There were a few tired bodies as we made our return to the Monday night group run after an epic Goodgym camping weekend in Derbyshire. But that didn't stop our group from shifting a load of cuttings from the stunning wildflower meadow that we'd previously helped to plant at Clarence Gardens 💪

We started the night with a small but perfectly formed group celebrating the new male half-marathon wolrd record by naming the things that they believe they could hold a world record in. Turns out we all really back ourselves when it comes to eating challenges! It was then off to the task with Vicky and Babs heading out in the steady group, Jenna on bike and Ed leading the main group with Abigail backmarking.

Upon arrival we met a few other Goodgym Yorkies who had gone straight to task, and after some very simple instructions (basically shift the cuttings from A to B) from taskowner Iain, we were soon up and running. Nick and Micheal armed themselves with the tarp and made great progress shifting huge mounds of the cuttings whilst the rest of the gang raked and collected what they could into ton sacks.

Over at the skips James and Kit worked their hardest to trample down the cuttings to ensure that we could fit in as much as possible. Such was their dedication to the cause the Kit almost managed to get himself buried under a tarp load of cuttings at one point! But with the skips filling up and time running out attention turned to raking up and shifting as much as we could before calling it a night.

After a quick stop for a photo we then had time for brief fitness sesh which involved 4 teams competing against each other to see who could jump the furthest and run the fastest whilst shifting a cone from one end of the field to the other. It was a photo finish and to be honest Ed possibly wasn't paying close enough attention to see who actually won but it was definitely Jame's team or possibly George's!

We'll be back at Clarence Gardens in a few weeks to finish off the job!

Our weekend away in the Peak District had it all: camping, running, kayaking, paddle boarding, pub food, composting toilet facilities and some extremely important scientific debate.

We kicked things off on Friday with the traditional BBQ. It was a but chilly so we (Michael) tried to extend the bbq time but were politely asked to put it out!

The campsite was basic but with beautiful views and came with joys of compost toilets — because nothing says GoodGym weekend quite like doing your bit for the environment before breakfast.

Then it was trainers on for a run to Ashbourne parkrun, where we joined the Saturday morning parkrun crowd. Becca got a pb! Great running! Following this was s pit stop for breakfast in f'coffee.

Next came a run or walk down to Carsington Water, where we swapped running shoes for paddles and took to the water for some kayaking and paddle boarding. There was plenty of splashing, wobbling and the occasional dip. There was of course an alternative pub crew who were enjoying liquid of a different sort.

After all that activity, there was only one sensible option: pub food at the Red Lion. Food was consumed, conversations flowed and the weekend’s most pressing question was eventually raised:

Which animal could Steve Rice take with his bare hands?

Naturally, this became the subject of serious discussion, with various increasingly ambitious wildlife contenders considered. I'm not sure we got to the bottom of it as the discussion carried on well into the night, with a short break to play 21 and test out knowledge of prime numbers.

A brilliant weekend of running, camping, paddling, eating and laughing with an excellent bunch of GoodGymers.

Peak District? Peak performance? Probably not. Peak GoodGym? Absolutely. ⛰️❤️