Wayne

Junior park run is in full swing. Marshals and 'back office' volunteers are required to support and encourage the young runners as they run 2k around the park.

All roles are easy and can be taught, so don't be shy about trying out a new role.

To sign up - don't forget to get in touch with the event directly. just send an email to woking-juniors@parkrun.com

This event is a special one, as it marks 5 years since the very first Junior Parkrun in Woking. I know this is an initiative that's very close to many of us and we are fond of so some try to come along to help out and join the celebrations.

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/woking-juniors/futureroster/

Meet outside The Run Company in Commercial Way. From here we will run as a group for some litter picking action, with the running shops running club Run Crew.

https://facebook.com/events/s/litter-pick-run/308620558122272/

This series of group runs is to support the No Sweat Running Community in their Free community sessions which are helping local people completing the NHS couch to 5k programme.

No Sweat Running Community is a free local community running group which meets for group runs of between 5km and 7km on Monday and Thursday evenings in the town centre.

They have generously decided to offer free support to people doing the couch to 5k programme as per the NHS app. They meet in Woking Park at the Bandstand on Thursday evenings at 6:30pm and already have an established group which will be on Week 6, but you can join in at any time no matter whether you are brand new to running, or are on a different week, nobody will be left behind and everyone will get a good workout.

I have decided that we should support this initiative with more people to support the runners on their journeys as the people are all at different levels of ability. It would be nice if we could make sure that each person can run to their potential, with a GoodGym companion running with them.

The hope of No Sweat Running Community is that they will be able to recruit new members to their regular sessions once they are capable to run 5km, and also have more friends to do Parkrun with. They have a lovely idea that Parkrun will be a kind of graduation to celebrate together.

From our side, my hope is that we can help everyone have an enjoyable experience, achieve progress week to week, and also that they might take an interest in GoodGym and the great work that we do in our other tasks and group runs. It is also a really nice opportunity to be social, and increase awareness of both GoodGym and No Sweat Running Community locally, and definitely fits with our goals.

Information about the NHS Couch to 5k programme can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/running-and-aerobic-exercises/get-running-with-couch-to-5k/

To sign up to take part in the No Sweat Couch to 5k group, please look here: https://sites.google.com/view/nosweatrunningcommunity/c25k

To get the NHS app, use the following links: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-you-couch-to-5k/id1082307672 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phe.couchto5K

The great news is that this initiative is open to all GoodGym members to join in, as well as support, so do feel welcome to sign up to take part, or to help, or both!

These sessions are perfect for beginners, and we are all very supportive, so for new people reading this far, do sign up and come say hi, or take part. If you like running and want to take part in other community initiatives we are involved with, please feel very welcome to join us at GoodGym too, check for our other upcoming sessions.

If you are not convinced by this point, maybe go for a walk in the park one Thursday and you will see us in action, and hopefully will decide to join in.

Any questions at all, please shoot me a message and I will be happy to assist, otherwise look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Thanks James