It was a hot one this morning at Coldham's Common parkrun.

My first time doing post-event close down at Coldham's, which allowed me to enjoy the run first. Shout out to the marshals who were giving so much positive energy, and one even had a dinosaur puppet cheering us on (very motivational) 🦖

I was fortunate to be volunteering with Tina, who had definitely closed down a few parkruns, packing the trolley perfectly and successfully wrangling the name sign (if you've tried to do this you'll know what a skill it is!). Wheeling the trolley was the 'fun' part with all wheels wanting to go in different directions. It certainly needed some strength to manoeuvre, and I suggested it we give it some whoomph 💪 (welly x oomph, I think?? It was early.) It worked, and within half an hour the trolley was stored away in the smartest parkrun container I've ever seen!

Well done to all 407 finishers 🙌

Another sunny evening spent improving green spaces in Cambridge 🌿

We were back at The Fields Child and Family Centre working in the children's garden, which had been taken over by weeds. In need of some help to finish the work started by the Centre team, Sal called in the big guns. Known around the city for our elite weed-fighting skills, of course Goodgymers accepted the (community) mission.

Ilse, Beth and I jumped on bikes to make the dash to the Centre and Scott ran across town double-quick time (not at all because he was running late). We were delighted to welcome new recruit, Rowan, who joined us for her first task 🫡

Met by Sal, we got straight to work. Rowan, Scott and Beth were on weeding duty, Sal was sweeping, and Ilse and I cleared the raised beds (leaving grass in one for the dinosaurs, obviously).

It was T-shirt and shorts weather at last, and as some GoodGymers were wrangling copious amounts of mint, it was feeling fresh and summery. With many hands, we had the area cleared within the hour, leaving it ready for playing and planting over the coming weeks. We had chance to hear about the positive work Sal and her teams are doing in their Centres across Cambridge, both to improve the environment directly and providing learning opportunities for the community. 💚

Before we left we had time for a quick team photo, which would not have been out of place on an album cover from the early 2000s. Less squadron and more Blazin' Squad.

We did good, got fit, and stayed connected. GoodGym mission complete 🙌

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Pun credit: Scott