GoodGymers from Ealing, Hounslow and Newham were at Acton Junior parkrun today, where the glorious spring morning brought 66 finishers to the park. The 8 GoodGym volunteers came to the park for some sunbathing, then decided to help out when they saw that Junior parkrun was on. Joanna was the Run Director, Harvey was marshalling, Chikako took the role of the VI guide and tail walking duties were shared by Steph and Louise, who was very excited to wear the be-tailed orange hi-vis. In the funnel, Michelle was handing out finish tokens before Kash and Sevan scanned barcodes.

On the weekend of International Womens' Day, 2 of the top 4 finishers were girls again. A common occurrence at Acton Juniors. What was really encouraging at the finish was that they and their parents were praising and encouraging each other, commenting how the other was pushing them onwards due to how consistently similar their performances were. It was great to see them trying to achieve more themselves and also to help their fellow runner do the same.

Acton Junior parkrun were happy to welcome GoodGymers this morning across different roles to support the 54 finishers. Florian, Michelle and Sevan were marshalling, Alan and Kash barcode scanning and Chris was learning how to be a timekeeper, guided by an experienced traveller from Sheffield.

Chris had a surprise up her sleeve too. She had secretly worked her way up to 50 good deeds. So secretly, in fact, that no one else at parkrun from Ealing or Hounslow was aware of it. Not even Chris, as it turned out. Well done Chris! You can now request a snazzy black GoodGym t-shirt, perfect for evening soirée volunteering 👏🎉.

The runners were having fun too. Some more than others. One boy reported doing the crab walk all around the course 🦀, half of the distance one way, then switching direction to ensure his crabbing muscles had an equal workout. The last runner was enjoying herself too. By the end though, her style was being cramped by her older brother who'd finished a while earlier. He followed her repeating "Run faster. Run faster. Hurry up. Hurry up" until she eventually crossed the line. Charming.

Steph and Sevan were volunteering at Acton Junior parkrun again this morning. It turned out to be a bumper event, with 81 finishers, close to their record attendance and similar to summer numbers.

Two of the first 3 finishers were girls today and there was one runner who loved it so much that they didn't want to stop. Sevan and the other timekeeper guided them into the funnel, but they ran right past it and on for another lap. Their mum shouted at them to come back and eventually, they noticed and turned around, finishing around 30 seconds later.

Steph was tailwalking and had to keep the last runner entertained and motivated to finish the course. He had to be creative, using all of his attributes, including his leopard tail and lion socks to encourage the child to walk, jog or run all the way to the line.

Sunshine on tarmac and cheers that quicken
Bright crisp hi-vis and foam hands as mittens
Neat finish tokens tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite parkrun things

When the mud slides
When the cold clings
When I'm feeling drowned
I simply remember my favorite parkrun things
And then I don't feel so bad

It was pretty wet and miserable at Acton Junior parkrun this morning and bets were being taken on how many children would actually take part. Guesses ranged from 6 to 12. The children proved us wrong though as 20 of them ran the distance. Well done Kash for being the most optimistic!

The volunteers too were troopers, adding some humour into less than ideal conditions. Most were varying degrees of wet. Around the course there were:

• Sevan: Marshalling. Wet feet
• Kash: Barcode scanning. Wet all over
• Alan: Timekeeping. Wet jeans and wet phone, meaning some extra runners were recorded
• Chikako: VI Guide. Wet feet
• Joanna: Marshalling. Not wet in her signature DryRobe 💡

Twas 3 nights before Christmas and all through the house, no one had volunteered for Acton Junior parkrun, not even a mouse. The call went out urgently to find people for all roles, to help the parkrunners achieve their goals.

Sevan saw the email and responded to their call, saying that he'd be up for almost any role. So he came to be in Acton Park and be a timekeeper, recording the finishes of kids who were eager.

Sevan recorded 35 finishers in all, boy and girl, fast and slow, short and tall.

In the aftermath of storm Darragh, no one knew who would be at Acton Junior parkrun this morning. Today, the volunteers were hardier than the runners with 20 helpers around the course compared to 16 finishers. The weather didn't even put off Santa Steph, who flew down from north pole, through the storm to be today's tail walker.

Steph didn't fly around the course, using his legs to run instead. On his way, he passed Joanna, Kash, Mohamed and Sevan who were marshalling around the course, Chikako who was today's VI guide, Chris, who did an expert job managing the busy funnel 😂 and Harvey who was timekeeping.

There were a few children who wished they'd stayed in bed - like the volunteers, probably. Most of the runners were happy to be there and equally happy to have finished and go to the park café for a warm drink afterwards.