An unusually cloudy and breezy (and dusty) London Fields greeted Run Director Rue, Marshall (and nearly tail walker) Sooz and timekeeper Nick this morning - after the past few weeks of bright sunshine and warm temperatures it was something of a welcome change. We were also delighted to be joined by John, who eagerly donned the hi viz and stood ready for instruction on where Rue wanted him deployed - the marshall post by the playground became his chosen spot for today.

As we now seem to be very much into summer holiday season, we stood under the big tree at 0845 somewhat in anticipation of how many enthusiastic runners we'd get, but they soon started appearing from all directions, including two absolute first timers, and in the end 22 stood poised on the windy start line awaiting the off...and then they were gone, and soon spread out in a long line around the edge of the fields - our intrepid Tail Walker Johnny (who to be fair had a small person on his shoulders) struggled to keep up with the pace!

After just over 8 minutes our lead runner headed down the finishing straight followed by a neatly spaced sequence of out of breath runners, of whom 6 set new PBs, which was going some in today's wind. At the end we sadly bid farewell to Johnny one of our long time RDs today as he heads to deepest Kent to take on a new job, and who, along with his wife and two children, have been huge supporters of London Fields junior parkrun for such a long time - they will all be missed, especially when it comes to token sorting at the end of each event...

As we stood under the big tree this morning in perfect running conditions, we knew we were thin on the ground volunteer wise, so it needed a couple of shout outs to the parent community who were arriving from all directions to get all the high viz's filled and the marshal spots complete, but thankfully we got there in the end - one lucky (unsuspecting) mum and dad even got volunteered by their daughter to fill the tailwalker role and one of the marshalling spots...

Thankfully Hilary was on hand to fill her usual spot at gate 1, and we soon had this week's participants lined up and eager to get started and with our event ambassador Melanie on time keeping duty, it was soon 3-2-1 Go! and they were off.

An almost dead heat for 1st and 2nd required Run Director Nick to use his refereeing skills to adjudicate on who got token #1...and we soon had our regular stream of finishers, accompanied by a lot of cheering from the sidelines, coming down the finish funnel - and when our recently cajoled tailwalker crossed the line (still smiling), event #381 was complete, and 29 runners and 11 volunteers had enjoyed another successful morning at the sunny Fields.

This week's GoodGym mission was a cracker—19 runners, 4 first-timers, and one very special returnee. We welcomed Maxine back from the land of kangaroos and scorching sun, and she didn't just show up for a gentle jog—she completed her 51st parkrun. That's right, folks: she's now one step closer to that 100 club, and we're pretty sure she could've done it with a koala on her back. (Don't test that theory, Maxine.)

Before we even got going, the high-fives were flying like confetti—everyone giving each other a solid five to say hello, because at GoodGym and parkun it is all about making friends and being part of the community, post warm up the excitement was palpable. Aidan gave the countdown and they were off.

Now, while everyone ran their own race, there was one battle that had us all gripping our barcode scanners with anticipation. From the very first stride, it was a gripping derby as brother and sister led from the front, matching each other stride for stride, elbow to elbow, neither willing to blink first. The crowd (well, Aidan and the parent volunteers) watched on as they hurtled towards the finish line—and in a dramatic twist that'll be talked about at Sunday lunch for weeks, ittle sister took the bragging rights. Big brother is currently considering a rematch.

Huge thanks (again) go to Kevin and Rita, who are becoming such regulars during their London family-visit pit stops that we're considering giving them their own marshal spot. They turn up, they pitch in, and this week they were absolute legends—helping with setup, takedown, and marshalling like pros. GoodGymers Rue and Sarahwere so grateful they almost offered to carry them home. Almost.

Like a beacon of (just in time) punctuality and patience, Aidan appeared. He took on timekeeping duties with the calm precision of a Swiss watchmaker—and with parent volunteers rallying on the course, the runners were soon off into a cool breeze and a steadily warming morning. Perfect conditions for a PB… or at least for not regretting your life choices at kilometre 4.

Massive thanks to all who cheered and clapped. Another parkrun mission accomplished—with teamwork, tunes, and just the right amount of wheeze.

Same time next week? You bet. Just bring your legs, and maybe a hat - if you're that little sister, bring your winner's medal face.

After the recent warmer conditions, it was a pleasant (but very welcome) surprise to be met by a cool breeze blowing across the Fields this morning - it made Rue and Nick's job of setting up the course easier, albeit the wind was definitely not in a co-operative mood as it seemed determined to blow over the start/finish sign and parkrun flag...

It was great to see Anna and Lobo also appear this morning to help out - Anna was keen to don the tailwalker hi viz with the added foxtail, and Lobo did an excellent job on token duty (both Finish and Sorting) - Rue was on barcode scanning duty, which proved for once to be a bit more challenging than usual, and all this assistance made Nick's job as today's Run Director a whole lot easier.

A good number of first time visitors to the Fields swelled the pack as we discovered that Highbury Fields junior parkrun had been cancelled this morning due to an event. Our first finisher sped round in a super speedy 8 minutes, closely followed by the remaining largely breathless pack - Anna brought home the final walker, who was doing just her 2nd ever parkrun, in just over 20 minutes, and so event #378 came to a successful close for another week.

Same time, same place under the Big Tree next week for more fun at the Fields.

Perfect conditions this morning at the Fields, and clearly 50 enthusiatic junior runners thought so too, including two first timers who sped round the two lap course at top speed to claim the top two positions - congratulations to them and hopefully they'll be back again, along with our other first timers, all of whom were doing their first ever junior parkruns.

Someone who definitely wasn't attending her first junior parkrun was Sarah whom we welcomed back after a few weeks away, and who made her tree her home once again - in fact we had a great volunteer turnout with a mix of parkrunners, DoE and willing parents all keen to put on the high viz, and all of whom made today's event run smoothly and made Nick's life as today's Run Director so much easier!

More of the same next week under the big tree, where hopefully it'll be a repeat of today's blue skies and bright sunshine, and super speedy performances.

parkrun (the junior version or otherwise) is most certainly not a race, but occasionally you do have to doff your cap to one of our Sunday morning runners who clearly had more than one weetabix for breakfast this morning. Our first finisher, on a first time visit from his usual course at Leyton, crossed the line in an awe inspiring 6:56, more than a minute clear of his closest "pursuer" - chapeau m'sieur, as they say in bike racing. The maths is easy to work out his per km splits!!

Thanks as ever to our very helpful GoodGym volunteers who arrived at the big tree this morning and made sure everything ran smoothly - Hilary, John and Harvey were deployed as Course Marshals at key spots around the course, whilst Sooz and Nick kept it all largely under control at the start/finish line by barcode scanning, marshalling, encouraging and run directing, and all of our 40 finishers, including 1 absolute first timer, and 2 who received their half-marathon wristbands for each having completed 11 runs, crossed the line smiling (if a little red faced and out of breath), although a few needed to be guided towards the finish funnel...

More of the same under the big tree next week (super speedy times not guaranteed...) - join us if you can!