Hi all,

With the nights drawing in and only days away from Halloween and bonfire night 16 ghouls and ‘g ’howls met for a weekly Goodgym run.

First of all, a big hello and welcome to Davis on coming to his first run with us. Hope you enjoyed it and hope to see you again soon. And a big congratulations to Adam on now completing 50 good deeds, well done Adam and here’s to the next 50

After a head count and some admiration of Andy’s fantastic skeleton costume we set off into the night in the direction of Interact. With David in his wacky glasses leading the way we reach there in no time and were greeted by Susie with a warm smile and plates full of biscuits…mmmmm biscuits. After a quick recovery feed we set about our task which was to build their annual bonfire for this Friday. With pallets and other pieces of wood in the field we gloved up, got some saws and with some good old-fashioned hard work started breaking them down and the bonfire started yo take shape.

While this was happening, Susie also needed a few barriers moved over ready for the crowd to stand behind for Friday. Thinking we needed 2 people per barrier a group went to go get them and it became a bit of a gun show, as it turned out you only need 1 per barrier. Not sure you needed to carry it over your head though Russell

With everyone pitching in to put the final touches to the bonfire we gathered for a group photo before heading inside for some more drinks and biscuits…mmmm biscuits before heading back to base. After saying goodbye to Susie, David ran the short route back with James C who broke off to run home and the rest of us ran a longer route.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came, on Friday take a minute to think about the smiles and cheers of the people gathered together around the bonfire to celebrate and its down to you for making it happen.

Back at base we stretched off, all agreed Andy won best costume and then David broke out some Halloween chocolate treats. Mmmmm treats. thanks David

For those not watching the Rugby a few of us will be at Parkrun this Saturday. Also, if anyone is doing the Chelmsford 10k or is coming to support we are planning on going to Moto pizza later in the afternoon (17th Nov). come to the next group run to find out more and get your name down.

Again, thanks for coming and run happy

Rich

A record 22 runners ran 5.2-6.3km to a new task location in 2019!

It might have been the new task, it might have been my glorious return to run-leading, it might have been the weather, but we set a new record for Chelmsford attendees at a GoodGym run tonight! 22 legends! Thanks for coming everyone, so I can now gloat over my fellow run leaders (especially Rich) So because I don't get to lead the Halloween run this year and I know you all would be devastated to miss out on my hilarious wit, I had a pun-filled treat for everyone in the introduction. I hope Harriet, Kirk, Simon, Daphne and Akin don't think the introduction is always such rip-roaring fun. Congrats to Doug who won the prize of Halloween sweets with the quickest correct guess of 19 puns.

Onwards we went, to meet Chris at the new task location, Springfield Park Baptist Church. We were keen to impress them after our cups of water so headed round back. Our task was to clear the area so that they are ready for the Bonfire in a couple of weeks. You can see from the before photo that there was a lot to do! We soon dug in and everything was going swimmingly until Russell C squealed loudly. He released dozens of wasps from their slumber. It was sort of downhill from there really! Some runners put their sprinting to the test and sped away, some stayed and battled bravely until they were stung. Special shout out to Charlotte, Jenny and James C who fought to the bitter end. We did a great job! I hope we can come back to the church for something slightly less painful.

After we reconvened, we voted on a 2.5 or 3.5k run back. The split was 11 for each so we split into two groups, with the intention we would meet in the middle. While those on the shorter run devoured some percy pigs to help with timings, the other half set off. After an eventless run back where the timings were only slightly off we met back at ARU nursing our wounds. Really sorry guys and I hope you're all ok.

I promise all GoodGym runs aren't as wasp-filled, please come back again soon!

Happy running,

10 regulars and 3 new runners ran to Linnet Drive to deliver leaflets for the J's Hospice

We met at ARU, and welcomed three new runners to the group: Harriet, Sam and Manali.

After explaining the task (delivering Chelmsford Marathon leaflets for the J's hospice) and asking our regular members to behave normally for the new runners, I took an average group photo (sorry Katie), we did a little warm up, and set off.

With Rich knowing Linnet Drive and its vicinity, he was our excellent leader to navigate there and back. He even managed to pop in and see his mum, who heckled us as we ran past. Russell was keen to back mark, and he did an excellent job. Thank you both very much for your help this evening!

We agreed that the quickest method to deliver the leaflets was to split into two groups, and caterpillar our way down the street. We managed to deliver plenty of leaflets, and of course hope this encourages people to sign up.

For our jog back, we took a slightly different route. While reminiscing about the early GoodGym days, we pondered the existence of our Goodgym Chelmsford founder, Ken, who to many newer members is a complete mystery.

If you would like to take part in the Chelmsford Marathon, or the 3k fun run, or volunteer on the day, have a look at this link Chelmsford Marathon

Thanks to all for coming, and please also join us at the Golden Fleece pub quiz next Thursday, from 8pm!

Laurie