22 runners tonight attended GoodGym Cardiff, all ready and eager to get fit and do good by helping out at St Monica’s primary School.

First and foremost! A huge welcome to 2 new GoodGym runners; Sarah and Pabs…HEY GUYS! 🖐 Sarah is Ffion's friend, and so...Well done to Ffion who earned herself ONE red lace for bringing a friend - A huge achievement - well done! We also had Ivo join us from GoodGym Tower Hamlets, London, he heard all about our epic banter and hilarious, second to none antics and all we’ve achieved to date and so when the opportunity arose to run with Cardiff, Wales, he could not resist it. 🖐 We also reflected on our FANTASTIC beast of an accomplishment in the January Challenge... A HUGE achievement! 🏆 Our usual headcount also included naming our favourite school subjects. From History to Maths... there was a range! We reminded nobody should shout out in class, joke, this is GoodGym; we encourage participation in a way that is LOUD AND PROUD! Our warm up consisted of the Mr Men (and Ms Women) warm up routine, from Mr Bounce (jumping on the spot) to Ms High Knees. Mikey said he was feeling like Mr Lost without Darren, we reassured him that Daz would be back next week :)

After the warm up runners divided into two groups. The sexy and the speedy runners! Who were the speedy runners you may be wondering? Ben, Lucy, Lewis, Pabs, Rachel, Lewis, Jess, Jack and Charlotte. The other runners were all sexy! Who were they? Give a shout out to: Mikey, Ivo, Aimee, Ellen, Rhian, Louise, Su, Maya, Rachael, Jess, Sarah. Jess and Emma - Twit twoo, you bunch of good looking runners, you are looking fineeeeee!!

The speedy runners covered a slightly longer distance, running up to Maindy pool, doing a couple of sprints and then meeting the sexy runners at St Monica’s School

Welcome to St Monica’s Primary School 🏫

We had all arrived to St Monica’s Primary School after a joyful run! Abigail, the school headteacher, was there to greet us with a warm smile, she told us a bit about the school before informing us of our tasks for the evening; The school is set in the vibrant area of Cathays in Cardiff. The school provides a welcoming, caring and secure environment in which Christian values are central to the ethos of the school and the local community. At St Monica’s Primary School, every child has the chance to shine.

Tonight we helped clear a school building of old furniture and carpets. Some runners also painted outdoor railings and others removed mould from walls. Runners also moved the biggest beam made of wood ever seen!!! Ivo removed a precarious looking cupboard from the wall, increasing Ben's heart rate and displaying some epic balancing skills... (the pots which were balancing on the top of the cabinet were actually candles which had become stuck to the top... ) Mikey, Su and Pablo were taking up the wooden floor pieces which used previously to attach carpet to the ground.

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Riddle Diddly Doo, I have a Riddle For you!

You bury me whilst I’m alive and you dig me up when I’m dead, what am I?

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5 Minutes left!!

With only 5 minutes to spare runners made a final push! A mountain of furniture was now located outside of the building to go into the skip which arrives tomorrow.

TIME IS UP!⏰

Fantastic efforts from everyone! We had a group photo, and some of us had warm drinks before we embarked on our run back! We said goodbye to Abi and the caretakers who provided us with an AWESOME task!... It definitely gave us a good work out. On the way back we did some sprint drills. Ivo stood in front of us and had us run towards him whilst he filmed us, luckily nobody ran into him although there were some close calls! Jack also had a bell and was ringing it during the sprints to encourage everyone!

At approximately 8pm we were back at Yr Hen Lyfrgell! Jack was again ringing his bell, congratulating runners as they finished... I guarantee that bell will be at the next parkrun he marshalls at! 🔔 We did our warm down and gave ourselves a round of applause for our efforts. Well done Pabs and Sarah for completing their first run with GoodGym and Sarah for joining us for her first run EVER! Ivo, a big thank you to you too for coming to run with us; Your incredible use of initiative enables us to be part of an amazing running club family that seeks to improve the community.

I hope you found the run report entertaining

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Afterwards we headed to the glassworks for a well earned beverage!