Cambridge Goodgymers put on their running shoes to volunteer and run or walk at Fulbourn Hospital Parkrun today. It was a very muddy morning but it was great to get out there and help make the parkrun happen.

Catherine did an amazing job marshalling, encouraging the runners and directing them safely on a slightly altered, slippery course. Caroline sprinted round and still had enough energy left to sort the tokens, ready for next week's event. Alexandra made sure no one was left behind, doing a fantastic job tailwalking. Harriet had a lovely parkwalk and then helped out with the post-event closedown. We relaxed after all this lovely activity with hot drinks and cakes in the cafe.

We had two representatives at parkruns across Cambridge this weekend! There was Harriet at Fulbourn Hospital on one side of town, and Caroline at Brook Leys over on the other. 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Harriet made for an excellent marshal, cheering on the runners and walkers and providing valuable moral support. Caroline got to work placing signs directing participants and battling the winds to highlight benches with hi-vis tabards, before taking the mic to deliver the first timers briefing. She can now tick 'standing atop a tree planter to deliver an amplified address to a surprisingly large crowd' off her bucket list! 🎤

With a number of nearby events offlined, Brook Leys saw 667 runners and walkers - what an amazing atmosphere! A real highlight was helping someone at their first ever parkrun register last-minute to have a barcode in time, and catching up with them afterwards to hear how much they enjoyed it. The spirit of parkrun was on full display today! ☺️

For today's community mission, 3 goodgymers headed to Arbury for a litter pick. Caroline, Eva and Harriet put on their layers and met up to help clean up a community courtyard with lots of shops. The biggest culprits were the cigarette butts, and the team used the fiddly job to practice their picker skills! 🚬🪏

During the task, the group rotated roles and took turns to either pick or hold the rubbish bag. Forgetting to bring the hoops that help, Caroline accidentally made bag-holding a more important role! Plenty of chats about upcoming holidays and homemade knitwear were an added bonus 🧣🧤

This morning we were out once again with Abbey People. Our task was to maintain the banks along Coldham's Brook, which will help encourage wildlife and a range of habitats. We cleared away trees and shrubs which Cambridge City Council had already cut down and we used the branches to build up a bank alongside the brook. There was a lot of sawing and lopping as we cut branches down to more manageable sizes to carry over to the brook. We also cleared away overgrowth to allow more light on to the stream and also to make a more walkable path. It was quite a muddy task but it was great to see the difference we could make in one morning.