Bexley News...

• It's great to see and hear people taking part in RED January. Whether you are running everyday or trying out new activities, it is not too late to start!
• Remember, it is the GoodGym January Challenge! This month we aim to go further and do more good than ever before by running and doing more good deeds. Hopefully, there will be more Community Missions popping up over the month.
• If you use Strava to track your runs, make sure it is connected to your GoodGym profile so we can rack up the miles for Bexley! See how we are getting on here

Tonight was the first group run of the year and also the decade! and we did not hold back on the numbers. It was lovely to see everyone after the Christmas break and also great to meet new members Gemma and Lea. Welcome to GoodGym Bexley, we hope you enjoyed your first run!

We headed outside where we had a quick introduction to everyone before moving on to playing our favourite warm-up game with the new giant pack of playing cards!

You know the drill by now. ❤️♣️♦️♠️

Each suit in the deck represents a different exercise and the number on the card represents the amount of reps. One day we will get time to go through the whole deck! But today we drew 2 cards each, then went around the circle carrying out what was on the cards.

Martin had 2x Joker cards and so could decide on what exercise we had to do. Even though he had threatened of throwing 50 burpees into the mix, he opted to choose 20 squat jumps instead.

Squat jumps seemed the most popular card tonight and so after we had finished squating and jumping we split into our groups heading to the Care Home.

The walkers set off down the high street while the running group went the back way around which was slightly longer. We seemed to arrive at the task all around the same time, signed in and said 'Hello' to the resident cat before splitting into groups again to go and talk to different groups of residents.

There were chats of where they used to live, football matches and family. The lady I was talking to was one of the oldest residents in the home who had her birthday last week...104 years old. She was telling me about her drink of Baileys she was going to have before going to bed.

It was great to see everyone getting involved, chatting and laughing to the residents. I think we cheered them up even if some were waiting to go to bed.

After, what seemed like no time at all, we said our goodbyes and got ready to leave. We all made our way back to base at Crook Log, a slightly longer run today. Well done everyone for smashing it.

Until next time.

Happy Running!

Sarah 🏃🏻‍♀️

The Christmas spirit has started to descend on Goodgym Bexley and tonights task was the perfect opportunity to get into the festive mood! Our task was to spread the word about the upcoming Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice SANTA DASH fun run happening on Sunday at Danson Park. 13 enthusiastic runners met at Crook Log Leisure Centre discussing the events of the previous week and what lay ahead tonight. Leader for the night was Susan, who lead everyone in the warmup and breifed everyone on the task ahead. We then split into 2 teams,

Team 1: The Runners

Team 2: The Walkers.

Having been instructed on the roads to cover for the leaflet drop, Nick led the walkers while the rest headed for an Out'N'Back run aiming to deliver the leaflets on the run back. The runners then split into 2 teams, 1 covering either side of the road in a challenge to see who could distribute their leaflets first. This friendly competetion always inspires all to complete the task as quickly as they can and it's fair to say the Santa Dash was completed in a flash! Once there was not a leaflet left in sight, runners and walkers regrouped for the penultimate challenge of the night, the famous Goodgym Bexley wall sit-off! Chris and Sharine, were unbeatable and were joint winners at this weeks Sit-Off and out-sat everyone else. This was just what everyone needed and after the moans and groans we finished with a quick sprint back to base.

Well done everyone for making it out tonight! Kudos to Peter and Graham who ran at the Mo Run 10k at Greenwich Park yesterday!

Great job tonight Team Bexley!!! Hope to see everyone at the Santa Dash on Sunday!

The rain yesterday was pretty horrid but by the grace of god it eased a little for our Good Deed at the Bexley Mencap offices. Having said this Bexley Goodgym probably have the toughest runners in the goodgym network (true story ;-) ) so as the title says "NO (P)RAIN, NO GAIN".

After signing in and warming up we split into our two groups. Runners were heading on a 3 mile loop, whilst the power walkers were taking the direct loop of around a mile.

On arrival we were greeted by Nick and the rest of the walking crew who had already set up the gear and had the kettle on for those that needed wringing out a bit. Our task was to get those windows looking awesome and to get the side alley tidied up. For those interested in a bit of Goodgym Bexley history, Bexley Mencap was our fist ever run and good deed when we launched in Bexley!!

With everyone hands on deck i decide to get some live footage of the team at work. You can check this out on our Twitter account. There's no better time to get involved with our crew. Everyone is welcome and as you have read we have runners and walkers in our gang.

With the task complete and the last of the tea supped up we took the direct route back to Crooklog. With people a little damp Sarah soon warmed everyone up by surprising us with some vegan chocolate velvet cake. Get in!!

SARAH SOON WARMED EVERYONE UP BY SURPRISING US WITH SOME CHOCOLATE VELVET VEGAN CAKE............

There's no better way to end your Monday then running with Bexley Goodgym.

Shout Outs!! Big hi five to everyone that came out in the rain. Big hi five to the Mencap Bexley crew, you rock! And finally a big hi five to Karl for completing his first Goodgym run and task. Have a great week guys.......