This week we met back at Sainsbury’s for the 18:00 express train. After checking all passengers had valid travel tickets, we were off full steam ahead! This train was heading straight through to Steam Museum. Consisting of two carriages, one running and one walking, today’s train driver Sam opted for a more scenic route but ensured a smooth ride without delays. There was definitely no quiet carriage on this train!

This evening we were back at the Traverser armed and ready to, once again, conquer those persistent pesky weeds. The brief tonight was short and simple, “if it is green then it shouldn’t be seen”. Naturally separating into equal sized groups we each choo choosed a section of the track to conquer. 45 minutes later and all those weeds had been steam rolled, doomed to the confines of a black bin liner. We then finished the task with a nice group photo stood on the Traverser with the warm evening summer sunshine setting behind us.

After a quick tidying up, it was all aboard for the return leg, arriving safely into this week’s temporary station on time. Next week, we’ll be meeting Mike who will lead us to the other side of the railway line for a much needed tidy up ahead of the Heritage Open Days! If you can lend a hand, please sign up here.

It's been some time since our last visit and wow - what a sight! Pretty yellow weeds absolutely everywhere. It was a shame to remove them. They looked lovely all around the STEAM Museum and in the Traverser itself. According to the expert Kay, these weeds are in fact Ragwort and very harmful to horses. So beware horses - do not go near STEAM until GoodGym have done some weeding!

We managed to clear the entire area except for the section where the traverser sits. An excuse for a return visit in August perhaps?!

It was great to see so many GoodGym'ers this evening; lots of chatter and laughter - something we all need right now.

Hope to see you all again very soon. In the meantime thank you so much for your help in clearing the Traverser. It is very much appreciated by staff and visitors at the STEAM museum.

A small but perfectly formed group of GoodGymmers met bright and early(ish) on a Saturday morning to tidy and weed the traverser outside the STEAM museum in Swindon. The museum is back open to the public now after being closed over the summer due to COVID, so we wanted to get the traverser looking spick and span for the public visiting the musuem (and one of our GoodGymmers who looks out on the traverser from their house!).

Our numbers were upped at the eleventh hour by Charles kindly volunteering last minute. Then we collected our tools and got to work - Simon doing a lucrative litter pick, and the rest of us getting stuck into the weeding. Best find of the mission goes to Charles, who found the decapitated head of a doll, in the same place as bodyless bob... it's a toy graveyard!

Tracey joined us right at the end of our task, partway through her P24 Twist challenge (by the time I'm writing this, she finished - well done Tracey!). Just having avoided the rain, we ended the mission with well deserved coffees and hot chocolates.

A change of plan this week meant we were able to return to the STEAM Museum to finish a weeding task we’d started back in July. We were joined by newbies Cath, Jo, Karen and Yvonne. We think they fit splendidly into the GoodGym family – read on to find out why!

After much super sleuthing the day before, a crack team deduced this was the last group run that our lovely run leader Sandy Sam would be attending before her wedding!

So we formed a rather unconventional bunch of hens and presented her with a bouquet and veil and announced that there would be post-run cake to celebrate her upcoming nuptials to Adam. We are clearly lacking in the sleuthing as she will be back next week – more cake anyone?

The getting-to-know-you question was what our chosen superpower would be! Emma the Trainer would have COMPLETE silence when she is doing parkrun directing (of course!), Sharon would be able to repair any broken joints (horse or human – handy!) and Jo would choose mind control (eek!).

The runners led by Sandy Sam and backmarked by Stuart, and the walkers led by Jo all arrived at STEAM in no time. It’s on the site of the old Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway and in its heyday could produce three locomotives a week!

What a great task - outside in the fresh air, right in the heart of Swindon’s heritage, chatting with friends while weeding. Last time we took a scattergun approach to the weedy landscape so this time we were more strategic to achieve maximum aesthetic pleasure for the visitors and residents who all use this area. We filled lots of bags as the hard working staff really needed some help in this weed multiplying weather. The ‘after’ picture was very satisfying! We weren’t doing so well on our weekly quest to find peculiar objects. But wait - enter Bodyless Bob! A tiny dismembered head (of the toy variety). He’s not pretty, we don’t know his story, and one doesn’t like to ask but we adopted him and took him back with us anyway.

Before we left we had a quick look around the very impressive museum. Swindon really did make the most beautiful trains! On the way out we spotted a wooden train planter at the main entrance that was made by Swindon Men’s Shed who we visited last week. Oh, we do love a coincidental community connection!

On the run back we encountered a rather merry chap who joined our run for a bit. Move over Bodyless Bob, we give you ummmmm, Legless Larry? He seemed to enjoy jogging and shouting motivational things like “Go GoGo-Gym” which is an entirely different type of exercise altogether, but still, a future new member perhaps?!

Before the Task Force could consult the GoodGym training manual for recommendations on what to do in such situations, he waved goodbye and was off!

