21 runners turned up to GoodGym Cardiff this evening and got to join in with the fun at one of the BEST running clubs in the world. Continue reading to find out what happened on this evening's run,,,

Victoria joined us for her first ever GoodGym run this evening. A HUGE welcome to you :) It was so nice to have you run with us this evening and we hope you run with us many many more times!

Our warm up this evening was short because we had to get to the task by 6.55pm. Welsh Dave led the speedy runners on out and backs and took a slightly longer route to get to the task to add distance. Ben led the sexy runners to the task.

Arriving at Cardiff Central Youth Club

Jen, the task organiser for the evening, gave us a warm welcome. She told us about how the centre is used, and after finding out more about the centre we really couldn't wait to get stuck in. Before we could get stuck in Jen told us exactly what they needed us to do. Tasks included chopping down a huge bush, cutting down bushes, picking up litter and chopping down more bushes.

• Meg was amazed with the sizes of the branches on the hedges that were cut down. "These are huge" she said, holding the branch that towered over her!
• There is an action shot of Alice walking with a branch about to throw it into the pile that is quite epic.

After helping out for 30 minutes it was time to call an end to the task. All the volunteers got together for a group photo. We all then smiled for a photo with the standard 'hands in the air' pose.

It's now time to run off

Before running off we had some squash to make sure we stayed hydrated and some cake, why you ask? Because we like cake!

Time for a little game... There was time to stop on the way back to play a little game called evolution. We pretended to be elephants, whales and dogs, and by bringing out our inner child, we had so much fun.

After playing evolution Welsh Dave led runners back towards town. Ben was playing music from a bluetooth speaker as he ran. Songs that were played included A-Ha - Take on me and Vangelis - Chariots of Fire.

The Tweet Off Leaderboard

Well done Lucy - You're now into double figures on the tweet off leaderboard. Here are the current standings on the tweet off leaderboard. Can anyone catch up with her and stop her winning streak?

• LM 10
• MG 3
• DRN 3
• EW 3
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

If you've attended a GoodGym run then you know GoodGym is a running club that will Spice Up Your Life

Last night the Spice Girls were in Cardiff. People came from far and wide to see them live in concert, and despite the rain that poured down on fans, the welsh weather failed to dampen spirits. To mark this occasion, this run report will contain references to some of the Spice Girls songs. Where I've used song titles I've also included links to the youtube videos, so that avid fans amongst you can listen to some of their songs.

Last week we celebrated our 2 year milestone since GoodGym launched in Cardiff. It was a huge run and so much fun. Now we are entering our third year of GG Cardiff. and I know it's going to be an amazing year!

Tonight's warm up was led by Welsh Dave. He gave us an update of runners achievements over the past week, aka the headlines. We also gave a MASSIVE welcome to Sandra. It was Sandra's first ever run with GoodGym! - Sandra, we hope you had a wonderful time and come back for a run with us again soon. We acknowledged and celebrated Nathan reaching 50 good deeds, we also gave Amy Wildgoose a huge cheer for also reaching 50 good deeds, which we hope she heard from her work.

After playing a few warm up games we split up into two groups. Ben led the sexy runners and Welsh Dave led the walkie talkie group. Due to our quick pace it wasn't long before we reached the site of tonight's task.

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Welcome to Mackintosh Community Gardens GoodGym!

We arrived at Mackintosh Community Gardens just before 7pm where Carol was waiting patiently to give us all a warm welcome. . She said the community gardens used to form part of the mansion house, which now belongs to the bowling club. She told us how, over time, the gardens became neglected, and now a group of volunteers have got together to help maintain the community garden space. Carol then told us about the tasks that needed doing that we could help with:

• Pulling up the weeds
• Trimming back overgrown bushes
• Litter picking the streets
• Moving pallets

During the task Darren and Ella spotted a frog. Darren tried to kiss it to turn it into a prince to make 2 become 1, however fortunately for the frog, it escaped.

After 25 minutes of helping, Ben shouted STOP. Everyone had already finished carrying out their tasks in the nick of time... They managed to get the task done in a whopping 21 minutes, giving them 4 minutes to complete the final touches - Incredible!

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Post run fitness Bonanza

The post run fitness bonanza consisted of a 1 mile sprint around the Rec in Roath, Cardiff. Nathan said I Wannabe fast... Ben said if you want to run fast then you need to lift up your knees, drive your arms back, keep your head up and turn your legs over quickly.

Before setting off on the mile sprint Ben said "If you want my future, forget my past, if you want to run with me, better make it fast", and without any further chatter the mile sprint had begun.

Here were the finishing times;

• 1 - 6 .00
• 2 - 6.09
• 3 -6.09
• 4 - 6.15
• 5- 6.50
• 6 - 6.57
• 7 - 6.58
• 8 - 7.45
• 9 - 7.54
• 10 - 7.59
• 11 - 8.00
• 12 - 8.13
• 13 - 8.35
• 14 - 8.39
• 15 - 8.53
• 16 - 8.59

Well done everyone who took part in the mile sprint. It was tough as it was a warm night. Remember your time and you can try and beat it next time. It is a great baseline to get an idea of your measure of fitness.

After the mile sprint we headed back to the Big Moose Cafe to warm down and then head across to the Glassworks for drinkypoos.

