We are a little thin on the ground .. can't think why?

Maybe it's because as many left for work this morning, we were under a little bit of snow. Thankfully that had cleared off in time for tonight's Group Run and we were ready and raring to go, albeit still wrapped up in several layers as we braved the elements. Our Group Run tonight managed to just scrape us into the February #GiveItHeart theme with just a few days to spare, as we were off to deliver leaflets for British Heart Foundation in Newcastle.

Miranda had pulled this task together for us, a team effort as Aimee had been to collect the leaflets for us too. Excellent Task Force effort! You can find out more about the life saving work the BHF do including research and fundraising to help beat heartbreak. We'd been asked to deliver the leaflets to the area near Leazes Park and St James', so we adopted a scatter approach for this one with three areas targeted by walkers and runners.

We caught up on the weekend's achievements including Charlotte running her first Half Marathon at Carsington Water Half since a terrible year filled with injury, and I tried not to whinge too much about the terrible race I had at the same event! Debbie also took part in an epic coastal 10K in Northumberland which featured hail, a headwind and an almost lost jacket.

Aimee did a great Task Force round up, recapping three great Community Missions that took place on Thursday and over the weekend involving 15 brilliant GoodGymers doing everything from sorting toys to gardening and marshalling a race! You will find the reports for the missions here. We also looked ahead to a busy Saturday with two more chances to do good things on Saturday alone! Bonus!

Despite my dislike for pancakes (yes, sorry, really) we did a pancake day warm up to get moving before heading off on the multi-distance run and walk. It took us just 25 minutes to deliver the 200 leaflets and we learned an important lesson about back doors and front doors looking exactly the same! Luckily no fingers were trapped, no gloves were lost and we were suitably warmed up for the fitness session!

For fitness tonight we used the area by The Core building, on the old Newcastle Brewery site. I think we could have all done with a beer but instead we smashed out some hard interval reps at our own paces, some very strong running from Elliott on display tonight especially. It was then time for some 30 seconds finishers (sore arms today, anyone?) and we were rewarded with a very short easy jog back to base to stretch and feel brilliant.

We are back with more leafleting next week and as it's March, it's Spring so it will definitely be warmer.

Hopefully.

Anji x

Oh great, it's my turn to feel silly running through the centre of town in angel wings!

You read it here first, I have finally gained my wings and achieved my 100th good deed with GoodGym Newcastle! Phew. #GGNCL has changed my life in so many ways and brought so many great people into my life, that it feels impossible to choose a favourite task amongst that 100, but at a push I'd say the massive one we did at Newcastle University or that first visit to Recyke Y Bike with the amazing sunset on the way back. They have all been so brilliant, and if you haven't done so in a while, spend some time this week looking back on the run reports and reflect on all the great things we do Thanks to everyone who has made GoodGym Newcastle what it is today, you've made it amazing.

It was another big turnout for our first visit of the year to Newcastle University students union. We love working together with Newcastle Uni as they give us such a great variety of tasks and work hard on integrating students with GoodGym Newcastle to provide them with great ways to get fit and do good things during their time at University. Tonight we were heading there to support NEST, a student-run volunteer project which offers amongst other things free English lessons to the refugee community in the region. Through the delivery of these lessons, refugees improve their written and verbal communication skills enabling them to gain necessary language qualifications required to gain employment in the UK. Boosting their confidence empowers them to integrate themselves into the local community, reducing the stigma and prejudice from existing residents.

We think what NEST do is nothing short of amazing.

We had a catch up on some great things that happened over the weekend including Tom's 50th good deed- yay! and heard about the last few community missions planned for January. Our partner- balance warm up game was as popular as ever with some weird and wonderful contributions from all! This was a great exercise in welcoming new runner Elliot along who happily got stuck in without questioning why we would start our evening with a Primary PE game in a car park.

It's a short jog to Newcastle Uni which was lucky as Paul casually ran another marathon yesterday and didn't have too long to grumble about his legs! Task owner Bridget along with another few volunteers from NEST met us there and ushered us into a toasty warm classroom for tonight's Good Things. There were two tasks waiting for us: sorting through and organising learner pack book bags, and creating number and letter display posters for the families who access NEST. Rachael took charge of the poster organisation while her crew showed off their artistic flair/failing while Debbie took charge of the laminator. Meanwhile out in the corridor the bag packers loved the chance to relax while they organised the book bags. This was a perfect example of the impact such a large group can have on completing tasks that would usually take charities much, much longer.

