A whopping 24 runners turned up to GoodGym this evening!

An amazing turnout of 24 runners showed up to GoodGym tonight - A fantastic number! A HUGE welcome to Katie, from GoodGym Barnett/Camden and MASSIVE welcome to Peter who was joining GoodGym for his FIRST EVER GoodGym run - We always love seeing new faces at GoodGym. Don't forget to bring your mates / family members... we want them all to come!

Ben, the trainer of GoodGym was very considerate of the current climate and so, instead of shaking everyone's hand when they arrived, he bumped their elbows, as advised by health experts! At the start of the run, Ben also reminded everyone of the current guidelines re: attending GoodGym activities. You can view the guidelines by clicking here. NB: As this is a rapidly changing situation, GoodGym are constantly monitoring this to ensure they are responsive to the latest advice.

Welsh Dave led a warm up that involved no physical contact! He was very mindful of the current climate. He had planned a warm-up that involved passing a ball over heads and between legs, however changed the plan in the final hour to minimise the risks of germs spreading. What a hero!

Acknowledgments

• Mikey led a fantastic run on the weekend to help set up the international women's day banquet at the Wales Millennium Centre.
• Nathan took part in a race over the weekend - Woopee! He is really loving his races.

Let's run to the task

After Welsh Dave got everyone warmed up, it was time to head to Grangemoor Park, the entrance to the park located by Ikea. Welsh Dave led the speedy group and Ben led more of a relaxed pace group. Despite the task being about 2 miles away, it wasn't long before we had all arrived with our high levels of enthusiasm ready for the task that lay before us.

*Welcome GoodGym! Tonight's task will involve cutting back the overgrown bushes and litterpicking *

Claire from Sustrans gave us a very warm welcome. Sustrans is a UK walking and cycling charity and custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created 16,575 miles of signed cycle routes throughout the UK including 5,273 mi of traffic-free paths - Pretty cool eh!?!

Claire then armed the first group that arrived with litter picking tools and provided the second group that arrived with tools to cut back the overgrowth. Emma was in fierce combat with the thorny bushes that's for sure, and despite an anxious wait to see who would win, Emma was able to cut back the overgrowth and claim victory.

We spent a total of 30 minutes helping and after this time you could tell we had made a huge impact. The bushes were no longer encroaching onto the paths and the hedges, now free of litter, were looking GORGEOUS!

We had a LOVELY group photo with some of the other Sustrans volunteers.

Thank you so much GoodGym

Claire thanked us for our hard efforts. She then bid us farewell before we ran back to Big Moose. We then ran back, navigating the streets of Grangetown, turning left then turning right, it was quite a maze, actually!

Once we had arrived back at Big Moose it was time to warm down and reflect on the run. We did our stretches whilst discussing what we enjoyed about the run and what was coming up at GoodGym over the next few weeks.

After the run we headed for post run drinks and a chat (AKA. Drinkypoos).

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2020 Tweet Off

Unfortunately Martin did not win the tweet off this week. Marie took this birthday present opportunity from him! Good luck for next week everyone. Let's see if someone else can get on the leaderboard.

• MOH - 6
• MJ - 4
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

This week Lowri came up with the Pun! A HUGE well done to you. Da Iawn!

• BA - 5
• MO- 1
• IH - 1
• EW - 2
• AS - 3
• MG - 1
• GD -1
• LD -1

What a turnout, 40 runners came to GoodGym this evening and for 7 runners it was their first time ever GoodGym run! It's amazing that nearly the whole population of Cardiff came tonight, okay, not literally, it was actually 0.011% of Cardiff's population, however that is a good number and the most we've had to date.

The new runners to GoodGym this week were: Rosey, Ben, Clare, Emma, Skye, Vicky, Lawrence and Lauren! It was ABSOLUTELY LOVELY to have you come along. I really hope you come again as you already feel part of the GoodGym family. I know we are quite a lively bunch and the warm up activities aren't the most 'serious' warm up drills, however I really believe it's important to have fun whilst we get fit and do good in our community!

