8 Goodgym runners enjoyed a fun fitness session

A late cancellation of the task left us with no job to do for the first time in Chelmsford.

We discussed the option of litter picking but as we already have pristine parks we opted for a little bit more of a fitness session, putting the Gym in goodgym.

It was good to see James back despite his busy schedule and John making an appearance too. Laurie offered to back mark and made sure Cat who was attending for the second time kept the chatting as fast as the running!

So we set off on a run through the park stopping for exercises at regular intervals. We began with some running drills under the viaduct where Claire helped with a high skips demo, before setting off to the "Dips" bench for the first set of exercises.

We took turns in doing dips on the front and press ups on the back of the bench before heading on wards for squats after the narrow bridge. We then gathered in Admirals park where Joel and *Caroline pushed the pace on the acceleration runs!

As we were there we ran a two hill relay with set one up to lamp post 2 and set 2 to lamp post 1, we happened to have 4 Red Goodgym Tee's present so they made up one team and the rest made up the other. I turned out we were pretty evenly split with the relay ending in a draw!

We then opted for a road run back to the hub re grouping at the crossing points and raced through the subway just to make sure the photo's were still blurry. On this run we found an envelope stuffed with cash! (which i have returned this morning!) The speedier runners finished with wall sits until the team returned for the warm down.

A quick stretch and a reminder we are working for our hosts next week so meet at the hub for some floor work and a run to follow. sing up here

see you there!

13 of the Goodgym crew were at Chelmsford Parkrun to help celebrate our historic partnership

Goodgym Chelmsford joined 500 other runners at Chelmsford Central Parkrun this week to celebrate last weeks historic announcement from Goodgym Central. The Partnership between Parkrun and Goodgym is alive and well in Chelmsford where several members are regulars at parkrun and Race director Gerry regularly attends.

We were even included in the run report! Read it here

We were introduced at the start and had a good spread throughout the run including Michael who volunteered as a tail walker as he was running a marathon the next day! we also had a couple of runners come over and speak to us after the event about how things work so hopefully more new members!

Apryl sent her apologies for not attending as she was running a marathon but promised to wear her Goodgym tee at the event in support!

Several of us headed back to the ideas hub for some coffee and cake and talked all things goodgym. It was great to chat to the crew and think of new ideas and see if we can get more fun tasks. Looking forward to arranging more social events and getting all our goodgymmers more involved!

See you Wednesday!

15 awesome goodgym athletes went litter picking on the parkrun route.

Yet another hot evening in Chelmsford saw 15 of us, including first timers Catherin, Rachel, and Mark, set off on a task with a difference. As we are heading to Parkrun Chelmsford this week to celebrate our historic partnership sign up here we decided to make sure Chelmsford looked at it's best for the occasion.

After a brief introduction we set off to the start finish area for our warm ups. some running drills and sprints got us all going and ready for the task. We then split the route into sections and in small groups spread across the park to clear the park. After 10 minutes we regrouped for some exercises and a short relay, before setting off to the next section.

Some great arm exercises got us ready for the second relay on the "short ascent" in Admirals park. We put those arms to good use driving them up the hill and the relay did get a little competitive!

More litter picking around admirals park and we set off back to base with a fun sprint through the arches to practice our sprint finish for Saturday.

A quick stretch and a reminder that members can cheer and support each other on the website, and we were done for another group run.

Don't forget if you haven't done a Parkrun before you need to sign up on https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register so you can get your barcode and bring this with you. You can run without it but you won't be recorded. those not up for a run at 9am on a saturday there are plenty of volunteer activities you can do, or just join us for breakfast around 10.

We will be heading back to the ideas hub after parkrun to have some breakfast and chat all things Goodgym! see you next week!

On a balmy summer night in Chelmsford, 11 runners met at the Ideas Hub to spread the word about GoodGym and get hot and sweaty in the process.

With Chelmsford Trainer, Ken, away on holiday, it was up to Redbridge Trainer, James, to conduct affairs. With introductions made and registers complete the group set off into Central Park to had out GoodGym flyers and spread the word about the regular Wednesday night run. GG Chelmsford is a new addition to the GG family and while numbers are great, even more members means bigger tasks and more fun.

With an amazing week for Team GB, the group was split into two teams and given an Olympic themed task. Not only did they have to hand out several hundred flyers but they had to have their photos taken with five people wearing a colour from the Olympic Rings - red, yellow, blue, black and green. All within 35 minutes. On your marks, get set, go!

With Mike leading one team and Gerry the other, the two groups were soon spreading the word and engaging with the local running community out for an evening run. With time up the two groups returned to the Ideas Hub almost empty handed and with Gerry’s team victorious with five photos of members of the public in Olympic colours. Well done to them.

With the task complete it was time for a short warm up and then a run back to Central Park to do some interval circuits. With runners paired up, the session involved one runner doing a 300m loop within the park while their partner did a core exercise or dynamic drill. Drills involved a tough combination of planks, mountain climbers, squats and lunges. In 25 minutes most of the team did 6 or 7 circuits and really worked up a good sweat. It might sounded easy but doing core exercises straight after a short fast run is really pretty tough - especially after the first couple of sets. Not content with all that exercise, Jerry led the group in a 22 push ups in aid of raising awareness of veteran suicide. Very impressive indeed.

With smiles on their faces and a few jelly legs, Team GG Chelmsford returned to The Ideas Hub for some light stretching. 6km was covered during evening and more lunges, press ups and squats than could be counted. A great effort given the warm temperatures. Well done everyone.

Ken returns next week and has a great task lined up over at the allotments in Broomfield. You can sign up for this fab run by clicking here