GoodGym Cardiff and Vale joined Cwtch Together for an outdoor morning helping them to prepare the ground for their storage units (under construction by a socially distanced GoodGym Team 2).

Having cleared the land at the side of their new home at the Scout Hall, the charity has made good progress to level the ground and start paving the area to hold the storage units. They needed a little more help laying some patio stones. The team worked hard to shift the sand via multiple wheelbarrows to the area and then worked with Mike from Cwtch Together to painstakingly line up the paving slabs in a perfect line before filling the gaps with gravel in readiness for the storage unit.

Great progress had been made and the area is now ready to host storage unit number one!

Goodgym Cardiff & Vale made a return visit to the 15th Cardiff Scout Hall to finish the work with Cwtch Together started earlier in the week. Inspired by the scouting motto, the group were determined to do more than their best to shovel tons more dirt and prepare the area for concreting.

The weather had been miserable all day, but as the group arrived the sun was shining and in no time the dirt was flying. Flying through the fencing and into wheelbarrows to be decanted elsewhere – no one really knows where but the group didn’t question it.

Helpfully some of the fencing had been moved across to create larger gaps and easier shovelling into the wheelbarrows. This didn’t help Martin who seemed to thrive on throwing mud at the closest fencing and fail to get any through it.

Seeing that Stuart, Marie, Mikey, Martin and Andrew had the shovelling under control, Nathan decided to tackle the vines and plants that covered the walls and fencing. This turned out to be more of a ‘bush tucker trial’ as spiders, beetles and a multitude of other bugs rained down on his head and arms. Luckily Nathan is made of tough stuff and would’ve earned a full complement of stars for his efforts. In true showbiz style, playing up to the audience, Nathan also threw in a few high pitched screams when attacked by a moth the size of his face – he claims it was all in the interest of entertainment, but his Fitbit heartrate monitor suggests otherwise.

As the sun was setting and the clouds were beginning to turn a nice shade of pink, the job was done and the transformation complete. An area that days ago was covered in stinging nettles up to your chest was now all dug out and ready for sublayers and concrete to go down. Tonight GGC&V well and truly earned their badges.

8 litter bags filled and the message of goodgym shared with park goers. We even went to Bigmoose for some drinks after!

This week, Ben set runners across the United Kingdom the task of running to a street near them that began with the same letter as their own name. They had to get a photo with the street sign and share a fact about the street. The response has been amazing and we've had runners across the UK getting involved - wooo - a whopping 25 of you in fact!

Here is a summary of streets the runners ran to and the facts they found out:

• Ben ran to Bute street. And after doing a little digging on the internet, he found out that his great great grandfather used to live on the street!
• Sophie ran to Sophia Close - Sophia Gardens is a large public park in Riverside, Cardiff. The park is named after Sophia Crichton-Stuart, Marchioness of Bute (1809–1859)
• Andrew ran to Andrews road. Andrews road is named after Emile Andrews who, along with Mr & Mrs C P Hailey, used to own the land that 1926 became Hailey Park.
• Lowri Davies ran to Davies road! Davies is a patronymic Welsh surname. Davies is the 2nd most common surname in Wales & 8th most common in England of Welsh descendants - Wow! Learn something new everyday :D
• Nicky from GoodGym Lambeth ran to Normandy road. In 1985, an incident that happened on Normandy road sparked the Brixton Riots.
• Darren ran to Darran street! And the fact: Darran Street is 132.63 miles West from London & 0.98 miles North West from the centre of Cardiff.
• Flo ran to Fairoak road. Factoid: this is the only Fairoak Road in the UK!
• Alison ran to Archer road. Archer road is close to the Darlington Stockton railway line, which was the world's first public railway to use steam trains - Woooo, pretty awesome!
• Fiona ran to Felin Fach road. 'Felin Fach' means 'small mill'. There's actually a pub called The Felin Fach Griffin. It has a 4.5 on TripAdvisor and is definitely a place to visit after lockdown.
• 'C'harlotte ran to 'C'emaes Crescent' The word 'Cemaes' derives from the Welsh word 'Cemais' which means bend in a river!
• 'I'my doesn't have a street name beginning with I within 10 miles from where she lives, so instead she ran to T'Immy's Lane instead (and covered the T - hehe! Well done Imy :)
• Alice ran to Alice street. Fact about Alice Street : average age of residents there is 33.92 years!

Thank you to everyone who took part in this week's challenge. It's great to have you involved <3

The weather may not have been in our favour and high 5s may not have been allowed, but there was no lack of enthusiasm from the Goodgym volunteers at today's Cardiff Junior Parkrun.

With the rain pouring down and the uncertainty surrounding Parkrun events in the ongoing and fast paced changing situation regarding Covid-19, numbers were understandably down. That said, 60 determined junior parkrunners made their way around the 2KM course being cheered on by the Goodgym volunteers. Instead of high 5s, thumbs up and waving was encouraged. Marie as timekeeper battled the elements with her phone kept dry inside a waterproof pouch. We had the added pleasure of cheering on Goodgym Cardiff's very own Adam Hammond running with his little boy Ted - who ran very well but found himself a little distracted by the numerous puddles :) ... and that was just Adam!

Once our duties were complete, we headed for a coffee (and some had breakfast treats too) to warm up and dry off! It was nice to be joined by Emma DB, Aimee and Adam (and Ted). Thanks to Fiona for her suggestion for the report title!

Who knows what the next few weeks will hold for Parkrun and Junior Parkrun across the UK but hopefully we will be back once more in May to help out again .. fingers crossed for a dry sunny morning!

