Twelve hardy souls braved the back end of storm Dennis to run the 8K to the familiar and a favourite venue, Swindon Shock Wheelchair Basketball Club for some wheelchair maintenance, touch up painting and a little surprise!

We gathered outside the Oasis to welcome first timer John and celebrate two new inductees, namely Paul and Lily into the 50 deeds club.

One ‘L” of an achievement, as the Romans would say!

The Ice Breaker related around the Magic Roundabout and what magical things brought people to Swindon and what is magical for those born and bred here. Responses, from those who moved to the town, ranged from easy access to countryside, mesmerized by employment opportunities within the council, closing of eyes and sticking a needle into a map to being near to a motorway!

Those born here were struggling to associate magic with Swindon, apart from the Town’s ability to make a lot of friends disappear to other locations when they were old enough.

We set off with ‘Safety First’ Simon leading the run, Jo back marking and plenty of good humour running in between.

With the threat of a flooded underpass we changed the usual route and ran past the County Ground, along Shrivenham Road, down Drakes Way and along Marlow Avenue to the venue.

We were greeted with a wheely warm welcome from Ben and Basketballer Wes who gave an overview of the club and our jobs for the evening.

We split, with some ad ‘shock’ touching up of the previously painted spectator area while others were given a chair, a pair of wheels, some cleaning equipment for basic wheelchair maintenance. Tracey soon found out the chairs are easier to move once the wheels are on!!

Once all the chairs were wiped, squirted and de-'pubed' we were given the opportunity to have a go for ourselves. Wes put us through our paces with a 'who can push in a straight line going forwards and backwards, before shooting practice'. The basket was not threatened, although Paul ‘the Scientist’ had a nifty ‘chair’ of hands when it came 3 point attempts!!

And then it was time for photos.

We soon realised it was easier for the group to position ourselves around Tracey, than for Tracey to reverse the 6 feet to get herself into position!!!

Next week we are heading to Age UK at Toothill Community Centre for some more painting. Why not check it out here and sign up today!

Having established that Tom, visiting from GoodGym York hadn’t run from York, we started the evening discussing our favourite Easter Eggs. Although Clare and Ashleigh claimed that any chocolate would do, it quickly turned out that Ashleigh has a particular liking for some very posh 85% chocolate – though we hope that she won’t be taking that to the chippy to be deep-fried; yes the deep-fried Crème Egg has arrived in Swindon! This eggciting news led to a heated debate about Crème Eggs with the group divided almost 50:50…let’s move swiftly on before any one draws any comparisons to Breggxit.

Every GoodGym Swindon run is chatty and tonight was no eggception as we headed out to the home of the Swindon Shock Wheelchair Basketball team. This was our third visit and tonight’s task was more painting – not because we did a SHOCKing job last time, but because there is a lot of painting to be done. Tonight Ben set us to work painting blue bits blue and red bits white – we were soon up and rolling, well…

Let’s be clear - some of us were rollering and some were rolling as the opportunity to try wheelchair basketball proved too good to miss. Under the eggcellent tuition of Wes, there were soon some wheelie good moves and even some hoops being shot by Team GoodGym with Kirsty H, Emily, Emma the Trainer, ‘Sandy’ Sam and Jason leading the way. Meanwhile the painting crew – including Lily, Kirsty W, Carly, Sam and Lynette, supported by members of the rapidly growing Task Force team, including new Task Force member Graham - was hard at work and soon the spectator area was transformed. Next up could be the huge green walls of the sports hall – we like a challenge after all!

Every GoodGym group run needs a group photo – landscape! it must be landscape! – and once that was done we headed back along the Eastern flyer to the Oasis. ‘Sandy’ Sam, after sitting down on the job for so long, shared some innovative moves to get her knee working again, and we soon arrived back for stretching, catching up on race plans for the weekend (10k and half marathon news will soon be filling the ever busy group WhatsApp chat – keep those phone chargers to hand!) and then it was time to say our goodbyes or head inside for a coffee or a water of dubious vintage.

Next week wheel meet again at the usual time and place – why not join us by signing up here!

