A snap of cold weather brought snow to Luton this week and caused our group run to be a frosty one.

The hardiest runners came out for this weeks group run to Penrose roots, where Pete had a bramble and weed clearing task for us. We ran hard and fast to keep warm and then worked hard chopping away at the weeds and raking the cuttings up into a big pile.

Breath making large clouds in the icy air we kept on going until the area was clear and then quickly took some photos and ran on into the cold night. It was not one for hanging around outside!

Pressing hard on the return journey too, we managed to keep the cold at bay long enough to make it back into town and bid each other goodnight, with very welcome hot showers waiting for us!

This week's group session brought together a team of eight, four runners and four walkers, to take on a task at the Penrose Roots to Recovery garden.

It was just 2km to the task where task owner Peter was waiting for us. The team at the garden had taken a delivery of woodchips which had just been dumped in a big pile and needed tidying up into big sacks, so we all got to work with shovels and started clearing up the mess.

With a great effort from the team we filled up six big ton bags in no time at all and were able to make a start on a second task, clearing a patch of weeds that had grown on the potato patch.

But soon our time was up and we had to head off again, with a few freshly dug potatoes in our pockets as a reward!

In the last of a summer series of dual-task group sessions, our team was split with a walking/biking group heading to the Penrose Roots to Recovery garden and a running group heading to Holy Trinity Church.

The team's task in the garden was to tackle a patch of stinging nettles that had taken over a storage area behind the polytunnel. Kitted out with shears and rakes we worked from each end to meet in the middle, uncovering lost garden supplies in the process and filling two big bags with compost fodder.

Meanwhile the running group's task at the church was to give the railings a second coat of paint to finish the task we'd worked on over the summer stripping and repainting.

It's the time of year that darkness is creeping in so we had a dark journey back into town. Don't forget your lights for next week's run!

With two days of non-stop rain, plan A of digging in the Penrose allotment was called off. Plan B was weeding the Welcome to Luton sign but someone beat us to that. So we settled to plan C which was a good run with some extra time spent on strength work.

In what turned out to be a lovely sunny and dry evening we first ran over to a very soggy Manor Park where ducks were swimming on the field. In the playground we used our resistance bands to give our legs and core a little workout, before moving on to the next stop.

Running on to a steep section we stopped for a good deep stretch of the legs in preparation for a couple of hill sprint blasts, then proceeded up the hill to the fountain at the top. Here we did some relays for interval training. With the hill conquered we retraced our steps back down and into town to call it a night.

Tonight, 9 of Luton Goodgyms finest came together to support Penrose roots to recovery. The team made there own way to the task, some running from town, and others making their own way. Tigger even parked up early then went for a cheeky 10k run 🏃‍♀️ beforehand.
We were welcomed by Lynne at Penrose with all the tools to get stuck in to turning over a vast bed, preparing it for planting potatoes 🥔. There were quite a few weeds to clear and the team cleared quite a few wheel barrow full. We didn't get to dig the trenches but we'll no doubt be back to support again soon. Great job team. You're all awesome.

This week the GoodGym Luton team gathered once again at the Town Hall for our weekly Group Run.

We were heading for the Penrose Roots to Recovery allotment project where their team use gardening to engage with people recovering from lives of crime and addiction, give them a place to talk through their issues and help them stay on the right path.

The garden has grown tons of produce this year but one of the heavier jobs, harvesting potatoes, was right up our street.

We set off at dusk with our usual walking and running groups and made it to the garden in good time where we armed ourselves with forks and dug for the buried potato treasure.

Loads of potatoes were uncovered as we made our way across the plot which we had thoroughly prepared for planting back in the spring, so it was nice to return and see the final product!

With all potatoes tucked nicely away in the poly tunnel we headed off to the nearby Wardown Park bandstand for a good stretching session to keep ourselves nice and limber.