Running to places we've supported in the past / or running and finding something to do with the number 3 to celebrate 3 years of GoodGym Cardiff.

This week runners were challenged to run to different significant landmarks in their local area.

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

Helping at Mackintosh Community Gardens, flyering about GoodGym and plogging the streets - Wooo that was a busy one!

Despite the changeable weather that we had all day in Cardiff, 33 runners showed up to GoodGym this evening, ready and willing to combine their running with doing good in the Cardiff community.

We had 4 new runners this week - AMAZING! Word is getting about how cool GoodGym is and now everyone is keen to get involved. A HUGE WELCOME TO GOODGYM CARDIFF Rob , Sam, Danielle, Grace. We do love having new people come along. GoodGym has so many benefits and we hope you reap the benefits! It's incredible to have you part of the family (Yes, you already feel part of the GG family to us :))

Acknowledgements

• We had 2 red lace warriors this evening. Anthony brought Sam to GoodGym this evening and Danielle brought Rob and Grace #LifesGoals
• Clap Clap Clap to Pete for reaching 50 good deeds!
• Hip hip hooray to Llion who also reached 50 good deeds!

Don't forget; when you reach 50 good deeds you are able to claim your black goodgym milestone tee

Time to get going!

Tonight it was Ben leading the speedy runners, Ellen leading the runners who planned to run at more of a relaxed pace and Amy led the walk/runners.

• At this point I would like to express a MASSIVE thank you to all of the run leaders who help make GoodGym accessible to all abilities.
  

Welcome to Mackintosh Community Gardens

Carol welcomed us to Mackintosh gardens. Mackintosh Community Gardens is well used by all ages and nationalities. Carol has made huge progress in recent years developing the space and the garden is now very much a part of the community.

The tasks this evening included:

• Building steps
• Building a woodstore
• Shifting soil
• Sweeping leaves

With the combined efforts from everyone at GoodGym this evening, the tasks were completed and the evening was a success!

The flyering and plogging platoon

Whilst the walkers/runners who went with Ellen and Aimee remained at Mackintosh community gardens, Ben took his group flyering the streets. They delivered flyers about GoodGym. You may now be asking why did they flyer about GoodGym? Well, we targeted well known student areas in the Roath area. Students are a population that can sometimes feel isolated, moving to a new area, not having many friends and being away from home. Students can also feel overwhelmed, with many deadlines to meet and exams to revise and sit. GoodGym can benefit the student population, and in order for them to get this benefit, they need to know about us!

Time to head off!

With the task complete and flyers distributed, it was time to head back!

We ran back to Big Moose where we did our warm down, reflected on the night's achievements and shared info about what's coming up over the next couple of weeks!

2020 Tweet Off

WAHOO! Megan you have won the tweet off two consecutive times now and you are moving up the leaderboard!

• MOH - 2
• MJ - 2
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

Combined effort from Andrew and Ben this week. Ding Ding Ding. A point to each!

• EW - 2
• BA - 2
• AS- 2

Would you believe it? A gargantuan 29 runners turned up to GoodGym this evening to get fit and do good! When I call you all superstars, I truly mean it!

Skies were grey in Cardiff this evening. If you didn't like the rain then you would probably feel quite dismal being outdoors. There was not a single dismal face at GoodGym tonight, though. We embraced elements and just got on with it!

There were two new runners to GoodGym this evening! A HUGE welcome to Sophie and Catriona. We love new faces! Lucy and Imogen invited the new runners along, so they earned themselves a red lace each! #LifesGoals #BestThingToEverHappen. We also welcomed Ali and Megan to their first GoodGym run on a Tuesday evening. They actually joined us on Saturday's run in Penarth. Ali is actually training for the Chicago marathon - EPIC choice!

Let's get our run on

There were 3 different paced groups this evening. Aimee led the walk runners, Mikey led the runners who opted for a run at a more relaxed pace, and Ben led those runners wanting a speedy run!

To reach the YMCA all groups walked/ran through Cardiff City Centre and down Newport Road. Ben made the speedy group do some sprint drills outside sofology.

Welcome to the YMCA!

Matt, Babs and Arianne welcomed us to the YMCA with an extremely warm welcome and freshly made squash at the ready. Arianne, who will actually be leaving the YMCA this Friday, told us about the YMCA's initiative, after which we could wait to get stuck in.

There were a variety of tasks to help with this evening. Ali hoovered the whole store. Some of the runners built a bed, others priced up books and the rest sorted through bags and bags of clothes donations at a rate of knots!

We played a game of Ben's Price is Right - You have to guess the price of random items; one of the items was a calendar with toilets at different exotic locations for each month.

Time to run back

After approximately 40 minutes of helping, it was time to head back. Matt, Babs and Arianne thanked us for our help and waved us off. Helping at the YMCA this evening gave us a really good reason to run - It just feels right!

We ran back to Cardiff City Centre and back to big moose to warm down and collect our belongings. There we reflected on the evening's run and we all agreed that it felt worthwhile.

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2020 Tweet Off

The witty man himself, Darren retweeted the quickest this evening. He was overjoyed with the win and the whole of the Glassworks knew about it.

• MOH - 2
• Razzle Dazzle - 1

RunPunStiltskin award

Come up with the title of the run report and be in with the chance of winning the RunPunStiltskin award,

• EW - 1
• BA - 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.

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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