Both the sun and GoodGymmers were out in force this week volunteering at the Covid-19 vaccination centre in Swindon's STEAM museum. As always we covered a range of roles both inside and outside the centre. We supported the effort by running the meet and greet, managing the car parking, booking taxis, lane marshalling, and vaccine running - we're a multi-talented bunch! [Stuart] had a new wing women in [Tracy] this week, replacing Jason (for one week only?) and [Paul] volunteered for the first time at STEAM - and remembered to take a selfie in the car park!

Great job all round. We'll be back next week, to keep doing our bit in supporting this critically important task.

Thanks to leader Sam who had rallied a troop of 8 for this outing to Avebury for a training jaunt around the (National) Trust 10k trail. This was not our first rodeo and we absolutely love it there with stunning views, rolling hills, and despite the forecast, weather that was perfect for running.

Adam is in the depths of tri-training and arrived by bike having cycled the 23k from North Swindon – hardcore! Meanwhile Lily was putting the ‘good’ in GoodGym and was helping other visitors with their parking charges.

There seemed to be more dithering than usual about the layers as it wasn’t cold or wet but we were convinced it would be a bit blowy up top. One layer or two; a gilet might be better than a jacket but can’t be tied around a waist in cases of overheating, headbands versus hats, water or no water – maybe we’re a bit out of practice? Some last-minute delayering and we were off.

We were all convinced that Jason had ran the route before but he assures us he has not - the 4 laps of the car park at the end to get to 10K tells us he may be right!

Tracey (with an E) had temporarily lost her all of her GoodGym tops which was probably just as well as this allowed her to wear neon due to a real and present danger of her going missing in action, making it easier for the emergency services to find her – always thinking of others!

We had a quick stop up top for some pics which gave a good excuse for a tiny rest! Such a nice group pic 😊 and a good decision to stick together. Also up top were an army of black slugs and their snail friends - the less said about that the better.

We discovered that Tracy (without an E) is quite the speedy one on the downhill. We had a job keeping up with her.

Alex, another regular GoodGymer was there to greet us at the finish line. Always nice to have a cheering squad!

As we all know, it is against the law to visit a National Trust site and not indulge in coffee and cake and as we are good law abiding citizens we did our civic duty and stopped off at the tea rooms. We spent coffee time coming up with a new and inventive idea for Stuart to sell watches from the inside of his DryRobe. We’re not suggesting they are stolen watches or that he is doing dodgy dealings, nope, it’s just that he has a lot of them to sell and this is an entirely practical solution! We also decided that brunch was a great time to swap tales of wild wees and jungle ….. well, we’ll leave it there just in case it’s brunch time where you are 😊

Too soon it was time for home ☹ Becky, deciding that she’d not had quite enough running for one day, headed back to Swindon on foot!

We also bumped into Martyn and Jacqui in the car park, who signed up to our next task after spotting the fun and hearing all about the GoodGym goodness.

A winning day all round at Trust 10k. Come and join us for our next training session at Avebury! Date to be announced …..

Eight GoodGymers turned up on Star Wars Day (May the 4th!) to spruce up the gardens at St Paul’s, Covingham. Gina (the Boss) had ordered good weather but think there may have been a glitch in communication.... it was beautiful blue sky for a while, interspersed with a heavy downpour!🌧🌧

We cracked on weeding the pathways outside the church entrance ⛪️. Jason avoided the Quince Tree and Lilywasn’t allowed to use any forks today (see run reports from last time we visited!) Tracy helped distinguish weeds from plants and Stuart danced about in front of the church, probably to keep warm. Gina and Alexandra seemed to have little rests in between working.....Gina even brought along her own stool.

The day was saved when Teresa arrived with Haribo supplies. 🍬🍬 The pathways looked great afterwards and it was lovely chatting to fellow GG-ers face to face again 🥰