I was due to marshal at Pitshanger Park Junior parkrun but a sprained knee ligament made even walking tricky - luckily one of the other volunteers (my husband!) agreed to a swap and I was able to stand still and hand out finish tokens. Even with a dodgy knee I could manage that 😊

A whopping 83 young people turned out on a Sunday morning for a run in Pitshanger park today - good on them! And good on the 22 volunteers who made this possible. This included our own Fantastic Four from GoodGym Ealing - Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and Thing . Their super powers include marshaling (don't even think about taking a short cut!), barcode scanning and finish token support. This report writer is too wise to say which members of our team are which of the Fantastic Four - all the GoodGymers are the most amazing superheroes in our comic books! But we do undertake missions to the far away, unexplored parts of the galaxy! Does Pitshanger count?!

Jacquie, Chris, Aislinn and Steph Ducat signed up to volunteer until 3pm as requested by Angela, but as the BBQ was still in full swing and all were enjoying the sun, they all decided to carry on and finish by clearing, cleaning and packing up. All the customers were leaving and the crew worked relentless to ensure all was packed and left clean. They enjoyed some snow cones too. Super troopers!!!

Summer BBQ at Ealing Soup Kitchen and the Goodgym Crew were in place to prep plats and serve hungry customers in the garden. Jacquie and Ash Aislinn were serving drinks and food outside in the lovely sun, whilst Chris and Steph Ducat were in the kitchen/foyer plating food ready to go out. Loads of choice today for the BBQ : meat and veggie burgers on buns, chicken or veggie sausages and some porc ones in hotdog rolls, chicken wings and thighs not to forget lamb or chicken skewers. Grilled pepper and onions, halloumi, grilled tomatoes and corn on the cob on the side. Had some pita bread for the skewers. Sauces like ketchup, mayonnaise and BBQ sauce were also provided to the hungry customers. All the food went and the kitchen crew were thanked by the clients - success for the whole team. Deserts followed with mixed fruit and ice cream : most appreciated in the hot day.

Alot to do and the team were ready to rumble including Jacquie and Steph Ducat : longer prep than usual as more to cook and limited space in the kitchen oven to keep everything hot. At midday, speeches outside as the Mayor and other persons from the Ealing Borough were present, not to forget the trustees from Ealing Soup Kitchen

Early start for Jacquie and Steph Ducat at Ealing Soup Kitchen as today was the Special BBQ in the church garden. Alot of preparation to be done as not the usual setup and kitchen. Both volunteering from 9AM and getting items ready for the BBQ. Chopping peppers, salad, tomatoes etc and getting some lovely corn on the cob ready to cook. Chopping of fruit for the desert : apples, mandarins, mango and grapes.

I always enjoy marshalling at Pitshanger Junior parkrun and today was no exception. I was on puddle marshall duty - needless to say the youngsters loved running round and often through the puddles. Getting wet and muddy is all part of the fun!

As I wasn’t running, I signed up to help manage the funnel at Gunnersbury parkrun - before I saw the weather forecast! It poured with rain. We all got very wet - but the runners appreciated us 😊