Achievements

• A huge well done to our two red lace winners. Well done Sara and Alice! #LifesGoals. Alice and Sara both brought friends to GoodGym this week and therefore earned themselves a single red lace. It is a fact* that wearing a red lace makes you run faster.
• Adam, one of our lovely regular GoodGym runners has had a baby (Not Adam himself, but his wife) - Congratulations Adam x
• Awesome that some of you volunteered at junior parkrun on Sunday - You are helping the athletes of the future.

Warm up

To warm up before the evening's run we played 3 different games. We played the game 'Fish and Chips', 'Captains Coming' and 'Marmite, Digestive and Staycation or Vacation'.

Let's get our walk/run on

Mali led the walking group. She had a contingent of 4 walkers! Ellen led the more relaxed paced runners to the Tenovus Charity Shop. Ben led those runners who wanted to run a bit further this evening. They went plogging and leafletting.

*Welcome to the Tenovus Charity Shop *

As runners arrived to Tenovus, Carl explained the mission of the Tenovus Cancer Care charity. If you have cancer or you’re close to someone who has cancer, it can be frightening and stressful. Tenvous tries to help. They bring expert advice, emotional support and life-saving treatment to the heart of communities. They help cancer patients and their loved ones cope, and our their vital research gives hope.

After Carl explained about Tenovus charity and the tasks. 24 runners jumped into action and helped get the shop ready for spring. They sprung into action, steaming clothes and tagging them up ready to be hung out on the shop floor. Some of the runners helped to tidy up the racks of clothes, and dusted down the shelves. Others put price stickers on the cds, dvds and lps. We dressed mannequins and sorted sizes. Others looked like they were having story time around a pile of books - but they were just pricing them up 😀 All in all, they carried out tasks that would have taken the staff and volunteers all morning to do.

*Litter picking and leafleting runners *

9 bags of litter were collected in total in approximately 20 minutes! 4 streets were leafleted with flyers about GoodGym.

We then played Bring Sally up and Bring Sally Down - It's not something any of us will forget in a hurry.

Time to head back

After returning to Big Moose it was time to stretch out and reflect on the evening's run. Ben led the warm down and everyone clapped runners as they returned.

After the walk/run everyone headed to the Glassworks for post run drinkypoos.

2020 Tweet Off

WAHOO! Megan you have won the tweet off THREE consecutive times and have overtaken Marie. Marie will be nervous now. Lucy, last year's winner hasn't made the leaderboard yet - but there are still 11 months to go and a lot can happen between now and the end of the year.

• MJ - 3
• MOH - 2
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

. Ding Ding Ding. Gareth came up with this weeks pun for the title of the run report - You, my friend, get a point!

• EW - 2
• BA - 2
• AS - 2

• GD -1

• May not actually be a fact

Would you believe it? A gargantuan 29 runners turned up to GoodGym this evening to get fit and do good! When I call you all superstars, I truly mean it!

Skies were grey in Cardiff this evening. If you didn't like the rain then you would probably feel quite dismal being outdoors. There was not a single dismal face at GoodGym tonight, though. We embraced elements and just got on with it!

There were two new runners to GoodGym this evening! A HUGE welcome to Sophie and Catriona. We love new faces! Lucy and Imogen invited the new runners along, so they earned themselves a red lace each! #LifesGoals #BestThingToEverHappen. We also welcomed Ali and Megan to their first GoodGym run on a Tuesday evening. They actually joined us on Saturday's run in Penarth. Ali is actually training for the Chicago marathon - EPIC choice!

Let's get our run on

There were 3 different paced groups this evening. Aimee led the walk runners, Mikey led the runners who opted for a run at a more relaxed pace, and Ben led those runners wanting a speedy run!

To reach the YMCA all groups walked/ran through Cardiff City Centre and down Newport Road. Ben made the speedy group do some sprint drills outside sofology.

Welcome to the YMCA!

Matt, Babs and Arianne welcomed us to the YMCA with an extremely warm welcome and freshly made squash at the ready. Arianne, who will actually be leaving the YMCA this Friday, told us about the YMCA's initiative, after which we could wait to get stuck in.