It was a difficult day for Swindon, so what better thing to do under the super snow moon (the biggest supermoon of the year - I have to get a science fact in somewhere) than spread some cheer and do some good in the local community. Tonight was our 30th good deed and we ran about 7km to the home of Swindon Shock Wheelchair Basketball Club.

Andrew had his best trainers on, Rhoda joined us for the first time, and we were pleased to see Carly back again for her second good deed. Setting off from the Oasis, having been talking about our dream cars (or bikes, in Ashleigh's case), there were no wacky races (despite Tracey wanting to be Penelope Pitstop) as we headed out towards the Eastern Flyer for a chatty run, with Emma the Trainer lighting the way and Charles and Lily making sure no one got left behind. As usual, there was lots of talk of food as we took in the sights and smells of Swindon, and after Simon's near miss with a bollard (in which he magically gained a hat?) we arrived safely at Sharon's old school for our second visit to the club.

Once we got to the right door, we were welcomed in by Ben and Kirsty who had got everything ready for us to be able to spring into action. But first, an introduction to the club and a chance to meet Luey, Brandon and Wesley who told us that the club has been at Youth First since 2011. The wheelchair team trains every Friday and there are also men's and women's running basketball teams and a development team hosted at Youth First. The Swindon Shock Wheelchair team is flying high in Division 1 and play their last home game of the season against Leicester Cobras on Sunday - go along and support them if you can. We then saw the Luey, Brandon and Wesley in action, shooting some impressive hoops. Stuart checked if our excellent chair maintenance skills back in October had helped the team - the right answer, of course, was yes!

It was then time to get stuck into the task - and there was plenty of painting to be done. But of course, it wouldn't be GoodGym Swindon without some of Sam's favourite task of sanding...luckily with such a great turnout we were able to choose sanding or painting. Our task was to paint all the blue areas of the sports hall blue...well, Nirvana actually. We only had 45 minutes but Nevermind, we soon got to work and with all those happy running endorphins coursing through our veins, no one was left feeling blue. And we've already been invited back to paint the town, sorry sports hall, red. Turns out that we just can't Stay Away...

With the smell of white rather than teen spirit in the air, we said our goodbyes...!

...and with Tracy and Kay heading off for homemade Thai chicken curry (GG chat is mostly about food), the rest of us made our way back to the Oasis for a stretch and a coffee. Speaking of which, on Thursday we're off to 'We're Open' at Darkroom Espresso to spread some GoodGym cheer with Sanctuary Seekers from around the world - check it out and sign up here!

Next week, we will be heading to the Haven, the Winter Night Shelter for the Homeless, with Emma the Trainer leading the running group and Mike leading the walking group. Do you know anyone new to GoodGym who is keen to walk to tasks; spread the word about our walks and sign up here sooner rather than later!

What a great turn out again last night. There were 15 of you waiting eagerly inside Coffee Corner keen to get going to Park North, some of you clutching your Beat the Street Cards, others blinding me while 'testing out' their head torches (don't worry - my vision is almost back to normal this morning?!) Poor Jon was pounced on (by me, the Run Leader) as soon as he stepped inside the building. So, why the strange behaviour you may ask?! Well, Jon has joined the parenting club since the last time he joined us, so I thought I would share my excitement with him. Congratulations Jon and Natalie on the birth of your beautiful baby boy! I'm just sorry Stuart that I did not react in the same way when you walked in through the door, but a bystander did notice your disappointment and offered you a substantial pre-run hug. I hope this helped in some way?! Great to see the lovely Jo tonight, a newcomer to GoodGym, who gave it 100 per cent effort all evening. Thank you for joining us; I do hope you can make it to GG again soon?

6pm arrived and we all gathered outside the Oasis for a head count. Today's head count was actually a piece of research on Kirsty's behalf. Kirsty has kindly offered to organise our first 'social' so everyone was asked not only to give their name and number (thanks to Mike and Dan for running late this week; Stuart was not number 13 this week), GG'ers also had to tell the group where they would like to go for a GG Swindon Social. The answers were varied and interesting, but Paul's idea of going bowling seemed to be a winner as well as Graham's suggestion of eating and drinking afterwards! So, there we go, the research has been done; over to you Kirsty to organise! Kirsty will be available on a Tuesday night with paper and pen in hand to jot down your name should you wish to join us at this prestigious event! The first week of December seems to be a favourable time; watch this space for an exact date!

