Firstly, now I know how to change my profile picture, make sure you check out my new picture.

We met at the gym and lamented the fact some of us had worn undershirts the weather had changed so much. We chatted about JogOn, details below - we can grab the spare shoes from you anytime but 21 June is the date.

GoodGym has paired up with JogOn to help us recycle our old running shoes. We'll be collecting them in Chelmsford at the weekly session on the 21st of June, but if you can't make that and you would like to donate your shoes, let us know when you can drop them off. Find out more about JogOn in your weekly fitness email.

We headed out to the allotments in Baddow at one hell of a pace, Joel almost getting his arm knocked off by a bus, and the rest of us wheezing away.

We saw Fay and Sallyann beavering away and dug right in. They were incredibly impressed with the amount we got done in turning the soil and said it saved them a few days work. I did somehow manage to trap myself in though. That part of the community allotment will be used by the Brownies to plant strawberries and blueberries, and the other part for squash and pumpkins. They can plant this week now thanks to us! Check out those before and after photos.

We meandered the scenic route back to ARU, Erin has agreed to mentor me for an accounting exam, and Joe lamenting that Boris Johnson was no longer mayor of London. Good work guys!

Don't forget this Sunday 4th, we have the pub quiz at the Ale House from 6:45 (you can bring your own food in).

We also have booked in on July 13th the Chelmsford beer festival - you need to book tickets but you get £10 of beer vouchers and a beer glass.

see you there!

Warm Wednesday nights are made for workouts and all the benefits Goodgym comes with. A run, a chat, a sense of achievement, a giggle, a new face (for me at least), an approaching sunset and an earthy connection - I am sure there is more but that's shallot for now.

I met the team, led by Russel and Joel, at Great Baddow Community Allotment shortly after chatting with Bob who showed us our task - simply turning over two fallow plots, releasing the fertile soil, weeding and readying a blank canvass for the Brownies to plant in. We all noticed the difference in moisture between the covered plot, which was damp and the exposed plot which was dry and dusty. A few old potatoes and a shallot were removed as part of this forking great workout...

Job done the team planned a route back to base via Baddow meadows, getting some quality Kilometers in the tank - next stop Parkrun? Or come and support Colchester Half Marathon - meet at 8.15am at the War Memorial, High Street, outside Castle Park (with Headway Essex).

Pun credit goes to Russell and Charlie!

Now… Had I turned up on time we probably would have welcomed Toby to his first GoodGym session, Sarah back for her second, and Lucy back for her second session in Chelmsford and tenth session overall!! But as I wasn’t there at the beginning and everyone had already started with the task I’ve no idea if those things happened, I blame my neighbour for holding me up as I left home but at least I’m able to make up for that in this wonderful run report 😬

The weather forecast had suggested thunderstorms for the later part of the day, and this did come true but thankfully they had passed by the time our digging session started and we had a gorgeous evening digging up another section of the Great Baddow Community Allotment.

The Great Baddow Community Allotment is a newly established project by Great Baddow Parish Council to promote health and wellbeing for local vulnerable, elderly and disabled people in the local community. The first patch we turned over a couple of weeks ago was looking lovely and as we did such a good job, Bob, the Parish Councillor in charge of the site invited us back to do some more digging.

As we got to work I started to wonder where Rich might be, as he’s never normally late. A quick phone call and it turns out he thought the task was on Wednesday, as most of our tasks are, never mind. If anything I think the absence of Rich’s distractions helped and we raced through the patch turning it over in no time. Whilst we were busy working we looked forward the return of Parkrun and to the return of two of our fabulous Run Leaders; David and Laurie from their time in the Lake District, it feels as if they’ve been gone for ever but will be back just in time for the return of Group Runs!! All the while Sarah managed to box herself in on her own little island, maybe trying to pretend she was here instead.

After 45 minutes we had turned over pretty much the whole patch, very impressive work everyone, especially as we were a Rich down!

We will be at the Sanctus allotment next week in Springfield trying to get it tidied up so it can be used after a few years of neglect to grow food for the vulnerable and homeless in Chelmsford. You can find out a bit more and sign up here.

On what was a rather gloomy, cold, wet and windy May the 4th, six GoodGym members felt the force of a community project in need and came running, clearing the clouds on the way and bringing some gorgeous spring sunshine with them. One of those runners was Sarah, on her first GoodGym session. A very warm welcome to Sarah, hopefully see you again soon at some other Community Missions and eventually Group Runs.

The Great Baddow Community Allotment has been recently set up by the Great Baddow Parish Council to promote health and wellbeing; ultimately it will be run by volunteers to support the more vulnerable, elderly and disabled people in the community. It was our job to get the allotment plot ready by turning it over.

Bob, the Parish Councillor in charge of the site gave us our force, sorry forks, to do some digging and off to work we went. It’s safe to say the soil was a bit firmer than we were expecting and required a lot of muscle but we worked our way through, clearing the weeds as we went.

Whilst we were busy digging away Rich shared his famous recipe for noodle soup which had us all captivated and salivating, and we discussed the potential of a party for our fifth birthday in July, it almost felt like things may be finally getting back to normal.

After about 40 minutes of digging the plot was completely turned over, we handed back our forks and went on our way. Rich and Sarah disappeared up Beehive Lane whilst the rest of us ran back into town before splitting off to our respective homes.

Bob seemed delighted with our work and wanted us back in a couple of weeks time so great job everyone. I think you all deserve some cheers!!

We will be at the Mencap centre next week for some decorating and then back to the community allotment to do some more turning over the week after.