Oodles of noodles, gallons of garlic and more pants!

A big Pompey welcome to our two new recruits tonight - Bev and Tim. Give them some support on their GoodGym pages.

Tonight we visited a new task - helping sort out the debris left behind by uni students who have left the city for the summer. We moved all the belongings and sorted through them so that local charities can benefit: food will go to the foodbank; clothes to a charity shop and bedding to the animal shelter. Thanks to Sophie for giving us this task. There was plenty to sort out and loads of stairs to climb. We also had a challenge of how many GoodGymers you can fit in a lift & after the task we had a little look around the accommodation - great views from the top and views of a different kind in the cinema room.

This week there is an extra chance to do good....

On Saturday you can up your good deeds tally by helping Ickle Pickles set up at their family fun day. Please sign up here if you are intending to go and meet Shakira there so she can collect names for me. Alternatively, if you are free around 3:30, you can help pack up after the fun has finished! Sign up here for that one and find Mel to make sure you get your good deed counted!

Next week we are off to Hilsea Lido again. Meeting at Fratton as normal. As last time, runners who want a slightly slower pace will leave slightly early at 6:20. Those of you who ran here a few weeks ago know how grateful they are of our help and it's a lovely place to visit in the summer!

Hope to see you next Wednesday, have a good week till then.

We'll need a li-down after all our hard work

On a hot and humid night we completed our longest run to a task so far - 4ish km each way. By the time you count the walking around at the task site it added up to a total distance of almost 10km. Well done team!

A big Portsmouth welcome to GoodGym for Jason, hope you enjoyed your first task.

This evening, Mel, Maura and Amanda led an advance party and got to the Lido before us. We were met by Sabrina who looks after the venue and was extremely grateful for any help we could give. We split into a watering team and a sanding team - all very appropriate for our seaside location. The water team transported cans of water to give the parched plants a good drink - there were a lot of plants! The sanding team got to work on the old paint of the Blue Lagoon ready for it to be given a new coat of paint. Most of the sand team ended up with blue hands to prove they'd been working hard. The volunteers who are at the site regularly were very thankful for our help. If you want to know more about the Lido, check out their website, there are even some pictures there from way back when which are fantastic - the diving board was epic!

The lure of the pool was too much for Michelle who jumped in - all for the big camera shot which my photography skills were not up to (sorry!). And Amanda and Andria stayed for a post-task swim - how many lengths did you do ladies?

We are back to the Lido again on the 25th July and 15th August (I will be listing that one on the website soon).

Next week it's our 10th Wednesday night group run! We have a shorter run to the foodbank, if you want to bring a couple of tins with you as donations they would be more than happy to accept them - one in each hand will give your arms a bit of a workout on the way down too. Our planned social afterwards will still be going ahead too whatever happens in the World Cup! We have been given permission to use the TV in our room to watch the 2nd half of the match if we want to.

Strava Strops, Olympic Efforts and Unicorns!

Wow, well that was the hottest run yet!

A big welcome to our new recruits, Michelle and Katy - both of whom got stuck into the task and the time trial afterwards - what an introduction to GoodGym!

We had a relatively short run to Buckland Community Centre tonight where we were put to work in various places around the centre. Angela and Mel made the corridors smell all orangey as they cleaned the skirting with some strong smelling products. The rest of the indoor team (where it was hotter than outside!) sorted out the charity shop area which looked much more appealing once they'd finished. The outdoor team swept the front clear of broken bits of plastic and cigarette butts then went round to the garden and did some more sweeping and weeding. It all looked a lot better after it had been GoodGym-ed!

After finishing our task with many thank yous from the reception staff at the centre we headed off to Kingston Rec for our GGOlympics 1km time trial and crazy photo shoot. After some Strava updates and restarts I think it was mostly recorded. If you need to add yourself to my activity the link is here. Thanks to Jo for the action shots - you can see them all on our Facebook page. I think we did a pretty good job of the human GG logo :)

Next week we have a slightly longer run up to Hilsea Lido. Sign up here. Maura and Mel are going to set off at 6:20 so if you are worried about your speed you are welcome to head out with them. Just make sure you've signed in at the centre first.

Also don't forget our social on 11th July and the community missions on 21st July: morning and afternoon.

Happy running everyone!

Katie

Tonight we were joined by GoodGym tourists, Deb and Paul, all the way from Bristol. We hope you enjoyed your little tour of Portsmouth! Check out their GG profile pages if you want an idea of all the different badges you can earn!

Also welcome back to Elly and Mark who have been busy for the last few weeks working (Elly) and holidaying (Mark!). Good luck to you both for the summer XC next Wednesday. Shakira was missing tonight as she has an IT exam... we all sent positive clever vibes her way for that! 1110000111010100011 <- good luck in binary (maybe)

Despite thinking I had carried LOADS of flyers down to GoodGym, the dream team quickly got to work whizzing down the streets of Baffins and popping fun day flyers through the doors of local residents. Next week I will bring some more so that you can flyer your block of flats / street / work.

Holly also needs people to help set up at 9:30 and pack down at 3pm on the day (Saturday 21st July)... this will count towards your good deed totals if you sign up as a community mission (2 links above).

Holly has already left us this message:

You guys are all amazing!! Thank you so much for leaflet dropping!! Ickle Pickles rely heavily on volunteers and we really appreciate your support. We are only a small charity but the equipment the neonatal units receive is fantastic!!

The efficient execution of the task meant that we had plenty of time for a snake around Baffins Pond - frightening the ducks and geese in the process! And a mexican wave plank circle (no tequila). We then headed along New Road and George Street for some last flyer drops before finishing in the church yard for a little bit of sprints and core work. Topically, with it being the world cup and everything, we were joined in the sprints by Ronaldino in his Barcelona shirt - or a young local lad who took on the mantle of pace setter!

Next week is a relatively short run so if you know anyone who is new to running this would be a good one for them. And all runners who are more experienced will also get a chance to stretch out.... something for everyone!

Our sixth Wednesday night group run was another sunny one and our third time to St Jude's - that's their lot for this term, no doubt we'll be back again after the summer holidays.

Welcome to our new recruits Andria, Amanda, Siun, Luke and Laura.

We were again given a selection of tasks from Mark the caretaker - earth shifting; brick and paving stone lifting; pruning, chopping and sweeping. You name it, if there was a tool for it in the immaculately organised shed, the Pompey GoodGymers were putting their hands to it.

Highlights of the evening included Rosie's finds in the hedge - including a magnifying glass and more clearing of the lodge garden - it's looking a lot less concrete now! We also got to test out the new gym equipment in the playground. It's passed the GoodGym inspection and trials so it should withstand the enthusiasm of the primary school pupils!

Don't forget, there's a fashion parade of GoodGym red t-shirts at the Southsea Parkrun, 09:00 on Saturday and I will be doing a doc check afterwards and enjoying a cuppa or something cold at Rocksbys cafe - please feel free to join me. If I don't see you there, I hope to see you next week for a run in the opposite direction up to Moneyfields / Baffins.