Michelle

We welcomed some traveling GG members from Leicester in the form of Zachary who was one his first run and Elena. You are both welcome back anytime and hope you enjoyed it!

This week we were back to help out our good pal PARKY ROB who is always so appreciative of the work we do. Unfortunately he had some bad news for us, letting us know that some of the trees in the park were to be chopped down due to Ash die back. Sad times, but necessary to keep the park users safe.

Out task for this week was to cut back three beds that were getting a bit keen with the better weather and encroaching onto the pavement and park a bit too much, so we got straight to it giving them a good haircut.

James proved too strong for the secateurs which were fortunately the only casualty on the night.

Well I avoided the cape as long as I could but MARVELOUS MAX wouldn't let me get away with it. With the 200 milestone reminder it was time to done the silky marvel and embrace the magic. We said our goodbyes to Rob and some of the other runners and headed to the U-Mix center for some DOUBLE TROUBLE, working in pairs and each taking on 4 exercises in total, including:

• Box Jumps
• Step Ups
• Leg Lifts
• Chin Ups

Back at base we stretched off and headed in to sample the extensive new menu The Showroom had to offer.

Until next week, happy running :)

This week, Goodgymmers joined people from across the country to help Greenpeace with The Big Plastic Count 2022 . The task was simple: count all the plastic you throw away in a week (dividing into categories) so they can use this as evidence to pressure government and industry into creating reusable alternatives.

It is quite confronting to see when tallied up. I do try to use refills and choose things with less packaging where I can, but I soon realised that my penchant for snacking is my downfall... bad for the planet as well as my waistline.

Naomi felt similar:

It's been an interesting task ... we recycle everything we can, but seeing it laid out over such a short period is heart-breaking. I changed from vegetarian to vegan last year to try and do more for the planet, but even that diet comes with a lot of plastic (tofu packaging, salad bags, nut packets etc) and buying second hand clothes from eBay that arrive in plastic envelopes!

Tracey got all arty with her colouring pencils to colour code her tally chart each day. She also found that she could return plant pots to a local garden centre for reuse.

I hope it's been an interesting exercise and encourages people to look how they personally can reduce their plastic waste as well as encouraging global governmental change. Don't worry if you haven't managed to log your results yet, or you forgot to log every day! You have until the end of the month to log your count, so you could do this week instead and you can still submit your data if you didn't do the full week

Today, we set out on a run to Meersbrook Park. Tom, Lan, Rachel, Celine and I arrived from the Showroom, duly out of breath after one very long hill just at the end. Seiko and Michelle met us there and, after a quick intro, we were ready to climb the steep hills of Meersbrook to distribute leaflets for smallparkBIGRUN 2022.

SmallparkBIGRUN will take place on 18/19 June 2022. It’s a mass participation event with partner runs taking place in Palestine, with the aim of raising funds for two Palestinian Projects: Children’s healing project in Gaza and the Sheffield Palestine Women’s Scholarship Fund. The event will provide a wonderful day out for Sheffielders, building a link to communities in another part of the world in the spirit of friendship and an opportunity to get some much needed exercise! The organisers are particularly keen to stress that the event aims to include the often marginalised members of the local community.

Bonus Feature: For some nostalgia, look back to our report form the inaugural smallparkBIGRUN in 2017 - Small Park, Big Run, Steep Hill - featuring Tom, Annie and Sam!

Five Sheffield Goodgymers joined the Trash Free Trails team, AKA the Trashmob at Wharncliffe woods on the edge of Deepcar to litter pick the downhill mountain bike trails.

Jo from the Trashmob gave us an introduction to what we'd be doing and where we'd be going which involved a short walk through the woods before reaching the biking trails. We had to go against our instincts and ignore the rubbish on the initial walk through an industrial area so we could focus on the trail - do not fear we cleaned up as much as we could of this bit on the way back.

Once in the woods we were given the health and safety talk and advised to keep a keen eye out for bikers coming fast down the gnarly trails. We split off in ones and twos and radiated outwards from the base camp (which some folk had used as a fire pit and left us some quick win rubbish items).

After about an hour we rejoined the team at basecamp and set off back to the start, continuing the litter pick on the way.

Much litter was picked, but the trails themselves were fairly clean which is a good sign most of the users are respecting the trails and woods when they use them - big up yourselves!

By helping out we took part in the Spring Trail Clean 2022, where riders, runners and roamers and anyone else using the trails in encouraged to help litter pick 1 bag of rubbish and keep the trails clean.

Check out https://www.trashfreetrails.org/ for more info.

This sunny morn saw 3 enthusiastic Goodgymmers out to support Sheffield's busiest parkrun, Endcliffe. We helped set up and then we took our roles.

Celine was marshaling at a lovely spot by the duck pond, whilst Rachel and Michelle tackled the complex funnel system. We were supported by some of the regular D of E volunteers, who were more familiar with it. There were a couple of moments that got a bit stressful, but with over 600 runners, I think it ran fairly smoothly overall!

We caught up with Annie at the end, congratulating her on her run, everyone raided the 'kit swap' before heading to the park cafe for breakfast in the sun.

Next month, we're heading a bit further afield to support GG Barnsley. Sign up here to join us on June 4th!

On a wonderful Wednesday evening a "Magnificent 7" runners met up for a short but sweet run to help the Barnsley Churches Drop-in Project. We welcomed our newest member, Kirsty, into the team; give her a massive cheer here!! After introductions and pleasantries were exchanged, we gathered outside our meeting point to do a head count and run briefing before setting off.

spreading bread, helping the homeless to get fed

On arriving at the BCDP we were welcomed by Peter and his team, who were already busy distributing food and drink to the homeless. We split into 2 teams. Team 1: Masterchefs Michelle and Cat making gourmet batches of sandwiches... ham and cheese, service please! .... 'spreading bread, helping the homeless to get fed', they didn't need any extra hamds as they were working hamd over fist. The rest of us (team 2) were 'basketing in the glory' of sorting bags and boxes of donations into baskets, which were then packed into distribution bags. The contents of the bags and boxes were sorted into categories; shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, soaps, handwash, mens and womens deodorants, sanitary products, haircare items etc. Items were then equally packaged into bags for dissemination according to sex. Kinetic Kirsty was a super speedy sorter and packer of bags!

After a very productive hour of work, we said our goodbyes and headed off to the fitness session; plank races in a nearby greenspace! Everyone partnered up and watched a demonstration by Ash and James. One partner lies in the plank position and the other runs from the back of them to the front. They then go into the plank position and the previous plankee gets up and runs to the front of them to plank once again. It's then a race from one side of the field to the other. Team Kirsty and Kat claimed victory, with Michelle and Rachel coming second and Cat and Ash bringing up the rear. Good news though, you all got on the podium! We're all winners in GoodGym and nobody had to walk the plank!

After this it was a small run back to base, via one more fitness activity, jogging up a high stairwell (with optional squats). We then stretched off, had a debrief and headed home. Looking forward to more next week!