Can you spot all of the Oasis song titles? - There are quite a few!

It was wonderwall to see so many runners at GoodGym this evening. There were 22 in fact!

We gradually did our warm up this evening. progressively making the warm ups more active, little by little some might say. We played a game of 'Captain's coming', A fantastic game that gets hearts racing and ready for exercise.

We said a humongous welcome to Lexi who joined us this week for her FIRST EVER GoodGym run! Lexi is from America and was introduced to GoodGym by Skye. This means Skye has earned herself a red lace #LifesGoals #FashionAccessory

Ben also mentioned some important information relating to the coronavirus and the current outbreak that is causing concern All Around The World as it is no longer half the world away. Click here to read about the GoodGym information concerning coronavirus.

Achievements this week

• A huge well done to Lucy who ran a half marathon in Paris despite the Paris Half marathon event being canceled due to the Coronavirus concerns. #RunNoMatterWhat
• A MASSIVE well done to Mikey who was presented with his 250 good deed t-shirt (Check out the photos - It looks good!) #250Legend
• Lowri has no reached 100 good deeds!!! Llongyfarchiadau. Lowri has earned her wings and this evening ran with the multicoloured wings #WhatAStar
• Imy made the most scrumptious Welsh Cakes for St. David's day for us all to try - There was vegan and non-vegan... Nom Nom Nom!

Let's get our run on

Ellen led the walk runners and Ben led those who wanted more of a continuous running pace.

Let's get good deeding!

Share Bower, our task organiser this week, unfortunately wasn't able to be at the centre to do the Talk Tonight (explain about the charity itself), however Ben explained on her behalf. Ben also explained that Share Bower actually gave us a reason to run when we helped out Cardiff Foodbank in early 2019.

Anyway, this week's task was to help advertise one of Oasis Cardiff's upcoming events by handing out leaflets to the local community. Oasis Cardiff is an non profit charity that aims to help Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Cardiff. The aim of Oasis main aim and vision is to help Refugees and Asylum Seekers integrate within their local community. Not only do they encourage integration within our own community and culture but they are also keen to learn and be inspired by the cultures and traditions of the individuals who use the facilities at Oasis.

Inspired by the Oasis initiative we couldn't wait to get stuck in. We split into 2 separate groups and then quickly got stuck into the task. It was Darren's team vs. Ellen and Ben's team. The question was... who could post all the leaflets the quickest?

Darren's team got back first! Wow, speedy work... Supersonic work, even! Well done guys. Ellen and Ben's team got distracted by a husky... It was worth the distraction though, Ben said, who is a BIG lover of huskies.

Fitness exercise

After handing out leaflets promoting Oasis runners were then invited to decide individually whether they wanted to do the normal, but still challenging fitness activity, or up the ante and do the more difficult one. After runners decided which group they wanted to be in the task was then announced. It was the Bring Sally up, Bring Sally down challenge. Normal = Squats; Increased Difficulty = Press ups. Doing this activity felt like 10 minutes and certainly not 3 minutes 24 seconds. It was painful but we stopped crying our hearts out.

Time to go home!

Now it was time to head back. Running up and down many streets in Splott before reaching Newport road and continuing on into town.

After the run we headed to the Glassworks, as is the tradition, for post run drinks and a chat.

Anyway, don't go away! Join GoodGym again next week when we will be helping out Sustrans.

---

2020 Tweet Off

Marie is back in the lead, for now! That won't sit well with Megan, though, who will up her game next week. Good luck for next week everyone. Let's see if someone else can get on the leaderboard.

• MOH - 5
• MJ - 4
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

This week Lowri came up with the Pun! A HUGE well done to you. Da Iawn!

• LD
• BA - 4
• MO- 1
• IH - 1
• EW - 2
• AS - 3
• MG - 1
• GD -1

Best group run of the year so far!

2020 has started with a fierce turnout of 31 runners and S4C coming along to capture our antics.

Acknowledgements

• Emily reached 50 good deeds
• Imogen brought a friend to GoodGym and gained herself 1 red lace! #LifesGoals. Imogen will now have one faster foot as the power of the red lace makes you run faster!

We play a game of 'Stuck in the Dance' to warm up tonight and did our usual high knees, butt kicks and lunges.

