It was amazing to have such a large turnout today for our first run back of the year - 2020 is here! Big welcome to Louise, James, Daniel, Luke, Jess, Nida, Sian, Miriam, Rob, Robin, Caron and Alice - WOW. They were joined by a huge bunch of our regular faces. We got warmed up at Mud Dock and then split into two groups, The Labradors and The Greyhounds (casual ones though). [Alison] led the Labradors with [Alice] back-marking while Chris back-marked The Greyhounds. Thank you guys!

It was a 5km run to the task which included a hefty hill and a bit of muddy trail running to finish it off. We were welcomed by Andy and his crew of helpers who split us between three tasks: clearing the hedge for hedgelaying, digging a one metre pond and turning the compost to mulch the trees. As we had such a wonderfully huge group, we split into two teams and each lucky group got half of their time doing a fitness session of stair reps, sprints, squats and lunges then swapped in to finish the jobs. The Labradors even got FOUR actual labradors coming to witness their session! After 45 minutes, the jobs were done and tools were cleared up and we were ready to run (the thankfully downhill) 5km back.

It was great to see you all and we are looking forward to lots more 2020 good deeds!

There were mince pies, mulled wine, sweat, sweets, smiles and a little bit of hail all on offer this Sunday as 15 runners competed the Merthyr Mawr Christmas Pudding Race!

We gathered at the starting line - the base of the 2nd highest sand dune in Europe! - and at the sound of the horn, we dashed off! But after much huffing and puffing, this turned into a walk as a few hundred runners all realised that running to the top was going to wreck us, before we got any further. Things quickly sped up as what goes up, must come down! And down we went over the other side, and into the fantastic Merthyr Mawr sand dune system.

The winding course too us across dunes, up grassy hills, through freezing cold streams, down muddy tracks, through woods, through more streams, onto the beach, up the estuary, through even more streams ... to the finish! It was truly a test of endurance, and even some pain as Mat dislocated his kneecap along the route! But well worth it for the lovely lunch afterwards, to refill on calories, share stories and plan our next events. Great running everyone!!!

Mr S suffered a stroke a few years ago and needed a hand getting his overgrown garden back into some shape. He had a wonderful secret garden underneath the soothing chug of the trains passing by. Our job was to clear the path and brambles to make the space more accessible for him. Luckily it was an unexpectedly warm sunny day given there was still ice on the ground. We soon discovered him to be the fount of all botanical knowledge and he delighted in testing us to check we had remembered our teasels from our dogwood, and when the evening primrose flowers. Definitely progressed in the 'weed or not?' game and Emma got some top tips for her own allotment. We were advised to throw all the brambles and stuff up to the heights of his 'compost' pile and this gave a fantastic opportunity to practice our javelin and shot-put techniques. Soon you could see the path clearly now lots of brambles had gone and hopefully Mr S can spend more time in his garden on the next bright sunny day.