Not only did we get out on a Tuesday lunchtime, not only did we plant lovely spring bulbs to brighten up the borders and improve the world for pollinators, we also found a long-lost Bristol GoodGymmer and co-opted him to the Community Mission!

Welcome back, Fred, we hope there's something else on the listings that looks good to you!

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all down the street Not a creature was stirring, not a single pair of feet; The rain was falling so heavily there, Without a care that St. Nicholas soon would be here.

The regular runners were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of PBs danced in their heads; And while people covered up with an umbrella or cap, Getting home to settle down for a long winter's nap, When out on Queen Square there arose such a chatter, People sprang from their sofas to see what was the matter.

Away to their windows they flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen rain And covered in sogginess the streets became,

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear, But 23 GoodGymers, and one tiny hamster, 12 Days of Christmas warm-up, so lively and fun, They knew in a moment it must be GoodGym's final 2018 run.

More rapid than eagles they ran to their task, And their Trainer shouted, and called them by name; "Now, RICHARD! now, SARAH! now, GEORGIA and DEB! On, HANNAH! on PAUL! on, DARREN and FRED! To the top of East Street! and on to Monica Wills! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

And then, in a twinkling, at St Monica Trust They were prancing and pawing to sing carols enough. As our friends there shook their bells and joined in, Our voices raised to a crescendo as we all began to sing.

With Gill on the piano, (and even on the guitar) We joyfully spread the Christmas cheer far. Before too long, it was time to say goodbye, After a biscuit and cuppa with our new friends of nigh'.

We quickly jogged back through the cold winter streets, With even fewer people now to meet. As we got back to Queen Square without a dent, We realised we had not yet seen the Mane Event.

Sarah's evening was not just one of good cheer, But her 200th Good Deed (with 100 in less than a year). We shouted with glee, To see Sarah's new horse tee, Congratulations Sarah, in awe we all be!

But not only that, on this final run, Our very own Paul had gone and done, His 50th Good Deed - so kudos to Paul! Your black t-shirt is waiting and BadGym no longer calls.

And once again we congratulate Deb, Who returned to Bristol with a new crown on her head. The GoodGymer who has flown most far, an accolade dealt, Only with 47 locations until her belt.

And the group stretched off; then returned with a jerk, And hurried inside to put on some more clothes, But more importantly, and this everyone knows; They sprang to the bar, for a pint and a cake, To celebrate the achievements (and the fact they can bake).

But we heard them exclaim, as they ran out of sight, HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

Tonight, more than 40 runners turned up to find out what the mystery challenge would be in store for them... Welcome to Maddie, Katherine, Nik, David, Taj and George, who joined us for the first time.

Firstly, Sally took a small group of runners to the city centre of Bristol. There, they split into four small groups to distribute tea and coffee to homeless people around the city centre. Despite one flask mishap, the team managed to distribute four packets of biscuits alongside over twenty hot drinks on this cold winter's night. Brilliant work, team!

Meanwhile, the rest of us ran to Bedminster to start the Christmas Cheer Challenge. After each team's items were distributed, they had half an hour to get all of their good deed tasks complete. Each team had a particular area to flyer, a team photo to take, a packet of mince pies to donate to passers-by and as much litter-picking as possible along the way. Between them, they got through a whole load of flyers to help Above and Beyond advertise for this Thursday's Christmas Star Concert, gave out 24 mince pies (even if it was to pub-attendees, as one group did!), took some impressively creative team photos (evidenced above) and picked up 7 bags of litter. This included the strangest bit of the litter of the night by Richard, of a new Noah and the Whale single - only in Bristol.

Despite tough competition, Kim's team won the challenge based on the amount of litter picked (accusations were hinted at with her incredibly good local knowledge of litter hotspots) - although, in true GoodGym fashion, everyone was a winner tonight.

At least, that was the case until we returned to do the even more contested challenge of a relay contest with a carry-your-team round. Previous litter allies were eyed-up on their strength and lightness. Soon, smallest members of each group were being flung around with little care while concentration was on finishing that lap. Gary's team solidifed their win (some would say they turned a litter victory into a big victory) with their impressive piggyback technique. As everyone headed off into the night discussing the tactics of the Queen's Lift v. the Stretchered Person (ahem, Danica's team), we know it can only be a matter of time until the rematch...

Can you do the can-can?

Tonight we headed back to practice our can-sorting, weighing and lifting skills while helping East Bristol Food Bank to sort their 200 crates of supermarket donations ahead of the Christmas period. This is always a busy time, both for the donations coming in and the amount of food being processed through the food bank, so it was all hands on deck to get as much sorted as possible.

While Matt conquered his Winter Wonderland walking badge with the accompaniment of Debbie, the rest of split into two groups. Sally led a steadier group while the rest of us went on ahead. When we arrived at East Bristol Food Bank's new premises, Andy explained the sorting process to us and set the first group to work.

We can

Between the group, they manned the scales and weighed each crate to calculate how much had been donated, then split them into grouped items to make them easy to distribute.

Meanwhile, Sally's group arrived and they got the short straw of having to go straight into their fitness session from their run. On the tiny platform of dry ground outside the food bank, the group squeezed together to create a human-Tetris of plank holds, press ups, chair sits and more. After 10 minutes of work, hopefully their thighs, core and arms had enough burn to make them feel virtuous as they switched places with the other group in a food-sorting-and-fitness relay.

(but it would be better with some tin-sel...)

In no time, the group had sorted a large amount of the crates ready for distribution and had exercised GoodGym restraint not cracking into any of the biscuits. We waved Andy goodbye and set off home in the short dry-spell we had. On return, we got treated by Zdeni, who has flown through her good deeds and hit her 50th Good Deed at the weekend. She made the most amazing pernik which I promptly ate most of. Thanks Zdeni!

Welcome to Amanda, Kevin and Jessica who joined us for their first GoodGym Bristol run tonight - it was great to have you! And thanks to Alice for this week's pun!