14 people ran 6.5k to tidy Stanhope Community centre garden so it is ready for tomorrows Britain in Bloom judges

Tonight we had three newbies! It was great to meet, Sarah, Sam and Marcus. Thank you for coming and welcome to the GG Brum clan! Back and front markers were sorted and we were on our way back to Stanhope, to do the final ‘touch ups’ to the garden before the judges arrive tomorrow! No pressure guys!

the tidy boys and girls

Once at the centre we cracked straight on with the tidying. If you are into your hard house music, or as my mum calls it ‘that boom boom music you listen too’ you might get the little sub-heading. The group spent 25 minutes, weeding, raking, brushing etc. Once done we were on our way back.

upping the tempo

On the way back we mixed in some interval training. Firstly, we stopped on a nice quiet road and did three lung busting intervals. The first one running to the ‘black car’, which was actually blue when we arrived at it, which Rob was very keen to point out! For our final interval on the street we had a group off 11-12 year olds join us…the GoodGym Juniors?! Maybe in a few years they will sign up! We then carried on our way adding in a couple more intervals, Neal, Rob and Luke flying a long at the front, Marcus putting his foot on the gas, Sam working as hard as ever and Ana pushing all the way. Once nearly back we did a hill rep, but once at the top of the hill pushing on for another 300 metres around the corner, really working on the groups endurance. Sam and Sarah showed great determination on their first session, Laura and Maria dug in all the way and Kate pushed on up the hill. Once at the rep completion point, we spoke to another charity organisation who were handing out food to the homeless and were very interested in what do! That's another potential task. We then took a gentle run back to base.

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.

13 people ran 6.5k to help prepare the Stanhope Community centre garden for the Britain in Bloom competition

Tonight it was fantastic to welcome Ana to GoodGym for the first time and David doing a bit of GG tourism visiting from Bristol. On a lovely hot evening (some runners having ran to the venue already had a sweat on!) we were on our way. Just before the destination I remembered from our last visit there was a steep hill, so it seemed rude not to use it. The group powered up the hill to the venue, all going flat out!

a green fingered bunch

Once arriving at our task venue, we were welcomed by Monica, who very kindly provided us all with a welcome drink. Rob was a bit disappointed it wasn’t alcoholic, but instead we got a rather refreshing freshly squeezed fruit drink, so it wasn’t all bad. The task was to weed, tidy and water the garden. The group spent 30 minutes doing this which was especially pleasant given the weather. Everyone mucked in leaving Monica delighted with our efforts.

Fartlek

As the run was on the long side and the task taking plenty of time, I incorporated some interval training on the run back in a less structured fartlek type way. The group did three flat sprints, again Neal, Luke and Rob flying along at the front. Garry working hard as ever and Ana pushing hard all the way, also David put in a great effort representing our GG Bristol friends. The last interval was a hill sprint on everybody’s ‘favourite’ hill! Once to the top of that we split into 2 groups running the last half mile back, I lead one group with everyone working hard, running at a good clip and Garry took the other group. Once back we were all sweating like turkeys on Christmas eve!

Next week we will be out doing good again, it would be great if you could join us sign up here.