There were a variety of tasks to help with this evening. Ali hoovered the whole store. Some of the runners built a bed, others priced up books and the rest sorted through bags and bags of clothes donations at a rate of knots!

We played a game of Ben's Price is Right - You have to guess the price of random items; one of the items was a calendar with toilets at different exotic locations for each month.

Time to run back

After approximately 40 minutes of helping, it was time to head back. Matt, Babs and Arianne thanked us for our help and waved us off. Helping at the YMCA this evening gave us a really good reason to run - It just feels right!

We ran back to Cardiff City Centre and back to big moose to warm down and collect our belongings. There we reflected on the evening's run and we all agreed that it felt worthwhile.

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2020 Tweet Off

The witty man himself, Darren retweeted the quickest this evening. He was overjoyed with the win and the whole of the Glassworks knew about it.

• MOH - 2
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

Come up with the title of the run report and be in with the chance of winning the RunPunStiltskin award,

• EW - 1
• BA - 1

Christmas is often a really difficult time for families who are homeless, so tonight's task was a very sensitive and emotive one. It was a task that we hope brought aspects of joy to the lives of families during a very challenging time

This evening 38 runners showed up to Big Moose to join in this evening's GoodGym run. Yes, 38!!! 38 is the most runners we have EVER had on a GoodGym Cardiff run. There were 3 new runners tonight too- A huge welcome to Sarah, Abby and Lucy! It was absolutely fantastic having you run with us. Jayne brought along Abby to GoodGym that means she earned herself a red lace #LifesGoals! Jayne will now have one faster leg when she runs until she brings another friend and claims another red lace.

The evening started with Ben leading a warm up. He then gathered everyone together to do the usual introduction and acknowledge any achievements over the past week. They included:

• GoodGym Cardiff and The Vale (That's us!) winning the BBC Sport Wales, Getting Wales Active Award
• Ben (GoodGym Trainer) running the 3 Day Ultra Trail Marathon in Ibiza; running over 105km over 3 days
• Lucy Marsh reaching 200 good deeds - Woo!!!
• A wonderful Community Mission at Herbert Thompson directed by Ms Guy

Runner of GoodGym Cardiff and Global News room journalist, Peter Gillibrand turned up in his star costume this evening. If you didn't know by now, Pete is attempting to break a Guinness World Record by running the 2020 London Marathon dressed as a star - Well done Pete you looked fab!

Arriving at Nightingale House

We've run to Nightingale House twice before yet we always managed to forget which building it is - Running up and down the street gives us a bit of extra exercise though, something that we shouldn't be averse to as GoodGym is about getting fit after all.

The staff at Nightingale House welcomed us in with the warmest of welcomes. They were very shocked to hear that 38 runners had turned up, a jump from the 20 that were signed up a couple of days ago.

Our tasks this evening were to decorate the communal areas with Christmas themed decorations and wrap presents, in secret, in the building at the rear of the garden. Some of the runners also gave the garden some TLC by picking up leaves and doing some weeding.

What an incredible task

Everyone found a role and got stuck in. At least 3 Christmas trees were put up. One of the children had James playing with an inflatable Santa for most of the time. Imogen was also being chased with tinsel by some of the children. There was a baby who was dressed in a VERY cool Christmas outfit, who was amazed by the Christmas tree and kept gazing at it in amazement.

In the back building aka. Santa's workshop, runners were speedily wrapping presents. After wrapping one present they would quickly be on to the next. Every bit of space was made use of for the task. Chloe and Sue spent 30 minutes in the toilet wrapping presents.

Thank you so much for your help

The staff and the residents at Nightingale House were extremely grateful, and we were grateful that they allowed us to celebrate some of Christmas with them. Everyone wished each other a Merry Christmas and then we disappeared into the night.

Dave led the run back to Cardiff City Centre, although he quickly ran back to Nightingale House as he had forgotten his bag (Some more unexpected exercise!).

A task that will definitely make a difference. Well done all!

Next week's GoodGym run is on Wednesday - Make sure you come along!

