Well, I never. On the first day of May, we had *58 GoodGymers *come out to play! Breaking Bristol GoodGym (and - TBC - GoodGym) history, this massive group of helpful and fit peeps got dug in around Bristol tonight. A big welcome to all of the new runners who joined us tonight, and it was great to see the Bristol Uni Medical Students back again.

Fifty-great

The group split up to do two tasks. Charlie and Sally did a wonderful job taking 18 runners up to join forces with Bristol Waste and Streetscene. The group were handing out information to student accommodation in the area on how to recycle and properly dispose of their things before moving out at the end of the month. They did not stop there: while the group ran the streets of Redland and Cheltenham Road doing this, they got stuck in de-tagging lamposts and wheelie bins around the area.

Fifty- 'wait, how many?'

Meanwhile, the other 40 of us went to Emmaus for Round Three of the great tale of *GoodGym v. Prickly Bush. * Big thanks to Tom, Mel and Matt for their skillful run-leading and back-marking to get us all over there and back safely.

Xanne from Emmaus met us to greet the many new runners and tell us about the wonderful work they do at Emmaus to help homeless people rebuild their lives through their holistic approach. We then set to work - while some of the group did an exceptional litter picking job round the area, a group gave the two Emmaus vans a quick clean up and the rest of the team got down to the bushy business.

The prickly bush put up a very good fight, but with a 30-strong group working on it with all manner of tools, it finally gave way just as the clock struck the time to fit in our run home (strangely enough, it seemed to take just enough time for no-one to have to do a burpee this evening at all...).

Fifty-ate

Following all of this running around it was time for our monthly GoodGym Eats. We descended on Las Iguanas for burritos and cocktails ahoy. Thank you for organising a great night Liam!

A day of many happy returns today as we were not only wishing Tom a happy birthday but also had two group runs on offer returning to two of our favourite task venues. Could today's big turnout have been influenced by the promise of cake from Tom? Or was it the choice of a long and short run option and two fabulous tasks, giving everyone something to look forward to?

We welcomed Russell along for his first GoodGym group run and hope you enjoyed the experience Russell!

We also congratulated Chris and Alison on their London Marathon heroics last week and Hugh who had completed the Paris Marathon a couple of weeks earlier - well done guys!

The longer option was wonderfully led by Richard who expertly guided us through town and along the gentle ascent of the Bristol Bath Railway Path to The Haven.

The Haven is a 1.3 acre oasis of countryside near Greenbank cemetery where people who have issues around their mental health and/or drug/alcohol misuse can have a safe space to relax, socialise and be involved with activity's such as gardening,art,sculpture, woodworking and nature conservation.

Here we were met by Julia and Alistair who got one group pulling out weeds and nettles from a raspberry patch, taking care not to get stung in the process and then barrowing the waste over to a compost pile. Working efficiently they soon had the patch looking clear whilst taking care not to pull out any raspberry bushes.

The other group helped out with building a dead hedge to encourage some wildlife to inhabit the area. Under the careful supervision from Alistair, including some excellent axe instruction, the group managed to strip down branches for the hedge and make stakes for supporting the hedge and by the time we left this was looking great.

All the while a duck busied itself foraging for something to eat - I'm not quite sure how successful it was but seemed very content getting it's beak dirtier and dirtier as it patrolled the area, whilst a chicken pottered around nearby.

Meanwhile, Jack led the shorter run option to Windmill Hill City Farm. Beth from the the Farm showed us the around and it was clear we were going to have to get out of a bind (weed)! The farm was in need of bindweed haircut and the team duly obliged. Grabbing the weeds and securing them in buckets to be disposed off, so they hopefully don't grow back. A robin made the best of the situation and was eating up the earthworms as we dug out the weeds!

Chris had a bit of a different environment to the hot streets of the London Marathon and found himself ankle deep in horse muck. Debs and Emma decided to test Chris's shoveling skills forming a rapid two woman wheelbarrow gang - racing to ensure that they never ran out at the other end, where it was emptied onto the ground so provide a bit of fodder to get the veggies growing well on the city farm. There was just enough time for a cup of tea and a look at the new spring animals and goat kids and lambs were very popular with all, we look forward to going back to Windmill Hill City Farm again soon.

Nice work everyone today and big thanks to Richard and Jack for getting everyone there and back safely!

A brave bunch of souls defied the returning April showers this evening as we ran to Victoria Park to help the Action Group fix up the willow tunnel that GoodGym Bristol helped put up two years ago. It was great to see several new faces in the crowd - we are looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Fun fact: did you know 'Soy Sauce' means 'I am willow' in Spanish?

After Dave successfully found a bunch of short cuts (including some through the bushes...) to keep the groups neck and neck on the run there, everyone got (literally and figuratively) muddy with a very competitive game of Stuck in the Mud. The Bristol Medical Students almost got a full house of stuck GoodGymers, but the red t-shirts fought back at the very last minute.

Alex from the Victoria Park Action Group taught us about willow's wicked and wonderful ways. The willow keeps growing in all directions so the tunnel requires regular attention to keep it looking great. We were soon set to work weaving, knotting and rebuilding the willow. We even saw Paul showing us his task skills after stepping-down from Bristol Trainer! The group did a great job of fixing it up and even building some windows for the tunnel - I am sure you couldn't even feel the rain through that perfect structure at the end!

Well done to everyone for their great work tonight and thank you for welcoming me as the new Trainer for Bristol - I am looking forward to many (warmer) weeks to come!

Also, some fantastic inputs to Strava puns tonight... putting my newbie pun-attempts to shame (Matt, Darren, I am looking at you)!