Express delivery this evening as we delivered a whopping 250 Manchester Post community newspapers in the Longsight and Rusholme area. Filled with local good news stories to spread positive, community focused highlights, we took just under an hour to get around our patch.

With a short run either side from and to Ardwick, we also got a few more km in to add to the Strava stats.

Good to see the positive reception from locals and maybe we'll have a few more to deliver next time.

Welcome to Jocelyn and Emeka for your first GoodGym Manchester session!!

This evening was our regular start of the month litter pick, with us continuing to remove waste and discarded rubbish from parts of Ardwick. We met up in St Peter's Square, away from the demonstrations taking place, before running the ~1.5 km to Ardwick, near Grosvenor St. On arrival, we met Stella who would be taking photos and videos plus interviewing to get some insight into what GoodGym does for a digital media piece.

In pairs, we tackled the build up of rubbish, with lots of can, drinks bottles, takeaway waste, plus a lot of car parts (mats, bits of bumper, a wheel trim) needing picking up. Using any light from the street lights, plus bike lights, we managed to make the area look a little bit better than it was beforehand.

In all, we collected 9 refuse sacks of rubbish, with some of those double bagged given the weight of the contents, plus plenty of large pieces of rubbish. This was reported to Keep Manchester Tidy for collection soon.

With the Great British Spring Clean later this month, there will be more opportunities to tidy up the local areas of rubbish so check out the upcoming sessions this month.

Super effort today from Tanoshi, Hazel, Fanette, and Ben helping out the allotment group at Albermarle allotments in Withington 🌱

There was a slight change of plan with us now helping clear rubble and rubbish from a plot. There was lots of metal, rotting wood, tyres, and a sofa 🛋 (of course). With wheelbarrows, flat trolleys, and a balancing act along the way, we managed to transport the items from the plot to start filling up the skips.

Using a novel jumping technique, we split up pallets and larger pieces. Bit by bit, the skips filled up and in about 80 minutes, the group along with other plot holders managed to clear the site.

Thankfully, there was a brief respite of tea and cake with the community allotment group, before Tanoshi and Ben cleared some rubbish from the community plot, including a lot of glass, carpet, and broken bricks.

Good workout today 💪

After overnight rain 🌧, Fletcher Moss parkrun event number 285 was very muddy and riddled with puddles for participants to dodge or just go through. The leading runner fell over at least twice while taking the corners too sharply.

Divya was marshalling at the M60 corner (#4) as runners and walkers completed their 2 laps of the cow field. Ben was Run Director, briefing marshals, setting up, and processing the results.

430 participants completed the 5 km route with 22 excellent volunteers.

Welcome to Robert for your first GoodGym Manchester session 👏 Great to meet you.

This evening was a bit different. After being approached by Natalie Kate Moss Trust, a charity raising funds and awareness for the treatment and prevention of brain haemorrhages, we combined GoodGym with their Brain Gym resources to get us thinking about our brain health and lifestyle. As part of that, we covered ~4.5 km from St Peter's Square around via Hulme, University of Manchester, Ardwick, and circling back to Sandbar. The combination of a brisk jog and social interaction both forming a significant aspect of the Brain Gym suggestions 🧠

We had bumper numbers this evening, with Scott fresh from a speedy Media City Half Marathon, Hazel joining from Stockport, Peter back from Sri Lanka, Tanoshi and Fanette joining for their 1st Monday night group run, Robert, a journeyman of Bath and Merton GoodGym groups, and regulars Sam and Ben.

We self-quizzed ourselves on the Brain Gym recommendations, including taking small steps, keeping a record or journal, having a support network, "colouring our plate" for food, and keeping a good sleeping routine. All this while enjoying refreshments and tasty pizza at Sandbar (some were more colourful than others) and discussing a potential Mam Tor litter pick in the spring... watch this space 💪

Welcome to Scott for the first time this evening! Best of luck in the Media City Half Marathon this weekend 🏃‍♂️

This evening was our monthly foodbank run, to donate spare items to Manchester South-Central foodbank to go towards food parcels. With half term next week, there is often an increased demand, so we tried to squeeze a donation in. Some items donated included:

• Tinned tuna 🐟
• Tinned spaghetti 🍝
• Tinned veg 🥕🥒🥔
• UHT milk 🥛
• Rice 🍚
• Rice pudding
• Pasta sauce 🍝
• Tinned soup 🍲

We covered ~4.8 km in total, making our way through Hulme to the donation point at the big ASDA. On the way back, we had a quick tour via Man Met University and a loop near Manchester Central Convention Centre.