We had a good turnout tonight for a 10km+ route.

It did however mark Henry's last run before he goes on his adventure of learning to be ski instructor in Japan, as you do. Thanks for your time you've put into GoodGym and have a blast.

The task in hand was prickling seeds and weeding at The Grow Your Community in Sprowston... or as we say in Norfolk "Sprewston". This was only the 2nd organisation we've re visited on more than one occasion.

Simon was back runner this week but we kept the group as close together as we could as it was a long distance but I was very impressed that we made it there and back in an average of 11.09 minute miles!

After a 2nd or 3rd attempt at a warm-up (1st we got moved and told to be quiet as there was some kind of cult vigil going on and then a drunk tried to join in on our run while smoking) we set off on the long journey.

A few of the guys did some weeding outside while the rest of the crew were in the greenhouse prickling the seeds. I was impressed how in a matter of minutes they already had a production line set up. These guys never fail to impress me... apart from when Alex tried watering the plants and the end of the watering can fell off and it flooded them hahaha.

After a good 30 minutes of solid work, we did another quick warm up as we'd stiffened up a bit (no pun intended) and headed back on the long return route to The Forum. We finished up with a little walk through the Xmas Light Tunnel.

My apologies for not providing biscuits, especially with it being a long run... I O U.

Next week we're visiting Hayden Court.

Tonight's Group Run saw us visit the 20th different community organisation in only 21 Group Runs in Norwich so we are really making a difference in helping our local community.

We visited The Norwich Housing Society (which is a group of sheltered & social housing schemes) to clean their bins, some benches and the lights & archways around the entrances to each house.

It was just under a mile distance each way.

We also had Rebecca and Tim taking part in their 10th GoodGym Group Run!

Bill volunteered as back runner and we headed off on a gentle stroll to our task. It was the 1st time we visited the north of the city for several weeks so was nice to have a change.

The runners split in groups on arrival to cover the different jobs that needed doing.

It was another nice little task to do and a lot was done in a short time.

As the Ice Skating Rink is currently being erected outside The Forum, I needed to think of an alternative to the fitness session outside there... so on the way back we stopped off in Chapelfield Gardens for an efforts session. This consisted of 3x 1 lap with 90 second recoveries in between with the aim of getting faster each time.

This was followed by a quick cool down gentle jog back to The Forum followed by a stretch.

Sign up to next week's run here.

Tonight we had a fancy dress Halloween run.

I think it's still up for debate (myself included) as to what on earth I was supposed to be dressed up as. In my defence I had some 'fang issues' so had to think of a quick amendment to what could go with my red cape.

Hats off to Simon's skeleton outfit... I was concerned as I'd programmed some squats and lunges into the warm up.

Great to see 22 volunteers make it out tonight and thanks to Dan for being back runner (in his self-made leaf costume).

There's something about dressing up that makes me feel like a kid... I just wanted to keep scaring any passes by the whole way to the task.

Speaking of which, tonight's task was to clear leaves at a local Sheltered Housing Scheme. It's a place that I deliver activity sessions at on Monday afternoons and one of the residents is 105 years old and she participates in the Seated Exercise session every week.

Upon arrival I directed everyone to different parts with a bin bag and off they went to collect an exceptional amount of fallen leaves.

It was something a little different for us to do but as per usual, the GoodGym-ers got stuck straight in.

There were a couple of bungalows that had lots of gnomes outside of them... now when you're a clumsy oath like myself and there are lots of leaves around them it's quite easy to trod over them... twice.

Bill then suddenly looked like something from a horror film with his white sheet with a red light underneath (check out the photo).

After 30 minutes we regrouped and got ready to set off back to The Forum, where there were some Halloween goodies awaiting courtesy of myself and Catherine.

The residents at Violet Elvin Court will be very grateful for the hard work put in and it'll also reduce the risk of them slipping on them.

While we were stretching at the end of the session, Simon talked about his first Coach Run he did on Wednesday, our first pairing in Norwich. Remember to bring your DBS docs for me to check before or after any Group runs.

Next week we are moving furniture and some other bits at The Marlpit .

Happy Halloween.

Was great to see so many people with head torches tonight... mine looked like something a miner would wear!

Although the run was listed as a 7km distance, when I checked on Google Maps earlier it was saying 9.5km (oops!) but it ended up being about 7.5km so not sure what happened there.

I did supply a couple of packs of biscuits for added incentive and was even tempted to put one on a piece of string for everyone to chase haha.

We headed to Marlpit Community Centre to weed and clear the car park area.

Catherine and Michelle volunteered to be our glamorous back runners this week - thank you ladies even if you did nearly scare me off my bike on my way home afterwards!

We had a decent paced run there and on arrival Mahesh and his team welcomed us and went through the task ahead.

It didn't take long for our GoodGymers to fill up the compost bin and another fantastic job was achieved.

I'm not sure I can mention some of the conversations that were taking place about the firmness of the brooms being used... I'll stop that right there.

On the way back the guys and gals got a chance to open their legs up on Dereham Road. We then regrouped at the bottom of Grapes Hill before tackling that beast and returned to The Forum.

Next week we are running to Silver Road Community Centre to trim a big bush.

Tonight took us on a 3.2km each way run to a local independent charity shop to do some weeding and general tidying up around the grounds of it.

