It was a pretty grim Sunday morning in December and competition from Bath Christmas Market and added traffic no doubt contributed to a lower turnout for Junior Parkrun at Odd Down sports ground.

That didn’t stop 50 4 to 14-year-olds giving their all as they pounded round the 2km track.

Mary and I were there to act as marshals and cheer on the children - and occasional parents. We donned hi-vis and giant red foam hands, which did their duty in dishing out hi-fives along the way. Catching them red-handed, so to speak!

Everyone got round safely - the fastest did it in just 6 minutes and 50 seconds.

It is always a privilege to be a part of parkrun which does so much to get young people enthusiastic about running.

Here we are again, the first Christmassy thing that happens every year is GoodGym rocking up to St Johns Court to decorate the place for the festive Season.

Couple of trees, plenty of tinsel, Christmas tunes on the ghetto blaster, this is when we all begin to realise it is Christmas at last.

To that end, these Christmas Elves were on hand to help - Cosmo, Kate, Tanya, Emily, Bennath, Nev and Meyrick 'elved' themselves to as many decorations as they could in the hour they had.

We did a great job, the main entrance Christmas tree is always the jewel, but trees were also put up in the dining hall and the TV lounge, with the usual residents on hand to help.

We will return in January to take all of this down - not as popular an event if I'm honest, might just be me on my own, but for Christmas at least, we left the place feeling festive.