It was a cool night for a pretty cool task.

On a clear (and once again dry!) evening the temperature seemed to drop as we made our way the 2+ miles across town to the 24 Ipswich Scout HQ with Daniela back marking.

Once inside Scout HQ everything we needed was laid out ready for us. The task was to paint as much of the lower half of the main hall walls - covering various scuffs and signs of wear & tear.

As well as being the main meeting area for the scouts the hall is hired for a range of other activities providing income to help maintain the building and provide activities for the scouts.

It was a pretty big hall, but with loads of paint, brushes and rollers provided - the scout motto "Be Prepared" and this was definitely the case - and the usual Goodgym energy we managed to complete more than half of the area. We also learned the technical term for the recesses between the bricks ( "Perps" & "Beds" - thanks Alex !) that were tricky to paint with a roller.

Had we had a few more bodies we probably could have completed the whole area, but we hope to return soon to finish the entire hall. It was great organisation from the scouts and a super group effort!

Back out into the chilly evening and the run back to base was marked with a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the optional interval efforts. However, with our total run distance coming in at just under 5 miles it was perhaps understandable!

Tonight was one long celebration.......

It was Daniela's 23rd birthday on Sunday, Robin was about to complete his 100th good deed with Goodgym Ipswich and it was our last Group Run before Christmas so we ended the evening in the pub!

Daniela volunteered to back mark and had a brand new birthday set of lights to try out - you could see her for miles!

Our task was to paint three bathrooms and a foyer area at the 24 Ipswich Scout Headquarters. All the areas were fairly small and we split into teams for each area. Dan, from the scouts was fantastically well organised with numerous dust sheets, brushes, rollers and paint all ready for us to get stuck in.

It was comical watching people squeezing into small spaces and trying to avoid painting each other in the process. However the teamwork was once again top notch and all areas were completed in around 30 minutes.

After a brief tidy up we were off for the return 2 mile leg of our run.... and as it was Monday it began raining! This didn't dampen spirits as several of the group took on some additional fitness work by running out & back intervals ahead of the main party.

...Talking of parties!! - our run ended right outside our regular choice of pub when there's something to be celebrated. We ended the evening with some pre-christmas cheer as well as toasting the birthday girl and the centurian !

Goodgym Ipswich takes a break over Christmas and our Group Runs will resume on Monday 6 January.

Merry Christmas!

A big Welcome to Goodgym debutant Ben who has justed moved back to the UK from Prague and made a beeline for Goodgym!

We had an dramatic start to the night when we had to evacuate our meeting place due to a fire alarm. As many students were leaving the building we didn't hang around to find out if there was a real emergency or a false alarm and headed off to run to a new venue for us.

Taking a slightly scenic route out to the 24th Ipswich Scouts HQ our outward run was a little over 2 miles and the usual Monday evening rain followed us all the way!.

Our task was to paint a room the Scouts use for meetings and hire - generating income towards a new roof for the building.

The group have become pretty good painters over the last few months - cutting in and rolling teams morphed from nowhere and started at opposite ends of the room. I have to say even I was impressed with the speed painting and pretty soon the job was done!

We even had time to acknowledge the achievements of all those who ran the Stowmarket Scenic 7 on Sunday - having forgotten to do so earlier (due to the fire alarm distraction!)

Unfortunately the run home was even wetter than the outward leg with several soakings from cars through puddles near the footpath. However the usual Goodgym spirit prevailed and the night ended with total round trip of 4.2 miles.

Next week we'll be running to hep out Ipswich Soup Kitchen - find out more and sign up HERE