We used the courtyard area for the fitness session tonight which was a pulse-raising, competitive super fast game of chain tag in which Darren showed the best way to win is basically to spend half of the game hiding. This was definitely a fun way to get some interval training done and there were some red faces by the end of it!

I'm not sure where Tom is, but I think he's cheating

Thankfully the short jog back to base gave everyone the chance to make friends again.

Once again there are two chances to do good things this Saturday as we rumble on through the January challenge doing as many great things as we can. First up is your chance to help out at Newcastle parkrun where we are hoping for a big red tshirted takeover. If you want to get involved in this one, it's really important you follow the instructions in the listing and contact Newcastle parkrun to get yourself added to their volunteer roster. Even if the roster looks full, there will be the chance to double up at marshal points and wave the flag (literally!) for GoodGym Newcastle. If you're coming along to run, let's see you in your red and black tshirts: I will look for you to grab a big group photo near the start at 8:45am. Straight after that, I am leading our monthly visit to Nunsmoor Park where we will be helping out with jobs in the park right up to lunchtime. Stay as long as you like for that one!

There are more great things coming up to the end of the month and onwards, just keep checking the listings for more updates from the terrific task force.

See you next Monday for more running, walking, goodness, games and occasional fancy dress.

Anji x

There's a storm coming and it's not going to be safe

We were subject to a late change and I was subject to that phone call that no Trainer wants in the two hours before the Group Run! Due to a visit from Storm Brendan, high winds and pretty horrific rain late this afternoon, our planned visit to Newcastle Eagles was cancelled for our safety. We are always super grateful to our task owners for looking out for us like this and as Nick pointed out later, the Eagles Community Arena is indeed "The windiest place on Earth at the best of times" we knew it was right to reschedule our visit this time around. The other good bit is that we were in turn gifted this glorious Geordie pun that I'm pretty confident many of our southern fans won't really understand. (Top punning, Paul!)

With very little notice and no reserve task we hastily re-planned and decided we would do a back-to-back week of plogging, this time heading in the opposite direction and down to the fabulous Quayside. I kept our intro short and sweet (and indoors!) tonight but there was plenty of time to catch up on two brilliant Community Missions that took place over the weekend, as well as two brilliant Half Marathon PBs run in York by Abi and Nick, who almost missed the start of the race. I was really pleased to see new runner Nada back tonight too, especially in such vile conditions.

Top marks, Nada, you can stay!

My brilliant chain tag warm up idea didn't really work with a smaller group and I committed it to memory to do in a massive park with a bigger group in the summer instead. Charlotte and Rachael headed off walking ahead of us and we soon trotted off on the downhill to the glorious Quayside which was, as always, full of runners. In contrast to our plogging visit to Leazes Park last week, there was quite a bit of litter to collect due to the high winds and within 20 minutes just 15 of us had filled 5 big sacks full of rubbish. There's something very satisfying about clearing an area we are so proud of on such a miserable night.

I'm so glad I came, that was such a great spot for litter picking! - Charlotte

Everyone was starting to look a bit cold so I got straight on with the fitness session which really got everyone moving- the first round being 5 lower-body exercises repeated for 1 minute as many times as possible (you should see Tom's star jumps, they are MEGA) followed by varying-effort sprints and jogging for 5 flat out minutes. Everyone committed to the fitness session so well, including Andrew with some top lamp post marshalling and high fiving.

Kudos!

The January Challenge is rumbling on and we have loads of extra chances to do good things over the next few weeks. Check out our list of Community Missions and pop along to any you fancy!

Don't forget the BONUS RUN taking place this Saturday it's a great way to spend your lunchtime, and it's the perfect run to bring someone along to for the first time. See you there!

Anji x

PS: You can support us and stay super-involved by liking and following our social media stuff. It's a great way to spread the word.

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It doesn't matter what your Monday's been like, GoodGym always has a way of making it brighter

Well, we made it! Our last Group Run of 2019 is IN THE BAG. What an incredible turnout for the final one!

We were paying our last visit of the year to our brilliant partner Changing Lives, the charity that supports vulnerable people to get back on their feet. They have given us so many amazing tasks this year and from the start at GoodGym Newcastle, including this year the chance to get involved in monthly visits to transform the massive back garden at Elliott House. Tonight was special as it was a different sort of task, but also due to renovations due to start at Elliott House in the New Year, it was set to be our last visit for a while.

