It isn't a pun, it actually happened!

& we had an amazing turnout of GG'ers, accompanied by friends & family too on a soggy Thursday morning!

At around 10am we began to gather at the Furnace Inn pub beside Darley Park, paying our £2 registration fee (all of which was going to the Brain Tumor charity) & huddling in the warmth before the race start at 11am.

Person by person, we found most of the GG'ers who were planning to attend - apart from Lehann, Mike & Alice who did join in the fun run, but we didn't manage to see them :(

Eventually, it was time to reluctantly head outside into the cold. We snapped a team photo, minus the illusive three, & then the race briefing began... it was almost time!

Once the countdown was complete the keen runners began to tear away from the start line, down the path & into Darley Park, with the rest of us plodding along behind them! The route was more on path than it ever has been thanks to the new pathways across the grass, which saved our trainers from the mud... to begin with anyway.

What would a wet Boxing day fun run be without a little mud? New trainers received on Christmas day were about to get well &truly broken in on the last stretch as the runners slipped & skidded down the muddy bank & back onto the path, soaring into the finish funnel!

It was amazing to see so many of GG Derby, friends & family AND Catriona from GG Hammersmith & Fulham, running on Boxing Day & having a great time doing so :)

Well done team & a massive well done to everyone who braved the cold & wet this Boxing Day. I'm sure the Furnace Inn raised a decent amount for their chosen charity too & what a brilliant local event :)

Merry Christmas!

Big Loves x

DOING GOOD

This week we headed out to cycle route 6 (joining near Bass Recreation ground) & litter picked our way towards Pride Park with our bags, grabbers & gardening gloves (they're multi-purpose!) in tow. We appeared like good-deed-doing specters as we moved along the cycle route, head torches shining & clearing the pathway of debris. The high quality photos from this weeks run capture it perfectly... Firework Helen is my favourite snap!

The cycle route at first seemed surprisingly clear of litter, causing panic that we'd be fighting over a singular, empty can. But alas, (unfortunately) litter prevails & we did manage to fill six bags of rubbish along roughly one mile of pathway, GO TEAM! We hope that our cycling buddies enjoy the clearer section of Cycle Route 6 & that we've inspired others to move rubbish to a bin, or not to litter at all!

The Treasure stats:

• Six 35L bags of treasure collected
• Quirky finds incl. a license agreement, a high-viz jacket & a lorry buckle
• Best find was an apparently 'almost' unopened can of Stella (no one tried it to check)

WHILST GETTING FIT

With a 2km run out to the start of our a litter pick, another 2 km covered litter picking (more for the group that looped back!) & the 2km run back to base, you'd think we'd have been done on the running front. Nope. I had planned for the group a litter-leg burner of a paarlouf session up my red sleeve. Evil giggles

What is Paarlouf? Not the most common term; it literally means "pair run" & is a great way to work on speed in an interval setting, but with the fun of a relay! In pairs, one runner completes the set lap at a fast pace & once back, their partner runs the lap. Catch your breath & once your partner is back, it's your turn again!

Thanks to Nathan & Mark for sourcing the location of our paarlouf work, finding us a neat little triangle with a sneaky incline - perfect! Three laps clockwise & three laps anti-clockwise per runner & the GG Derby tribe was sweaty & out of breath!

MENTIONS

Thanks to Nathan for being a great front runner this week & guiding us safely to the cycle route & back again. As always, thank you to ALL of you for getting stuck in & for trying bloomin' hard on that speed work session - you smashed it!

A warm welcome to Mike who completed his first GoodGym run with last night - we hope to see you again soon!

And finally a shout-out to Alice who wins coolest gear of the evening with her woolly hat with a built in light. Brilliant.

NEXT UP

Next week we're back in the Wildlife garden on Darley Park for a bark-moving spook spectacular! Who remembers our launch run there? It'll be a shorter run, with lots of shoveling, wheel-barrowing & if there's time... some sneaky speed work again. Come on, it's good for us! :) As it'll be Halloween, if you're partial to fancy dress, go for it! BadGym will be going as a devil :)