The winner of this week's tweet off was Darren - Well done matey - you're on fire! Here is the tweet off leaderboard -

• LM 7
• EW 2
• MG 2
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• DRN 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1

Next week we will be helping out St Alban's Primary School - Say you'll be there

So it's goodbye for now... , until the community mission on Thursday,

This evening GoodGym Cardiff got their run on, running to the YMCA to put donations into bags so that they could be transferred to another YMCA store to be sold.

Lots of lovely faces tonight... and 1 new face! Welcome to GoodGym Ella!. It was absolutely fantastic to have you come along. This run was definitely good training for Southampton Half! Because Peter brought Ella along to the GoodGym run, Peter earned himself a RED LACE!! #LifesGoals

Warm up

To get warmed up we had a quick game of 'Stuck in the Dance'... It's kinda like Stuck in the Mud, however, instead of being stuck in the same position, you dance - Simples! Peter displayed some epic flossing skills and there was also some other fetching dance moves on display. The good news is that you all passed and you are all invited to go partying with me anytime you want (when my leg is better)!

• The headcount was definitely memorable... instead of everyone saying their favourite animal they had to do their best impression of their favourite animal... Well... it was definitely a struggle! Very interesting animal choices by everyone though - And Emily... I would never have guessed Newt if you had done an impression of one.

Let's get our run on!

The run to the task this evening was an adventure! Mikey & Adam led the speedy group and Ellen led the sexy group. Ben then led the walky-talky group. The route passed down Queen Street, onto Newport Road, and continued until Colchester Avenue. Although it was an adventure we didn't have to destroy a ring in mount doom.

Woooo. GoodGym it has been too long. It is wonderful to have you visit again!

Matt greeted us like old friends. He smiled as we entered and offered us much needed squash to rehydrate - Thanks for this! Matt then told us what our task was for the evening... "Right my lovely GoodGym, I need all of the clothes in the red wheelie bins to be put into bags and then put into the designated area in the warehouse."

Full of energy, we straightaway got stuck in. Amiee was lead photographer during the task and had the responsibility of capturing runners performing good deeds!... She also caught those individuals who were getting distracted... Emma found a book about Gin... Lowri found an item with her name on it, quite literally with her name on it!...

Whilst everyone was good deeding, Adam and Mikey set up the number 32. "Why?" you might ask... Do Adam and Mikey like the number 32 lots? Is 32 Mikey's lucky number?.... No no no... None of that! Mikey and Adam set up the number 32 as GoodGym Cardiff was the 32nd area to launch in the UK... and the first GoodGym to launch outside of England. GoodGym Solihull will be launching into the World of GoodGym tomorrow! - How exciting!

Ohhh... it's that time already?

After 30 minutes of helping it was time to head back. Time just goes so quick whilst you're having fun! Mikey and Adam led the speedy runners back, Ellen led the Sexy Runners and Ben led the Walky-Talkys.

When all of the runners arrived back to base (Big Moose), they then started doing a warm down. As tonight's task was far away, everyone was expecting Ben to get back slightly later... so Ben sent the end of run debrief over voice message... Everyone gathered around Lucy's phone to hear Ben give the end of run briefing. He reminded everyone;

• This Thursday evening there will be social media training with the WWF at the WWF Cymru offices on Churchill Way - Click here to sign up!
• There is a community mission happening at the same time at Rumney Seedlings - Click here to sign up
• We need more people signing up to the Earth Hour Events. It will be a blast - Sign up here now

Well done to Lucy Marsh who was today's Tweet off winner... You are living the dream!

Tweet off Scores to date;

• LM 4
• EW 2
• DRN 1
• BA 1
• MG 1
• NS 1
• NI 1
• AG 1

This evening 24 GoodGym runners got their plog on, running the streets of Cardiff cleaning rubbish with each stride.

It's Tuesday which means GoodGym is in town! (This makes it the best day of the week!). This week we went plogging. Before our run we put our gloves on and got some empty bin bags.

Warming up before the run!

It's important to limber up and get our bodies ready for intense plogging, and what better way is there to do that than with some games!

• In the Race / Over the line
• Pirates life for me!

We then did a headcount and welcomed new runner, OLI to GoodGym. Welcome to GoodGym Oli!! I know we're a very enthusiastic bunch and we really hope you come running with us again :)

Let's go plogging!

Mikey was ready to lead the plog. Armed with the route he led the runners towards the Castle. They were going to continue following the route however the perimeter of Cardiff Castle had been littered following the heatwave we've experienced in Cardiff over the past couples of days. After a few minutes of plogging along the grass, the grounds were beautiful and they carried on following the designated plogging route.

The plogmentalists, Adam and Chay, couldn't stop themselves from picking up even the smallest pieces of litter. The ploggers also ran past hundreds, thousands? of football fans who appeared to have no idea what on earth we were doing... (((Nathan - did you see us???))) Runners then split into teams, taking one side of the road each. FIona was quite territorial not letting any plogger from the other team collect litter that wasn't on their side. There were THANK YOUS from many members of the public, who appreciated our efforts.

Fitness session

With plogging done it was time for some fitness! A 1 mile sprint around Victoria Park was in order... 321, GO. Blink and you would have missed them.

Cool down

We then ran back to Big Moose where we reflected on the evenings plog which was PLOGTASTIC!! We ARE going to do this again that is for sure.