14 run to Cheviot nursing home to clear more leaves It was a crisp cold November evening, and having returned from the Cyprus International 4 day challenge the night before, I really felt the cold! (Who am I kidding, I always feel the cold, even in August!).

Still, merry enthusiastic goodgymers met at LeisureWorld for our usual Wednesday evening do-gooding. Tav finally had his t-shirt. And Deb joined us from Goodgym Bristol! She's on tour, and this run was her 50th Good deed, so well done Deb, and you're welcome to come back anytime.

As it was so cold, warming up was mega-important, and we even did our counting off whilst doing some squats to make sure we didn't get cold.

Then we made our way to Cheviot, making sure to give Deb and Emily the benefit of our knowledge of Colchester. I even stopped at the top of Balkerne hill to tell them about the Jumbo water tower - this wasn't because I was tired at the top of the hill, or because it was named after an elephant... honest!

Off to the nursing home, and I was glad that the runners knew exactly what they were doing having cleared leaves for St Leonard's church last week. David found a fantastic contraption for picking up leaves and the task was completed very quickly. Eventually everyone had to move out to the car park, as the most leaves were there, and the work was going along great until a van drove in and scattered one of our piles!

This didn't dampen the spirits of our group though, and these leaves were raked up, put in bags and then we were all done. 7 bags of leaves collected.

This run was an extra special treat for us, as to thank us for our work, the nursing staff left us some cakes and tea and coffee - we felt like lots of Santa's helpers as we munched on mince pies and biscuits, and the hot coffee was certainly welcome after being outside in the freezing temperatures. We couldn't stay for too long though, we had our social to get to.

So, we made our way back through Lexden, and to the Essex County Hospital, and here is where we split our group. Some went back to Leisure World, and the rest of us went to our new favourite pub the Old New Inn. Thank's again to Ian for arranging our social.

Next week, we will be doing a bit more wombling for Rivercare. Make sure you wrap up warm, with gloves and headtorches. Sign up here

12 Goodgymmers run 5km to Emmaus Colchester to sort their clothing display

Colchester GoodGym Gang gathered on a mild but drizzly evening which was to lead to a satisfying mission at the Emmaus Warehouse. This evening we were joined by Kirstie for her maiden GoodGym adventure. Angela welcomed and briefed the group on the running order for our session and after our warm up routine, the ‘Tremendous Twelve’ headed out on our way through Kings Meadow.

The rain which arrived late afternoon made for a slippery run through the paths coated in Autumn leaves and dodging the puddles in the dark added to the fun. We made our way up North Hill, re-grouping by the elephants at the top, then continuing on towards Emmaus. John and Paul who both work at Emmaus during the week explained the layout of the warehouse, leading us through an Aladin’s Cave of furniture, books, pictures and more. To say it was like a scene from Cash in the Attic is an understatement and it would have been no surprise to have had David Dickenson pop up!

We climbed the stairs to the upper floor where all the clothing, shoes and accessories are stored. Our prime aim was to help create a semblance of order which would result in a clothing section which looked appealing and inviting for customers to shop. We had our work cut out when faced with many piles of items and bags of mixed clothing which needed sorting into Gents, Ladies, Kids as well as those pieces which were never ‘gonna cut the cloth’ and would be destined for the reject pile.

To tackle our mission we worked in two groups, one group doing the initial screening, the other tidying and sorting the existing hanging rails. A few of the group couldn’t resist modelling some pieces, Tav taking a shine to a blue dress and Steve was drawn to a floral shirt. Helen did well in getting a hold on the footwear area. Together we made an impact, agreeing that a return mission would be beneficial.

The return leg to Leisure World included a ‘Hump Day hill drill’ workout. Angela gave the group tips on the best technique to tackle this and Tommy and Tav enjoyed a competitive race to the top. All in all this was a thoroughly enjoyable mix of running and retail medicine. What’s not to like? We covered a 5k distance overall but knowing we’d made a difference together, sent us on our way home smiling that we’d done well. Same time, same place next week GoodGymers to blitz the leaves at St Leonards. Sign up here

Run Report by Sue Foley

After a night of gardening and a 4K run didn't even know it was winter!!

St Catherines Church is a hidden away gem, a beautiful church that were grateful for some help maintaining their grounds. Well done to Andy and Ivo with keeping a good pace during the aftermath run, sight seeing the streets of Chiswick on our route back to base. We even got to see a work of art - please see photos!!

