16 enthusiastic Goodgym runners took to the Colchester streets last night to keep our town centre blooming beautiful!

We met at Leisure World, our usual Wednesday evening hangout, and were really pleased to welcome Chrissie on her first Goodgym run! Chrissie has recently completed her run leading qualification and is looking to become an active member of the group! It was great to see a mixture of old and newer faces as Tav delivered the weekly news, which included reports from Saturday's successful taster session and upcoming events such as new tasks and international women's day.

Before we set off we warmed-up our bodies whilst Tav warmed-up his brain trying to number us off into 2 groups in random order. We headed out into the evening towards the High Street, taking a slightly longer route via North Hill to get our hearts pumping and our legs working. The group then split into our 2 assigned teams and made our way to different parts of the town to tackle the planter boxes. Our task was simple, to tidy any litter, deadhead where needed and to make sure the plants were firmly in the soil following sad reports that people were removing them.

We then headed off to Firstsite for some fun and games. Team 2 arrived first and Helen took to ensuring that we were kept busy and warm with a few exercises. Once we were joined by the rest of the group Tav gave us simple game to play involving a ball and remembering people's names. Well.. I say simple, but it's fair to say a few of us struggled to grasp the concept. Following a practice round the idea was to complete the throwing and catching sequence twice through as quickly as possible before the whole team moved on to a relay. Team 2, led by Alex, strategised the most effective way of completing the game as quickly as possible (the phrase 'that's so cheating' may have passed Tav's lips).

The relay came down to a race between the final runner from each team, and despite Emily having a significant head-start, she was still worried that speedy Tav might catch her heels!

After the task some of the group headed to Three Wise Monkeys for some food, drink and socialising with a small group accompanying each other back to Leisure World.

Next Wednesday we're delivering leaflets for St Helena Hospice. We look forward to seeing you then!