23 TERRIFIC @GGSHEFF runners ran 6km to help CADS continue their renovations of the Abbeydale Picture House.

#GGBBQ

After an amazing premier #GGBBQ at the weekend thanks to the small but mighty Kim Longbon our crew reunited at our spiritual home of the Showroom Cinema to try and reminisce of the shenanigans that took place on the Sat just gone. Beer pong was played, dead arm hangs and face scrapes were had, eyebrows were singed, legs were stretched, eyes watered and many a laugh was had! We look forward to the report from Kim and to the next #GGBBQ2 being hosted by Sensational Sam in Aug - watch the Watts App group for more info and on the parties section of the website!

The run!

Taking a slightly longer route this week to the APH to mix it up we ran as a oner with newly qualified Leader in Running & Fitness (LiRF) Smooth Stephen as our back marker. We ran to the Picture house and met an additional 4 runners at the venue.

After a brief brief and a quick drink we got straight to work with the tasks in hand which this week was mainly lifting and shifting and painting tables ready for them to be used in the new working space. We took the task owners by surprise finishing the task ahead of time with so many people on hand this week with such a strong work ethic!

Challenge time

It was too nice to exercise inside this week so we heading staight to a local park to try out the Cultured Carys 2min straight arm hang challenge of Cliffhanger fame! A real group effort was made with everyone logging a time to beat for the future and some great team bonding and cheering happening. Top marks to Lovely Lilli who smashed the challenge, holding for over 3 mins! Must have been a monkey in a previous life!

The return leg

After a quick 60m sprint we ran back to our base with an uphill sprint at the end followed by stretching and a debrief which this week included the introduction of #pinupchallenge with everyone taking away some GG leaflets to pin up in their places of work or other places they frequent to get more people getting fit and doing good. Don't forget to post your photos on the WattsApp group with the #pinupchallenge.

Next week we are off to Heeley City Farm so...

Don't delay, sign up today!

Fourteen FANTASTIC @GGSheff runners ran 4KM and carried countless dusty tables and chairs up three flights of ancient stairs to assist in bringing the Abbeydale Picture House back to it's former glory for the benefit of the local community.

After running 2KM to the venue we met NOTORIOUS NICK and SENSATIONAL STEVE who gave us an excellent explanation of the work that CADS are doing to bring the Abbeydale Picture House back into use with community events, art exhibitions, flea markets, studio space and more!

Following forty minutes of carrying tables and chairs up the creaking stairs we took to CENTER STAGE for the fitness performance of our lives! To a roaring audience of zero we;

*SQUATTED *LUNGED *180'D *BURPED *CLIMBED MOUNTAINS *DUCK WALKED *PRESSED UP *TRI-DIPPED - TO SOME DUBIOUS BACKING SOUNDS

Nothing wrong with a bit of squeaky furniture and some heavy breathing!

Finally we relayed our way around the sensational stalls and exited stage rear for some refreshments, before heading back to base on an alternative route and took in the local 50M athletics track to get some final sprints in before we stretched off.

With a lot more lifting and shifting still to be done I am sure we will return again for a repeat performance! Take a look at the before and after photos to see what an impact we can have in such a small apace of time!

GREAT EFFORT @GGSheff!

Next week we are off to a new task location with THE BEST NIGHT TIME CITY VIEWS OF THE STEEL CITY to help FRIENDS OF SHEAF VALLEY PARK

You can sign up to next weeks run with FOSVP here

8 Goodgymers ran 4 KM to paint a converted classroom at Sharrow community centre.

The task

The task facing us tonight was to finish the paint job we started last week at Sharrow community centre. The centre used to be a primary school but now acts as a hub right in the centre of Sharrow in Sheffield.

Once again, Maria, our contact at the centre had left a number of brushes and rollers for the team to use. She had also very kindly left us some refreshments which was very kind.

The team was painting for 45 Minutes before the task was complete. Our team was fantastic once again. The community centre are very, very grateful for all of our work. Thank you.

Before long we were cleaning up and ready to move on

Frozen fitness

We then proceeded back to base where we used the car park at Sheffield United for some relay races. All terrific fun. We threw in some squats and spotty dogs - awesome . We are back out again every single Monday - rain or shine. Same time, same start location. Monday 30th Jan we are meeting at Bramall Lane for our weekly group run which may be doing some work at Abbeydale Picture House TBC. Sign up here

GoodGym Sheffield is funded by Age Better in Sheffield in association with South Yorkshire Housing Association and the Big Lottery fund.