A whopping 24 runners turned up to GoodGym this evening!

An amazing turnout of 24 runners showed up to GoodGym tonight - A fantastic number! A HUGE welcome to Katie, from GoodGym Barnett/Camden and MASSIVE welcome to Peter who was joining GoodGym for his FIRST EVER GoodGym run - We always love seeing new faces at GoodGym. Don't forget to bring your mates / family members... we want them all to come!

Ben, the trainer of GoodGym was very considerate of the current climate and so, instead of shaking everyone's hand when they arrived, he bumped their elbows, as advised by health experts! At the start of the run, Ben also reminded everyone of the current guidelines re: attending GoodGym activities. You can view the guidelines by clicking here. NB: As this is a rapidly changing situation, GoodGym are constantly monitoring this to ensure they are responsive to the latest advice.

Welsh Dave led a warm up that involved no physical contact! He was very mindful of the current climate. He had planned a warm-up that involved passing a ball over heads and between legs, however changed the plan in the final hour to minimise the risks of germs spreading. What a hero!

Acknowledgments

• Mikey led a fantastic run on the weekend to help set up the international women's day banquet at the Wales Millennium Centre.
• Nathan took part in a race over the weekend - Woopee! He is really loving his races.

Let's run to the task

After Welsh Dave got everyone warmed up, it was time to head to Grangemoor Park, the entrance to the park located by Ikea. Welsh Dave led the speedy group and Ben led more of a relaxed pace group. Despite the task being about 2 miles away, it wasn't long before we had all arrived with our high levels of enthusiasm ready for the task that lay before us.

*Welcome GoodGym! Tonight's task will involve cutting back the overgrown bushes and litterpicking *

Claire from Sustrans gave us a very warm welcome. Sustrans is a UK walking and cycling charity and custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created 16,575 miles of signed cycle routes throughout the UK including 5,273 mi of traffic-free paths - Pretty cool eh!?!

Claire then armed the first group that arrived with litter picking tools and provided the second group that arrived with tools to cut back the overgrowth. Emma was in fierce combat with the thorny bushes that's for sure, and despite an anxious wait to see who would win, Emma was able to cut back the overgrowth and claim victory.

We spent a total of 30 minutes helping and after this time you could tell we had made a huge impact. The bushes were no longer encroaching onto the paths and the hedges, now free of litter, were looking GORGEOUS!

We had a LOVELY group photo with some of the other Sustrans volunteers.

Thank you so much GoodGym

Claire thanked us for our hard efforts. She then bid us farewell before we ran back to Big Moose. We then ran back, navigating the streets of Grangetown, turning left then turning right, it was quite a maze, actually!

Once we had arrived back at Big Moose it was time to warm down and reflect on the run. We did our stretches whilst discussing what we enjoyed about the run and what was coming up at GoodGym over the next few weeks.

After the run we headed for post run drinks and a chat (AKA. Drinkypoos).

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2020 Tweet Off

Unfortunately Martin did not win the tweet off this week. Marie took this birthday present opportunity from him! Good luck for next week everyone. Let's see if someone else can get on the leaderboard.

• MOH - 6
• MJ - 4
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

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

• BA - 5
• MO- 1
• IH - 1
• EW - 2
• AS - 3
• MG - 1
• GD -1
• LD -1

Happy Pancake Day

What is your favorite things to have with your pancake? As we did our headcount, each runner shared with the group what their favorite topping was to accompany their pancake. Stuart loves to have spicy beans with his pancake, whereas I like blueberries and cream... nom nom nom! Lowri even made pancakes for the run this week, using her grandmother's secret recipe! The feedback was unanimously positive - Diolch yn fawr Lowri.

Achievements

• Mikey reached 250 good deeds - soon he will be getting a GoodGym knighthood. It's super tough to keep up with all of these milestones.
• Lucy, Ellen, Emma, Darren, Nathan and Martin all ran half marathons on the weekend. Some of them are still recovering. We are so proud of you all.
• On the weekend there was a community mission cleanup in Bute Park - There was an overwhelming positive response from the Cardiff community who are all super impressed with our efforts. Read about it here

Let's get our run on

This evening, Ellen led the walk running group, Ben led those wanting a more relaxed pace and Darren led the speedy runners!

We've arrived

Lorraine greeted us with a warm welcome. She invited us in for a drink of water to rehydrate and after a couple of minutes then brought us into the hall area. Lorraine told us that the centre is currently celebrating the Tibetan New Year, also known as Lhochhar. Lorraine facilitated a 5 minute mindfulness practice with the group.

Our tasks this evening included:

• Weeding
• Painting the doors of the flats
• Painting the banisters in the building
• Hoovering the steps
• Planting Strawberry Plants

We managed to do all of the above within 30 minutes - Lorraine and Yin were both super impressed!

Memorable moments during tonight's task:

• I have this horn that I occasionally use for fitness exercises at GoodGym. Whilst in conversation with Lorraine the horn fell out of my pocket and onto the floor, Lorraine said "What on earth is that?" to which I replied in a manner that tried to normalize the situation "It's my horn."
• Sue's legs dangling from the attic... and I set Lorraine the challenge of identifying who's legs they were
• Do you have another memorable moment from the run? Write it in the comments below!

It's time to head back

As much as we love helping at Samye, we can't stay there all night (However they do have 2 vacant flats at the moment).

After the run we went for drinkypoos at the Glassworks.

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2020 Tweet Off

Marie has upped her game and scored another point by retweeting first this week.

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

RunPunStiltskin award

This week Imy and Marie collaboratively came up with the pun for the run! Wooppeee. Well done. A point to each of you!

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