On a warm May evening, 7 Coventry Goodgymers ran 2 km to St Mary and St Benedict school for some painting.

The two sheds in the playground, which are used to store outdoor toys, needed a little TLC. Our task for the evening was to sand and then varnish them so that they last a little longer and all the toys are kept dry inside. We made quick work of shed number 1 and just about had enough varnish for shed 2. After finishing our task we ran back to our start point, admiring the student degree show art work on display in Starley Gardens before having a good stretch!

It was great to see you all this week! Welcome to Georgia - we hope you enjoyed your first group run with GoodGym Coventry! Welcome back to Cheung for task number 2!

This week 16 runners ran 5km to support St Mary and St Benedict Catholic School with some painting.

We set off from our new meeting point at the Alison Gingell building which is part of Coventry University. Goodgym members soon found the new meeting point and an army of red (and even a few black tops) assembled ready to find out more about this week’s task. We also welcomed Catherine and Eva for the first. We hoe you enjoyed your first session with us.

We soon set off on the short run over to the school with plenty of regrouping and chatter along the way. Once we arrived at the school, we were met by Pauline, the Headteacher, who explained the task and welcomed us. We quickly set about giving the school’s outdoor benches a brush down and varnish; prolonging their life for future enjoyment. Pauline explained that the benches are used for outdoor events and packed lunch picnics, and how the children benefit from being outdoors and having a nice environment to learn in. Whilst this was happening, several other members of the group completed some edging work around the paths. Once the task was completed we all enjoyed a short catch up in the staff room for a well deserved biscuit and chocolate or too. Paul, the school’s caretaker, checked our handiwork. It’s amazing how much can be done in a short space of time!

Before very long, it was time to head back to town. Despite this we still managed to fit in a few hill reps along the way with many people outdoing themselves and putting in maximum effort all the way to the final rep.. Great effort everyone.

This evening 19 GoodGym Coventry runners welcomed Marie for her first run and also Aidan for his first at GoodGym Coventry whilst running 4.5km to help St Mary and St Benedicts school look after some unloved picnic benches.

As it was such a lovely day, we did our warm up and welcome outside the Herbert Art Gallery which was lovely and then we headed off into Hillfields chatting all the way to the School.

The benches task had been arranged for a week previously but it had rained so we had delayed till the weather was better and tonight it was definitely an improved evening as the sun shone down on us.

In the school courtyard, there were 6 picnic benches that were in desperate need of a good sanding and varnishing. Luckily, we were armed with sand paper, brushes and luckily Nigelhad bought a little skill and some of his own tools. So in no time the benches were whipped in to shape and would soon be painted and ready for use by the children for their lunches.

Time was ticking on but the team were keen to complete the job to a high standard which meant our fitness session changed location to be again by the Herbert Art Gallery. Here the team completed 2 sets of 4 exercise aimed at working muscles key for becoming stronger runners.

At the end we stretched and caught up with everyone's plans for the weekend. So have a good week and enjoy Coventry Triathlon and Dawn Chorus walk GoodGymmers.

See you next week for delivery of bags for the Cyrenians. Please bring a rucksack if you have one.

Liz x

On a blustery, stormy evening 15 hardy souls ran 4km to give a new lease of life to the picnic benches at St Mary and St Benedict School in Coventry. Now three weeks in, it is great to see familiar faces returning to run from Drapers on a Tuesday evening. This task had special importance to Lillian as she helped source the task and she was wearing her new GoodGym t-shirt.

Having arrived at the school, we were greeted by Pauline, the Headteacher, the team set to work some sanding and varnishing the benches and others tidying up the school field. Thankfully, when the varnishing started, Syed arrived to ensure the finish was top notch and the benches were definitely something to be proud of.

Following the run back to the City Centre, the team then worked hard completing 200m reps, powering away to the very last rep up the slight incline to the finish.

Thanks again all and see you next week :)

On the 16th April, Arabian Bites will be at Drapers again so we will meet after the run to grab a bite of food and / or a drink. It would be great if you could stay and we could have a sociable post-run catch-up.