O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love And I’ll no longer be a Capulet, and instead I will be a GoodGym runner

Tonight, 15 GoodGym runners showed up for a RUN LIKE NO OTHER!

Runners began gathering at the Big Moose Cafe (The best Cafe in Cardiff) at 6.15pm ready for the run at 6.30pm. Nathan informed everyone on WhatsApp that he was running late, to which Ben responded with a GIF of judge judy tapping her wristwatch - It was a GIF to be proud of!

Acknowledgments

We always start the group run by acknowledging the achievements runners have made over the past week.

• Yesterday, 8 runners flyered for an upcoming post-contemporary circus show support by NoFit State Circus, a charity that champions circus performers and performances in Wales. Read how they got on here
• 13 runners volunteered at the Cardiff 10K on Sunday - A superb number! Read the run report by clicking here
• A few runners participated in Parkrun on the weekend - A free 5k that happens every week.
• Lowri, 1 of our Welsh speaking Goodgym runners, appeared on Radio Cymru 2 this morning. - Ffantastig Lowri!

Warm up game!

We played 'Stuck in the Dance' to get warmed up. Those who were selected to be on had an introduction like no other. Well done Marie, Mike and Nathan for being the chasers.

Time to get our plog on

Instead of 'just running' to the task, this time we plogged. We avoided the protesters that had gathered on Queen Street and headed down Castle Street and then through Bute Park. Pete did a wonderful demonstration of a star jump. Mike bellowed PLOG every time he picked up litter, but on one occasion he forgot and was almost wiped out by Ben. Emma plogged and put litter in the bin like she was in the NFL doing a slam dunk.

Lucy backmarked the ploggers (The backmarker makes sure that nobody gets left behind) whilst Ben led the plogging platoon.

No drama - We've arrived at Chapter

Robbie greeted us sporting his brand new GoodGym tee - He really worked it. He invited everyone into the studio where he told everyone about the production 'Say When' that will be coming to Cardiff later this month.

Robbie played a game with us called 'Zip, Zap, Boing and Reflector', or something along those lines. It is a game that actors and actresses use to develop confidence stepping outside their comfort zone.

Robbie then asked for a volunteer. Thinking that he would take one from for the team, Ben volunteered. Ben sat in a chair in front of everyone. Robbie then explained about Neuro Linguistic Programming and its relevance to acting. He proceeded to ask Ben to recall a memory in his mind, imagine David Beckham's head on a body of a cheetah with the legs of a hippo, and finally imagining holding an ice cube in his right hand.

Lastly, runners were asked to walk around in a given space and imagine different emotional states, from happiness to anger, to feeling grey and excitement.

Robbie thanked us for coming along to his workshop.

Time to run back

Welsh Dave led the runners back whilst Nathan and Rosie backmarked. We made it back to the Big Moose Cafe where we warmed down and collected our stuff before heading to the pub.

What's coming up?

• This Thursday there will be a farewell run to Rumney Seedlings. Get involved and sign up by clicking here

• Help set up Coryton's Autmun Fair on the 21st September. Click here to sign up Go on, do it!

• Next week's group run is to Samye Foundation. It has been nearly two months since we ran there last. Click here to sign up to the run and show your continued support for the Samye Foundation

Get signed up to the GoodGym Cardiff Christmas Party!

Get your £5 deposits in quick for the GoodGym Cardiff Chrismtas Party. All the info for the GoodGym Christmas party can be found here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-cardiff-s-christmas-party-2019

This week's Tweet Off!

Well done Martin aka the Graffinator! You're back in the game. I know you will be talking about your Tweet off win over the next week. Let's see if you can win again next week..

• LM 10
• MO 4
• DRN 4
• EW 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

This week, we pridely present to you the run report from our GoodGym run that happened in Cardiff! - The text that is in red has links to some songs that will get you in the mood for pride

It's Pride week in Cardiff this week - cue to jump in the air with excitement. The pride festivities are always incredibly fun, so positive and action packed full of events. From a parade that goes through the centre of town to a stage with music going on throughout the day, at Pride there is something for everyone! Are you coming out for it? Cue first song to get you in the mood for Pride!

How did we make ourselves feel pride?

Here is a short summary of how some of the runners made themselves feel pride...

• Lowri brought along rainbow face paint so that we could all look ravishing with the pride colours on our faces, legs and arms
• Emma D-B brought glitter so that we could make ourselves sparkle
• Llion brought along a pride flag that he wore as cape which had the words 'Peace' written on it
• Pete also brought along a pride flag
• Mike wore the most amazing rainbow coloured shorts
• Lucy wore an orange tutu
• Emily had a bright orange tee and wore face paint

We also welcomed Robbie to the evening's run! Robbie was a fantastic sport and volunteered to wear Pride cat ears - Robbie they looked majestic on you! We hope you come running with us again - Robbie is going to be our task organiser for the run on the 3rd September. Click here for a glimpse of what he has in store for us.

Can you spot us in this video btw from last year's parade? (we are within the first 5-10 seconds!

Run to the bay

We jogged to the entrance of Queens Arcade so that we could have a photo with the Pride letters which are by St. Davids 2.

After having some fabulous photos we did some fabulous running! Ben led the speedy running group to the bay. Mikey followed close behind leading the sexy runners and Welsh Dave led the power walkers!

Andrew met us at Cardiff Bay as he is currently suffering with some niggles and he doesn't want to make it worse and be out for the cross country season! Stuart also joined us at Cardiff Bay too.

The speedy runners made it to the bay first. So, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity for more fitness, Llion, Ben and Lewis all did laps of the Pierhead building, stopping to do squats, star jumps, burpees and step ups after each lap.

Hello GoodGym! It's so lovely to see you all again

Gian greeted us with the warmest of welcomes. He told us when the first Pride march happened in Cardiff and what Pride stood for. He loved our enthusiasm so much that his smile went from ear to ear.

Gian then distributed the flyers to everyone and Ben started the clock. Runners had 23 minutes to distribute 1000's of flyers. In short, the mission was for EVERYONE in Cardiff Bay to know about the pride festivities.

Lucy and Mike ran all the way to the aqua park and back distributing flyers. Sue and Robbie teamed up to flyer together and everyone else disappeared in different directions to spread the word.

Another epic moment was, when there were only seconds to go, Martin sprinted back to the meeting point with his Pride cape flying behind him.

We are all promoted out!

After 25 minutes of promoting pride we were done! Only a handful of leaflets remained that we had earmarked for the Glassworks pub.

We ran back as two groups. Welsh Dave led the walking group and Ben everyone who wanted to run back. Those running back were made to do sprints at every other traffic light on Lloyd George Avenue - Oh Ben does make them work hard for their good deed doesn't he!?!

It's important to remember we are superstars, and that we are who we are!

There is only one question left... Do you believe in life after love?

Thank you for joining in the run. Our GoodGym club is and will always be a place where members of the LGB&T community can feel safe, welcome and free from discrimination. We stand united.

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The Tweet Off!

Well done Emma. I can imagine you doing the 'flossing dance' as a celebratory dance for winning the tweet off this week. Martin, not having won the tweet off for some time now, was quite sad that he hasn't had much success recently. Sophie is considering getting a new phone or complaining to her network provider because everything she tries just isn't working.

• LM 9
• MO 4
• DRN 4
• EW 4
• MG 3
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1