On a sunny Sunday morning, six GoodGymers showed up at Acton Park to help run director Geoff and the regular junior parkrun volunteers make the event run smoothly.

Alan and Chris kept an eye on the time as timekeepers. Maria, Sevan and Steph Ducat secured the course from their marshal positions and cheered the children like there was no tomorrow. They also gave out high-fives generously.

"See that guy there? You need to give him a high-five. He's really big on high-fives! Let's go!" – Dad to his son, running towards Sevan.

For Steph, safety was as important as fun, so he swept the slippery leaves from the path at a corner near his marshal spot. It was enough to keep the kids stable on that stretch, but three of the young runners fell at some point on the route to the finish line.

One of the children who fell was a boy who had just turned four – the minimum age to officially run junior parkrun. He didn't utter a word of complaint, but got up quickly and continued his enthusiastic interval run, full of joyous sprints along the way. Thanks to his dad's pep talk, which went beyond the simple promises of hot chocolate and the playground, and the cheers from the marshals, the junior successfully completed his first parkrun, running to the finish alongside fox-tailed tailwalker Kash. That's the spirit!

Sign up for the next Action juniors Sunday here!