Great turnout. Great group. Rogue task.

We arrived at the Old Factory excited for a long weekend upcoming and even more so for the return of Joel after a hiatus to welcome a new baby into the world. Andy actually made a great quip about Joel not coming since his first child, funny but harsh on the GG stalwart. We welcomed Elliot back from Portugal for his third run, Tina from a work crisis for her second run, and Nicole from a restaurant in Norwich which had a conveyor belt of cheese for her first run!

We jogged up to Broomfield allotment, with Joe taking immaculate photos of leaping goodgymers on route, eager to begin. We met Sallyann fresh off her starring social media role (see below) and Fay. However! Alas! Donna was no where to be found. (A case of crossed wires). So we got the four shortest GG'ers to pose by the tallest sunflowers we could find. Laurie was ecstatic to find out she towers over the national average by a solid half inch.

Fortunately the wonderful Pam stepped in to save the day and got us watering the plots for the older people at the allotments. I attempted my best Sir David Attenborough impression for Fay leading the watering can refilling in her usual role as head honcho. Pam not only saved the day but shared with us some of her tomatoes, showcased beautifully by Ben. Hopefully all the watering cans made it back to their various homes!

After we headed back to base we discussed the forgotten merits and benefits of the hovercraft, which Russell is trying to buy two of for Essex because....bants and such. Erin is abiding by the results of the GG poll and changing her DJ name to EK47 in tribute to Pistol Pete.

Next week we are off to Moulsham Mill to tidy their garden ahead of the garden party launch and this will be led by Angela, whose superb artistic photos can be spied in tonight's run report.

Well well well...if Joe isn't now a local celebrity after his doppelganger starred in the sixth commandment (watch it now on the bbc). So we posed as the famous senses: smell, taste, sight, hearing, touch, and murder. Joel may be the next victim after we waited for him and he hadn't realised he had signed up...

After that jovial start - we trotted up to Broomfield and I marvelled at Richard doing the three peaks this weekend. Next stop Everest!

We separated into two groups and attacked the two beds. Weeds, wood, bricks, grass were to be disposed of, and the delicious smelling mint was retained. Fay didn't enjoy me throwing grass in her hair for some reason but we did a great job nonetheless. You can see by the before and after photos.

After we headed back we had a brief chat about musical abilities. Andy had a senior moment thinking he could use a comb - clearly been too long since he knew what a comb was for - and then psyched up for the brewery 10k tomorrow .

One more week to go for Jog On! We have six pairs now.

We'd known all along that Goodgym being open to runners of all abilities was sexy - but now we have a Guardian article to prove it: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jul/24/slow-running-revolution-sexy-pace-enjoy-the-race

Joe has a multi-billion dollar idea to do a dating app based on running. Watch this space.

Anyway, onto the run! After an incredibly modest firework display to showcase my majestic victory at last week's brewery 10k, we set off to Broomfield. Decent pace on the way there to meet Fay and Sallyann, but wait! Sallyann was no where to be seen! After she arrived, Andy certain she had been at the pub, she dived right into turning the bed and flattening the ground. That's more than can be said for Rich, who didn't appear to be doing anything, so naturally he posed while I lobbed grass at him and it didn't photo well.

We did a great job and thanked Donna before heading back. Got honked on the run and arrived back in some rain.

Remember: Barbie viewing soon (Andy will be wearing a pink tutu), pub quiz at the ale house, Harry Potter quiz, free alcohol free beer from Athletic Brewing after the run on the 23rd, and perhaps also Back-Inn Time too. waiting on Joel to sort a date for that...

We were very pleased to see Leanne for the first time in a while and Jenny for the first time in a couple of weeks. Joe and Joel remembered to bring/pop home to get their old running shoes to donate to JogOn, and Richard nearly brought his. If you have a pair you no longer need, please bring them to a GoodGym session by the end of July so we can post them off.

We jogged up to Broomfield in the sunshine and found Fay and Sallyann already working on the task. Our task for the evening was to dig over a bed on the Men's Shed plot, to prepare for a new greenhouse.

In typical GoodGym fashion, the group made light work of the digging, whilst discussing pub quiz success on Sunday (including Erin's special subject of old wives tales), locations for socials and getting to know each other better. On this occasion, the food locations were Back Inn Time, and trying out Chelmsford's local cafe's for breakfast (all suggestions welcome). The getting to know each other segment was finding out that Joel has a different interpretation of 'top of' (e.g., the road) than the rest of us, which was confusing for everyone involved.

Next Thursday we're heading to the beer festival - sign up and find the link to buy tickets here

On Thursday 20th July (Joel's birthday) a few of us are doing the Chelmsford Brew Co 10k Trail Run - sign up and find the link to buy tickets here

See you all soon,

Laurie

8 Goodgymer's went to Broomfield Allotments to clear a space

Everyone arrived in excellent timing so we wasted no time in running to our task. We found Sallyann and Fay at the entrance to the allotments and set off to look for our host.

We met our hosts and their little helpers, and they showed us the beds that they wanted us to turn over. The group chose their tools, including a wonky fork for Fay, and got to work weeding and turning the beds. The task was finished very efficiently, which we were grateful for as the breeze kept getting chillier.

There was plenty of discussion about gardening, and I remembered that Andy had got a bird feeder for his garden last year. He happily announced that he now welcomes a variety of garden birds, apart from a multitude of overly-amorous pigeons. Unfortunately for Andy, no one had advice on how to deter them.

With the evenings now light, we have more gardening coming up next week - sign up here

We've also got our Sunday lunch at Acanteen at the weekend - sign up here

See you soon

Laurie

10 GoodGymer's went to Broomfield Allotments to clear a bed

After a week off, I was pleased to see our lovely regulars on a Wednesday evening, and we were happy and surprised to see Joe P return for his first GoodGym session in years!

Once we got to the allotments, we met Leanne and Sallyann perfectly on time, and went to find our host amongst the allotments. It seemed we got there earlier than they had planned, so as it was a little chilly the group did some squats and squat holds, with a dodgy back to back squat by David and Joe M, followed by (mostly) unenthusiastic planking.

Thankfully, our host Donna arrived soon after the planks and showed us what needed doing. The task was to clear and turn an overgrown bed, ready for planting this season. The group pretty much completed the task in 20 minutes, amazing work!

Once back at base, we met our lovely AA Fay, who handed out some rather fancy chocolates and a discount code for Raleigh, which were all taken happily and without any hesitation, despite how the faces may look in the photo.

A few of us went to the new Brewhouse for drinks and food after, along with belated birthday wishes for Fay and early birthday wishes for David!

Credit to Joe M for the pun!

See you all next week for more allotmenting.

Laurie