On a stunning evening on the extremely sunny south coast 10 of us gathered at Heene Community Rooms garden on our mission to finish laying cardboard under the freshly dug soil.

Congratulations to Mel on her first half marathon at Brighton at the weekend - the first of many I think! Also well done to Paul who pulled a great time out of the bag despite having been ill.

Megan and Stéphane headed out for some interval sprints down to the seafront and back. They were worked on a perceived exertion scale gradually increasing the effort over 5 repetitions of the same distance. Suffice to say I think they had a great work out!

Ricky worked on removing tape from the cardboard that I had acquired whilst the rest of the team worked on digging up the soil and digging it in.

Shout out to our very own ultra runner Roxy who despite all her recent kilometres, put some energetic digging. Many thanks to you all for some serious effort with this task - I actually feel we may have finally cracked it !

El came up with this great pun after I had mentioned to John that it was fine to take a break from his energetic raking !

During the task eagle eyed Belinda spotted our very own Worthing fonder member Beth running by with her brother and Dad. I hackled her enough that she couldn't ignore it so she stopped for a brief chat and photo :) What a lovely surprise!

Many thanks to Paul for completing his task force training - maybe a task report may be a first chance to flex your TF muscles?!

Looking forward to seeing lots of you next week - I'm not quite sure what the task will be but watch this space !

and so does Worthing GoodGym. 14 goodgymers volunteered to support the 692 parkrun finishers as March arrived bringing with it the feeling that spring may actually be here.

It’s a set up

Sue A, under the close supervision of John, arrived nice and early to help with set up. Poles hammered in, rope and tape installed, it was time for Sue to cast her GoodGym top aside and display her running club allegiance.

Showing the way

There were three GoodGym Marshals out on the course. Ricky found a position along the prom to cheer and support the runners. Paula and Barbara were given bright yellow signs to take out marshalling, basically warning the general public to exercise caution in their vicinity.

Ropey start

No, not Belinda’s RD missive. John P, Daisy, Anne and Sue held the rope that separates parkrunners from those who haven’t found parkrun yet!

Run director, run

It was reported that Belinda’s dulcet tones could be heard from quite a distance away today. It was just at the start she couldn’t be heard due to the constant chat of eager parkrunners who feel they’ve ‘heard it all before’. Belinda took the opportunity to share all about GoodGym and how it contributes to the local community, as well as having fun and getting fit. There was a special shoutout to John P who was volunteering at parkrun for the 25th time. Although not a GoodGymer, we are all very fond of John P. We only have as many socials in the pub as we do because then we get to see John P who is often tempted along to join us.

More than a token gesture

Belinda took the opportunity to spread concern by encouraging Anne in her belief that the tokens may run out. Frankly, we’ve no idea why Anne was concerned - surely if they did run out she would be quick enough to catch up!

As time goes by

One of our elder statesmen, Paul, oversaw the finish line. Clicking his ticker at every passing pair of feet.

Funnel

There was no ducking responsibility for Sue W on funnel management, and no funnel ducking allowed. There is a perverse pleasure in watching an exhausted runner stagger over the finish line to be told to keep on moving through the never-ending funnel created earlier by John and Sue A.

Breaking the Barcode

Roxy, who took a pause in her long, long, run attended the Daisy school of barcode scanning in order to be ready for the steady onslaught of runners finish tokens being thrust eagerly towards them.

Run baby, run….

Sue A, Ryan, Sarah and Craig who ran as well as volunteering were joined on the course by Jay with his juggernaut, Olivia filled, buggy. Gill, as often happens, ran amongst the throng chatting with her running pals.

Post event clowning

As usual when Sarah, Ryan and Craig contribute to closedown they turned the finish area into their own personal playground. No flagfighting this time, just competitive banner folding. Who won? There is no result, the banner remains unfolded.

Taking the biscuit

Results were processed supported by hot chocolate and biscuits. John and Ricky were happy to take responsibility for biscuit demolition whilst Belinda ensured the 692 runners got their correct times.

Half the battle

Our local parkrun is finding it increasingly difficult to fill the roster each week. On a normal Saturday (that is, one that doesn’t happen to be pre half marathon rest day for many) with 14 GoodGymers we would have filled half the roster. Let’s see if we can do even better next month. And don’t forget, parkrun volunteering isn’t just available on our monthly GoodGym promotion occasions.