Woking Junior Park Run

On this beautiful morning 3 woking GG volunteers Wayne, Kirsty, & Karen carried out marshal duties 🏃‍♀️.

It was great to see Karen without her boot on, and is slowly getting back to full mobility 😄.

It was great to catch up with Kirsty who is back out and running again and enjoying it 👏🏻.

This morning the sun was out and so were 139 young runners who ran the 2k course. The fastest time was an amazing 07:29 and there were also 34 PB's fantastic running by everyone 👏🏻

Next task on the 13th Aug is the the foodbank in town for a focused clean....🧹

This time we were in Old Woking and while walking to the Community Centre, I saw several friendly runners warming up for the weekly parkrun. On arrival at the site, It was sad to hear that the float for the day had been stolen as the team leaders where packing their car... just one word comes to mind: Karma!

About 60 items were repaired this morning. There did not seem to be long queues of people waiting to be seen, but the flow was constant. Several mowers needed to be mended, not too many kettles this month though, but a few sport shoes (a first for me!). The sewers were always busy and hardly had time to have a break.

The Welcome Team ran efficiently, if I may say so (!), even when some "grumpy" visitors found difficult to accept some of the rules!

All in all, another productive session organised by Woking Enviroment Action (WEAct).

Woking junior parkrun #315 – Sunday 3rd August 2025

What a glorious morning it was for Woking junior parkrun this Sunday! The sun was shining, the skies were clear, and the park was buzzing with energy and excitement as our young runners gathered for event number 315.

We had some fantastic performances on the course this week. Huge congratulations to Marilyn, our first female finisher, who crossed the line in an impressive 7:26, and to Oliver, the first male finisher, coming in close behind at 7:48. Brilliant running from both!

Of course, none of this would be possible without our amazing volunteers – all 33 of them this week! A special shout-out goes to the fantastic team from GoodGym, who came out in force to support the event.

James and Melanie kept spirits high on the course as marshals

Adam was on barcode scanning duties with a smile

Katie and Phil took charge of timekeeping, making sure every finish time was recorded perfectly

A big thank you to all our volunteers – whether you're clapping, cheering, timing, scanning or tail walking, you make this event the highlight of the week for so many young runners.

See you next Sunday for more fun, fitness and community

After the success of our mission on Sunday with WEAct, Julie organised another GoodGym task along the Hoe Valley. Alys (and her little dog Quinn), Julie, Kirsty, Anne and Wayne, sorry, Adam ran to meet Richard in Mayford.

Richard is well known to GoodGym Woking as we often go and help him set up the railway tracks for the monthly “All Aboard Club” sessions which he runs for SEN children. This time it was Richard’s first GG mission without his “All Aboard” cap. We were all delighted when he let us use all the gardening tools he had brought with him!

Julie and Anne realised that the WEAct team had cleared all the Himalayan balsam in the areas we had planned to work on. But after a few metres of running, we found more to deal with.

Firstly, Julie asked for volunteers to cut back one of the bushes which encroached the path, allowing better access for walkers and runners. Richard and Wayne, oops, Adam did so diligently.

Armed with a long handle tool, Kirsty opened the path. Kirsty had warned everyone to cover their arms and legs to avoid being stung by nettles. Guess who forgot that covering your ankles was just as important? (no other comments). Poor Wayne, sorry again, Adam might not have read Kirsty’s messages. But this did not stop him tackling the nettles with enthusiasm. I wonder how his limbs are feeling this morning.

We pulled out a large patch of the invasive Himalayan balsam while discovering more as we worked up the path. We will return before the plants produce their seeds to try and limit their invasion. Julie will keep the WEAct team of our task.

The group ran back to our meeting point, fighting mosquitoes and calling Alys’s dog “This way”, which he is responding well to, every time he was taking another route.

Adam, we know your name really and apologise for calling you Wayne all evening!

Will you be joining us this coming Sunday to help Woking junior parkrun?

Happy running to you all.

Julie and Anne ran to Mayford Meadows to help a group of people from WEAct to pull balsam from the path along the Hoe.

The Hymalian Balsam have really pretty flowers and grow next to water. Unfortunately, they are very invasive as their seeds can be projected up to ten meters from their stem. Already, people living along the Hoe Valley have noticed how much they have expanded and know something must be done about it. Hence the involvement of WEAct with whom we have already done different missions.

Julie and Anne worked together and managed to clear quite a large area making two enormous piles of the balsam. We had to stomp on them and leaving them in a pile will help with them not making roots for next year.

Anne, who had forgotten to pack her gloves, was saved by Julie who always has some spare in her magic bag. Another issue was the stinging nettles, thank goodness we did not run in shorts, but our arms are still tingling! The bindweeds (le liseron in French!) did not help either as they gathered the nettles to the balsam…

But hey-“Hoe” after one and a half hour, we had cleared up a large area and were rather pleased with the result! So much so, that we will invite the whole team to pull some more balsam before the flowers produce their seeds! Hopefully most of you will be able to join us for a pleasant run and a rewarding task!

In the meantime, happy running to all of you!

Woking Wonders: Junior Parkrunners Dash into Sunday with Smiles and Speed!

This morning, Woking’s junior parkrun course was buzzing with energy as 175 enthusiastic young runners tackled the two-lap, 2km route with great spirit and determination. The first finisher zipped across the line with an impressive time of 7 minutes and 38 seconds, setting the pace for a brilliant event full of effort, fun, and community cheer.

Helping make the event a smooth success were four fantastic volunteers from Woking GoodGym: Karen, Kirsty, James, and Wayne, who took on the role of marshals with gusto, guiding runners around the course and cheering them on with trademark enthusiasm.

A big thank you to all the runners, families, and volunteers who made this morning’s run such a happy event. Whether it was their first time or their fiftieth, every step counted and every smile mattered.

Congratulations to Wayne for achieving his 250th good deed with Woking Goodgym!

See you next week for more junior parkrun magic!