This week, the Achilles International team met up at Arsenal tube station, ready for our monthly session at the Emirates Stadium. 7 Goodgym guides and supporters were on hand to help our visually impaired running friends to complete a variety of workouts around a slightly wet 700m loop. We were so happy to invite 4 first time guides as well- wonderful to have you join us!

We were thrilled to be joined by top Achilles International guides Rob and Philippa - two of our most consistent members who have contributed so much over years. We wish them all the best on their new adventures in Sheffield! And we hugely appreciated the delicious lemon drizzle cake on offer to celebrate your last run with us (for now!).

We were also very happy to catch up with Stephen, who has been away from our sessions for a little while. Stephen has been training for months to prepare for a 54km ultra marathon in Slovenia, while fundraising for Achilles International. Congratulations, and great to have you back!

To finish our evening, we enjoyed a trip to The Brook Gate on Blackstock Road for refreshments, hot food and good times!

Great work everyone. We will be back next week at Paddington Rec Track (Maida Vale). Sign up here:

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-paddington-rec-track-f84dc6a2-273c-474c-bd46-5e29cc1d7268

We are very happy with our weekly gathering, which brings us together for a unique running session at Paddington Rec Track. The weather was enjoyable for running not too cold and everyone had a great time during the session. ✅Four runners from GoodGym, along with supporters and dog owners, joined the Achilles International team for this weekly meet up. ✅Meanwhile, seven visually impaired runners enjoyed a fantastic group run around the track. Additionally, a guide dog, Mario, participated to provide assistance. It was a session with a more beautiful perspective, full of encouragement and enthusiasm on the track. We will meet next week in Stratford (Stratford Tube Station) at 6 PM. Have a great time, everyone!

On Wednesday evening, a crew of visually impaired runners and guides met up at the Battersea Park Runthrough Chase the Moon 10km and 5km event, running some smashing times and excellent performances. Mark D and Mark N both ran personal bests, and Charles ran a solid 10km time too. The three VI runners also joined the Achilles International crew for another group run session the next evening for a very impressive double!

20 guides, VI runners and supporters met at Arsenal tube station last night, and ran a variety of paces, distances and sessions around the 700m concourse of Emirates Stadium. We were thrilled to welcome new guides: Veronika and Lorna who both shadowed frequent guide running partners and tried guide running for the first time.

Wonderful to catch up with Naqi last night (running with Philippa) after his birthday celebrations, and to be joined by Tim U, back in London for his graduation. Great to see you both!

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Come and Guide Run with Achilles International (Paddington Rec Track!)

Thursday 30th January, 6pm, Maida Vale underground station

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-paddington-rec-track-db3e1e87-d1e9-4d55-8f34-fd86e1b9101a

6 Goodgym runners, supporters and dog walkers joined the Achilles International crew for their weekly group run session. Paddington Rec Track was significantly less cold and icy than it was 2 weeks ago!

11 visually impaired runners enjoyed a smashing social run around the track, with fellow local runners in Westminster. 3 guide dogs were on hand too (Max, Hugo and Mario), along with Rufous the border terrier for support. Great work everyone!

Next week, we will be meeting at Emirates Stadium (Arsenal Tube Station).

Follow the link for more info:

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-emirates-stadium-398b3240-7201-49b9-b73c-d75d86b6a86e

Cold Thursday evening and 17 of us(runners and guide runners) met at the station to walk over to the the Olympic Park where we gathered to pair up between runners and guide runners in the pool welcome area. Several distances covered at different paces. Our 4 legged friends had a break in the meantime while we all set off in the dark around the stadium and surrounding area based on the distance decided. Mohamed guided a 6.5km run while Steph Ducat went for the longer and quicker distance of 10km(just a little over) with one of the speedy runners. A bit cold and windy but at 745pm we were all back to enjoy a cake or doughnut with a bit of chat in the warm welcome area. Alot of new guides tonight and all went well.

Goodgym and Achilles International held the first weekly group run session of 2025 at Paddington Rec Track on Thursday. An awesome opportunity to catch up following the festive break with some social running with visually impaired runners and sighted guides. We were really thrilled to have 4 first timers down to try guiding this week- welcome to Mohamed, Alex, Nik and Holly. All keen runners who helped with guiding Mark Durban, Mark Colby, Chris Blackabee and Tom Donnelly for some speedy laps!

Find out more about Achilles International here:

https://www.achillesinternational.org/

We will be back running next Thursday 9th January at Stratford Olympic Park- sign up here to get involved!

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-olympic-park-stratford-route-831bc57f-3d39-4d8e-bfa0-5a7f13b206eb