Somewhere over the rainbow Goodgym fly....

Super Sunday

Sunday is a day of rest but not for Goodgym Slough with 21 runners taking on our 100km team challenge to celebrate Pride and our 2nd Birthday. With the success of our Slough Half Marathon Relay we wanted to get out as a team, follow the social distancing measures and arrange something for all abilities. Manjit mentioned the idea of a team challenge with distances from 2.5Km, 5km and 10km and everyone put up their virtual hand. We understand the importance of exercise for physical and mental health and taking part as a community is at the heart and soul of Goodgym Slough. So in true Goodgym Slough and Pride style we got our colours on and celebrated the rainbow.

Stride with Pride

The rainbow colors reflect both the immense diversity and the unity of the LGBTQ community. With pride events cancelled due to Covid 19 we wanted to show our support and celebrate. And the team didn’t let us down with rainbow socks from Sut and Nisha and rainbow sweatbands from Rosin and Keira. And ohhh the tutut’s well done Sut, Milly, Ruth, Manjit for bringing some cheers. However I have to mention my favourite outfits were Sara rainbow wig (it really did suit her), Suts rainbow bowtie, Sandy’s amazing cloud and rainbow leggings and her spinning hat and the wonderful Jean who outdid us all and had sown homemade bunting to the bottom of her Goodgym t-shirt.

He's coming home, he's coming, Ricky's coming home

Manjit and myself got to Upton Court Park bright and early to set up the event and got a few kms in to get the ball rolling. Ricky joined us and was encouraged to add some rainbow face painting to his completely black outfit. Ricky has been training for London Marathon and is unsure if the event will go ahead. However he has been doing longer runs in the weekend so wanted get in 21km’s and help towards our 100km goal.

Do we relay have to do a warm up?

We split out the runners into groups based on distance and to ensure we had enough space and kept socially distanced from each other. Everyone was given a briefing and before we started Manjit had a warm up for us. We thought it would be a bit of a light stretch however she had something else in mind and set us off in 3 teams with a relay including, heel kicks, side steps and sprints….. we are a competitive bunch and everyone went out in full force…. It was great cheering each other on and getting our hearts pumping.

We had a running plan

Ricky took out the first team with Ciaran, Jenni, Pete and Nit running 10km so off they go! Meera and Nisha also set off for one lap of the park. All our other runners were keen to complete 5km so they were put into 2 teams with Sut’s team running clockwise and my team running anti-clockwise. This ensured there was sufficient social distancing and runners could cheer each other on as they passed them. It was great to see the community together and a lot of our runners actually said they did more km’s than they would have if they had been on a solo run.

S'miles all round

The atmosphere was electric and the air was filled with positive vibes. Some members have found it difficult to stay motivated during lockdown with races and events cancelled and having the community behind you keeps you going with our team target of 100km everyone kept pushing on. We totalled a 128.5km’s and everyone did really well, it was great to be part of something together and what a great birthday celebration.

Somewhere over the rainbow Goodgym fly, they fly over the rainbow... Why then oh why can't I.

You can! Come and join us... Sign up with Goodgym Slough