Our first social in aaaages!!!!

Thanks soooo much to Laurie for arranging.

Some drinks at The Bootmaker followed by unlimited Pizza at Moto.

What happens on the social, stays on the social!

This week we were leafletting to promote Foodcycle which has recently launched in Chelmsford. Once a week they offer a free sit down meal at Springfield Park Baptist Church using surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.

We started off with a rather brief introduction before a gentle warm up and run to our start point on Byron Road for the leafletting session, with Leanne leading and Laurie backmarking.

We continued leafletting around the Springfield Park area, finishing off the roads that we couldn’t get to last time. Byron Road, the maze of roads around the delightful Essex Police headquarters and back along Sandford Road.

Once we had finished dropping off the last of the leaflets along Sandford Road, we had a surprise visit from David who came back to the university with us.

Whilst having a post run stretch Laurie discussed our plans for a social following last week’s vote, which will be on Thursday 16th September; drinks followed by a meal, hopefully at Moto Pizza… If they can accommodate us all.

Thanks everyone for coming along and promoting this great new initiative in our city!

Next week we are back at the allotment which is need of a bit of care and attention!

Seven GoodGym runners met up at our usual meeting place at Anglia Ruskin University for our regular Wednesday Group Run. It’s almost like pre-pandemic times! After a brief introduction speech we did some Olympic theme poses for a photo opportunity. Warm up completed, Adam led us along the river as Andy backmarked to Interact to clear more of the weeds from their paths.

As we got to Interact, Susie was just leaving and mentioned she had left some drinks and biscuits in the greenhouse along with the tools for the job. Kirk couldn’t think of anything else for the next half an hour but that didn’t stop him getting the job done. The only thing stopping people was my inability to open the greenhouse. Thankfully Anna pointed out it has sliding doors rather than push/pull doors… Doh!

As we have done this task a couple of times before everyone knew what to do. Anna started clearing the furthest bit of path. Andy and James went to the middle bit. Caroline got stuck into the cracks in the paving and Adam and Kirk made sure they were as near to the biscuits as could be.

After about half an hour it was time to pack away and enjoy some juice and a biscuit as our reward for our hard work and make our way back to the University. We were a bit short on time so did some lamppost sprints on the way back as our fitness session, and might have made it back a minute or two late… Sorry!

Stretching done it was time to say goodbye. Thanks for coming everyone, see you all again soon!

This week was my first time leading a Group Run, and nerve wracking it was too. Not sure if that was obvious whilst reading out the run briefing but I don’t think I made too many mistakes. We started with welcoming Ian to his first GoodGym session. Well done for not letting the weather put you off and getting stuck right in Ian. Hopefully see you at another session soon! In terms of news David went surfing at the weekend as part of a stag do. And he did manage to stand on the board… for all of one and half seconds. Better than I will ever manage.

After a fantastically led warm up if I do say so myself, Adam and Joel led us to the Sanctus allotment with Laurie backmarking. As it’s not too far from our starting base at the University we took a slightly longer route, and a few people decided to do a extra lap of the park when we reached our destination.

There were a lot of little jobs that needed doing at the allotment, the main one being weeding. It was great to see some of the plants that we’ve only fairly recently planted have flourished. The potatoes in particular are growing rapidly and the tomato plants are starting to grow a few green tomatoes here and there!

Ian got stuck right in with pulling weeds from around the cabbage seeds we had sown along with Andy. Adam and Laurie put fencing around one of the beds, getting it ready for some netting to protect our young plants. Joel tended to the tomato plants making sure they were supported on the bamboo sticks and doing some weeding. Anna made sure every plant had a good drink with some fertiliser and David seemed to be pulling up weeds absolutely everywhere. As we were nearing the end of our time and most people were getting out weeds in the potato patch a helicopter flew overhead, leading to David’s timely pun for the run report, thanks David!!

After we’d cleared away the tools it was time for a fitness session, everyone’s favourite; Hill sprints!! All the talk before the run had been focussed on the weather with torrential downpours forecast right for the middle of our session. Thankfully the worst we experienced was a slight drizzle, which led to some rather fantastic views. On route to a rather steep hill we spotted a magnificent rainbow in a clearing, making for a great photo opportunity. Still we weren’t here to admire the views, it was time to get fit. We ran up the hill at the side of the park as fast as we could in single file and walked back down to make sure we were recovered for the next sprint, doing 6 reps in total.

We said goodbye to Andy as we took a short run back to the university for a quick debrief and a stretch. Well done everyone for all your hard work, both on the task, and the hill sprints. As I failed to start my watch I’ve no idea how far we ran, or our average pace. Oops. I will remember for next time... Hopefully.

Next week there is a task on Tuesday to collect a compost bin for the allotment and a Group run on the Wednesday.

See you all again soon!!

Four cyclists and six runners met up at the Sanctus Allotment to get their weekly bites from all the bugs… Or rather do some allotmenting. Not sure that’s a real word but anyways.

There were quite a few jobs that needed doing, and without much direction everyone just sort of got on with it. Jenny took charge of the netting we had been given to protect all the lovely plants from any pests and a great group effort was made to cover two of the beds with help from the odd bits of bamboo, wood and wire mesh we could find and a bit of creativity. Andy not realising his own strength managed to somehow break a pair of Secateurs, or maybe the rust had a part to play.

Joel (thanks for the pun) tried the White Currants to see if they were ripe… They weren’t. Adam tried a Raspberry to see if they were ripe… They were crunchy??! Laurie thought they could do with a bit of a pruning so gave them the care they needed. Still, the Rhubarb seemed ready so Kirk got busy pulling that up.

Meanwhile Andy, Russell D and Adam turned over and sowed Lettuce and Spinach seeds in the last empty bed and Leanne bought some Raddish plants along with her so planted those at the end of the bed and planted more of the potatoes as well. And Lucy made sure everything got a thorough watering and feeding.

Whew!!

A special mention goes to Andy who ran the Vitality 10k at the weekend in aid of Toms Trust which you can read a bit more about here and make a donation if you wish!

Next week… Group Runs return!!!!! I’m still waiting for a few final details but once they are in I will list the session on the website. Hopefully see you all again soon!

This week’s lockdown challenge was our March Scavenger Hunt. Within an hour’s long activity you had to find/do the following:

• Something with wings
• A Fire station
• A Police Station
• Some ‘NHS supporting’ graffiti
• A Postbox
• A ‘For Sale’ sign
• Some golden arches
• Your favourite local pub
• Something purple
• Get a PB on a Strava segment (not a segment crown, just a gold medal)

Rachel wasted no time and got her hunt done pretty much as soon as the challenge was listed, whereas everyone else left it as late as possible and did their hunts on the Sunday. With reigning scavenger hunt champion Andy not taking part this week there was a chance for someone else to steal his crown. Entries in a Sunday evening vote took place, it was a close call between David/Adam and Laurie but with one vote in it Laurie has taken the crown!! Well done Laurie, thoroughly deserved as the only person to get a PB on a Strava segment, infact not just one, but three!!

A special shout out has to go to Adam who acted as a model and assistant for David's entry making some fantastic poses. So good in fact we also had a little vote on our favourite Adam post and of course his ‘For Sale Sign’ pose was the winner, although the Tanning Salon wasn’t far behind. My personal favourite was him trying to get into the Golden Fleece, I really can relate to it, although less than a month to go till the pubs are open again!

Thanks for taking part everyone!!