Two tasks - Choose where you run!

Ben led runners who wanted a speedy run of a longer distance to the Rhydypennau Library. Welsh Dave led runners who wanted a shorter distance to the Star Garden at Tremorfa Hub. Ellen led the walk/run group to the Star Garden at Tremorfa Hub.

Write up by Ben about runners efforts at the Rydypennau Library

Rhydypennau library is the second furthest task we've run to on a group run to date, nevertheless, undeterred we ran pavements, crossed streets, ran past Roath lake and across a large roundabout to make it to the task. When we arrived to the Library we were greeted by Sue Thomas, a librarian at the centre. Sue was ever so friendly and invited us in for a cup of tea or a coffee before we got started. We thanked Sue for this kind offer however time was against us and we wanted to make a big difference in short time we were there for. We got stuck into the task straight away (after a few required shots by the film crew). Yvonne, the presenter of Heno and new to GoodGym herself, got stuck into the task, making light work of a very challenging task. The runners were required to dig up plants and overgrown long grass and move it into temporary plant pots. We only had 20 minutes to do this task but we managed to do it!

Write up by Welsh Dave about runners efforts at the Star Hub

17 keen goodgymmers got to the STAR (or Stare 😉) hub in sunny Tremorfa. Unfortunately plan A turned into Plan B - but luckily there was plenty to do at the Hub! We weeded, carried, picked and emptied our way through the task. Moving compost, stacking chairs and weeding the garden are all in an evening's work for Tuesday night's Tremorfa team!

Time to finish the first group run of 2020

Sadly, time moves as quick as we do, and it wasn't long after we arrived at each of the tasks before we had to head back! Yvonne from the S4C was also gutted it was coming to an end as she was having so much fun!

A special thank you to Rebecca, the Social Communications and Marketing Manager at GoodGym head office, who helped coordinate the involvement of S4C, our Welsh Speakers and task organisers.

---

2020 Tweet Off

Marie is taking an early lead in the tweet off! It already looks like she may beat last years winner, Lucy.

• MOH - 2
• Everyone else - 0

RunPunStiltskin award

Can you come up with the best pun title for the run report? if yours gets chosen you get a point on the leaderboard.

• EW - 1

Christmas is often a really difficult time for families who are homeless, so tonight's task was a very sensitive and emotive one. It was a task that we hope brought aspects of joy to the lives of families during a very challenging time

This evening 38 runners showed up to Big Moose to join in this evening's GoodGym run. Yes, 38!!! 38 is the most runners we have EVER had on a GoodGym Cardiff run. There were 3 new runners tonight too- A huge welcome to Sarah, Abby and Lucy! It was absolutely fantastic having you run with us. Jayne brought along Abby to GoodGym that means she earned herself a red lace #LifesGoals! Jayne will now have one faster leg when she runs until she brings another friend and claims another red lace.

The evening started with Ben leading a warm up. He then gathered everyone together to do the usual introduction and acknowledge any achievements over the past week. They included:

• GoodGym Cardiff and The Vale (That's us!) winning the BBC Sport Wales, Getting Wales Active Award
• Ben (GoodGym Trainer) running the 3 Day Ultra Trail Marathon in Ibiza; running over 105km over 3 days
• Lucy Marsh reaching 200 good deeds - Woo!!!
• A wonderful Community Mission at Herbert Thompson directed by Ms Guy

Runner of GoodGym Cardiff and Global News room journalist, Peter Gillibrand turned up in his star costume this evening. If you didn't know by now, Pete is attempting to break a Guinness World Record by running the 2020 London Marathon dressed as a star - Well done Pete you looked fab!

Arriving at Nightingale House

We've run to Nightingale House twice before yet we always managed to forget which building it is - Running up and down the street gives us a bit of extra exercise though, something that we shouldn't be averse to as GoodGym is about getting fit after all.

The staff at Nightingale House welcomed us in with the warmest of welcomes. They were very shocked to hear that 38 runners had turned up, a jump from the 20 that were signed up a couple of days ago.

Our tasks this evening were to decorate the communal areas with Christmas themed decorations and wrap presents, in secret, in the building at the rear of the garden. Some of the runners also gave the garden some TLC by picking up leaves and doing some weeding.

