After a previous trip to Wales in 2015 we were back to race the train again and this time we brought reinforcements

Over 60 runners from all around the Goodgym world, representing at least 16 different areas, travelled West to Tywyn to take on the mighty Talyllyn Railway.

After some perhaps over-complicated swapping around of cars and passengers and fueled on by a delicious Friday night pasta dinner cooked by Sophie we were raring to go on Saturday morning and looking forward to a day of racing and cheering.

This time we had a presence in every race. First across the line was Dave who came 2nd behind a teenage boy in the 3.5 mile long Tynllwywyn Hen Challenge. Continuing on a theme, Axel was also unfortunately beaten to the line by children, three of them this time, in the 5.5 mile Dolgoch Challenge. They showed a distinct lack of respect for his beard and sunglasses and only allowed him to come in fourth.

Next up was the 10K Quarry Challenge where we had quite a few runners and three train beaters - Simon, Andy and Jack Bradley.

Then came the main event, the 14 mile Rotary Challenge. Not content with already having beaten one train, Simon followed the lead of Pritesh and took the start line again. In this one we had both runners and riders, while the runners were battling with the mud and hills out on the course Andy, Frances, Sarah and Lina were cheering them on from the comfort of the train. That cheering must have worked because this time PB Jr, Sam, Graham and Jacob all beat the train.

With the racing over some went for a dip in the sea before heading back to the bunkhouse where Kevin and his kitchen crew were knocking up a couple of very tasty tagines. After dinner we were treated to a party courtesy of DJ Coyle (aka DJ Ironing board) and danced the night away until 1am.

Another amazing weekend away, can't wait for the next one.

18 GoodGymers turned out to litter pick in Sheffield City Centre. Our group run took us from our start location, over to the railway station, through the centre of Sheffield and down the Moor . We collected every empty can, take-away box and sweet wrapper we could find.

The Task

Quite a different task from the previous 2 weeks. It was a simple case of picking up as much litter as we could find to make Sheffield look as pretty as possible in time for the Christmas markets opening. Our loyal Goodgymers donned their gloves and got stuck straight in. We managed to fill 6 bin bags, despite some of the streets being actually very clean.

Session 1

On arriving in the Peace Gardens we spend 10-15 minutes doing some run drills to focus on running form. The main points were:

1. Ensuring body position is tall, head high, no hunching
2. No lateral body movement (side to side)
3. Heel kicks up to the rear - this assists forward thrust, increasing efficiency and speed
4. Knees are raised to the front
5. Elbows at 90 degree angle
6. Use the arms to help create force. pump those bad boys!

Session 2

Our second session was based in a semi empty car park where we did some interval shuttle runs. Despite the efforts being short in time, the intensity was extremely high and the group worked exceptionally hard. The sets were:

1 minute work, 30 seconds rest. 45 seconds work, 45 seconds rest at an increased intensity. 30 seconds work, 1 minute rest - all out. 30 seconds work, then finish.

Then back to base

On arrival back at the hotel we did a few upper body conditioning exercises. Tri dips and press ups, concentrating on form. We then did a thorough warm down and witnessed some unfortunate wind escaping from a certain person who was very embarrassed, but confident enough to style it out.

Next week we are back in to the digging and moving type of task. Over at Heeley City farm again. This time we are helping out on the farm by moving some manure. It will be a great task and we will have lots of fun. You can register for it here Fun at the farm

A huge thanks to everyone once again. We are a great little running community and it will only grow stronger. We salute you!!!

18 Arctic warfare trained GoodGymers turned out to the second group run at Goodgym Sheffield. This week we headed over to a local project next to Heeley City Farm. A company called Strip the Willow is building affordable eco houses that are made from more than 80% recycled materials. Our task was to clear the land at the side of the show home and fill up some planters with the soil which were made from reclaimed timber.

We met at the beautiful Copthorne hotel, had a quick brief and head count, then were away....

The task was just over a kilometer from the start location so we treated it as a warm up and took the opportunity to chat n run. The Sheffield group sure are a sociable lot.

We met Jon, the project manager, who issued our tools and showed us where we needed to dig and where to put the soil. He also explained the nature of the project and his ambitions to provide more and more affordable eco houses across the city. There was a huge pile of building materials we needed to move out of the way which seemed to be cleared in seconds. Jon kindly provided water and juice for our team of merry Goodgymers which was gratefully received.

Hills pay the bills

Once again we had more volunteers than spades, so we split the group in two. Group one started the task and group 2 Joined Tom, a member of Goodgym who happens to be a ninja PT instructor. Tom took each group in turn through some conditioning drills and a few gallops up the steep hill adjoining the farm.

