Every week I countdown to the next Worthing GoodGym and tonight was no exception. Tonight’s group run was cryptically described as a “Denton Gardens weeding task and magical mystery run with a fitness session led by Beth”; despite the scary prospect of Beth being in charge while Julia and Nick were away on holiday, 4+3=7 GoodGymers turned out on a perfect evening for running.

It was lovely to welcome Leanne along for first group run after hearing about GoodGym at parkrun a few weeks ago, and to see Anne repping her fab new red GG tee!

500 Wings & Sweet 16

We started off with a quick round-up of the week's news, from the quite incredible milestone of 500 deeds completed by Beth from GoodGym Southwark to other sporting news, most importantly of course, nope not Sir Mo winning his 4th successive Great North Run, or the Bristol Half……….Rafa winning his 16th slam!

A thorn in Keith’s side

We then headed out on a gentle 1.5km warm-up out to and around Windsor Gardens before heading to Denton Gardens for tonight’s task. We were welcomed by Park Ranger, Keith…who I’m pretty sure secretly enjoys the half an hour of excessive puns each Monday night he gets to spend with us! Keith explained the weeding and clearing that needed to be done and pointed out the rather deadly acid-like plant he advised us to stay well away from!

Thistle be the end of us

Everyone chose their tool/weapon of choice to tackle the task and quickly set about weeding and clearing. Duncan started masterfully hoeing while Jill, Belinda, and Michelle each took a pair of securters and expertly began chopping back and removing the dead plants, and the wonderfully tangled bindweed. Anne and Leanne displayed great teamwork, with one hoeing and one chopping before they then switched. As always the team made light work of the bindweed, thorns, dead plants and with clearing the area; within what seemed like no time at all, half an hour had passed and two big bags were filled with garden waste.

We posed for a post-task group photo, said our goodbyes to Keith, and headed off on a 2km run towards Victoria Park for a quick circuit session using the outdoor equipment. After the first brief fitness session we then headed back towards base via the beach.

Drop it like its squat

Once we reached the beach the second part of the fitness session aptly named ‘Ode to Rafa’ sprints occurred whereby in partners, everyone took a stone and took it turns to sprint as far as they could in 16 seconds while the other squatted, lunged, and did jumping jacks. The process was then repeated with the stones (aka trip hazards) collected. With two fitness sessions successfully completed and the light fading it was time to head back to base.

No beach trips

Not content with the two fitness sessions, on the final leg back Belinda got in some excellent sprint work along the promenade and Duncan sprinted the last 1km – great effort guys! Back at base we had a quick cool down and stretch and discussed the upcoming plans for a social – details TBC, please complete the Doodle poll.

Next week is part 2 of the weeding task at Denton Gardens – hopefully Julia and Nick will have brought some Spanish sun and warmth back with them! Sign-up here for another Monday night of fun, fitness and doing good!