A dozen goodgymers ran to do a task at firstsite. We had some exciting news before we set off, including Ian achieving his 100th good deed. Congratulations Ian! This staunch Republican even received a letter from the Queen to congratulate him. We gave him a right Royal reception with a celebratory old thumper. We had a quick warm up outside leisure world, including sumo squats and walking lunges. Helen skillfully led the way through the narrow paths of Castle Park and on to first site where Eddie was waiting for us with a set of gardening implements and the instructions to smash, chop, saw and tidy. We set to work while motivating background music was provided by some impressive hula hoopers on the lawn. We took some photos inside first site to promote anti-plastic awareness through advertising the great work by replastic UK . Tav then led us off to do some fun and games fitness in the style of stuck in the mud and not so British Bulldog. Although it took us a while to understand the rules, we got the hang of it, with Holly, Nicola and Carl showing some nifty footwork.

Great job everyone. Eddie and FirstSite always appreciate our work!

ELLA

PS ONE ELLA OF A RUN REPORT, right?

13 keen, enthusiastic (maybe slightly bonkers in this heat) runners arrived at Colchester leisure world for our wednesday group run! We did a quick welcome and caught up on team news - well done to Ella and Hannah on completing the Mersea Island half marathon at the weekend - before heading off out in to the sunshine. This week's task was a task for Colchester Borough Homes and saw us completing one of our longest runs to date to get there - nearly 5 miles in total. Once we arrived at Heathfields we were met by Maureen and her lovely dog Barney. They handed us the brooms, bags and dustpans before giving us some instructions. The team split in to 3's and set about sweeping us the dried leaves and garden debris as well as litter picking in the bushes out the front of the bungalows. It was a short task on account of the distance but we had a lot of fun meeting Barney and Maureen. After a final wave goodbye we headed back to leisure world for a very well deserved cool down and stretch off!

Today we welcomed newcomer Louise to GG Colchester and with many red and black t-shirts on show, she wasn't short of people to run with and quickly feel part of the group. We welcomed Nicola back with her new eyes and new job - it was great to see you again! We congratulated Hannah on being offered a place on a Masters course and Ella on her parkrun PB. Then last, but not least, we congratulated Bob on his big five-zero GG deeds - a black t-shirt will be making its way through your letterbox soon!

With the introductions and news done, we made our way outside for a Jelly Bean warm and then set off to the Colchester in Bloom allotment with Ian leading the way and Helen back marking. Pam, as ever, greeted us with a smile and was quick to show as the many tasks. In a walking train style, she dropped us off at different points around the allotment and in no time everyone got busy. Emily, Vanessa, Ian, Michelle, Dan, Susie and Nicola were replanting plants from the winter barrier boxes into pots. Helen and Louise M cleared and lined storage spaces for the newly potted plants. Ella, Tav, Carl and Hannah were loosening up some very hard ground in one area and Bob and Louise S were de-clodding and spreading extra soil on another area. Louise and Bob then quickly got to work planting tomato plants and leeks.

Pam was keen to offer us tea and coffee, but we were all so involved with the tasks at hand that we lost track of time and it was soon time to head off. Pam thanked us for everything we had done and watched with amusement as we attempted to record a video shout out to Dame Kelly Holmes to tempt us to join us for a GG run one day. Then we set off on our run back to Leisure World.

In keeping with the allotment theme, we finished our evening with a quick wheelbarrow race, which Dan and Carl took the victory!

Just a quick reminder, if you would like to join us for the Goodgym Gymfinity Takeover this Friday evening, please let me know or click attending on the Facebook page here. The session is 8-9pm, £8 each and pay when you are there, but I will need to reserve our places as numbers are limited.

Well done everyone on another great evening!

A great evening was had by 12 runners who as usual made a great impact on their community. The freezing temperatures have vanished (for now) and the red Goodgym T-shirts (and black) were back on the streets, including Carl who was sporting his new Goodgym T-shirt with pride!

A dynamic warm up and we set off on the 1.5km run to the Colchester in Bloom allotments after our usual 'numbering off' failure. As you may have figured out from the headline, there was a slight delay but WE ARE GOODGYM and after a quick photo-shoot our fitness session began with the town hall and jumbo in the distance making for a great setting to train.

We did some shuttle runs, squats and reverse lunges in partners, a quick dose of tree hugging before bunny hopping up the hill to begin our task.

The task was to dig 7 holes that were to 2 foot deep as well as tend to some plants the Hannah and Nicola did particularly well at!

The 7 diggers went to work with power, grace and spontaneous singing. It was most definitely a job well-done and the lovely Pam, of Colchester in Bloom, said that there is a lot more to do on our next visit.

Thanks to Ian for back-marking as well as sing a duet with Louise and the wonderful voice and Emily and her backing singing Fay!

After the session Frances Gwyther came along and we hope to see her join us after her 10 day trip.

Spring is coming and we can all be proud of the part we play in making Colchester look delightful.

Happy running and bring on the Colchester Half Marathon.

12 keen GoodGymers gathered at our usual spot, eager to do some good after the disappointment of a forced week off due to the snow. With the weather markedly milder spirits were high and the team welcomed new runner Carl *who made his GoodGym debut and congratulated *Dan on his lovely new red tshirt….Tav even had his legs out!

After a quick warm up and the most successful head count ever the team headed off for a run around lower castle park, dodging huge puddles, sticks and cyclists. We stopped and did a quick round of burpes before scrambling back to our feet and continuing on our way. Once we were back on well lit paths we organised ourselves into single file and saw the return of SNAKE! Tommy found himself at the back more than once following a crafty switch but not even last nights 10 miler could slow those youthful legs down!

