event on Saturday 3 August it was soon off up Wanstead High Street for the night’s task. Window cleaning can be an expensive cost for charity shops and a drain on limited finances. This is where Goodgym can play a key role and make the windows sparkling and clean in a matter of minutes.

Armed with squeegees, sponges and old newspaper, the team set to work on two charity shops on Wanstead High Street - Barnados and St Francis Hospice. Team work makes the dream work and within 20 minutes both shops were sparkling clean and ready to do business.

Once the task is done, the fitness can begin and Team Redbridge were rapidly stowing tools and heading along the quiet local streets for a 2km warm. Back at George Green the team split into pairs for a GG Redbridge favourite - High Five Fartlek speed session.

In this fun but challenging workout, one runner goes anti-clockwise and the other clockwise, high-fiving each other each time they meet and alternating pace between easy and hard running. It’s a great session for working on pacing and developing sustainable speed - necessary skills to smash out a new 5k or 10k PB.

With everyone working hard for 25 minutes, there was just enough time for some static stretching to prevent those post workout DOMS. Great work team. You’re all legends!

We’re on a roll at Goodgym Redbridge right now, so why not come down and check out the good vibes and do good in the Borough. You can sign up to next week’s run on the right of the report.

On a pleasant summer evening in the borough of Redbridge, seven of Goodgym's most dedicated runners installed Bee Hotels in Snaresbrook and ran 4km around Eagle Pond.

Over the past few months we've been trying to do more tasks that help improve the environment. In March we built Bee Hotels with the aim of providing somewhere for native bees to lay their eggs. These hotels can provide an excellent way of improve the local bee (and other insect) population and help pollinate flowers and plants.

Having built the hotels some time back, we've been looking for sites to host them and in an attempt to revitalise a spot of land near Snaresbrook Station we planned to install them there. Armed with some tools and plenty of sticks and bark to repair the hotels after a few weeks of storage the team headed off up the street.

With one team rebuilding the hotels and another attempting to drill holes, the task was soon underway. However, the bricks proved to be more robust than expected and only one of the hotels was installed during the time. We will have to come back another week to finish the job.

Although the task took a little longer than expected, there was still time to do our favourite trail run around Eagle Pond before heading back to base.

An especially big shout out this week to Linda who kindly donated some of her old tools to Wanstead Community Gardeners, an organisation dear to our heart and one of our very favourite task owners. Thank you Linda!

Join us next week as we get up to more good deeds in the Community!