A big occasion this week as 5 of our runners were taking part in their 10th GoodGym Norwich group run. So a big shout out to Robert, Samantha, Catherine, Katy and Carl. A fantastic achievement considering we're only on our 15th run!

Catherine had asked me to give everyone a "chocolate finger" when we got back to say thanks.

Bill volunteered to be back runner this week and Simon has the most amazing Head Torch known to man, although it dazed me for about 5 minutes!

Dan Harris has now completed his Leadership in Running Fitness training as well as his GoodGym Run Leader training - I'll explain more in this week's fitness email. To mark this occasion Dan sported an amazing Xmas Light outfit for tonight's run #legend... check out the photos of Rudolph.

On arrival, Hilary gave me a quick overview of what needed doing and everyone got involved straight away as they always do. Simon, Michelle and Catherine took me up on the offer of trimming the bush as it had overgrown.

It was such a thorough task, not a weed left in sight! I'm not sure if Katy standing in the garden waste bin to flatten it would have passed my Risk Assessment haha.

After a group picture we headed back to The Forum with a few fun activities on the way back. The 1st was a wall sit competition to see who could hold it the longest. It got down to Tim and Dan left... with the latter being crowned the champion. The strain on Rob Riley's face will never be forgotten though!

Further along the journey back we stopped for a pairs strength showdown to see who was the strongest. It included a pushing and pulling contest.

Another great turnout and you can sign up to next week's run here.

Tonight we had our 1st indoor task at GoodGym Norwich and it was a very special one as we were heading to the Norwich Food Bank to date sort items.

Another fantastic turn out again and a big welcome to new runners Elizabeth, Tim, Poppy, Sophia, Graham, Tom & Calum. Although it was your 1st GoodGym experience, it felt like you settled in straight away and a big thank you to the other runners for making you feel at home.

Those of us that were able to make it to Catton Parkrun on Saturday bragged about our amazing breakfast at Cafe Brittania.

Dan decided to run in jeans this evening #lad and apparently my running bottoms caused a few topics to discuss... oops!

Laura and Carl were devoted back runners.

Simon had his docs checked so he can be DBS verified to go on our Coach and Mission runs.

It was nice route of just over 2 miles to The Norwich Foodbank, which saw us running down Grapes Hill (so yes it meant we had to run back up it at the end) and up the start of Bowthorpe Road... plus a few push-ups along the way.

We arrived at the task and was greeted by Pat who talked a little about what The Norwich Foodbank does and then explained what needed doing.

The GoodGym-ers split into 2 groups and one were date sorting beans and the other date sorting soup... it was like a Soup vs Bean war.

As I was going round doing a live Facebook feed and trying not to wind people up haha, Pat and myself were amazed how quickly everyone was working, so much that Pat had to find other food items for them to sort. In fact everyone did a great job that after about 25 minutes or so there was nothing left to sort!

Bill then tried to negotiate if he could donate some of his ever growing fresh produce (vegetables) to the organisation.

So we then headed back to The Forum with a mixed paced run back with a couple of re grouping spots. The stretch of Dereham Road I let the group loose and go at their own speed. Then it was tackling Grapes Hill again, which everyone smashed.

This week, Bill & Katy had some French beans and peppers to dish out to the group - it really is kind of you.

I think upon reflection of the task we did tonight, it does make you realise how fortunate a lot of us are to have food on the table, especially when Pat explained the situation of some people that is completely out of their control.

Please sign up to next week's task.

On a breezy late summers evening in not so sunny Worthing 7 runners set off for a warm up run to and around the pier before arriving just opposite Anchor Gardens for a ground force style garden makeover in double quick time.

Weeding around the bush

In a digging weeding and pruning frenzy of activity we found a plethora of hidden rocks, gems, gnomes and other buried treasure .It always amazes me just how much work a small and committed GoodGym team can achieve in a such a short amount of time and tonight was no exception.

Makeover makes perfect

Duncan got stuck into the digging describing his Go Ape adventure over the weekend but there was no monkeying around this evening !

Michelle applied some brute force on some stubborn remains of a tree as well as hands and knees weeding with our host Chrystabell .

Flowerbeds transformed from weed ridden to freshly dug over soft earth. Nick did some fine pruning on the evergreen bush known as 'Lemon Cypress Wilma' and even managed to provide Belinda with a shower of green highlights to compliment her recent haircut ( She almost got an extra trim ! )

Gill didn't need to make a besom ( broom ) this week so instead attacked the ivy with the same energy as she does bindweed with an impressive few bags of results.

Beth seemed to be keeping a low 'rafael ' this evening with intricate weeding thinly disguising some mobile tennis action :) However her GG superpowers are steadily growing.....

Efforts make us fitter

With some very happy faces and humble thanks we waved goodbye and headed off on another shortish run to Homefield Park for the fitness session centered around the outdoor gym.

This proved fast and fun with tag teams alternating with sprints around the park and circuits on the equipment. As the efforts on the running got harder I did observe that the seated options on the machines appeared to be particularly popular.

Some chin up strength work completed the fitness element before the group split into 2 for the run back to base and stretches.

Fun times ahead

We finished off with some planning for a GoodGym social. Watch this space for more details coming soon .

Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication team . Tonight was the complete essence of a good deed.

Julia :)