We headed back in to leisure world and collected the litter pick equipment before heading out to the skatepark and fields surrounding the car park. Once inside the skate park the team saw an opportunity for some more fun and frolics – *Ella, Tommy, Carl, Dan and Fay *lined themselves up for a race to the lamppost. After one false start and some pushing and shoving they were off with Tommy returning as the victor and Ella hot on his heals. After the litter pick we used the skatepark to work on our fitness with 30 second circuits and a little bit of grumbling!

Great work everyone – see you next week

Thirteen HEROES came out tonight in freezing cold temperatures to do some leaflet drops for the 'Colchester Communities Can...' campaign. This is an initiative to ensure that those who are most at risk from the cold are aware of the winter support available in their area, and how to access it. We've all experienced some bitterly cold weather this week, plus snow and ice, so this is a very timely and important service that we were more than happy to support.

After a ziggy zaggy warm up at Leisure World, we set off towards the Hythe end of town to begin our flyering. The group then split into three teams to target specific streets, and everyone did an absolutely sterling job of delivering the leaflets in the dark, sticking together, and covering the area. We then headed back to base, to do a short circuit of wall sits, walking lunges and planks/press ups, then finished with a bit of stretching to complete the session.

More details about the winter support here: www.colchester.gov.uk/ccc or via the hotline: 0800 7311655.

As mentioned in the run brief, there is a GG social at the Square Pig in London on Thursday at 6.30pm if you're in the area, and if not, do try and vote for pun of the year: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-february-social

We're planning another Colchester social, probably on 28th February - hope you can make it, more details coming soon!

Congratulations to our prize winners this evening; Ella for 'most layers' (six), Louise for 'best woolly hat', and Chris for 'funkiest leggings'! Enjoy your treats guys!

On a wet and blustery January evening, 15 Colchester **GoodGymers** made their way to Colchester Leisure World for the start of another fun packed Wednesday task. Excited by the arrival of GoodGym regular Jade, we welcomed her with a GoodGym guard of honour and raucous applause – last in but by no means least! After a quick warm up, catch up and some general silly behaviour** Tav** led us off with Ella hot on his heels. Snaking our way along Cowdray Avenue we were forced to overcome fraught and difficult conditions – endless January rain has seen even the smallest of puddles turned to lakes and the grass to bog! Not to be deterred the GoodGymers skipped and leapt away the January blues, nattering as they went. Spirits were high and not even Michelle minded a little mud on her lovely running shoes!

First to arrive, Tav gathered the group at the door of Colchester Foodbank *and we waited with excited anticipation to hear what tasks Michael and the team had for us tonight. Michael explained Christmas had been an extremely busy time for the foodbank, seeing record numbers of people coming through their doors. Tasked with making sure they fed the community they had had very little time to focus their efforts on cleaning. As a result the warehouse was in need to a good spring clean, wth no corner to be left unturned. There was even one extra special mission, requiring the most daring and brave GoodGymers to scale the highest heights and tackle the dust and dirt of the kitchen roof. No easy feat – *Tav, Ian and Bob set to work, hauling down boxes of Christmas decorations and other miscellaneous objects and even treated us to a Freddie Mercury impression. Meanwhile, Chris, keen to reclaim his Mopster Don title set to work cleaning the warehouse floor – despite his broken bucket it’s fair to say he did a brilliant job. The rest of the team set about the warehouse shelves and dinning area, wiping, hoovering, sweeping and sorting as they went. Once we were all done, and we had finally convinced Vanessa to put her mop and bucket away, we gathered for one final photo before bidding Michael goodbye!

Wet ground meant a change in the fitness plan so we headed over to our regular hangout – the Jump Street 400! The team warmed up with a lap of the track, before a second lap which saw them focusing on their stride length and speed. Finally, the group split in to teams of four and with nothing but pride at stake each team member took their place, preparing for the first ever Colchester relay. Michelle, Katherine, jade and Nicola lined up on the start line before flying into action and blistering towards their teammates. Competition was fierce and there wasn’t much between the teams coming in to the home straight.*** Ella*** had a marginal lead but Tav was closing in fast with Ian and Bob not far behind. Driving for the line it was Tav that took win by the smallest of whiskers but my goodness what a race! Well done team!!

13 runners ran 3k to help their local community in Colchester

The rain didn't deter our Goodgym runners tonight and we welcomed Emily to her first Goodgym run.

With everyone discussing what we would spend our winnings on if we were to have a big win on tonight's lottery draw, Tav led the way to Firstsite where we were greeted by Eddie. The tasks were to tidy the grass edging on the footpath, pick up bricks that had made their way across the green space, cut back the twigs from around the tree bases and pick up litter - we definitely had plenty to keep us busy! Everyone did an excellent job and Eddie is always very appreciative of the work Goodgym does to help keep the site looking good.

Before leaving we did a circuit training session that focused on our legs - there were certainly a few funny walks after our Goodgymers started the run back to Leisure World!

Once we arrived back we did our stretches and concluded that any big prize wins tonight from our shared lottery ticket will be spent on a new expensive head torch for Ella, a Goodgym group holiday and doing something charitable. After all, we are all about doing something good for the benefit others.

Well done to Tav who did his first coach run this week and had a good time discussing common intrests, such as birds, with his new coach. Don't forget to get your DBS checks done so that you can join in with local mission runs or to arrange a coach pairing.

It was agreed that there will be a social organised for the 31st January at The New Inn - make contact with Ian if you would like to join.