Tonight, 7 runners ran to the YMCA to complete a painting task and celebrate Sharon's 50th good deed!

Sharon's 50th!!

That's right, lets show Sharon some support here as tonight was officially her 50th good deed! Sharon has been a member of the group since day one - that is some serious dedication! As Sharon is Barnsley's first official Barnsley GGer to reach the milestone, she got the honour of starting our 50th deed tradition, wearing a lovely jazzy tie tied around her head for the whole evening! She will also receive a lovely black GG tshirt to wear with pride!

Caroline from GG Bristol/Sheffield visited tonight too, nice to have her along!

Tonight we ran the short distance across town to the YMCA to help them with a painting task. When we arrived, Kelly explained that they needed 16 very long skirting boards painted dark grey. Our help was an important part of the centre's sports hall refurbishment which is used for lots of community groups.

The group got to work in pairs carefully painting the boards, it seemed rather relaxing! They worked so super speedily and had finished in no time at all! Leaving more time for the fitness session! ;-) After an obligatory planking picture with the planks of wood, we said our goodbyes and headed back to base.

On route back to base we made some stops for some fabulous fitness which this week included:

• Bench dips
• Stair lunges
• Stair sprints
• Garden loops

What a dip!?

After one final staircase we were back to base for a quick stretch!

Another great evening everyone! Until next time, happy running!

13 GoodGymers gathered in Barnsley town centre to run to Barnsley's YMCA to help with a huge mop challenge and painting task

Twas our second meeting of the year here in Barnsley, and with the GoodGym January challenge well underway, the Barnsley gang came out in force and we were also joined by some deed-chasers from across the M1! It was also George, Zofia and Michelle's first time to Barnsley, woop woop! Great to see everyone so motivated!

With our watches at the ready with headed off in the opposite direction of our destination, in order to get some extra metres in and a whistlestop tour of Barnsley town centre. On arrival we were greeted by Kelly, who explained that the task was 50% painting and 50% mopping! The YMCA are open to all sorts of community groups and their sports hall provides groups a huge space to stay active and enjoy team sports. They are currently in the process of painting the sports hall and the ajoining changing rooms, to give the whole place a freshen up!

Armed with the tools we needed, Team floor got to work on sweeping and mopping the huge space. Chief sweepers were Tom and Chris, while Mairead, Steve, Jason, Rachael and Clair got to work on the physically demanding task of mopping! They certainly worked up a sweat and worked those core muscles in the process.

Meanwhile Team changing rooms, got to work painting the walls and ceiling of the tiny little room. Like sardines armed with long sticks covered in paint in an unusually small tin, the group had to be very careful not to poke each others eyes out or rub up against the painting they had freshly done. George, Zof, Michelle, James and Sharon all did a fabulous job painting the room and managing to stay fairly paint-free themselves, with both eyes intact by the end!

After plenty of boomerangs and group shots, the group were on their way, heading deeper into Barnsley town centre for the fitness-running session. To make sure everyone got as many KMs in as possible for the January Challenge, the plan was to complete laps of two segments around the shopping streets of Barnsley and during the 'break' from running complete strengthening exercises. The group got into pairs and whilst the runners completed the laps, the other partner completed box jumps, step-ups, press ups and dips. To finish off, we completed a lap of both segments together before heading back to base.

Everyone put in huge amounts of effort tonight, thanks for staying motivated! If you'd like to see any of the video/boomerangs that I took last night, check out the twitter and Instagram pages here:

Tweet tweet

Instagram

Like, Follow, Share, Retweet! :-)

See you all next week, for a community mission over in Kendray where we are digging over the residents vegetable garden!

JANUARY CHALLENGE UPDATE

We have 11 deeds left to meet our target of 36 (we CAN do it!) and 128kms left of 400, which I think we can easily smash! Any running you do during January will count, as long as your Strava is connected to the GG Website!

Happy Running Everyone!

MARVELOUS MAIREAD, SENSATIONAL STEVE, GORGEOUS GRACE & TRAINER TOM set off from Shaw Lane Sports Center to meet SUBLIME SHARON at tonights task which was taking place at the YMCA Barnsley.

This weeks task involved us cleaning the toys that are used for the children's playgroup, big and small all shapes and sizes. We got straight to it using a combination of spray and wipes and hot soapy water to make the toys sparkle.

We had a welcome surprise when Christie revealed some of the children they had been working with during the day had kindly made us some fresh cookies which we had no option but to try before heading home to Shaw Lane.

Once back at base we headed round the corner for a quick hang tough session, working in pairs to complete three sets of;

• Straight arm hang & Suicides
• Knee ups & Lunges
• Hanging Leg Raises & Tyre Flips

A great effort by all! We were also joined by AMAZING ALICE who came to get her docs checked and scope out the group run for a feature time.

Until next time, happy running!