Chiswick Buzz joined us at St Michaels to get an insight into GoodGym and how we like to help the community. I will be sure to get the Link out to you guys when the article is released.

As we ran through the streets of Chiswick we found a house that had images projected on it. This form of art was refreshing and looked amazing. I recommend anyone in the area to take a look!! Heading back to base we finished up with some wonderful squats during our fitness session to ensure that cold wasn't getting to us!

Join us next week for another run and task !! Remember come rain or shine we are there!!!

Happy running, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!!

15 goodgymers run 10k delivering posters and fliers for CoHoC

This week we had a sequel. Like any good movie sequel, it was bigger, better, longer faster with more special effects. No seriously, the firework going off just as I got to the turning off Ipswich Road was really a special effect I hadn't bargained for!

Tonight we welcomed 6 new runners from the Emmaus community. Because of some task jiggling, what would have been a shorter run on the 2nd November actually became our longest run to date, but that didn't detract them, and there was the usual chatter and anticipation as we set off on our run.

Because it was a long run and relatively short task, the fitness session took place on the run, and Angela explained an uphill running technique at the base of Ipswich road which will become key for those planning on doing Colchester Half Marathon Sign up here

Ian was so excited about this new technique as it made running up Ipswich road a breeze, and he will definitely be using it going forward.

We got to The Crescent to deliver the posters, and unlike last week, some businesses were still open so we could go in and tell them about the Santa run as well. Once the posters were delivered, we said good bye to Sue and Helen, (as they had already run from Severall's to meet us at Leisure World - they did the run in reverse), and made our way back to Leisure world.

This time we ran via Mill Road and Northern Approach, and Angela managed to even include a jungle adventure detour on what most thought was a completely residential route.

We made our way back to Leisure World for a stretch and debrief, and Angela reminded the runners about the DBS Doc Check Party taking place at parkrun this week You must sign up if you intend for your docs to be checked.

Next week, we'll be returning for some Wombling for Rivercare - Sign up here - Make sure you bring your gloves and headtorches!

Run Report written by Angela Isherwood

18 GoodGymers met on a summer's evening to water plants, dig soil, play a tag drill game and run 4km!

With Joel away in France eating desserts Paul Bown (Camden Trainer) stepped in to cover. There was a lot of good and gyming to do but before that we talked about that the news:

• Welcome along to the newcomers this week - Lorraine, Michele and Marjorie! Lovely to have you join us.
• It's GoodGym Monthly Drinks next Thursday at the Star of the Kings, it would be lovely if you could come along!
• Also why not join us for the Cardiff Half Marathon on 2 October, the last in the Big 6 GoodGym Races this year - it's going to be a good one!

Okay onto to GoodGyming; after an active warm up we headed off to Hackney Downs to help HUG, a new organisation, that is helping to create a community garden space in the area, you can find them on facebook here.

We met the lovely Myra who runs the project and she gave us our tasks for the evening, which were:

• Watering the plants, vegetables and flowers in the surrounding garden with a HOSE pipe. Rich took the lead on water with lots of others helping untangle, carry and pull the hose line. Particular thank you to Cecilia who got her hands wet several times turning the HOSE on and off.
• A second larger group used spades and forks to turn and pile up soil in the garden. This was very physical work because of how dry and dusty the soil was. The area which was beautifully cleared will be used to plant wildflowers, which is great for wildlife!
• The final group helped plant new flowers in the garden space and weed around the existing flowers.

Tasks galore!

All the tasks are incredibly important for the growth and sustainability of the garden project space. Well done everyone! Great work!

After a group picture we said our goodbyes to Myra and headed around the corner to do a tag drill game! It involves an individual demonstrating a drill to the group and then everyone does the exercise during the time the individual is running an out and back. It's harder to write down than explain/demonstrate in person but it worked fantastically; we had squat jumps, pushups, mountain climbers, star jumps and more.

Drills, drills and oh some drills

So we had taken care of the good and the gym so it was time for more GYM! We ran 2.2km back around some back streets and through London Fields, despite living in Hackney for about 8 months I still don't know it well enough - thanks for helping with the directions guys.

Finally we did some stretches, felt good about doing good and said "see you soon!"

Joel's back next week, and you are off to Hackney Elderly Caribbean organisation to help with some painting, sign up here.

PB out.