A record-breaking 28 runners joined GoodGym Liverpool for some good-deeding in the sunshine at the Pagoda Centre.

An enormous group of runners ran the short distance (all down hill on the way there ;)) to a project we hadn't worked with before. Pagoda is the city's Chinese cultural and youth centre and home to the famous Chinese Youth Orchestra. Sadly, it is massively under-resourced and under-funded. Enter GoodGym, ready to offer our unique brand of people power to help out this brilliant project.

We split into 2 teams - indoors and outdoors. The indoors team did a cracking job of sweeping and mopping the centre's floors and washing down doors. Meanwhile, outside, there were some mega weeds to hack down, overhanging branches to clip back and general tidying and clearing around the centre's exterior.

This week we were made up to welcome a fantastic FIVE newbies. Great work Becki, Lola, Gabriel, Joanna and Sandy!

It was also wonderful to welcome back Karen, as well as Lyn and Jan - it's been too long x

As we finished up the task, the centre manager told us that they'd been wanting to tackle the mega weeds for 3 years. GoodGym ran in a tackled the job in half an hour. And we had fun doing it too. That's the power of GoodGym :)

Since the run to and from the task was pretty short this week, I made sure the team got sweaty at the fitness session and took them to cathedral gardens for some cheeky hills training. Everyone was panting but smiling by the end, so I'd say that was a job well done.

You were such an impressive bunch tonight, getting stuck in wherever you saw an opportunity to help. Nice one!

Want to do it all again next week? Make the most of your Bank Holiday Monday - find out more here.

On a beautiful spring evening, a huge group of 23 runners lent a hand at at Liverpool's iconic Bombed Out Church.

After a very short downhill run, we were greeted by centre Director Ambrose. He gave us a short history lesson, bringing the space alive and reminding us why the building is so special and holds so many memories for the life and history of our city.

Soon we were put to work over various tasks, from moving heavy stones out of one area to clearing a section of the crypt then refilling it with other bits and bobs. At one point, a huge human chain was involved. At another point the team took an all hands of deck approach to moving the VERY heavy pews that we've come to know so well. Oh and there was even an impromtu weeding session. All in all, Ambrose was overwhelmed by how much was achieved in under 40 minutes. What a team!

It was awesome to welcome back Amy and Harriet who we haven't seen since December and Jan and Lyn who have been on hiatus all winter. We've missed you and it was fab to see you all again. Don't leave it so long next time :)

As well as some old faces, we were chuffed to welcome newbies Amber and Tim. Great work this week both of you. We hope you'll run with us again soon.

After the task we shuffled back up the hill then headed to the Met. Cathedral and tackled the 30+ steps on the concourse as many times as folks could manage within 5 minutes. This was followed by some quick strengthening and conditioning exercises.

Amazing work this week team - well done!

Don't forget that on Saturday there is a Community Mission and on Sunday everyone is welcome to join us after the Spring 10km at The Cali at 12pm.

Next week is a Bank Holiday, but we don't care! Good deeds still need doing, so find out more and sign-up here.

A massive team of 19 rad runners beat the heat on a run to help out a community sports centre in Kensington.

We were newbies aplenty on this perfect starter run underneath a beautiful blue sky. The 2.2km run to Jubilee Sports Bank took us up a small hill and there were barely any complaints! On arrival we met with Laura who introduced the project to our newbies and welcomed back those who joined us when we tidied up the place a few weeks back. Jubilee Sports Bank is a community sports centre located in one of the most deprived areas of our city. It seeks to make sport available to all. We love their mission and love to help them out.

The team grabbed a pile of tools and Laura led us to some dead flowers beds and to an accessible path that was no longer accessible as it had become badly overgrown. I split the team into two groups and they set to work on both areas of the park that were badly in need of TLC. Half an hour later and with a pile of cuttings and weeds almost as tall as Leo, they had done a fantastic job.

A fun fitness session followed in the form of a good old fashioned relay race, with a little balancing and hurdling involved. Then it was downhill all the way back to our Hope Street Hotel base. Well done team! It was amazing to have such a big group this week - thanks to everyone who came along to give GoodGym a try for the first time, you are so welcome to join us again soon.

Shout out to GoodGym giant Beth who was in town for a long weekend and joined us to clock her 610th good deed - what a rockstar! And a big welcome to Ellie who joins a growing group of GG Lpool runners who have escaped from That London and are now living the good life in Merseyside :)

Next week is a bit different, as we'll be taking on a challenging run of 6km (in each direction) in an extended 2 hour session. We'll be heading to The Reader at Calderstones park to paint benches, so sign-up here if you're ready for the challenge. If you're a less confident runner, feel free to drop me a line to discuss whether this run is right for you, or to discuss alternative options such as running in one direction only. And/or/also sign-up to the following week when we're back with the Friends of Everton Park and the run is a steady 2.5km each way.

Looks like the weather is a going to be a bit cooler this week so make sure you get those training runs in. Until next time, Char <3

P.S. I really need help me with title puns folks!!!