This week took us back to OXRAD for a very welcome winter indoor task. Our mission was to continue the centre’s painting refresh, this time focusing on the studio.

A few of the group kicked things off with a one‑mile jog from the Up in Arms before we all met up and got painting. After an encounter with some mouldy paint and a handful of brushes that seemed permanently welded together, we got stuck in.

By the end of the evening, the studio was looking brighter with its first coat of white paint complete, ready for us to build on in a couple of weeks. We were kept entertained by the upbeat circuits playlist from the neighbouring class, along with visits from a GoodGym favourite—Nelson the dog. Ellie inevitably ended up covered in paint again and attempted to rescue her jumper in the sink to limit the damage.

As always, the painting came with plenty of chatting about running plans, adventures, and, of course, cats.

An indoor task could not have come at a better time!

Sheltering from the persistent rain, this evening we packaged up 49 pairs of running shoes of various shapes and sizes to be sent off the JogOn for re-purposing and recycling.

That's 49 pairs of trainers that won't end up in landfill.

Powered by tea and snacks (is there any other way) a gaggle of us then headed out into the, semi-refreshing, drizzle of a trot and a chat.

What is January without a litterpick or two? Last night's target was the Wood Farm/Magdalen Wood area. We were treated to a spooky walk through the middle of the wood, with plenty of trash hiding in the undergrowth. We then swooped around a few of the residential streets and back to the Atkyns Road shops, collecting coffee cups, crisp packets, and cans as we went. Socks, a hub cap, and a novel were our more unusual finds.

On our post-task run, we noticed lots of litter on the Headington side of the shops, so we will return to tackle that at the end of the month.

Welcome to GoodGym Joel!