I missed last week through illness, and therefore I also missed the reason why Evan and Andrew ran tonight's group run holding hands. I actually like not knowing, and I also like that it gave me an immediate pun for the report.

At 2:56pm today we got the email nobody wants on a Monday, telling me that the planned task for Changing Lives had been cancelled so I thanked my lucky stars that Peter was back from his travels in India and therefore able to meet us with his stash of litter pickers. This is why he is GoodGym's reigning champion of resourcefulness of 2018! We were off plogging instead! We warmed up with a word game that involved running around and shouting names of fruit and vegetables at each other which I hope you all agree is an excellent way to start your Monday night. I loved watching this one and it shall be repeated in the future. It was a high-energy welcome to new runners Dave and Harry who happily got stuck in.

KUDOS!

It was my turn to adorn the Geordie cloak of good deeds having logged my 50th good deed two weeks ago, and I swooshed and swished it all the way to our plogging destination: Exhibition Park and Claremont Road car park. As with everything #GGNCL there was a theme for the task and it was to collectively create an alphabet of litter as we went. Tanya and Deb were absolute queens of this, even logging a Z (zip ties) and Q (Quality Street wrapper). It's always astounding how much litter comes out of that car park and soon 6 massive bags of rubbish had been collected and deposited into the bin. Plogging is great for the soul and it's always good to see the immediate difference it can make too.

Onwards we went (I swished) into the park for a triple whammy fitness session complete with hills, steps, star jumps and finished off with strides, giving me the chance to share my favourite running form tips for a great sprint finish. Watch out parkrun- we are coming for you! Many of the gang were off to the pub to get a knitting lesson from Louise (with red wool- on brand!) showing that we are more than just a running club that does good deeds.

I just wish I knew what they were holding hands for.

There are not one but two chances to do good deeds this weekend! Join in with the monthly mission at Nunsmoor Park on Saturday or at Junior parkrun in Newcastle on Sunday Both will be led by our awesome task force as I am off to take part in the fabulous Marathon Talk Run Camp this weekend.

Can't make a weekend mission? Don't worry, we are back doing amazing things at Newcastle Uni for our Group Run on Monday where we are being joined by a huge team from Zero Light Newcastle . Get involved- it's going to be huge and there's a walking option too, so perfect time to bring along someone new to GoodGym.

Happy running, and holding hands.

Anji x