On to “Murder Alley” and there was some tomfoolery by the Walkie Talkies (check out the photo!). We apologise unreservedly to any security services who spotted us on CCTV and may have been inadvertently placed on red alert due to our theatrics. And it has not escaped our attention that all four of our newbies were perpetrators! Like we said, fitting in nicely.

All safely back at base, with Sam still looking resplendent in her wedding veil, we had a large, lovely and chatty catch up over coffee and cake.

Next up is a Group Run on Tuesday 27th August. We will be running approximately 9km in total to the Saltway Centre and back to help clear out some planters so that Aiming High families using the centre can plant their own bulbs and seeds. The Aiming High Short Breaks programme provides access for children and young people with disabilities to social and leisure activities, and to enable their parents and carers to have a break from their caring responsibilities. Pop it in your diary now and sign up here! If you’d like to join us for a post-run drink back at the Oasis, order at Coffee Corner before 6pm.

The sun was shining brightly on Swindon; a perfect night for a gardening task led by first time run leader Sandy Sam WEEDon! We also welcomed two newbies – Dominque and Beth and it was great to see Sarah back again after the excitement of our dome building task a few weeks ago. We were also pleased to see new members Rachel and Sarah wearing their new (aka not covered in paint splatters – that will change!) red tops with pride.

Word is clearly out that GoodGym is the place to be on a Tuesday night in Swindon!

Sam kicked off the night with a perfect ice-breaker for a hot evening – what’s your favourite cocktail or mocktail? This quickly revealed that we have a lot of gin fans at Swindon GoodGin – I mean GoodGym – and some like Jason who declared that a good pint of Black Sheep is a far better choice than a cocktail.

Neither shaken nor stirred, we then split up into our walking and running groups, with Emma the Trainer being walk leader for the first time and Charles back marking (not for the first time) . After the usual Strava palaver, we headed off through murder alley. This is becoming such a frequent route that we think it should have a GoodGym named segment and soon arrived at STEAM, the museum of the Great Western Railway housed in a beautiful Grade II listed building in the heart of the former Swindon railway works.

Ian explained our task for the night - weeding the traverser. Mike was thrilled to finally get his hands on these weeds, having noticed them growing rapidly on his daily walk and being sorely tempted to undertake some guerrilla gardening. We were warned to count everyone in and out so that we didn’t lose any of our more diminutive members – looking at you Carly, Gina and Tracey – in the vegetation. I can confirm that all GoodGym members were accounted for at the end of the night!

For those of you wondering, and we had our rail expert Kirsty on hand, a traverser is a moving platform for transferring a railway vehicle from one set of rails to another parallel set. For us...

it was a great opportunity to get stuck in to a chatty task, and encounter our old friend sticky willy!

Those who are botanically minded, will know that this is gallium Aparine – but the declaration from Emma and Kirsty that “I’ve got gallium Aparine all over me” is unlikely to result in the same level of sniggering as its common name!

Before long it looked like we’d given the place a good STEAM clean and there were no more leaves on the line. This was our second visit to the traverser – our first being in September last year when GoodGym Swindon was just weeks old. This led to some reminiscing about all the great group runs we have done in our first year and a challenge from Paul to name them all in order – definitely a party game for our birthday bash on 10 August! Under the supervision of binman Richard the Vicar, we quickly tidied up – and started a new sport of lobbing the binbag in the bin. It’s unlikely to feature in the 2020 Olympics, but if it does Andrew and others are contenders for the gold medal with some record breaking distances!

After a group photo – noting Jo’s demands for an Instagram friendly version as well as the traditional landscape – we departed on time and made our way back to the Oasis.

It was a raily good evening that extended into even more chatting over coffee or tepid water (not to be recommended ) with biscuits thanks to Sam, who has now set a new standard for run leaders in making sure we are well nourished!

Next week, we have a longer run to Age UK Wiltshire at Toothill Community Centre for a classic Swindon lift and shift (hump and dump) task. We now have 10 – yes TEN – trained run leaders at Swindon GoodGym and this means we will have Steadies and Speedies on our longer runs, so why not sign up and join us for a longer leg stretch at your pace? We also have two community missions coming up – Gardening with The Vicar at ChristChurch and helping at Wroughton Junior School's Fun Run. We’d love to see you at these events – and you’ll be one, two or even three steps closer to the much coveted black GoodGym top!

At long last; our first GoodGym run 'beating the street' had finally arrived! Some funny looking grey boxes on lamposts have been placed all around town waiting for people to tap them? Strange, I know; it took me a while to work it all out? The idea is that you pick up a fob (if you are school child) or a card (if you are anyone else!) and walk, jog, run, skip, scoot, cycle from one box to another tapping them with your fob or card as you go? The more boxes you tap, the more points you get, and more points mean prizes!!! It's in Swindon for 6 weeks meaning that we have 6 exciting GoodGym runs tapping boxes to and from tasks! Yay!!!

