7 runners met to help keep their local riverside clean

Following months of on-line only meetings it was a real tonic (sorry Elizabeth there was no gin to go with it!) to meet and greet in person and to get the litter- pickers out again. After a socially distanced parade on Bishop Bridge we enjoyed foraging beer tins in the undergrowth while chatting and catching up with how we’d all been spending our time in lockdown. At the end strawberries and gooseberries were dispensed to all.

Special mentions go to Bobby, who was back from a few weeks bobbing in the sea off the US, and to Robert, who paid his respects to Gas Hill as a warm-up for the task.

(Thanks Bill for writing this up.)

2020 is here and GoodGym Norwich is back to do more amazing good deeds this year.

The 1st Group Run of the year was to do a litter pick around the Riverside area of Norwich, something I'd noticed had got quite messy over the festive period. A big thank you to Voluntary Norfolk who lent us litter pickers and high vis jackets through the LUMi platform.

Becky and George were taking part in their 1st GoodGym ventures.

A big wow to Beks who was completing her 100th good deed! What a way to start the year.

Thank you to Katy for being back runner and Sandra for being walk leader.

After a gentle 1.5km jog/walk down to Riverside, the GoodGymers assembled in small groups and armed themselves with a litter picker, gloves and a bin bag and headed off to make the area much cleaner... which they sure did!

After 40 minutes, we had many bags of rubbish that Morrisons kindly disposed of for us.

A great little task to start 2020 with.

Next week we have a longer run as we visit Baby Bank Norfolk.

Tonight's Group Run was linked in with WWF Earth Day so we decided to do a litter pick around the city of Norwich, which was a good environmental task. Norwich City Council kindly lent us the litter pickers.

Hollie and Jon were on their 1st GoodGym adventure tonight so welcome to the group :-)

Dave T was completing his 10th good deed and Liz & Bobby were completing their 25th good deeds.

Helen was back runner and Bill walk-leader.

The lovely Alice was on her final outing with GoodGym Norwich before she moves to London. You'll be missed but there's plenty of GoodGym's to pick from in London :-)

We caught up on the races from the weekend with members completing the Wymondham 20-miler, London Landmarks 1/2 Marathon and the Resolution 10K.

Although the litter pick was from our base at The Forum, we couldn't not do a little run so we started the evening with a little jog around Norwich in search for some litter we could come back and clear up.

Once we got back to The Forum we got into 4 groups and headed off to different areas of the city with litter pickers, bin bags and gloves. 40 minutes later the groups returned. A thank you to all the photographers tonight as I couldn't really cover 4 areas of the city at once. We couldn't get a photo of all the rubbish collected as someone (me!) forgot to let the council know we were doing the litter pick so all the bin bags were disposed in bins near to the area where each group was but shhhh, don't let the council know haha.

It was then time for everyone's favourite part of the evening... the fitness session ;-) This week it was a little pairs conditioning workout focusing on strengthening the lower body, upper body and core.

On Saturday we have a Community Mission at Catton Park for Earth Day and next Monday's Group Run is at The Norwich Food Bank.

Sometimes that period between Christmas and New Year can be a difficult one - should we visit the relatives, hit the sales, or spend more time in front of the telly working our way through those tubs of Christmas sweets? Well for 10 keen Goodgymers, 2 mini Goodgymers and Stephens wife Michelle, it was of course none of the above. Instead we rose to the challenge of fitting a good deed in by doing a beach litter pick along part of the North Norfolk Coast.

A bracing wind greeted us on arrival but we soon dealt with this by doing a bracing warm up session on the grass by the car park - much to the amusement of passers by! Running round in a circle with instructions to jump up, touch the floor or turn around according to the number shouted out was fun and Jaak - mini Goodgymer no1 - was soon able to take over issuing instructions. (Watch out Hitch there's a budding GoodGym run leader waiting in the wings....!)

We then jogged out along the cliffs until we reached a point where we could get down on to the beach. Once down we got stuck into the task of picking up 'litter', including our wonderfully behaved and hardworking mini-Goodgymers Jaak and Isla.

Actually along this part of the coast and at this time of the year there was hardly any litter one might expect from tourists. Instead and perhaps rather sadly, there was however no shortage of items to pick up. Threaded along under the cliffs was the tide line where rubbish brought in by the sea has been deposited. A lot of this is clearly from the shipping/fishing industries - plastic rope, fishing line etc. Left where it was, it is likely to be taken back by the sea on further high tides where it can break down into more dangerous plastic particles, harmful to wildlife and the environment in general. With this in our mind we all 'got our eyes in' scouring the shingle for items. Some items were more easy to spot being rather large and heavy! That didn't put us off and taking the opportunity for weight training we dragged it all back to Sheringham where we left it in a prearranged spot ready for the Council to collect and dispose of properly.

