Congrats to all who came out, and a special cheer to Ben on coming to his very first Goodgym group run on what could only be described as a night "wetter than an otters pocket." Well done Ben, hopefully the first of many.

With Fay and Sallyann walking with bags, Richard, Andy, Ben and I had a short run around the back of the uni and along the bunnywalks (which isn't flooded now) and met up en route to continue with the picking. With the driving rain it was difficult to see, especially if you wear glasses, so another big congrats to all as it was difficult to spy those small pieces of rubbish hiding in the grass and hedges.

Once we were soaked through and hands started to shiver we called it a day and made our way back to base and posed for some photos (sorry for them being blurry), said our goodbyes and went home to warm up and have a well deserved dinner.

Thanks for coming all, and thanks for making Chelmsford that little bit nicer.

and remember

Run Happy

Rich

A pun only those of Andy's age may get.

There was initial consternation from the GoodGym Chelmsford leadership that not enough people were signed up for the huge number of leaflets, but it should not have been a concern as Richard 'the postman' (he always delivers) was there.

Fay like baa baa black sheep, had three bags full and they all got delivered. Hit the leafletting so hard that there is only one photo!

Only the strongest ran all the way there and back, Jen and Laurie.

Great work, for a huge number of local charities.

no one else tried :(

sad david :(

We applauded Richard P for his 250th parkrun volunteer, incredible work to tie with his 80th good deed.

Onward ho to the pub to do the leaflets and meet the four who walked there tonight. We voted and decided that less than 2k there would be preferred. Naturally Joel totally ignored us and we did 3.4km on the way there! Martin was in charge of conversation topics and chose the Chelmsford area activator role!

The pub team had laid out the leaflets ready (waiting for Andy and his City Sounds) with such intensity that Leanne had sliced her finger open.

Wine in hand, Sallyann revealed she had only woken up at 10:30 this morning, what a life of luxury! Asking Fay how Paisley was i was informed she currently 'smells like a tart's boudoir'. Lovely. As we were leaving we spied an advert for Caribbean roast dinners, now that is intriguing.

Next week is delivering all the leaflets we folded today and the vague plan is Chelmer Village way. CHESS, Age concern, City Sounds, Hearing Help Essex, Colchester Zoo Stampede, and Beaulieu Community Centre. See you there!

What a day out.

Our first volunteer at Junior Parkrun, a warm welcome by Paul leading to a world class whistle test, followed by the Parkrun!

We all had different roles, from barcode scanning, to marshalling, to funnel management, to tokens, and more, but everyone whooped and hollered the kids along. They were very quick!

The main shoutout has to go to Richard Perry, who did his sensational 250th Parkrun volunteer! And contrary to popular belief, the good deed this time wasn't bringing cake to the run. But the cake was very welcomed.

Afterwards we went to Wetherspoons and I am shocked to my core that the £1.50 haggis I had did not make me feel good for the rest of the day.

Great volunteering everyone, nice to do it at Junior Parkrun too to mix it up. We've been asked if we will help out at Writtle Parkrun too!

Only six of us braved the slightly concerning forecast last night, including newcomer Scott! He joined Jen, Joel and myself jogging the short distance to our task, where we met Jess and Sallyann, and our host Jennifer.

We were shown to the Scrap Store, a treasure trove of crafting items, but in need of organisation. Thankfully, there were lots of shelves that needed also needed organising.

Jen demonstrated her inner Stacey Solomon and rallied us all into getting things into place. We moved shelves, cleared spaces on the floor, and Jess put countless rolls of fabric onto shelves.

And as a reward, it was dry for those of us who ran back!

A great task, and loads of sorting done for Artists at the Meadows. Thanks all for coming, and a big well done to Scott for starting with us on a wet January evening!

See you soon

Laurie