Once the first Beat the Street Box was tapped and the run was under way, I started to miss Emily A LOT. I am having to run with a rucksack in her absence. Running with anything attached to my back (a rucksack, a pacing flag, a small child) feels just wrong, but sometimes necessary as there are essential items to carry as a Run Leader, including a first aid kit, the register, gloves, a head torch, water and chocolate (!). I hope you're back next week Emily? I have chafing on my neck today; to prove that I am incapable of running with all this stuff on my back!!! The route took us up Manchester Road, which is a lively part of town in the evening (!) and around the County Ground, which was fairly quiet last night with a much-needed blood donors session going on rather than a football match. We then picked up the Eastern Flyer, a well-lit cycle path that follows some of the old canal route in Swindon. We made it to Park North in no time at all, probably because most of us were caught up in conversation (I learnt that Andrew has 3 boys under the age of 5 and that Graham is a computer geek and can teach primary-aged children how to 'code'). I love hearing the chit chat as we run by; it's the best bit of the evening!

Talking about chit chat, Paul has kindly organised a WhatsApp chat group for GG Swindon, which will give you the opportunity to chit chat not only on a Tuesday night but on any day of the week! If you would like to join the group just click here!

We arrived at the front gates of Youth First (which used to be Oakfield School apprently), and some of us did a little sprint from the front gates to the building to prove how hard we had worked out that night! We were warmly greeted by Ben Humphrey and Alan Curtis from Swindon Shock Wheelchair Basketball Club, who briefed us on the task to be done that evening. There were approximately 35 wheelchairs to be cleaned and maintained, with Alan, the Club Mechanic, demonstrating what needed doing in a practical way, reassuring us that we couldn't go wrong! So now it was time to get going not only cleaning and maintaining the wheelchairs but there was also the more technical task of de-fuzzing trapped hair in the castors! Yikes! Alethia was the first to put the disposable gloves on after learning she had to de-fuzz! Everyone worked in pairs, with Ben H working hard dragging the wheelchairs out of the container and Alan on hand to help us at every opportunity. I had the job of taking the photos, which seems to amuse everyone, especially Ben E who tends to avoid eye contact with me, hoping I won't see him. Sorry Ben - I did see you. Thank you for the fab pic!

Beat the Street Stuart Arthur also joined us at the venue, to find out more about GG. The idea is that when Beat the Street (BTS) ends in 3-weeks-time, participants are signposted onto other activities, including GG! What a fabulous idea. Thanks Stuart! Roll on the 24th October, I have a feeling GG will be a popular choice post-BTS. In the meantime let's keep tapping those cards!

The group photo was taken in the dimming light, with many of you sat in a Swindon Shock Wheelchair Basketball Team 'arms around one another' pose. It was soon time to go, but Tracy and I were keen to visit the ladies before we went. For a moment we were like naughty school girls walking through the changing rooms, giggling, in the pitch black, desperately trying to find a light switch to find our way. The fun we have at GG eh?! I need to get out more?!

It was officially dark now, the rucksack was on and it was time to go. We waved goodbye to Ben H, Alan and Stuart and made our way back to the Oasis, tapping boxes along the way. I had a nice conversation with Richard, whose head torch and knowledge about potential Christmas GG tasks was greatly appreciated! In the usual fashion, those with me at the front shared puns on the return journey, which is actually quite useful as my brain fails to generate such words. Mike told me he enjoys 'word play', which is just as well. This is now his official job at GG Swindon!

We arrived back at the Oasis with just minutes to spare and it was time to say goodbye to the lovely Tina from Wandsworth, who has been part of GG Swindon since August. Tina has been living and working in Swindon on a short term contract, but it is now time for her to move on. She will be missed! Good luck Tina! Don't forget to visit us again soon?

It was a long run tonight, but wasn't it worth it? I do hope you can join us again next week? Emily and her trusty rucksack will be leading the group to the Night Shelter's office to do some much needed sorting and guess what - it's a shorter run, so if you're new to all of this, next week is the run for you! To sign up, just click here!