What makes it more fun, is that people can join a team with Beat the Street. GoodGym Swindon has formed its very own team, which we would of course encourage any GoodGym runner to join?! Team Captain Dan Coles will be there to support you all the way; by issuing cards, maps of East and West Swindon (there are no North and South Swindon maps by the way?!), and to ensure that you are tapping your card correctly on the box. No flashing lights mean no points! You have been warned. Come and join us to find out more about this addictive child-like game that everyone across Swindon seems to be playing right now?

6pm arrived and there were loads of you gathered inside the Oasis, keen to get going last night. What a fanatstic turn out! 18 runners and myself. Was it because of Beat the Street (and my promise of 8 boxes to and from the task), or maybe because we were going to STEAM and perhaps many of you are secret train enthusiasts?! Or maybe, just maybe you all love GoodGym no matter what we're doing? Answers on a postcard please?!

We welcomed four fabulous new runners last night: Ben, Kelly, Mallory and Steve (who many of us know as the chap who (quietly) sets up the cones and tape and a whole lot more at parkrun every Saturday!). Thank you for joining us! It is always good to see some new faces every week; feel free to tell your friends and family about GoodGym, and don't forget - we have a website, we're on Facebook and Twitter and thanks to Paul the Scientist we now have a WhatsApp chat group for anyone who likes to chat about GoodGym?! Want to join the WhatsApp group, just drop me an email or just ask me to add you when I next see you?

Before setting off, we formed a circle outside the Oasis - to get to know one another a bit more. With the Emmy Awards the night before, our lovely GG runners had to tell each other what their favourite TV programme was? The responses were quite varied, unusual and funny, but also worrying. Is there really a TV programme called the Killing? Sounds lighthearted doesn't it?! An American Drama Series apparently? Anyway, it's always good to talk and we're good at talking at GoodGym; and not only do we talk before the run, but also during the run, at the task, and afterwards in Coffee Corner. GoodGym is just a big social really?

Anyway, with me as Run Leader and Stuart kindly offering to be Back Marker, we got going at around 6:15pm and managed to tap 3 Beat the Street boxes on our way to STEAM. How exciting! Those of us with cards gaining 20 points each?! The best bit about tapping these boxes is that we all have to wait for one another, which gave the majority of you time to chill, and some of you an opportunity to look energetic and jog on the spot (briefly!). Running through town is always interesting with some encouraging comments from passers-by and strange looks from people who have probably never seen us before. They will soon get to know us; out and about with our red t-shirts, smiling and waving as we jog along!

Through the tunnel (running is allowed, cycling is not!), under the train line, and there we were - at STEAM, Museum of the Great Western Railway. what a privilege it was to be there, in such an iconic part of town with so much history behind it? Thank you Ian Surtees for welcoming us into STEAM, through the museum and onto the train platform. It was great to hear about the railway works; how many people used to work there, and what they used to build? Three locomotives in a week? That's hard graft, but we've got grafters at GG Swindon haven't we? Wyn and Lily always working, never stopping even when told to! And yes - this was exactly the case when we got let out onto the traverser (the 'thing' outside STEAM that helps maneuver the locomotives from one set of rails to another). We were given bin bags, brooms, dustpans and brushes and got going de-weeding, de-littering, filling so many bin bags we had to ask for more?! Thank you Tracy for pointing out ten minutes before 'tidy-up time' that we had missed a fairly large section of the traverser behind the platform. In good team spirit everyone just cracked on and got the job done splendidly. Well done one and all!

It was time to go and tap some more boxes. With a cheery wave goodbye to Ian surrounded by bin bags, we found our next box in no time at all; surrounded by school children tapping their fobs. But we had four more to find (in the failing light), so we soon set off around Even Swindon locating them all as quickly as possible? However, I set a challenge along the way. We got to Redcliffe Street and everyone had to sprint and locate the box at the end of the street! Now, Redcliffe Street is a very long street which therefore meant a lot of sprinting, so well done to Jon (who is apparently not competitive at all) for sprinting there and back in no time at all! How did you do that and smile at the same time?! It's a mystery!

On our way back to the Oasis, tapping boxes as we went, I had a nice conversation with Mike, who has kindly offered to take up the position of 'pun leader', which requires thought and imagination on a weekly basis. Thank you Mike for doing this; Dan for being Beat the Street Team Captain and Stuart for his back marking skills. I'm really starting to feel that a Task Force is starting to form? Wonderful!

We arrived back at the Oasis, tapped our final box, did some stretching, had a chat about our adventures that evening and how far we had run? A little further than 5km in our quest to earn more points! Everyone was keen to hear where we were going the following week? The Haven in Penhill to finish painting those purple picnic tables, and to scarify the meadow under the watchful eye of the lovely Glynis. I do hope you can join us next Tuesday for another fun-filled evening of GoodGym activity?! Worried about not having painting and gardening skills; don't worry - Glynis is an expert at both! You can't go wrong!