What an incredible task

Everyone found a role and got stuck in. At least 3 Christmas trees were put up. One of the children had James playing with an inflatable Santa for most of the time. Imogen was also being chased with tinsel by some of the children. There was a baby who was dressed in a VERY cool Christmas outfit, who was amazed by the Christmas tree and kept gazing at it in amazement.

In the back building aka. Santa's workshop, runners were speedily wrapping presents. After wrapping one present they would quickly be on to the next. Every bit of space was made use of for the task. Chloe and Sue spent 30 minutes in the toilet wrapping presents.

Thank you so much for your help

The staff and the residents at Nightingale House were extremely grateful, and we were grateful that they allowed us to celebrate some of Christmas with them. Everyone wished each other a Merry Christmas and then we disappeared into the night.

Dave led the run back to Cardiff City Centre, although he quickly ran back to Nightingale House as he had forgotten his bag (Some more unexpected exercise!).

A task that will definitely make a difference. Well done all!

Next week's GoodGym run is on Wednesday - Make sure you come along!

Next Tuesday we have the BBC Sports Awards so the group run will take place on Wednesday. The plan is to help Samye Foundation. I will also be looking for an additional Christmassy themed task. I would love to see you next week - I will bring the award to show you too. Click here to sign up to next week's run.

---

Tweet Tweet

Gosh that was quick! Megan has claimed another point on the tweet off leaderboard! Well done! ALL points count and there are less and less opportunities to move up the leaderboard as each week goes by.

• LM 13
• MO 9
• EW 5
• MJ 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• RJ 1
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

Did you know that GoodGym is more talked about than the general election? ............ Talked about by me anyway! And I was especially chatty about GoodGym this week as we got to help the wonderful Charity called 'Forget-Me-Not!'

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good. It really is amazing how much we've grown and flourished over the past two and a half years into a club that welcomes individuals of all abilities. Over the past couple of months we have consistently had high numbers, between 25-30 runners every week, and this is testament to how fun each and every run is, and why we ABSOLUTELY LOVE to come to GoodGym every week... Anyway, now onto tonight!

As soon as the city hall's clock struck 6pm people kept turning up to GoodGym with smiles on their faces. Greeting each other with the friendliest of welcomes. We had two new runners to GoodGym this week; a GARGANTUOUS WELCOME TO GOODGYM MEGHAN & ALAN! Alan is Marie's friend which means, Marie claims her FREE red lace for bringing a friend to GoodGym #LifesGoals.

Let's get our run on! Mikey and Ben at the ready...

Mikey led the sexy runners this evening; those runners that wanted to run more gracefully, concentrating on their technique and form whilst talking about how cold the weather is getting

Ben led the speedy group; the runners who want to run that little bit harder and be pushed beyond the limits of conversation! They took a slightly longer route and did some hill sprints before arriving at the task.

Welcome to St. Edward's Chruch, the home of Forget-Me-Not

Kathie, the task organiser and a volunteer at the Forget-Me-Not Charity, welcomed us into the warmth of the church and told us about the wonderful charity. Kathie then wasted no more time and explained to us how we were going to be superheroes this evening (the tasks that needed doing).

Our mission was to:

• Move all of the chairs onto the raised area at the church, clean the lower area by mopping and drying the floors and hoovering the carpets, and then move all the chairs back.
• Cut back the buddleia tree that was becoming overgrown (imagine Jumanji but to a much less extent)
• Litter pick the streets of Roath

We had 30 minutes to complete the above tasks, and boy did we do good! Runners dried the floor using towels under their feet, except for Mike who ran up and down the hall pushing the towel as part of his training. Mikey used his profession as a manager to manage the team of buddleia cutters. The team of litter pickers had the most difficult challenge it seemed, to find litter on the streets of Roath. The streets surrounding the church were all pretty clean, however they did find some empty drinks cans, drinks cups and plastic bags.

Peter created a timelapse footage of everyone moving the chairs back at the end which looks pretty cool!

Thank you so much for all of your help

Kathie and her team of volunteers were all grateful that we ran to help there this evening. Kathie invited us all to have some scrumptious biscuits she had laid out so that we were adequately fueled before running back to Big Moose.