13 GoodGymmers ran 5 km to move and distribute wood chip at Heeley City Farm

A chilly, but dry evening greeted our team for our latest group run. We decided best not to hang around and use the run to our task as the warm up.

Warmed up by the time we arrived, the planning had gone like clockwork and the secret location of the garden tools was revealed. Unfortunately the task owner was unable to attend tonight, so alternative plans were made.

The task

It was very simple, but challenging. A huge pile of wood chip needed transporting from the road next to the farm and placing in the children's play area ready for the Christmas hoards expected at the farm. We quickly handed out shovels and barrows and got to work. The hill tried its best to ruin the morale of the team, but our super positive Goodgymers saw it as a brilliant training aid.

Fitness session

Once we had completely smashed the task it was time to use the hill for some shuttle runs. Last week we focused on strength, so this week we got the hearts and lungs working with some 90% - max efforts. What a great effort from everybody.

We then headed back to base for stretching and back slapping.

Great work gang!

Next week we are meeting for our final group run before Christmas followed by a few shandies in the pub around the corner. Sign up here

GoodGym Sheffield is funded by Age Better in Sheffield in association with South Yorkshire Housing Association and the Big Lottery fund. Find out about the project here and sign up to visit an older person with GoodGym and end social isolation in Sheffield here

18 GoodGymers turned out to litter pick in Sheffield City Centre. Our group run took us from our start location, over to the railway station, through the centre of Sheffield and down the Moor . We collected every empty can, take-away box and sweet wrapper we could find.

The Task

Quite a different task from the previous 2 weeks. It was a simple case of picking up as much litter as we could find to make Sheffield look as pretty as possible in time for the Christmas markets opening. Our loyal Goodgymers donned their gloves and got stuck straight in. We managed to fill 6 bin bags, despite some of the streets being actually very clean.

Session 1

On arriving in the Peace Gardens we spend 10-15 minutes doing some run drills to focus on running form. The main points were:

1. Ensuring body position is tall, head high, no hunching
2. No lateral body movement (side to side)
3. Heel kicks up to the rear - this assists forward thrust, increasing efficiency and speed
4. Knees are raised to the front
5. Elbows at 90 degree angle
6. Use the arms to help create force. pump those bad boys!

Session 2

Our second session was based in a semi empty car park where we did some interval shuttle runs. Despite the efforts being short in time, the intensity was extremely high and the group worked exceptionally hard. The sets were:

1 minute work, 30 seconds rest. 45 seconds work, 45 seconds rest at an increased intensity. 30 seconds work, 1 minute rest - all out. 30 seconds work, then finish.

Then back to base

On arrival back at the hotel we did a few upper body conditioning exercises. Tri dips and press ups, concentrating on form. We then did a thorough warm down and witnessed some unfortunate wind escaping from a certain person who was very embarrassed, but confident enough to style it out.

Next week we are back in to the digging and moving type of task. Over at Heeley City farm again. This time we are helping out on the farm by moving some manure. It will be a great task and we will have lots of fun. You can register for it here Fun at the farm

A huge thanks to everyone once again. We are a great little running community and it will only grow stronger. We salute you!!!

18 Arctic warfare trained GoodGymers turned out to the second group run at Goodgym Sheffield. This week we headed over to a local project next to Heeley City Farm. A company called Strip the Willow is building affordable eco houses that are made from more than 80% recycled materials. Our task was to clear the land at the side of the show home and fill up some planters with the soil which were made from reclaimed timber.

We met at the beautiful Copthorne hotel, had a quick brief and head count, then were away....

The task was just over a kilometer from the start location so we treated it as a warm up and took the opportunity to chat n run. The Sheffield group sure are a sociable lot.

We met Jon, the project manager, who issued our tools and showed us where we needed to dig and where to put the soil. He also explained the nature of the project and his ambitions to provide more and more affordable eco houses across the city. There was a huge pile of building materials we needed to move out of the way which seemed to be cleared in seconds. Jon kindly provided water and juice for our team of merry Goodgymers which was gratefully received.

Hills pay the bills

Once again we had more volunteers than spades, so we split the group in two. Group one started the task and group 2 Joined Tom, a member of Goodgym who happens to be a ninja PT instructor. Tom took each group in turn through some conditioning drills and a few gallops up the steep hill adjoining the farm.

Due to the locality of the task we spent a good 50 minutes digging, barrowing, shifting, talking and stacking. It was immense to see exactly how much we can get done in such a short space of time.

