🎵 "Oh what a beautiful morning..." 🎵

When Goodgymmers John and Jacqueline mentioned they were coming up from London to do a Parkrun in Liverpool, Sallyann quickly mobilised to arrange a warm Liverpool welcome. Despite it not being the usual monthly Goodgym Parkrun date - and therefore no prized stickers on offer to tempt people - she rallied a fabulous turnout.

On a gorgeous crisp bright autumn morning, we welcomed back Laura after her break from maternity leave, it was so lovely to see her again and amazing to see how it felt like she'd never been away. Miriam made great strides in her running, taking place in her second ever parkrun, and after a running break Heetu was back in the game.

Jessica smashed it by running a 5k before she even reached the park, the 9am parkrun was her second that day! Dike casually let slip he accidentally ran an unplanned marathon earlier in the week - he set off to do 15k, but kept going for all 40+! Leonardo did some excellent recruiting and we hope to see some new members soon off the back of his conversations. Lucien remains dedicated to supporting the runners and turned out to cheer everyone on, and Amina & Steph did the hard part and joined us for the run even though they sadly couldn't make it for breakfast. And I frantically tried to keep up with Sally Ann, who - despite having only recently returned to running after injuries - was absolutely smashing the speed and did an amazing job on her return to Princes Park.

After Parkrun and the classic photo, we headed over to new favourite cafe Maw for a well earned breakfast, where John and Jackie were delighted with the vegan cake selection. It turns out they're very well travelled for both Parkrun and Goodgym, and John makes the most of the numerous GG areas in London by attending sessions in several of them. John, next time you're in Hackney, send our love to Dan! We compared area notes and admired the Goodgym sticker adorning John's phone - any chance for a bit of exposure! As we chatted like old friends we were pleased Liam was able to join us for a coffee.

The large group of red t shirts attracted quite a bit of interest and we were approached by several people interested in joining us. And after such a beautiful morning, it's clear to see why. Even the sun shone on us, and with a wide range of running abilities everyone was welcomed and supported, no matter where they were on their running journey. It was a gorgeous start to the weekend and we all left on a high, surrounded by positivity and lovely people doing lovely things.

I began today feeling a deep sense of connection with the world, inspired by Goodgym's woodland adventures of yesternight. Then, I reflected again.

Our clearance of clumps of young trees was requested, as necessary to open up the space for park users and the nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club. But tis sometimes a struggle, being cruel, sustained only by the hope that our actions are understood as simple kindness. Thus, for this Goodgym mission of sensible park management, we kept our hearts somewhat hidden, satisfying the remit of the task, however slightly ruthless it might have felt.

As the sun sank, we switched on the stark glare of our night lights, illuminating the forest staring back at us, with its meek foliage fluttering in the evening breeze. We proceeded with the merciless grinding of our saws against hard wood, backed with the sharp bite of our loppers severing through sapling branches. We then neatly piled up the spoils of our lumberjacking, anticipating the season of crackling bonfires ahead.

Nearby skateboarders were said to have heard the occasional roar of destructive pleasure sounding from amongst the falling trees.

To express this conflicted medley of emotion, in a neat, comic pun, I searched and found the title of a dreamy, sentimental love song, so it, too, could be crushed, by simply remembering the brutal efficiency of our seemingly innocent, rustic garden implements. Delivering tough love, for the greater good(gym).

Pun (drawing on the lyrics of a song by Briony Greenhill):

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PeonN3AeWNE&si=LPpFIY0EQY0Qm94B