Ben led those runners wanting a speedy run and Mikey led the sexy runners!... It wasn't long after that when we arrived back at Big Moose and did our warm down, reflecting on our run and discussing all the exciting listings there are on the GoodGym website.

---

The Tweet off

Lucy added another point to the tweet off leaderboard tonight. Marie retweeted second but that doesn't get you any points unfortunately. Great work Lucy and awesome job everyone who has made it on the leaderboard to date.

• LM 12
• MO 9
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• MJ 3
• NS 2
• RJ 1
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

The truth is out. Rebecca Black prefers Tuesday's because that's the day when GoodGym Cardiff takes place

As soon as 6.30pm struck Ben directed everyone outside to warm up. He got them jogging, doing high knees and butt kicks. Runners then played a game of stuck in the dance and then regrouped for a headcount. We welcomed two new runners to the run this evening, Danny and Anish - A HUGE welcome! We acknowledged runners achievements over the past week too. Here's what got a mention:

• Lucy ran Lisbon Half Marathon
• Ben ran Lisbon Marathon
• Mary ran her FIRST EVER parkrun
• Darren and Ellen undertook a mission to help an older person - fab work!
• A community mission took place last Thursday to help Macmillan Cancer Charity. Well done Ellen, Aimee, Nathan and Emma!

Before setting off we split into separate groups. We had 1 group led by Mikey to help the charity Forget-Me-Not. We had another group led by Ben to help Chapter Arts Centre, and we had a walking group led by Lucy, also to Chapter Arts Centre.

We're at Chapter Arts Centre - Rosie where art thou?

Runners embarking on a slightly shorter run arrived at Chapter Arts by 7pm. They then headed over to the Cwtch where Rosie had reserved tables for the evening's task. The walking group arrived soon after. Rosie welcomed everyone to Chapter Arts and told everyone about the centre and what goes on there. Rosie then told runners about the tasks they had been set for the evening; to make Pumpkin pompoms and ghost bunting which will be hung up around the centre.

There was some extremely creative pompom pumpkin making. Ted created an amazing chain of ghost bunting that he became quite attached to. Martin became engrossed in making pompoms and approached the task with unwavering levels of focus.

To finish the task we invited Adam, an employee of Chapter, to take a group photo of us for this run report. He kindly said he would and now he has a mention in this run report forever more... who knows, maybe we will see him at a future run...

Whilst some of us were helping at Chapter Arts, the rest were helping the Forget-Me-Not charity at St. Edwards Church

11 runners embraced the extra distance to run to St. Edward's church for Forget me not charity. A simple direct run, several light stops, but an introduction to the streets of Cardiff.

We were welcomed as always with a warm embrace, a session had just finished which added to the task. So tonight, putting back the chairs in the church after their evening and cutting back a rather large Buddleja.

Darren lead a group out to tackle the Buddleja that we had taken down last year. Whilst Mikey got the four runners inside to work on resetting the Church.

It wasn't too long before everyone was outside taking down the butterfly Bush for another season. It took some work, but eventually it was nothing but a group of sticks.

And so to our photo, and where else should it be but in a tree.....

Thanks to forget me not, a run back and wait, there's still time for a bit of extra exercise. It was runners choice, either step ups or a race around our second church of the evening. Each group got their sweat on and then we carried on to meet up and cool down with the rest of the crew.

A task well done

A huge well done to everyone who came to GoodGym this evening. Rosie and Kathie were both extremely grateful for our support.

---

The Tweet off

Megan won the tweet off this evening, moving up the leaderboard to overtake Nathan Swain - Not sure whether he knows this yet, but if he is reading this then he does now. Well done Megan!

• LM 11
• MO 8
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• MJ 3
• NS 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

Tuesday evening is my favourite time of the week. It's a chance to get fit, do good, have a laugh and have fun :)

This week the plan was to help out at Samye Mindfulness and Wellbeing Foundation. Samye Foundation Wales is a compassion-based mindfulness training centre in Cardiff. They've have been providing mindfulness training to individuals and organisations for more than ten years and have helped thousands of people to improve their well-being through mindfulness.

Before setting off to Samye we had to get warmed up. Ben led part one of the warm up, did the headcount and celebrated everyone's achievements over the past week;

• Nathan ran the Oxford Half Marathon
• 8 runners from GoodGym Cardiff and Bristol took part in the Cross Country Challenge / Gwent League - It was awesome!
• Mike and Bri complete a mission to help an older person
• Alice did parkrun!

