The Ides of March may be a time for Caesar to beware, but for 50 of our fearless junior runners, there was nothing to fear only lots of fun! This morning, Good Gym was delighted to head to London Fields to support the junior parkrun, and what a spectacular way to spend a spring morning it was too.

With the sun shining brightly, our junior legends lined up, ready to take on the 2k course. It was one of the best spring days we have had so far, and the atmosphere matched. A huge welcome went out to our five first times who opened their running accounts with us. The regulars made sure they felt part of the team, giving them a warm and enthusiastic reception.

It could not have happened without the contributions of the our volunteers, from Good Gym Rue got everyone in the zone by leading the pre-run Hackney Haka. It was met with a lot of enthusiasm. Sarah took up her prime position at "Sarah's Tree," offering high-fives and encouragement to every runner as they powered past. Hilary was our rock at the most crucial spot on the course, maintaining perfect order and safety at the junction (Marshal Point 1).

We were also thrilled to see the spirit of teamwork extend to the parents, with several jumping in to help cover other marshal points around the course. Meanwhile, our enthusiastic Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) crew were absolute professionals, expertly managing the finish line with timing, handing out tokens, and ensuring every barcode was scanned.

And the results? Well, they speak for themselves! Perhaps it was the spring sunshine, the Haka, or the cheering, but an amazing 15 personal bests were smashed this morning!

A massive well done to every single runner who took part. You are all superstars. Good Gym is proud to have been part of your Sunday morning mission.

Same time, same place next week? We wouldn't miss it

Today I had the pleasure of helping an isolated resident of Hackney. We have been clearing the garden for a while now, and I was expecting to be finishing the digging up of Bramble roots and the like.... I was not expecting to find two fence panels blown down though.... One took some patching up and is now a little shorter than it used to be. 😯

I enjoyed a gorgeous sun-drenched cycle to MxH’s lovely home to help them tackle their overgrown back garden. MxH is hoping to be able to host friends in their garden by the summer so I think we’re going to need a few more sessions here.

Mark and myself carried out a mission to help Ms E move pieces of bulky furniture along with her TV, media equipment, and an impressively large collection of videos from her bedroom to downstairs. The aim of the operation was simple but important: to remove late-night distractions so Ms E can relax properly and get a good night’s sleep without the temptation of “just one more episode” or an unexpected midnight movie marathon. We carefully transported the TV and other equipment down the stairs without any unplanned gravity experiments. With everything successfully moved downstairs, the bedroom was transformed into a calm, screen-free sleep zone, helping Ms E avoid distractions at night and making it much easier for her to settle down and enjoy a proper, restful sleep: proving that teamwork really does make the dream work. 🛏️📦📺

An excellent turnout on the volunteer front to support 46 enthusiastic junior runners this morning at a still muddy, and slightly misty, London Fields - but thankfully the rain stayed away. The slippery conditions underfoot didn't seem to trouble our first three finishers, who ran as a pack the whole way round, and only the finishing sprint down the home straight separated them by just a few seconds...exciting stuff. Lots of (slightly breathless) happy faces then followed them into the finish funnel, setting 9 PBs between them - great work.

Twelve first timers joined us this morning on what was our second biggest attendance of the year, and thankfully our team of 16 volunteers, which included GoodGymmers Rue, Hilary, Bea, Louise, Sarah, Chandrima and Nick, did a great job of ensuring everything ran smoothly for another week - thank you all.

Same time next week under the big tree for more fun at the Fields.

Ilana, Ciaran, Kevin and Kareem turned up for the continuing gardening task. When we first started here, the space was so overgrown that you could barely walk through it, let alone see what was hiding at the far end.

Now after many sessions of clearing, digging and hauling we are nearly there!

As it happens when clearing a garden that’s been left wild for a while, a few unexpected treasures appeared along the way. Among the discoveries were a Lego figure, some unsettling large bones and other random things like lighters. It kept things interesting.

Kevin took the initiative and planted cherry and apple plants, which will hopefully become a a nice feature of the garden in time. He also spent time fixing and tying up sections of the fence.

Kareem took on what seemed like a manageable root… which quickly turned into a battle. After 15 minutes of determined digging, the root held its ground and he eventually had to concede defeat (for now)

Ilana tackled a stubborn patch of weeds and overgrown plants and helped with the cleanup. She also lent Kareem a hand afterwards to fill in the impressive (but totally unnecessary) hole left behind.

Ciaran cracked on with tackling stumps and helping clear out the huge bags of garden waste that had built up. As if the earlier bone discoveries weren’t unsettling enough, he topped that by uncovering a mysterious vertebra!! (ranks alongside the dead bird found during a previous session)

Finally, Ms A is really happy to see the progress. She thanked us and said how much she appreciates the time and effort we have been putting in to bring the garden back to life. It’s been great for her to see the transformation taking shape bit by bit and she is really looking forward to enjoying the space once everything is finished :)

We will be having one more final session to do a sweep up of the garden and tie up any loose ends - please join us if you can!