Next Tuesday we have the BBC Sports Awards so the group run will take place on Wednesday. The plan is to help Samye Foundation. I will also be looking for an additional Christmassy themed task. I would love to see you next week - I will bring the award to show you too. Click here to sign up to next week's run.

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Tweet Tweet

Gosh that was quick! Megan has claimed another point on the tweet off leaderboard! Well done! ALL points count and there are less and less opportunities to move up the leaderboard as each week goes by.

• LM 13
• MO 9
• EW 5
• MJ 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• RJ 1
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

Lucy... "Here". Emily... "Here" Darren... No answer Peter..."Here" Stuart... "Here" Nathan...Nathan... "Hi miss, it's Andrew, Nathan told me he was going to miss School today to plan his 2020 challenge."

Tonight's task involved running to Gladstone Primary School. This school is very close to one of our GoodGymmer's hearts, Nathan's. He used to go to this school in his younger years... and rumor has it he wasn't always well behaved! But that's the Nathan we know and love.

So tonight started with a few warm up games. We played, 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' and 'North Pole, South Pole'

We then did a head count and welcomed two new runners to their first ever GoodGym run. A HUGE welcome to GoodGym Grace and Sioned.

Time to get our run on

Tonight we ran as one! Ben led the group and Lewis, the hero that he is, backmarked with a huge smile on his face.

Welcome to School year 9

Okay Okay, we are a bit older than year 9, but we thought by saying that we were year 9 if we displayed any immaturity we might be able to excuse it on this basis.

Donna welcomed us to Gladstone. She told us about the incredible school it is and then explained our task for the evening. Donna tasked us with painting the library. She knows we love a challenge, one could say, she read into us well.

The runners quickly armed themselves with paintbrushes and rollers. Andrew spotted a guitar and it wasn't long before he picked it up and began serenading everyone.

During the task Ben rolled a dice. Roll a 1 and you have to tell a joke; Roll a 2 and you have to state your favorite TV show; Roll a 3 and you have to tell everyone what your favourite book is; Roll a 4 and you have to pull a funny face; Roll a 5 and you have to answer a trivia question; Roll a 6 and you have to Roll again.

Thank you so much GoodGym. Once again you've proved yourselves and the children will be amazed with how much has changed overnight... it's like Christmas has come early!

Mikey then led the run back. Everyone had smiles on their faces and a warmth in their hearts, feeling pretty epic after helping out at an incredible school.

We're now nearing the end of 2019. Hasn't it been an amazing year? I hope you can make it to the final GoodGym runs of 2019 as you make them amazing!

Hope to see you next week!

Tweet Tweet

Ring a ding ding ding. Lucy loo has claimed another point on the tweet off leaderboard! Well done! ALL points count and there are less and less opportunities to move up the leaderboard as each week goes by.

• LM 13
• MO 9
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• MJ 4
• NS 2
• RJ 1
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

Did you know that GoodGym is more talked about than the general election? ............ Talked about by me anyway! And I was especially chatty about GoodGym this week as we got to help the wonderful Charity called 'Forget-Me-Not!'

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good. It really is amazing how much we've grown and flourished over the past two and a half years into a club that welcomes individuals of all abilities. Over the past couple of months we have consistently had high numbers, between 25-30 runners every week, and this is testament to how fun each and every run is, and why we ABSOLUTELY LOVE to come to GoodGym every week... Anyway, now onto tonight!

As soon as the city hall's clock struck 6pm people kept turning up to GoodGym with smiles on their faces. Greeting each other with the friendliest of welcomes. We had two new runners to GoodGym this week; a GARGANTUOUS WELCOME TO GOODGYM MEGHAN & ALAN! Alan is Marie's friend which means, Marie claims her FREE red lace for bringing a friend to GoodGym #LifesGoals.

Let's get our run on! Mikey and Ben at the ready...

Mikey led the sexy runners this evening; those runners that wanted to run more gracefully, concentrating on their technique and form whilst talking about how cold the weather is getting

Ben led the speedy group; the runners who want to run that little bit harder and be pushed beyond the limits of conversation! They took a slightly longer route and did some hill sprints before arriving at the task.