There were no new runners this week -Sad Face! However we saw some faces who we haven't seen at GoodGym for a while, including the lovely Alison Ling - Smiley Face!

Running to the Samye Foundation

Welsh Dave led the speedy runners to the Samye Foundation. Darren led the sexy group and Ben led the walky talky group.

We're here

Anthony and John were both at the Samye Centre. With smiles on their faces, they greeted us with the warmest of welcomes. They gave us our tasks for the evening which included;

• Weeding in the car park
• Varnishing the eternal knots
• Moving furniture
• Painting the inside toilet
• Planting a maple tree

Everyone got stuck straight in!

After the task was completed Anthony and John invited us in for some lovely nibbles to refuel before we ran back. We tasted the BEST and most scrumptious cupcakes that I have ever tasted - Get this... you actually injected caramel into them - Incredible!

Time to run back guys!

After a wonderful 40 minutes of helping at the Samye Foundation Centre it was time to head back. We waved goodbye and then ran and walked off into the night :) We had smiles on our faces and warmth in our hearts knowing that we'd made good use of our run.

Drinky poos

At the pub we then had discussions about who Pete was appointing to different roles to help him with his Sub 4 hour marathon attempt dressed as a star. If he completes the challenge that he has set himself then he will be in the Guiness Book of World Records for the fastest person to run a marathon dressed as a star, a feat that Eliud Kipchoge is yet to accomplish.

Mali also announced that she is keen to take on a marathon and was asking for opinions about which marathon she should do.

---

The Tweet off

Marie won the tweet off this evening. We caught Marie for a brief interview afterwards. She said "I've been training for the tweet off for months. I've enrolled onto further training so I can retweet even quicker."

• LM 11
• MO 8
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

A Choir-t night in

Was there a moose, loose about this hoose tonight? Or was it more a case of GoodGym Cardiff loose to spruce the hoose of our good friends the Big Moose Coffee co.

Instead of a run out to a task this evening, we had the honour of supporting our amazing hosts Big Moose with some painting, shifting and general freshening up of the cafe area. Did you know they’ve been going since March last year, supporting people who are homeless or disadvantaged to get back into work and society.

It’s a testament to their success and the popularity of the place that the walls already need a lick of paint to bring the sparkle back. This is where we come in! But first, once again we were required to put on our game faces and practice our running form for the cameras as our very own Rosie was being filmed as part of a programme about a community choir. While Rosie chatted with presenter Mark and explained how she got involved, the rest of us did our best to not look at the cameras and look as cool as possible dodging the good people of Cardiff heading home or out on the town. And gosh were there plenty of us - maybe it was knowing we’d be filmed that meant we were able to choral 31 people together for tonight’s session, including Ted, Marie and Immy who were attending for the first time and Maya who is back after her placement year in Africa.

With no run needed to get to the task, Ben put his famed planning skills to good use, sending half of us out for a gentle run and walk around Cardiff while the other half got stuck into painting walls and skirting boards, soundtracked by DJ Ben’s Spotify favourites. In no time place was beginning to gleam white, with surprisingly little paint spilt on floors, trainers or brand new GoodGym tops.

Not wishing to hog all the limelight, the first group moved on to clearing the outdoor area and filling the skip outside before welcoming back their running comrades and hitting the streets themselves for a spritely jaunt in the pouring rain, led by Mikey.

By now the painting was in full swing. No patch of wall or cladding was safe from eager GoodGymers wielding loaded paint brushes. By the time the second running group squelched their way back to the coffee house, it felt like the whole place was born anew - we knew it would be all white on the night.

Group photos taken, equipment packed away and new friends made, we said our farewells with the satisfaction of knowing we’d supported a valued partner who has so generously hosted our weekly group runs.

Next week it will be business as usual as we head out to Samye Foundation to do some more decorating, perhaps with a halloween theme? Make sure you sign up and tell all your friends.

The Tweet Off

Marie won the tweet off this evening. We caught Marie for a brief interview afterwards. She said "I'd like to thank my friends and my family."

• LM 11
• MO 7
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1