GoodGym Cambridge was back at SIN Cru this week, once again combining a group run with a community mission 💪

Scott, Christopher, Kate, Beth, Catherine and I met at Parkside Pools to lock up our bikes and set off on the 3.6 km jog to our destination (at least my watch recorded the whole distance! 😛). Along the way, we chatted about recent holidays, restaurant visits, parkrun tourism/obsession and how much we need some rain in Cambridge. Little did we know...

Sandra and Alan were waiting for us at SIN Cru, with Sandra ready to capture our majestic "Baywatch" moment after being too in awe to do so last time. Following the obligatory dog-petting, we got to work in the garden space. Today, Alan and Chris quickly got a handle on some very active shovel action, clearing rather compacted soil and leveling the ground ready for a patio space which Kate and Beth gathered bricks for. Sandra and Catherine cleared an impressive amount of ivy from a wall, whilst Scott and I enjoyed the more sedate task of dead-heading the plants. Once we'd filled the compost area (and scritched the dogs some more), we gave the refreshed plants a much needed watering with some collected rainwater. Oh, how naive we were...

Then, we were off: it was party time! Sandra and Alan led the way by bike, meeting Ilse at Jesus Green for our July social. Beth and Kate joined on foot, while the rest of us legged it back to collect our bikes and grab more party food. Only mildly questioning the dark clouds, we gathered for a picnic. Amongst the MANY tasty treats were some homemade pastry wheels, courtesy of Ilse - a firm favourite amongst the snacks! We look forward to sampling your future recipe experimentation 🤤

It turns out I really do like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain: not long after we'd sat down and set up the picnic, the sky opened and gave us ALL the rain we'd been missing these past few weeks! We stood our ground until we feared for the structural integrity of the snacks, eventually taking shelter and laughing at how unfortunate our timing was. A key moment of the night was celebrating Beth's 10 deed milestone - congratulations!! Sorry we temporarily blinded you, but hope the Colin made up for it 📸

Once the rain had eased up enough, we escaped to a nearby pub to warm up and dry out for the rest of our social. We didn't let a bit of water spoil our fun, but fingers crossed next month's is a little drier! 🤞

It was another scorcher in Cambridge, so we pivoted our group run to a shady fitness session in the park.

Scott and I kicked off with all the classics - squats, lunges and planks, before Beth joined just in time for abs. Mid-bicycle kick, we noticed Alan about to cycle past, but the lure of the red t-shirts was too much. At this point we'd all shifted to stretching, enjoying some slower movement in the fresh air.

We headed over to Jimmy's to meet Blessings and Marie, who joined us for her first session 👋

Unfortunately, the task couldn't go ahead, but we all agreed to do a good deed locally over the next week. There will be litter picking, Foodbank and charity shop donations.

With the gift of time, we took the opportunity for some more fresh air in the park and walked back to our shady spot, which by this point had a very enjoyable breeze. We spent a balmy hour catching up, finding out everyone's favourite parkrun (not an easy task), uncovering historic connections, and trying to work out the terrier breed that is around 30kg - bigger than a Pitbull and smaller than a fat Dalmatian. Alan, if you find out you must share, so we can all sleep easy.

As the evening cooled, we headed our separate ways, walking, running and cycling across the city.

Not quite the evening we had planned, but in true GoodGym style, we found the silver lining and prioritised movement and connection 🫶

For this week's group run, Beth, Kate, Catherine, Scott and I tied up our laces to run some donations for Cambridge City Foodbank 👟👟

Meeting at Parkside Pool, we set off on a gentle jog down Mill Road after a group warm-up 🤸‍♀️

Arriving at Coldham Sainsbury's, we spread out to gather items from the foodbank's suggested list 🥫🧃

Beneath the setting sun, our return run saw us catch up on the epic charity swim Beth - on her 10th good deed today - participated in last weekend. Well done, Beth! 🏊‍♀️🙌

A brilliant evening spent helping SIN Cru at their Definitely Real Build site, continuing the wood clearing we started last month. They're creating a calm space for creativity, and the development has sustainability and biodiversity at its core. We're on board with that (last night, quite literally)!

It started with a run. All making the dash from work, Scott, Beth and Imet at Parkside and were joined this week by Kate and Alice. Having both done lots of good through community missions, it was fantastic to welcome them to their first group run 😎

It was the hottest evening so far this year, so we took it steady and chased the shade, winding our way up to North Cambridge, where we met Caroline, who had sped all the way across town on her bike. Arriving first, she had extra time for dog fuss!

After introductions and a briefing from Lucy, we split into a sawing crew and a wood pile crew. Back in his element, Scott wasted no time sawing down large wood beams at speed. There were a number of different methods trialled including a karate kid-style foot chop of strand board, which was occasionally successful. Alice and Caroline adopted an innovative approach, Caroline providing stability as a counter-weight. A very effective strategy as it turned out ⚖️

Nothing beats the feeling of successfully sawing through a piece of wood; all the effort for a very satisfying 'snap' as it comes free. There were cheers and celebrations all round as Kate sawed her first plank and Caroline conquered a particularly hefty section of tree trunk 🙌

To the back drop of whooping, the rest of us set to clearing the massive wood pile and bag of wood offcuts, taking them to be cut down or stacking in the wood store. Less muscle needed, but much more courage as the bag and pit were full of the most enormous spiders. 🕷️ Super-sized and super speedy, a respectful, mutually-agreed no-contact zone was soon in place.

After half an hour in the heat, energy was starting to wane, but the ever-thoughtful Beth had brought sweets and we were saved! 🍬 Drinks and shade (and more dog fuss) were in order.

Feeling recharged, we got back to it with bucket after bucket of wood making its way to be stored. We had some 'help' from our canine companions, but their sticks didn't make it to the store. 🤔

With Lucy delighted that we cleared the fire pit, which had not been seen for years, and the uncovered slugs and spiders much less delighted, it was time to go.

We enjoyed a cooler run back to Parkside (downhill on the way back, right?). Taking in the river views and reflecting on what a brilliant session it had been, we left, although slightly weary, more motivated for next week 💪