On Sunday 1st October GoodGym Cardiff and runners from other GoodGym areas including Bristol and Bath took part in the 2017 Cardiff Half Marathon. For some runners it was their first ever half marathon and for others it was an opportunity to set a new PB.

At 9am GoodGym runners gathered outside Yr Hen Lyfrgell. Ben Jozefiak was already there waiting – who knows how long… It was a pleasure to see him again in Cardiff after he left to go to Scotland about 2.5 month ago.

At 9.25am we started our warm up. We jogged on the spot, did lunges, butt kicks, high knees and an assortment of other running drills so our bodies were ready to run. We then made our way to our allocated starting pens.

9.55am; Everyone was in their pens. Adrenaline was now pumping through veins and their hearts were far from resting pace.

10am; The gun sounded. 20,000 runners were now embarking on the 13.1 mile journey. The route took runners down Penarth road, across the Barrage, passed Cardiff Prison, - Wahey!!! Just before the 8 mile marker was the GoodGym cheer point! Thank you all for coming out to support, we needed you – continuing up Richmond road, down Albany road, around Roath Park, up hell hill and back to City Hall where the finish line lie in waiting. After GoodGym runners finished they all regrouped 300m from the finish line to cheer on the next lot of runners through (That was pretty cool as we then had two cheer points along the route!). Patrick’s words of encouragement drew laughs “come on ladies, less chatting more running”, “speed up you are about to get overtaken by a teacup” and “Come on Gary, stop playing on twitter you have a race to finish.” Our words of encouragement definitely got runners pushing themselves in the final stretch!

Special thanks to our supporters who gave us much needed words of encouragement along the route (Samina, Andie, Lexi, Ellen, Lowri and Adam!)

What an awesome day! Well done to everyone who took part :) Get signed up for next year!

Mrs L's friend met us at the flat and showed us around, explaining the situation. We quickly got our heads together with a survey of the space and a plan of action! We decided that the 2 armchairs and the sofa should be moved to the bedroom to make space for Mrs L's hospital bed but we could reshuffle the other furniture in the lounge so that she would still have some home comforts around her.

There was a bit of Chuckle brothers "to-me-to-you" with moving the sofas but we were commended with how smoothly we got them through the doorways! We also used our Tetris skills to store the armchairs in the bedroom to save space. Throughout we tried to think about keeping things within easy reach for Mrs L and not block her wardrobes. The furniture didn't take long to move and we left a good space for the hospital bed. After a quick vacuum of the carpets, the task was complete and we were on our way.

12 GoodGym runners triumphed in the Cardiff 10k today. There was blood, sweat and beers! (Okay, Beers were after the race, but they were involved...). Keep reading to find out what went down in Wales' Capital this Sunday..

Race day of the Cardiff 10k. Runners looked out their windows and were all greeted by rain... However, knowing there was no turning back it was all about dancing in the raindrops and splish, splash, sploshing in the puddles (Well running as fast as we could but I thought the former description sounded funnier!).

Runners all met outside Cardiff City Hall at 9.10am. It was reassuring seeing everyone and knowing that everyone had made it to the race start safely and on time. To keep warm we huddled together, ran on the spot and gathered under Martin's umbrella - Thank you for bringing your umbrella Martin!

Let's get our legs warmed up and the blood flowing

Bringing all of what we learned at GoodGym to the forefront of our minds, we remembered rule number 1. A good warm up prepares the body for exercise and reduces the likelihood of injury, and so we proceeded with a warm up.

At 9.40am, feeling warmed up and raring to go, we wished each other well as we headed off to our allocated starting pens. Ben bumped into Mark at the start (another runner who has attended a GoodGym run previously) and said "hello and run well!"

3...2....1... GO

We were off! James Thie of Welsh Athletics was the race commentator. He gave a special shout out to GoodGym at the start which we all heard and helped our motivation levels (James is a strong supporter of all the good we are doing in Cardiff!).

The course was challenging at parts, with uphills and downhills, people to dodge at the start and mental battles along the way.

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Ben's race reflections: A great course! I had to really use my arms on the uphills to help me maintain a good pace when the course became more challenging. Having the support of Sam, Hannah and Mikey, runners of GoodGym Cardiff who weren't running the course but were supporting instead, was invaluable - They did AWESOME at providing much needed words of encouragement. I couldn't have run harder today and I felt I ran a good race, maintaining my pace and enjoying the atmosphere... I can't wait until the Cardiff Half Marathon in October.

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After we all finished the race some of us met afterwards for a group photo. We posed with our medals and did 'jumping pictures'. In the process Martin's medal impacted with his head... Moment of Suspense... He was okay! PHEW!

Ben's efforts in the race also contributed to a bleeding toe... EWWWW (I've added a photo just to make you go yuck!).

We all then went for food and got 'cosy in the cosy club' with well deserved beverages all round!

WELL DONE ALL! Congratulations on your epic achievement! GO GOODGYM!