On Sunday 1st October GoodGym Cardiff and runners from other GoodGym areas including Bristol and Bath took part in the 2017 Cardiff Half Marathon. For some runners it was their first ever half marathon and for others it was an opportunity to set a new PB.

At 9am GoodGym runners gathered outside Yr Hen Lyfrgell. Ben Jozefiak was already there waiting – who knows how long… It was a pleasure to see him again in Cardiff after he left to go to Scotland about 2.5 month ago.

At 9.25am we started our warm up. We jogged on the spot, did lunges, butt kicks, high knees and an assortment of other running drills so our bodies were ready to run. We then made our way to our allocated starting pens.

9.55am; Everyone was in their pens. Adrenaline was now pumping through veins and their hearts were far from resting pace.

10am; The gun sounded. 20,000 runners were now embarking on the 13.1 mile journey. The route took runners down Penarth road, across the Barrage, passed Cardiff Prison, - Wahey!!! Just before the 8 mile marker was the GoodGym cheer point! Thank you all for coming out to support, we needed you – continuing up Richmond road, down Albany road, around Roath Park, up hell hill and back to City Hall where the finish line lie in waiting. After GoodGym runners finished they all regrouped 300m from the finish line to cheer on the next lot of runners through (That was pretty cool as we then had two cheer points along the route!). Patrick’s words of encouragement drew laughs “come on ladies, less chatting more running”, “speed up you are about to get overtaken by a teacup” and “Come on Gary, stop playing on twitter you have a race to finish.” Our words of encouragement definitely got runners pushing themselves in the final stretch!

Special thanks to our supporters who gave us much needed words of encouragement along the route (Samina, Andie, Lexi, Ellen, Lowri and Adam!)

What an awesome day! Well done to everyone who took part :) Get signed up for next year!

12 GoodGym runners triumphed in the Cardiff 10k today. There was blood, sweat and beers! (Okay, Beers were after the race, but they were involved...). Keep reading to find out what went down in Wales' Capital this Sunday..

Race day of the Cardiff 10k. Runners looked out their windows and were all greeted by rain... However, knowing there was no turning back it was all about dancing in the raindrops and splish, splash, sploshing in the puddles (Well running as fast as we could but I thought the former description sounded funnier!).

Runners all met outside Cardiff City Hall at 9.10am. It was reassuring seeing everyone and knowing that everyone had made it to the race start safely and on time. To keep warm we huddled together, ran on the spot and gathered under Martin's umbrella - Thank you for bringing your umbrella Martin!

Let's get our legs warmed up and the blood flowing

Bringing all of what we learned at GoodGym to the forefront of our minds, we remembered rule number 1. A good warm up prepares the body for exercise and reduces the likelihood of injury, and so we proceeded with a warm up.

At 9.40am, feeling warmed up and raring to go, we wished each other well as we headed off to our allocated starting pens. Ben bumped into Mark at the start (another runner who has attended a GoodGym run previously) and said "hello and run well!"

3...2....1... GO

We were off! James Thie of Welsh Athletics was the race commentator. He gave a special shout out to GoodGym at the start which we all heard and helped our motivation levels (James is a strong supporter of all the good we are doing in Cardiff!).

The course was challenging at parts, with uphills and downhills, people to dodge at the start and mental battles along the way.

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Ben's race reflections: A great course! I had to really use my arms on the uphills to help me maintain a good pace when the course became more challenging. Having the support of Sam, Hannah and Mikey, runners of GoodGym Cardiff who weren't running the course but were supporting instead, was invaluable - They did AWESOME at providing much needed words of encouragement. I couldn't have run harder today and I felt I ran a good race, maintaining my pace and enjoying the atmosphere... I can't wait until the Cardiff Half Marathon in October.

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After we all finished the race some of us met afterwards for a group photo. We posed with our medals and did 'jumping pictures'. In the process Martin's medal impacted with his head... Moment of Suspense... He was okay! PHEW!

Ben's efforts in the race also contributed to a bleeding toe... EWWWW (I've added a photo just to make you go yuck!).

We all then went for food and got 'cosy in the cosy club' with well deserved beverages all round!

WELL DONE ALL! Congratulations on your epic achievement! GO GOODGYM!

On a very hot and sunny Sunday, Hazel and I met in Islington to help Mrs G with her unruly garden. With the ground being rock hard, digging up the weeds wasn't possible so we hacked away at them instead with a little help from the tools passed over the fence by the next-door neighbour. After little over an hour we'd made a very noticeable difference and said our goodbyes to a very grateful Mrs G.

Blue skies, hot air balloons and a polar bear provided the backdrop for tonights run as nine cheery GoodGym runners negotiated a hot 8k up and down the hills of Bear Flat.

BEARERS OF GOOD NEWS

Our task was to distribute flyers to the residents of Bear Flat to spread the news of the Community Market that’s held every third Saturday morning to promote local food and to provide space where the community can get together and share information.

It was a four vs four head-to-head as Dora, Emma, Sam and Becca (our newest member donning her red t-shirt) took on David, Rob, Steve and Tom to ensure we covered all the households on our trusty map.

SWING WHEN YOU’RE WINNING

We resisted the urge to dash down the stairs and go recce the Two Tunnels route ready for the weekends GoodGym nominated race and instead, as it was such a blooming’ lovely evening, popped in to Bloomfield Park for a quick mid-run play… I mean an impromptu improvised Strength and Conditioning session using the equipment for core stability exercises and pull ups!

A canter back along the canal topped off with a walking lunge lap and we were back to base for a stretch out.

Thanks to Sam & Tom for our pun, Emma for back marking and to everyone for a great run and a task well done.

PARK LIFE

Don’t forget it’s the GoodGym takeover of Park Run this Saturday morning, 9am, wear your GoodGym t-shirt with pride and come represent, whether it’s to run, steward or support.

There’s a task to tackle at the Bath City Farm afterwards so sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/saturday-big-farm-fundraiser-event and join the GG tourists as they sightsee this beautiful city.

Good luck to all who are competing in the Relish Running Races events on Sunday.
Happy running everyone.