Don't worry folks, I will find us another task up a massive hill for 2020

We started the night with a big golden celebration as it was Katy Queen of Squats 100th GoodGym Good Deed! Imagine being so brilliant, and so lovely, 100 times?! I - ahem - treated Katy to taking the intro and warm up for her 100th as I led the walking group off on a head start. Katy had colour coordinated her jacket and hair accessories with the golden wings of goodness but sadly she'd left her halo at home. Katy has done some amazing things during her time at GoodGym, going from new runner to Run Leader and Half Marathon runner, and I think you'll all agree she has the best games!

Happy 100th, Katy!

Excellent task owner Alice met us at Elliott House and led us straight up to a room where a stash of hidden gifts and nags awaited us. It was like a real Santa's grotto without plinky-plonky music. Our task was to get a production line going and in 20 minutes, to fill 50 Christmas Gift bags (again colour coordinated with Katy's wings) with presents for the Elliott House residents to open on Christmas Day. Each bag had to contain:

• A selection box

• A warm hat

• A mug

• Bar of soap

• Toothbrush

• Lynx bath set (it isn't Christmas without Lynx)

• Sweets

• Socks

Within minutes, a production line was going with bags being stuffed, passed and checked and the task was done by a record 7:04pm! It's nice to end the year with a PB! We hope the residents love their secret Santa bags as much as we loved putting them together. Quick photo session and back to Elliott House we went, where Rachel and Ross (no Friends comments please) were ready to meet us for after-run drinks.

We were so pleased to have the chance for a massive get-together at our base Hotel Indigo who are always so welcoming and accommodating to us every week. Massive thank you to all the staff there especially Adam who make us feel so welcome every week. With drinks in hand I announced the nominations for GoodGym's GoodGymer of 2019 which had been sent to me by you the runners over the course of last week.

The nominations were:

Andrew for the way he embraces everything GoodGym and the dedication he has to every good deed. Aimee for the progress she has made with her running, and the way she has embraced every area of GoodGym. Charlotte for the work she does on Instagram, and for being so passionate about GoodGym. Evan for his inspiring ultra-distance running, and arranging everything social for GGNCL. Katy for her brilliant games and for being a fantastic Run Leader whenever I'm not around.

It was really close in voting until the last few hours yesterday, then a sudden surge in voting gave Awesome Andrew a landslide victory, and he was awarded the coveted golden GoodGym dustpan and brush. You can tell by the photo how delighted he was.

I'm going to do the same face for this photo, that I've done for every photo this year

Andrew is leading a Community Mission this Saturday at St Lawrence Park which looks like the perfect chance to keep warm do good things and smash an extra good deed to stay on Santa's good list. The last Community Mission of the year takes place with Aimee on Sunday at City Stadium too, if you fancy doing a Double to end the year!

Thanks everyone for an incredible year of GoodGym Newcastle, in particular the Task Force for supporting and developing everything we get done. Every single one of you who come along whether it's once a month, every Monday, weekly visits to your coach or to every Community Mission help to make GoodGym what it is.

Our city is healthier, better and we are happier because of you

I'll leave you with Katy's brilliant poem that featured in my massive Christmas/Thank You card (thanks to everyone for their lovely messages!) and no apology that this Run Report has been epic- you get two weeks off from my rambling as a thank you.

Here it is:

GoodGym Newcastle is now 20 months old, And as 2019 comes to a close, It is time to reflect on the Good Deeds we've done, So we'll start from the top I suppose...

It all started with a painted Hoover, As we sorted through tools and toys, Paimted desks, clicking heels, cupboard and leaves, At JPR cheering the girls and boys.

Beeswax crafts, sewing and building shelves, Are all things we love to do! Litter-picks, weeding and marshallind in fog, Of those we've done quite a few!

There was painting and goat-walking, And then chopping down of trees. We made paper chains, sorted books, And were really good posties!

Scrubbed the decks, then painted them black, Can you believe I'm not even in May? Cleared a tunnel and found some rate, And remember digging in that rain?!

WERS got our help and we played in the park, Laughed and joked, everything shone. Yet more painting, we showed our pride, Delivered leaflets until there were none!

2000 good deeds was 'relay' great! Eagles and Recyke got our aid. First Centurion got his wings, then 3 more. Elliott Jouse- what a difference we've made!

But truth be told, it couldn't be done, Without someone taking a lead. Yes, you've got helpers to give you a hand, But you're who we really need.

Thank you Anji, our Queen of Drills, For your planning, playfulness and puns. 2019 has been a truly amazing year, All because of our Monday Group Runs!

• Katy

Happy Christmas one and all, See you in 2020!

Anji x