A welcome return to Milton Country parkrun today, which was looking a little dry in the heat. Christopher and I were part of a 31 strong volunteer team helping the event happen.

I was marshalling at one of my favourite spots at the back of the park, enjoying the peace and watching the birds (including a very large swan family 🦢), before all the runners came through! It was extra special cheering on GoodGymers Chris and Alex, who were running today 📢

There is not a lot more uplifting than cheering runners and walkers round the course, and there was even time for a few chats with people out walking dogs this morning, so I was feeling doubly cheery by the end.

Just as the tail walker came past, I spotted a flash of red through the trees and it was Chris doing his extra loop as part of his pack-down role. He was wielding a walking pole (don't run with poles, kids) which turned out to be for cone carrying, very clever.

Congratulations to all 417 finishers today 🙌

As well as representation in Milton, Harriet was running at Fulbourn, and Caroline took on the beach at Great Yarmouth. Fantastic efforts all!

It was another scorcher in Cambridge, so we pivoted our group run to a shady fitness session in the park.

Scott and I kicked off with all the classics - squats, lunges and planks, before Beth joined just in time for abs. Mid-bicycle kick, we noticed Alan about to cycle past, but the lure of the red t-shirts was too much. At this point we'd all shifted to stretching, enjoying some slower movement in the fresh air.

We headed over to Jimmy's to meet Blessings and Marie, who joined us for her first session 👋

Unfortunately, the task couldn't go ahead, but we all agreed to do a good deed locally over the next week. There will be litter picking, Foodbank and charity shop donations.

With the gift of time, we took the opportunity for some more fresh air in the park and walked back to our shady spot, which by this point had a very enjoyable breeze. We spent a balmy hour catching up, finding out everyone's favourite parkrun (not an easy task), uncovering historic connections, and trying to work out the terrier breed that is around 30kg - bigger than a Pitbull and smaller than a fat Dalmatian. Alan, if you find out you must share, so we can all sleep easy.

As the evening cooled, we headed our separate ways, walking, running and cycling across the city.

Not quite the evening we had planned, but in true GoodGym style, we found the silver lining and prioritised movement and connection 🫶

Draft

We had a brilliant start to our Sunday sessions at Fox Den Community Allotment, welcoming Blessings and Sandra to their first GoodGym task 🙌

We were met by Lorna, who gave Sandra and Blessings the tour and history of the site, while I started some watering. Despite the heatwaves, the crops are looking very healthy with the courgettes, beans and tomatoes all boasting beautiful green leaves.

Our main job of the evening was to continue creating a woodchip path through the site and around (what will be) the pond area. I had not realised there are so many steps to laying woodchip! Growth had already been suppressed by large rubber sheets, and once we had removed these, we had to cover the area in cardboard (removing all sticky tape and staples). The cardboard then needed watering (I'm not sure anyone had that on their bingo card for the evening) before finally covering in a good layer of woodchip. Blessings and Sandra led the way prepping the cardboard and then Blessings and I got busy shovelling and wheel barrowing the woodchip across the site to Sandra who raked it into position. A very efficient GoodGym production line 💪 We took a much needed water break and enjoyed sitting in the peaceful surroundings, soaking up the evening sun before doing it all over again for a second layer!

The area was transformed. We admired the progress and had time for a quick photo before heading our separate ways. With just the right level of physical activity and plenty of time to chat, it was a beautiful way to round off the weekend. We look forward to returning later in the month. 🌿