Welcome to St. Edward's Chruch, the home of Forget-Me-Not

Kathie, the task organiser and a volunteer at the Forget-Me-Not Charity, welcomed us into the warmth of the church and told us about the wonderful charity. Kathie then wasted no more time and explained to us how we were going to be superheroes this evening (the tasks that needed doing).

Our mission was to:

• Move all of the chairs onto the raised area at the church, clean the lower area by mopping and drying the floors and hoovering the carpets, and then move all the chairs back.
• Cut back the buddleia tree that was becoming overgrown (imagine Jumanji but to a much less extent)
• Litter pick the streets of Roath

We had 30 minutes to complete the above tasks, and boy did we do good! Runners dried the floor using towels under their feet, except for Mike who ran up and down the hall pushing the towel as part of his training. Mikey used his profession as a manager to manage the team of buddleia cutters. The team of litter pickers had the most difficult challenge it seemed, to find litter on the streets of Roath. The streets surrounding the church were all pretty clean, however they did find some empty drinks cans, drinks cups and plastic bags.

Peter created a timelapse footage of everyone moving the chairs back at the end which looks pretty cool!

Thank you so much for all of your help

Kathie and her team of volunteers were all grateful that we ran to help there this evening. Kathie invited us all to have some scrumptious biscuits she had laid out so that we were adequately fueled before running back to Big Moose.

Ben led those runners wanting a speedy run and Mikey led the sexy runners!... It wasn't long after that when we arrived back at Big Moose and did our warm down, reflecting on our run and discussing all the exciting listings there are on the GoodGym website.

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The Tweet off

Lucy added another point to the tweet off leaderboard tonight. Marie retweeted second but that doesn't get you any points unfortunately. Great work Lucy and awesome job everyone who has made it on the leaderboard to date.

• LM 12
• MO 9
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• MJ 3
• NS 2
• RJ 1
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

Fireworks were flying at tonight's task! 20 runners attended GoodGym and had so much fun at Gladstone Primary School

This evening, 20 GoodGym runners turned up to get fit and do good in Cardiff. The run started with warm up games in order to get hearts racing and muscles ready for activity. We acknowledged runners achievements:

• Lucy and Lewis participated in Parkrun
• Ben, Mikey, Martin Peter, Adam and Darragh participated in the Istandbul Marathon/15K
• Mike and Emma ran to help older person Miss S - Awesome work :D

We headed to tonight's task in two groups; Ellen led the sexy group and Ben led the speedy runs

Welcome GoodGym to Gladstone Primary School

We arrived at Gladstone Primary School and were greeted by Donna, the school's family engagement officer, and Paula, the school's headteacher.

Donna told runners about Gladstone Primary School and the tasks she had laid on for the evening. Runners were tasked with wire brushing old paint off the fence and then repainting it black.

Much conversation was had at the task, and whilst participating in the task, Peter, Martin and Mikey all shared stories from their recent holiday to Istanbul. Wire brushing the paint comes with its challenges; flicks of paint came off the fence and runners had to dodge them - Fortunately everyone had quick reactions!

We spent 40 minutes helping at the school and it was safe to say the fence looked pretty impressive after we'd finished the task.

Thank you so much everyone for your help!

Paula and Donna were extremely thankful for our help this evening and both expressed enthusiasm for us to help there again. We are looking forward to helping out there again ourselves!!

After completing the task Ellen led the sexy group of runners back to Big Moose and Ben led those runners who wanted a speedy run. Everyone then participated in a post run warm down and discussed all of the exciting social events, community missions and group run tasks coming up in the next few weeks/months.

After completing the run we were filled with a sense of pride - Helping out in the community feels absolutely great!

After the run we like to socialise. Approximately half the number that attended tonight's run headed over to the Glassworks pub for drinkypoos.

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The Tweet off

Rosie has claimed a spot on the tweet off leaderboard - Great work! Nobody can now take you off it.

• LM 11
• MO 9
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• MJ 3
• NS 2
• RJ 1
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1