Due to the locality of the task we spent a good 50 minutes digging, barrowing, shifting, talking and stacking. It was immense to see exactly how much we can get done in such a short space of time.

After all that excitement we jogged home and stretched those muscle fibers as Alex told us of his experiences as a coach runner in Sheffield. Thanks, Alex. We can't wait to have you back in Steel City.

Next week we head deep in to Sheffield city centre to clear litter and do a fitness session in the peace gardens (renamed beast gardens). We will also be armed with flyers to help us recruit some more Sheffield Goodgymers among the late night shoppers. This will be a great task once again. Hope to see you there. 6:30pm, Copthorne Hotel, every Monday. Register by clicking here https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/litter-grabbing-flash-mob-followed-by-city-centre-interval-training

Thank you all for coming along in the cold weather. I think you are all amazing

What do Catwoman, several south London Zombies, a giant spider, Pikachu, a banana in his pyjamas, some vampires and bats, plus a whole host of the undead have in common?

They all met in Wandsworth last night for a mammoth run where GoodGym became BadGym for one night only….

Scream if you want to go faster

It was a huge turnout with no less than 36 runners ready to take to the streets, and we had a number of excellent new faces. Hello to Amanuel, Anna, Leanne, Maddy, Rebekah, Eva, and Molina and a huge welcome. It was also lovely to see our ace Greenwich visitors Steve, Alex and Christian. Come again soon, and we will definitely be visiting your home ground!

Before we hit the road looking like the cast of Thriller, we had a special Halloween themed CoRUNdrum to think about while we ran. Jack O’lanterns traditionally used to be carved out of which fruit or vegetable before we started using pumpkins?

Be-corpse we’re (Wands) Worth it

With Catwoman and Spiderwoman backmarking, we limped, groaned, shuffled and dragged our undead selves down to our Halloween themed task at St Paul’s Churchyard and its neighbouring community garden. With a few stops along the way to do some horrible high knees and jumping Jack o’lanterns we were there in no time, ready to move a pile of wood from the garden into the churchyard ready for the annual bonfire at the weekend. There was also plenty to do in the decomposing compost bins, plus dead leaves to rake and logs to stake, I mean, stack. With the task done it was a sprint to the common to play some fiendish running games. We turned a few heads as we went, and even earned a salute from a mini-Trump with accurately sized hands.

Team spirits

First off was Zombie Tag, with Maddy, Emma then Ben and Trish all sprinting hard to tag as many victims as they could. Then it was Team John (who is the mysterious John?) versus Team Rocket in a terrifyingly competitive game of capture the flag. Pikachu made a valiantly fluorescent bid for the prize, with The Banana following in his yellowy footsteps, but it was a photo finish by Jack from Team John and Amanuel from Team Rocket.

We finished with an epic relay. It was Team Rocket V Team Lame Rocket V Team John V Team John Paul (names need a bit of work, guys) and it was a fight to the death. OK, not to the death, but to the finish line. Well done to Team John who cleared up with a resounding win, but congratulations to you all for some spooktacular sprinting.

It was dead fun

Back to our starting point we ran with a frantic game of Beat the Reaper (thank you Lambeth for this great idea!). Grim Reapers Jack and David gave the group a 2:45 head start, before trying to chase us down in a race back to the Battersea Arts Centre. Nothing like a bit of fear to get those legs pumping. Well done to those speedy reapers for managing to hunt down about half the group.

Then it was a well-earned social with prizes back at the bar to raise our spirits. We took a vote on our GoodGym tree, with plum, cherry and pineapple all making the shortlist and Pineapple emerging as the final choice. Photos of the tree itself and its accompanying signboard coming soon. It was Ben that cleverly solved the CoRunDrum by knowing that turnips used to be carved before we all started using pumpkins for our jack o’lanterns. Good knowledge!

We all munched on Catwoman’s delicious homemade snacks (thanks Sally!) while we took our second vote of the night to decide best costume. Congratulations to Spiderwoman (the lovely and usually two-legged Hannah) and to the freakin’ scary blonde clown-faced zombie Amanuel – who deserves a mention for basically sweeping the board for wins last night. He also went on later to show us how it’s done on the racing track with a resounding victory. Was it the wig that did it, or sheer talent? We’ll find out next week! Meanwhile Kylee and Ana proved that fast on the athletics track does not necessarily translate to fast on the racing track….

A big hat tip goes to Matthew who rose to the challenge, and proved his commitment to GoodGym by having never missed a group run since the Wandsworth group was established. Brilliant, keep it up Matthew!

Thanks for a frightfully fun night team Wandsworth – same again next week (minus the fake blood). You can sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/long-ish-run-to-granard-primary-school