Tonight we met for our bonfire special. We started by discussing the best thing about autumn, where leaves features heavily, then set off to Wild Things Forest school. Ed led the runners, Stef guided a walking group and a few made their way on bike.

When we arrived Emma met us with a long and varied list of jobs ranging from sawing wood and raking leaves, to removing ivy and putting up bunting.

Once the tasks were complete we headed over to the hill for fun fitness hill reps. Some of the techniques were questionable for the exercises, in order to get back to the team quickly! The winner were rewarded with extendable forks for the bonfire.

After fitness we headed back to the fire pit and had marshmallow or camembert smores. Martin also brought a tub of aptly named heroes, because thats what you all are!

can anyone guess who's knees are on the Photo?

Tonight was our #letsliftthecurfew run in partnership with This Girl Can, and we started the session by reflecting on the number of women and girls who feel like they have to change their exercise routines in the winter by talking about where we would run if we had complete freedom to do so. We had everything from Area 51 to the moon but it felt like most people just wanted to feel free to run along a beach if they could, possibly more due to this being our first group run since the clocks went back and it being a bit chilly ❄️

Pete set off first with a walking group before Rich and Max led out the runners with Vicky and Babs backmarking. There was enough time for a quick blast of tricep dips, press-ups and squats whilst we regrouped, before we arrived at task. We were greeted by taskowner Maeve who was on brand for the theme of the evening with her purple hair and jacket, which guaranteed her a slot in the group photo later on! 🟣

Tonight's task was to either turn over squares of soil or scarrify (no idea how to spell that) the ground ready for some wildflower seeds to be sown. With tools at a premium Vicky and Ed made a start encouraging people to sign the Lets Lift The Curfew banner with their thoughts on how running at night makes them feel. Thank you to everyone who shared their feelings

With enough ground ready for some seeds (or porridge oats) to be sown, Erin and Jenny took on chief spreading duties, with Erin displaying her remarkably impressive highland jig to help stamp the seeds down into the ground.

Once all the seeds had been scattered it was time for a group photo before Vicky led a fantastic Mexican wave fitness session 👋 with Rich's team claiming victory over Max's despite some very questionable interpretations of some of the exercises

It was then back to Priory Street but not before a 1km sprint down one of our new strava segments. Well done to Matt for laying down a considerable marker for everyone else to aspire to!

Remember, if anyone does ever feel nervous or unsafe running in the dark then just pop a message into our group WhatsApp chat. One thing we're not short of is people who are happy to head out for a run!

Some fresh meat (aka Amy and Jan ) joined for our monthly session at the Oaks. We started off with some easy parachute games to warm up the arms, and the competition.

It wasn’t long before we had multiple balls, of all sizes, thrown in all directions with the parachute and we were ready to test ourselves with a target game.

Ed blew up the inflatable target board and we began practising our ball throwing. Mrs Z got out there early with a high score of 6, whilst many of us struggled to even get 1. Different tactics were thrown about and soon we were ready to start the (now official) GoodGym vs. Hartrigg Oaks championships.

Round One - balls: a hopeful start for GG with 14 points on the board. However, our dreams were swiftly shattered when the Oaks scored 9 with their first 3 goes! The Oaks took the lead with 17-14.

Round Two - beanbags: it’s probably best to skip past this one as the Oaks won by an astounding amount. No one is really sure of just how much because there was some questionable maths happening in judges corner.

Round Three - football: we learnt that the Oaks can kick! We had the giant football flying in all directions and ended with a satisfying draw.

Final score: Oaks 3-1 GG.

We’ll be back next month after we’ve recovered our dignity and brushed up on our skills.