GoodGymers where out in force this morning making events happen North and South of the the city.

Up in Northstowe, Becky and I were supporting Cambridge Acorn Project at Northstowe Running Festival by managing a water station on the half marathon route. We took a lovely cycle from Cambridge arriving with plenty of time to fill 100s of cups of water and master the fiddly job of setting up the rubbish sacks.

We had a great time handing out water and cheering on runners who were doing a fantastic job! The rain held off for a while, but about 2 hours in, it started pouring, with the cups filling themselves. Water, water everywhere (and a drop to share) 🌧️

We took cover while the worst passed and had even more respect for runners persevering in those difficult conditions. 💪

After a swift clear up, we headed to a local cafe to warm up with a much needed cup of tea ☕

Further south, Harriet and Caroline were reunited at Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, and were joined by Jacob to make a volunteer dream team. All went smoothly with Harriet as Run Director, supported by Jacob on timekeeping and Caroline on number checking. This new role for Caroline meant a new parkrun challenge badge 🎉 Aligning perfectly, there was plenty of cake to enjoy from parkrunner milestone celebrations. Yum!

Shout out to Scott who was representing GoodGym and in charge of pre-course checks at Coldham's Common parkrun last week when the sun was still shining ☀️

For this week's task, five intrepid GoodGymers braved the Cambridge thunderstorm to visit the Fox Den Community Allotment. ⛈️

Beth, Sandra, Kate, Catherine and I arrived to a mere smattering of rain, before it quickly developed into something heavier. Taking shelter, we met with Chief Allotmenteer Lorna to learn about today's task and assign roles. As well as preparing the paths, today we were to start on the hugel mound! A traditional permaculture method, a hugel mound is a raised bed filled with rotton wood and organic matter, creating a highly fertile soil from materials thay would otherwise go to waste.

First, we needed to dig a crater in which the decaying logs could go. Kate and Sandra wasted no time grabbing shovels and getting stuck in with the chiseling/flaking of the upper layers, while I filled watering cans to drench the layers beneath to help make it diggable. During our dig, we also learned from Lorna how Fox Den got its name, and we hope that one day the foxes may return! 🦊

Meanwhile, Catherine and Beth were on woodchip duty for the path maintenance task. With a wheelbarrow each, the pair completed multiple trips across the allotment, masterfully performing the labour-intensive job. Lulled into a false sense of security, jackets were removed during a dry spell - only for the rain to return when the pair were at the farthest point. Whoops! 🌧

Some rather spectacular thunder and lightning signalled that it was time to head to our August social! Passing sheltering cows, the group cycled to Calverley's Brewery (sadly, the weather once again scuppered our plans to picnic). We were really pleased Becky was able to join, meeting us at the bar just in time for the first beer sampling. Selling the group on the detroit-style pizzas, dinner was sorted. Thank you so much to everyone who came along, it really was a hugel-y enjoyable evening! 🍻🍕

We needed a little improvisation for tonight's task.

Before we'd even met, Kim was doing good deeds by putting her strength training to good use and helping a local resident move a gate. GoodGymers are never off duty 🫡

We had a good chat, discussing Amina's amazing array of hobbies 🎯, the pros and cons of group vs solo sports, and the joys of swimming - universally agreed.

After a short while, we realised the task was not going to happen as planned, so we pivoted. Having walked from the station I noticed lots of areas that could do with a spruce up, so we decided to do a litter pick. Kim was very organised and brought gloves, which were thankfully small enough for Lukas to share, but we had to improvise and nip into co-op for some bags for the rest of us and the rubbish.

Fighting plastic (with plastic) we donned our bags (hand bags, if you will) and got clearing a particularly messy area. In just 30 minutes we'd cleared 10 bags of rubbish, lots of it fiddly bits of plastic, leaving it in a much better state than we found it. Most impressive was Kim's navigation of the steep slope, like a mountain goat.

Not the task we thought we were doing, but definitely satisfying to see the impact 4 people can have in a short time. Great work team 🙌