A big, huge, massive WELCOME BACK to GoodGym Newcastle for 2020

Tonight a massive 24 runners and walkers assembled for their first dose of Good things in the new year and it was so great to see such a super mix of old and new faces. Welcome to our new runner Nada for getting stuck in and making us all smile!

We had loads to catch up on including a massive epic challenge that Andrew, Evan and Darren took part in yesterday: The Winter Wipeout. Not content with just doing something very hard and in very hard conditions, the three of them took part in less-than-standard running gear. Well done you three, we are really proud of you!

We warmed up with a quick recap of Best Christmas Presents which made us all smile. Choices included a Dyson hoover, a candle of Beyonce's face, a few pairs of trainers and not forgetting "This is quite lame, but, ALDI FACEWASH". We then split off into three plogging groups for the task. Heading off on three different distances were the walking group with Charlotte, the longer run group with Paul and the medium distance and chats run with me. We'd be taking part in a general tidy up on the way to, in and around Leazes Park to give us the chance to kick of 2020 with a sociable (and easy!) task for the night.

The task itself was much easier than previous visits to Leazes Park with many of the areas we usually find a lot of litter surprisingly clear- this was of course great to see! We did find enough to fill a few bags and there was also a dumped Christmas tree in the bandstand to take care of- Martin and Jon to the rescue on that one. It also gave everyone a really nice chance to catch up and ease back into GoodGym for 2020.

The fitness session was another story

A few people mentioned they were starting to feel cold so that gave me the perfect excuse to get everyone working extra hard! Two paired games to start, then into teams for a spot of file running, recovering with easy laps by the lake. Kudos to everyone for such brilliant effort in this tonight, and shout out to Paul for standing in the cold to be our human turn-back point.. we didn't almost forget you.. honest.

As part of the JANUARY CHALLENGE we are squeezing as many good deeds into one month as we possibly can, so get along to a Community Mission or two this month if you can. You'll find them all listed on the website, ranging from gardening to a takeover at Newcastle parkrun. There are a few of our old favourites in there as well as some brand new sparkling tasks for you to get involved in to start the year off with a bang. As well as this, don't miss out on a bonus Group Run on Saturday 18th January which is the ideal run to bring someone along to who wants to give us a try as part of a New Year's Resolution!

Hope to see you back with the same brilliant energy for our monthly visit to Newcastle Eagles next week.

Welcome back!

Anji x