After all that excitement we jogged home and stretched those muscle fibers as Alex told us of his experiences as a coach runner in Sheffield. Thanks, Alex. We can't wait to have you back in Steel City.

Next week we head deep in to Sheffield city centre to clear litter and do a fitness session in the peace gardens (renamed beast gardens). We will also be armed with flyers to help us recruit some more Sheffield Goodgymers among the late night shoppers. This will be a great task once again. Hope to see you there. 6:30pm, Copthorne Hotel, every Monday. Register by clicking here https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/litter-grabbing-flash-mob-followed-by-city-centre-interval-training

Thank you all for coming along in the cold weather. I think you are all amazing

What do Catwoman, several south London Zombies, a giant spider, Pikachu, a banana in his pyjamas, some vampires and bats, plus a whole host of the undead have in common?

They all met in Wandsworth last night for a mammoth run where GoodGym became BadGym for one night only….

Scream if you want to go faster

It was a huge turnout with no less than 36 runners ready to take to the streets, and we had a number of excellent new faces. Hello to Amanuel, Anna, Leanne, Maddy, Rebekah, Eva, and Molina and a huge welcome. It was also lovely to see our ace Greenwich visitors Steve, Alex and Christian. Come again soon, and we will definitely be visiting your home ground!

Before we hit the road looking like the cast of Thriller, we had a special Halloween themed CoRUNdrum to think about while we ran. Jack O’lanterns traditionally used to be carved out of which fruit or vegetable before we started using pumpkins?

Be-corpse we’re (Wands) Worth it

With Catwoman and Spiderwoman backmarking, we limped, groaned, shuffled and dragged our undead selves down to our Halloween themed task at St Paul’s Churchyard and its neighbouring community garden. With a few stops along the way to do some horrible high knees and jumping Jack o’lanterns we were there in no time, ready to move a pile of wood from the garden into the churchyard ready for the annual bonfire at the weekend. There was also plenty to do in the decomposing compost bins, plus dead leaves to rake and logs to stake, I mean, stack. With the task done it was a sprint to the common to play some fiendish running games. We turned a few heads as we went, and even earned a salute from a mini-Trump with accurately sized hands.

Team spirits

First off was Zombie Tag, with Maddy, Emma then Ben and Trish all sprinting hard to tag as many victims as they could. Then it was Team John (who is the mysterious John?) versus Team Rocket in a terrifyingly competitive game of capture the flag. Pikachu made a valiantly fluorescent bid for the prize, with The Banana following in his yellowy footsteps, but it was a photo finish by Jack from Team John and Amanuel from Team Rocket.

We finished with an epic relay. It was Team Rocket V Team Lame Rocket V Team John V Team John Paul (names need a bit of work, guys) and it was a fight to the death. OK, not to the death, but to the finish line. Well done to Team John who cleared up with a resounding win, but congratulations to you all for some spooktacular sprinting.

It was dead fun

Back to our starting point we ran with a frantic game of Beat the Reaper (thank you Lambeth for this great idea!). Grim Reapers Jack and David gave the group a 2:45 head start, before trying to chase us down in a race back to the Battersea Arts Centre. Nothing like a bit of fear to get those legs pumping. Well done to those speedy reapers for managing to hunt down about half the group.

Then it was a well-earned social with prizes back at the bar to raise our spirits. We took a vote on our GoodGym tree, with plum, cherry and pineapple all making the shortlist and Pineapple emerging as the final choice. Photos of the tree itself and its accompanying signboard coming soon. It was Ben that cleverly solved the CoRunDrum by knowing that turnips used to be carved before we all started using pumpkins for our jack o’lanterns. Good knowledge!

We all munched on Catwoman’s delicious homemade snacks (thanks Sally!) while we took our second vote of the night to decide best costume. Congratulations to Spiderwoman (the lovely and usually two-legged Hannah) and to the freakin’ scary blonde clown-faced zombie Amanuel – who deserves a mention for basically sweeping the board for wins last night. He also went on later to show us how it’s done on the racing track with a resounding victory. Was it the wig that did it, or sheer talent? We’ll find out next week! Meanwhile Kylee and Ana proved that fast on the athletics track does not necessarily translate to fast on the racing track….

A big hat tip goes to Matthew who rose to the challenge, and proved his commitment to GoodGym by having never missed a group run since the Wandsworth group was established. Brilliant, keep it up Matthew!

Thanks for a frightfully fun night team Wandsworth – same again next week (minus the fake blood). You can sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/long-ish-run-to-granard-primary-school