Leeds GG set the challenge (https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-48-hour-virtual-relay):

"A Virtual Relay with "laps" of 10km with a handover by Whatsapp to the next runner. How many km can your GG team do in 48hrs over the May Bank Holiday weekend?"

Even though Portsmouth GG didn't host this event we had such an amazing weekend I felt we needed to capture it for prosperity as it was so epic for so many of us.

The top mentions go to Samantha for being the team captain, organising us so well and getting a pancake and coffee fueled 10km PB; Tony for covering a massive 50km; to Jen for smashing her furthest ever distance by 6km with a double lap 20km in the dark; to Chrissy for maintaining social distancing policy with her 2m baton (where can I get one?); to Jo for recruiting Jack and Jon for some fast night legs, Duncan and Lucy also for last minute fast night stints (maybe judged too fast by the early runners with the dawn starts pulled even earlier!); Maura for running at the perfect pace to spot an albino squirrel which made the local news; Angela for welcoming the sun up each morning; for Rosina who inspired us constantly this month with a marathon over May in her back garden for Miles for Mind and cheered us all the way; Judy for GiGi the team mascot and bringing the laughter and last but by no means least to Val who took full advantage of the rule "once the last competitor is on the "track" before 12:00 it doesn't matter when they finish but their lap will count" with a great paced walk (aided by an ice-lolly serving cheering team) to bring our team total to a whopping 500km in 48hrs! (That's the same as Portsmouth to Darlington!). It also put us 3rd out of 6 teams, but to be honest I think we were all so pleased with what we had achieved we didn't care where we came.

The overwhelming consensus of all involved was how infectious the team spirit, enthusiasm, pre-lap nerves, competitiveness (to the other teams but not each other!), support with non-stop, massive cheering and words of encouragement when self-doubt crept in (how far did I say I would run???), impromptu artitistic baton (toilet roll tube!) jazzing up and just how unbelievably nail biting this was - best live sport we have seen (glued to our Whatsapp) in months (maybe years!?!)! Everyone ran faster than they predicted including those in the middle of the night and the peak of the midday sun (and it was a HOT weekend with big beach crowds to dodge around) and several people discovered a love for running at a different time of the day than our habitual.

From everyone that participated a massive thank you to all that organised, helped, cheered and also competed - yet another event to make us so proud and joyful to be part of Goodgym Portsmouth! Final words from our final baton carrier "It's not usually possible for me to take part in races so this was really a wonderful treat even though it was a blooming hot day!... I bloody LOVE the inclusivity of GoodGym"!

Firstly, a big welcome to Alex who joined his first ever GoodGym session tonight & also to Lynn who had her first experience of a group run after meeting some of us at the Groundlings community mission last week. Special mention to Egg who is the GG York trainer who couldn't resist coming along to visit when she's down with the family. Hope the dog hadn't missed you too much when you got back to Southbourne tonight!

Tonight we equalled our attendance record which was set on the very first group run back in May 2018. Then, lots of people were just curious about this new GoodGym thing, now we know people know how great it is and want to be a part of it! So thank you to all of you for showing up.

This was the first run we've done to the foodbank since the new warehouse was built. What this meant was that there were more of us working in a smaller space. But that doesn't phase us - there was lots of squeezing past and passing cans / packets along lines. Plus more people to walk around saying things like "beans 2021?" or "fruit 2020" - maybe we should start some kind of foodbank bingo. Chrissy had the find of the night - Rhubarb & Custard Cream biscuits - I think we may have to take up the GG Islington biscuit tradition and try them out on a group run!

Tony, Solo and Manuel were sent upstairs to try and scrape the old warehouse labelling off the floor - a job which is going to take a while but they managed to clear half the hall floor. Mel, Maura & Vicki started off in the foodbank store sorting through the short date box and seeing what could be rescued. Laura, Aimee, Judy & Tracey were the designated bag ladies - sorting out the carrier bags into easily packable stacks.

Once we'd sorted all the harvest festival donations, we headed back to use the railway bridge for a hill/sprint relay. Then it was back to the community centre for one more rendition of Happy Birthday for Louisa (still milking it from the weekend!) and Judy (for Friday).