By the end of it we were all rather shattered and some of us were able to find a cosy cafe to recover in whilst others headed off to other commitments. At this point a special mention has to go to the amazing Tasha who had cycled all the way from Norwich! Whilst we were all warming up she had to face the long journey back (30+miles?!)

Thanks everyone - a great Goodgym effort!

The task originally scheduled for this evening got cancelled but, not to be put off from doing good in the community, Good Gym Norwich decided to do a litter pick around the City to help keep it a nice place for people to enjoy.

Encouraged by the invitation to dress up in outfits that at other times might raise an eyebrow or two (but which I suspect a few may really want to wear all the time), we had a good turn-out for the evening, welcoming Nicola to our run tonight - all the way from GoodGym Richmond! Amy was clocking her 10th good deed - well done! A busy weekend on the race front meant that GoodGym was well represented at both the Pumpkin Steeplechase and Trowse 10k with some PBs along the way.

As Hitch had to leave early to catch a train he gave us a particularly vigorous warm up routine - he said it was because it was chilly outside but we think he just wanted to make up for not being able to see us put through the paces later in the evening (if only he knew what was to come....).

After waving Hitch off we went for a brisk Halloween Lap of Honour through Norwich showing off the splendid array of outfits people had come up with before coming back to the Forum to pick up our litter picking equipment and splitting up into groups heading off in different directions. Some chose to venture further out into Norwich, some stayed closer to the centre and in Calum's case some decided to run so that Strava would draw a rude picture....

After about 40 minutes of litter picking and several sacks filled, we met up again at the Forum where I put the group through some stamina testing exercises which I know they really appreciated, especially as they needed to burn off extra calories before tucking into Hitch's Halloween treats.

Next week we will be running to the Norwich Foodbank.

25 GoodGymmers came out for a splendid run this evening

We all arrived into Yr Hen Lyfgrell for our Tuesday evening group run. We were all keen to get out running because there had been colossal levels of snowfall over the past week which impacted on opportunities to go out running – even Cardiff Parkrun got cancelled… the 4th time it has been cancelled in 10 years!

We started off the evening with a warm up, opening the gates, letting the sheep out and closing the gates again after. Warm ups help prepare the body for exercise and can help prevent injuries We then did our headcount and welcomed Mark to GoodGym! Hi Mark!!! It was his first ever time running with GoodGym and it was a real pleasure having him come along. Mark will be aiming to run in over 50 towns over the next 60 days! "Good luck fellow runner!" Our headcount this week also involved stating what our favourite food is before going on a long run. Ben shared how much of a fan he is of the bagel and porridge pre race diet! Elvis’ peanut butter and jelly sarnies were also a choice for a few runners! Anyway, a little less conversation a little more action!

So after getting warmed up and maybe even feeling slightly hungry, we split into two running cohorts, the sexy runners and the speedy runners. Jack led the speedy runners and Ben led the sexy runners, obviously!

Let’s go and help Keep Wales Tidy!

We ran the streets of Cardiff making our way to Pen Y Lan library. On the way there we did sprint drills and used curbs to do step ups, benches to do tricep dips and walls to do planks.

"Hello GoodGym Cardiff! I’m Lorna from Keep Wales Tidy and I need your help!"

Lorna explained about Keep Wales Tidy and the charity work Keep Wales Tidy do across Wales to protect the environment for now and for the future. She also gave runners an in-depth health and safety briefing so that runners could litter pick safely!

Runners then went out in force… here are some of the interesting items they found

• A glove
• Cans
• Straws
• A pair of socks
• Burger packaging
• Polystyrene

It was all so exciting that time just flew by and before we knew it the 25 minutes were up!

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Riddle Diddle Doo, here is a riddle for you

I start with M and end with X. I have a never-ending amount of letters. What am I?

Did you get it? If not then maybe tomorrow?... Oh I mean next week!

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After we arrived back to Yr Hen Lyfrgell, we clapped in Stuart and Jack and then participated in a warm down. We stretched all the muscles we had been working out whilst on the run and reflected on how it went - There was consensus that litter picking is VERY satisfying. The sexy runners covered a total mileage of 3.2 miles and the speedy runners covered approximately 5 miles.

Antics continued at the Cosy Club after the run with burgers, macaroni cheese, cakes and a wide array of beverages! This was to celebrate Ben's birthday! - ** Happy Birthday!**

The RunPunStiltskin award this week goes to the BIRTHDAY BOY!... ME :D - I will enjoy the virtual and bring it back next week .