This evening, we went back to the park to try to continue the works we had started to improve the surface for the Woking Parkrun woodland section.

It had been raining hard for several days, and this evening was no different so we had a struggle but we valiantly pushed on as best we could, but ultimately with only 4 of us, a lot to do and a lot of rain, progress was not to the level we wanted.

We decided after a short time to just focus on one main area where a quick effort would have a high impact and gave it our all.

We will be back in a few weeks to more.

GoodGymers Victoria, Anne, Becky, Adam, James, Kirsty and Lauren joined Karl of the Run Company to take part in a run and litter picking mission.

We bravely decided to continue even though Rich Adams, who is the glue between the Run Company and GoodGym litter picking missions, was not there!

Armed with bin liners, gloves and litter picking sticks we ran under Victoria Arch and to Travelodge that needed plenty of litter picking attention. 2 ceramic mugs anyone?

We then ran down White Rose Lane collecting litter as we went until the dreaded Jack and Jill steps where we were all desperate to stop to pick up litter just to catch our breath!

We ran back to the Run Company with full bin liners of litter and Woking looking a much nicer place, clocking up over 32k in the process. Mission complete.

Tonight 9 Goodgym runners and Indie 🐶 met at the leisure centre to then run to Woking food bank to carry out some cleaning and organising.

We got to the park early this evening and did a couple of loops to get the legs warmed up. We then headed up the hill to the food bank there was fantastic running by everyone. 🏃🏼‍♂️

Tonight we were also joined by honorary member Rich who was out on one of his evening runs, it was a pleasure having his helping us.

Once at the food bank we met Allison who gave us our tasks.

Wayne kindly got some water for everyone and then we got stuck in. Anne, Kirsty, Lauren, Rebecca, Adam, and Jessica armed with hoovers, brooms and clothes got down and dirty.

Firstly the shelfs all got a wipe down then the floor got hoovered, after that the floor got wiped with hot soap and water it was a fantastic team effort.

Rebecca, Kirsty and Lauren moved to the front of the food bank and started cleaning the skirtings and carpets. Conversation soon led to Air Fryers the sought after piece of equipment at the moment. James was tempting Rebecca with his air fryer, don’t know if it worked or not. 😄

Once finished the place was smelling and looking amazing. Hope you all have a great week and see you either at Guildford Junior Parkrun on Sunday or next Wednesday.

This week, Sally-Anne, Lauren, Kirsty (with Rocket), Jessica, Anne, James and Adam met at the RSPCA in Chobham.

We wondered if the RSPCA staff were really expecting us as the gate was locked. But this did not stop us, and we climbed it -more or less- gracefully.

While waiting for Adam and James who were running from Woking, the rest of the team decided to jog around the horses’s field. Thank goodness the ground, although uneven, was dry.

Rocket was the fastest and the best of us all…

We only found a few shears to tackle the brambles, but this did not stop our usual efficient enthusiasm! We managed to clear a whole side of the dogs’s compound and James even saved a tiny frog from the jungle before handing it to Anne who released it safely in a quieter area.

Our very best wishes to Adam and James who will tackle the Big Half in London on Sunday.

Later this month Jessica will run a 10K in Henley and Anne one in Windsor.

We are all in awe of Sally-Anne, our super Star, who is training for the Ironman triathlon due to take place at the beginning of October (but we hope to see you again before then Sally-Anne!).

If you are available, it would be lovely to see you at Woking Park to support junior parkrun.

Next week we will meet at the Leisure Centre and go to the Lighthouse to perform our usual duties.

In the meantime, happy running to everyone.

Junior Park Run:- 🏃🏼‍♂️

This morning 7 GG Members carried out various volunteering duties at the junior park run.

We welcomed back Rich & Victoria & little Gabriel who have retired from a 9 week vacation in Canada it was great to catch up with them and hear about their time away, with Victoria smashing park run records while out in Canada then finishing 1st female at yesterdays Adult Park Run….🥇

Before park run had started James & Adam had run an impressive 17km, Wayne had done 8km 🏃🏼‍♂️. Kirsty who is still recovering from a hamstring injury made the wise choice of not to run this morning.

The 7 GG members carried out various roles this morning Wayne, Adam, Rich, & Victoria were marshalls this morning offering support and encouragement to the 98 runners who took part this morning.

Kirsty & Anne were on the important roles of bar code scanners getting all these finishing times scanned and onto the system. James was everywhere as usual but his main role today was photographer and videographer 📹.

The fastest time today was an impressive 07:58 with 16 PB’s, Fantastic running by everyone.

This coming Wednesday we are at the RSPCA doing some weeding in the dog compound remember to sign up….

Enjoy the rest of your weekend..😃

The GoodGym crew consisting of James, Wayne, Anne, Katie, Kirsty, Sally, Adam, Becky teamed up with the Run Company crew made up of Rich, Louise and Karl.

Never have pink and red gone so well together as a team of 11 people in team tshirts running around Woking carrying bin bags and litter pickers.

We made our way along Chertsey Road and back into town via Woodham Road, clocking up approximately 5k each and picking up litter as we went. The running turned more into walking as our bin bags filled with good deeds.

Big congratulations to Anne for reaching her 200th good deed.

The wonderful residents of Woking even took time to appreciate Anne for her hard work cleaning up the community. We also got a few appreciative beeps from cars along the way.

Big thank you to Louise for baking blondies for the group.

101 children took part in the 184th Woking junior parkrun and 5 GoodGymers helped this morning.

There were 22 PBs, the first to reach the finishing line ran the 2 kms course in 7’33 and the 101st in 21’28.

James and Rich had run 21 kms before volunteering, Anne did 5 kms and Wayne cycled all the way there before doing a 5k run himself.

Bryan and Kirsty cheered all the runners as well as their son who managed to gain a PB (he had magic running shoes today though: his uncle’s -James!).

Wayne scanned the finish tokens that James had handed out. After encouraging the runners Anne joined Wayne to sort the tokens ready for next week.

The team met in the town centre for a well-deserved breakfast!

Congratulations to Wayne and James who ran a Brutal yesterday and well done to Kirsty who helped during a critical incident at parkrun.

Next Wednesday we will join the Run Company to do our monthly “litter-picking” with the council’s support. Have a great running week.