Our joint Avon Gorge clear ups with Mark from SAS (Surfers Against Sewage) have become a regular tradition at Bristol Goodgym. Its always a mucky job, but working in the shadow of the iconic Avon Suspension bridge has a certain romantic appeal - you just have to try and focus on looking up more than down (admittedly not altogether straight-forward when you're litter picking).

Its also a very worthwhile activity. This is the heart of Bristol and generally the first place visitors head for, so its a shame when their view is largely made up of styrofoam takeaway containers, bottles and cans.

And last but not least its an opportunity to run along one side of the Harbourside loop. This is a popular location for lunchtime runs in Bristol, taking in the views across the water of the SS Great Britain and the various other boats moored around - enjoyable even on a drizzly day like today.

On arrival, Mark greeted us with a quick health and safety recap - mostly concerned with not going too close to the water - and reassured us that he had his rope if things did get tricky. We then climbed down onto the banks, which was unusually straight forward today; apparently either the banks are rising or the road is sinking.

Everyone got stuck in collecting litter - taking care to avoid becoming isolated by sticking to pairs and larger teams. Todays finds included a boot, a spare rope (handy if two people fell in), a bath mat and an entire bicycle. Quite a haul!

There were plenty of us today so we managed to clear the bank fairly quickly and we were able to fit in a few lamppost intervals on the way back (maintaining good running form of course). We also had time for a quick game of Squatopia, a highly plausible vision of the future in which fanatical Squat Teams attempt to catch members of the Rearsistance and impose a 10 squat punishment.

Nice work today everyone - great work in very muddy and drizzly conditions and nice to see everyone working hard at the intervals, although I think I may have spotted a cereal-loving celebrity from Dreamforce 2016 who may not have been taking his form entirely seriously.

Thanks to Mel and Maria for additional photos!

It might have been early, it might have been gloomy but that just gave GoodGym Bristol the best opportunity to bring some brightness to the parkrunning folks of Eastville, Bristol.

After a quick briefing and a run around the long lap to check out the marshal points, guided by Darren, the marshals grabbed their arrows, signage, lanyards and the all-important hi viz whilst the finish funnel team strolled along to ensure it was looooong enough. With between 250 and 600 runners expected we can never be quite sure how many people will try to squeeze themselves into the funnel at once!

119 First Timers in the 413 runners today, and so many compliments for the loveliest marshals and other volunteers people had ever known. It was a bit of a rush at times, but you were all brilliant :-) The run report is here.

Debs was the star of the show, it being her 100th parkrun , or her awesome cake-baking skills. I forget which ;-)

Kait brought her camera and surprised herself with her action shots having found the 'sports' setting :-)

Packing up always seems to take ages but with four GoodGymmers on the case, we finally managed to force the pop-up parkrun sign into the tiny bag. Please tell me there were no photos or video of this...

Then it was off to the crocus-planting mountain-side, being joined by those who thought 9 am was a little too early and off to process results, sort tokens and get the rest of the post-parkrun gubbins completed. With a latte and a bacon bloomer.

I hope this will be the first of many GoodGym Bristol excursions to Eastville parkrun - and the start of some Eastville parkrunners coming to GoodGym Bristol!

Six new faces today perfectly balanced our six Goodgym veterans as we ran to our rearranged task in St Pauls. On the way there we managed plenty of lunges and squats to help build up our core strength.

We were to help Emmaus by dismantling (aka smashing up) an old shed located in the garden of one of their newly acquired properties. Emmaus provide their companions (people who were previously homeless) with shared accommodation and training to help transition them into a more structured life with regular employment and a place to stay.

The properties have been provided by the council for a 'peppercorn rent' for those Emmaus companions who are ready to move on from their initial more structured shared housing arrangement with its regular rotas and routines to a more independent and flexible lifestyle while still being in the company of others who have had similar experiences.

The shed was too battered to be of any use any more so we were supplied with a range of tools (crowbar, pick axe, hammers etc) in order that we could dismantle it and reclaim the garden space. This was certainly a task where a bit of a health and safety briefing was in order but everyone worked together brilliantly today and we made a great start on removing the roof and a front window without any new entries in the accident book! Well done everyone!

There was even a bit of time for some wallpaper stripping in the hall!

Smashing up sheds is fun as you can see below - I know Sarah wanted to stay all day, but we WILL be back!

On the way back we managed a walking lunge through St Agnes park and a Rocky-style ascent of Castle park rounded off with a little running train to cap off a very active Goodgym morning.

Really enjoyed our starter session today and lovely to meet all you new members - it was especially good to see you all so enthusiastic to get stuck into our task - you're clearly all born GG'ers and we'd love to see you again soon!

Thanks to Clo for back-marking and Caroline for recruitment and time-keeping.