Fresh from beach cleans at Love Trails, and having spent 4 days enjoying litter free countryside trails, Nathan was disheartened to see how out of control litter in his area was (again).

With the hot weather, the Taff is low, and people have understandably been enjoying a few drinks or bonfire on the riverside. What isn't understandable is why they can't take their rubbish home with them, or to the nearest bin a whole 100m away.

Nathan took a break in his run to fill a rubbish sack of cans, bottles and food containers. Getting in there before the river rose and swept it all downstream

Sunday morning of Love Trails 2025 saw Goodgym again team up with The Green Runners and Trash Free Trails to run to Whiteford Sands for a litter pick.

A breeze in the air was taking the edge off the heat, and five goodgymers were joined by 23 others to run 6km to Whiteford Sands for another seemingly beach clean.

With another three prizes provided for the best finds of the day, the group split into pairs to tackle another seemingly clean beach. After a 40 minute search to group gathered together to tally up the items of litter collected (1,503) and vote on the top 3 finds (1st - BB gun and plamobile man, 2nd - loafers, 3rd - goal posts).

With 10 full sacks of rubbish collected from what was at first glance a clean beach, the Goodgym run showcased the power of using your run for social good and the impact less than an hours volunteering can have en-masse.

Despite following his social media, attending his talk, and having tracked his Cape Town to London journey, run leader Nathan managed to miss that runner and activist Deo Kato had joined the run and chosen to spend some of his time off stage at the festival to join a Goodgym beach clean.

Goodgym was back at Love Trails and this year teamed up with The Green Runners and Trash Free Trails to run to Broughton Bay for a litter pick.

With the sun blazing down, 10 runners headed out 8km to the beach, which at first sight was litter free, however closer inspection of the dunes and tide lines revealed there was lots to be collected.

With a prize on the line for the largest or oddest item found, Lucy dug deep to reveal an abandoned plastic tub, and backed up this find with a wooden stair spindle. Other finds included shorts, shoes, tshirts and seemingly endless amounts of rope off cuts.

After a sweep the length of the beach, the group had collectively found and removed 500+ items of rubbish.

A great start to the festival. The group then headed the now 9km back to the festival site and hunted down some well earned shade.