Next week I'm on my holidays so you are in the hands of Jo for a visit to St Faith's and I will be back for our run and lantern making on 6th November. Hope to see you all then!

Well done to all the GoodGym runners today.

I don't think we all managed to see each other but there were a good number of red & black GoodGym tops on show around the streets of Portsmouth today.

Official results are all here

The conditions were perfect today so lots of good runs and PBs. Special mention to Duncan & Tony who managed to run EXACTLY the same time, to the second!

No new faces to welcome this week but celebrations nonetheless as Angela completed her 100th task and Louisa turns 40 on Saturday (we can't believe it either). So wings and a 40th birthday banner cloak were the fashion highlights of the evening.

Val and Mel were worried about how fast they could walk so gave themselves a massive head start and got to Naomi House before us! The rest arrived, ably rounded up by Maura who was back marking tonight.

We split into two groups. Upstairs, Duncan, Maxine and Tim wielded the steamers with Tony, Catherine, Lucy and Jen sorting, tagging and hanging... All in subcategory and size order. Catherine had spotted a Christmas jumper in last week's run report and was determined to buy it, so she got to spend money in the shop as well as sort donations! Look forward to seeing the jumper getting plenty of wear over the festive season! Lucy and Catherine also challenged themselves to both get into a pair of large jeans... well why not?!

Downstairs it was a case of getting more of the summer sale stock out into the shop. The sale is going well and they're selling around 400 items per day so need the help getting more hung up, sized and out as shoppers come back for more bargains!

Time flew and everyone was sad to down tools but we're back again soon on community missions and group runs so keep that sorting enthusiasm up!

Good luck to everyone at the Great South Run on Sunday, don't forget we'll be meeting in Watkins & Faux (Southsea Tennis Club) from 2:30 & later on in The Jolly Sailor to celebrate successes and swap stories.

Tonight we had a record number of new attendees to a group run.... 5 lovely students from UoP kindly bringing down the average age of the group. A big welcome to Connie, Mike, Joe, Jack and Fionn. Give them a cheer on their profile.

At the other end of the spectrum, Jo was sporting her brand new winged T-shirt celebrating her 100 good deeds - looking good Jooooooh!

After the usual name check and headcount (extra confusing tonight as there were 22 of us!) we headed outside for a quick warm up with a lunge matrix and a shout out of favourite run distances - we had everything from "to the fridge" (Manuel & Catherine) to 100 miles (Tony) - who has just confessed he actually meant 100km as he recently ran a PB at that distance!

We then headed south to Albert Road and Lifehouse. There was already a small queue of people waiting to be let in for food and some lovely smells coming from inside. We were let in and put straight to work - half the group were on kitchen duty - cutting cakes, making teas and coffees and preparing to serve soup. The other half of the group went upstairs where they benefited from some cooler air with the open windows. They were tidying the clothing donations and then stacking up any new donations and tidying up the mezzanine so it can be used for counseling sessions.

Downstairs, it was getting hot and steamy! Once people started arriving for their meals it was full steam ahead - teas and coffees were made and served in a human chain with some memory challenges on who wanted what. Bread was handed out followed by bowls of soup. After soup there was a pasta, chicken & veg bake with roast spuds. We served 18 people a hot meal that they wouldn't have otherwise had. India, Pip & Jen showed great plate balancing skills and Tim, Toni & Chrissy were trying hard to keep up with the washing up. Tim was enjoying it so much he stayed on to finish up the roasting tins!

Mike (the task owner not the runner!) was very thankful that we had helped them put on an extra meal this week - usually it's just breakfast on a Wednesday. If you'd like to know more about Lifehouse then check out their website.

Lots of Southsea dwellers chose to run straight home which meant that they missed out on out star baker Maxine's epic chocolate banana bread!!

Final thanks go to Sarah for remembering that I accidentally came up with the pun for the run report title without even knowing it!

Hope to see you all again soon. You can see everything coming up by clicking here!