Ockwells junior parkrun #99 meets GoodGym community mission #450

After GoodGym sessions we always write a run report, and one of the jobs on the parkrun volunteer roster that we were invited to sign up for was Run Report Writer. So we decided to roll the GoodGym and parkrun reports into one, et voila! Thanks to GoodGym member Kelley Sharpe for the wonderful photos above.

A huge thank you to Run Director and GoodGymer Jen Francis and to the regular junior parkrun volunteers for welcoming GoodGym to help out at Ockwells this week. Thank you also to the weather, which smiled upon us at 9am despite being totally miserable an hour before. And kudos to the 25 runners and their families, who looked outside, saw that miserable weather and decided to go for it anyway.

Before the running began, Jen and her family did a great job of setting up the 2km course with cones, finishing funnel and flag, and briefing all the volunteers on their tasks for the morning. High vis jackets were distributed, tokens, token buckets and the virtual volunteer app were held at the ready and Tail Walker Anna donned the traditional lion's tail.

Attendees then gathered for the main event briefing and warm up. This started with a celebration of milestones acheived. Congratulations to Eleanor Hatchett-Walkers, who has now completed an incredible 50 junior parkruns, Phoebe Warren on completing her marathon (21 junior parkruns) and Tuana Demir on completing her half marathon (11 junior parkruns). Three cheers for each of you!

We also celebrated a GoodGym milestone, presenting Tara Isherwood with a medal for completing an amazing 50 good deeds with GoodGym. Tara's good deeds have included everything from volunteering at the Maidenhead vaccination clinic, to painting a pirate ship at a local school, gardening for local charities and and weeding Maidenhead's Waterways. Tara you're a superhero!

Jen also shared the important news that next week will be the 100th Ockwells junior parkrun, and we are all invited to wear fancy dress to celebrate!

Then came the fun warm up and countdown before we headed over to the start. As always the runners set off with great energy and there was much cheering. On their way round the course, runners and their families continued to show impressive energy and determination. Well done everyone!

First across the finish line was Oliver Credland with a PB of 9:31. He was followed by first timer Patrick Isherwood, and then Thomas Loveridge on his 45th time around this course. First female finisher was Caitlin Carey with a PB of 10:09. In total 7 runners achieved PBs today - nearly a third of the field. Awesome running! If you haven't already seen them, full results can be found here.

If today's event was the first time you heard of GoodGym, then you might be wondering who we are. GoodGym is a charity whose members combine getting fit with volunteering in our local community. Like parkrun, GoodGym believe in improving physical and mental health by bringing communities together, and chances are that if you like parkrun you'll like GoodGym. This 2 minute video helps bring to life what we are all about.

Check out our GoodGym Windsor and Maidenhead home page to see what we've been up to recently and to browse our upcoming events. We love to welcome new participants and it is easy to get involved. You just need to be over 18, register on our website and complete a quick online safety module before you can sign up to a session. There is no minimum time commitment or specialist equipment needed to take part. All of our activities are drop in to fit around busy lives.

If you have any questions about GoodGym or know of a charity of community project that needs our help, please get in touch with amylovell@goodgym.org.