Saturday 19th August 2017
Find out about GoodGym TaskForce
Report written by Beth Hoskins (She/her)
After a previous trip to Wales in 2015 we were back to race the train again and this time we brought reinforcements
Over 60 runners from all around the Goodgym world, representing at least 16 different areas, travelled West to Tywyn to take on the mighty Talyllyn Railway.
After some perhaps over-complicated swapping around of cars and passengers and fueled on by a delicious Friday night pasta dinner cooked by Sophie we were raring to go on Saturday morning and looking forward to a day of racing and cheering.
This time we had a presence in every race. First across the line was Dave who came 2nd behind a teenage boy in the 3.5 mile long Tynllwywyn Hen Challenge. Continuing on a theme, Axel was also unfortunately beaten to the line by children, three of them this time, in the 5.5 mile Dolgoch Challenge. They showed a distinct lack of respect for his beard and sunglasses and only allowed him to come in fourth.
Next up was the 10K Quarry Challenge where we had quite a few runners and three train beaters - Simon, Andy and Jack Bradley.
Then came the main event, the 14 mile Rotary Challenge. Not content with already having beaten one train, Simon followed the lead of Pritesh and took the start line again. In this one we had both runners and riders, while the runners were battling with the mud and hills out on the course Andy, Frances, Sarah and Lina were cheering them on from the comfort of the train. That cheering must have worked because this time PB Jr, Sam, Graham and Jacob all beat the train.
With the racing over some went for a dip in the sea before heading back to the bunkhouse where Kevin and his kitchen crew were knocking up a couple of very tasty tagines. After dinner we were treated to a party courtesy of DJ Coyle (aka DJ Ironing board) and danced the night away until 1am.
Another amazing weekend away, can't wait for the next one.