After a week of glorious sunshine, Goodgym decided to take Parkrun on holiday and venture over to Manchester to try a new course, Worsley Woods, as highly recommended by Goodgymer Amina. After travelling by train and car share, we met up in a cafe then headed over to the car park. After a carefully manœuvred parallel park by myself (I was told to add this), we trotted up to the start line where a friendly local explained the 'lollipop' shaped course to us.

The run began, and we set off on an old railway line, thankfully shaded by the trees, before turning off on to a trail through the woods where we ran past brooks and over bridges. Out of the three parkrun I've done, this was the most beautiful by far! As we reassembled at the finish, it turned out Vikky had taken a bit of a tumble in the woods but we were able to get antiseptic wipes and make sure she was ok. Overall, everyone remarked how nice the run had been, despite some tales of woe!

After the run we found a local cafe and we ate brunch while planning the next parkrun trip before heading off to enjoy the rest of the day.

Monday evening brought another brilliant GoodGym Liverpool session, this time on the Mount at the beautiful St James’ Gardens by the Anglican Cathedral. As always, the evening started with movement and good company, with part of the group meeting near famous Suitcases for a run before heading down to the task location together. After a warm-up and an easy run through the city, we arrived ready to get stuck in.

The gardens were waiting for a bit of love and it didn’t take long before everyone found a job to tackle. Armed with tools, gloves and plenty of energy, we spread out across the space to help tidy and refresh the area. Some of us focused on clearing overgrown sections, cutting back vegetation to help reopen parts of the pathways and make the gardens easier to enjoy. Others got busy cleaning, litter picking and generally sprucing things up to bring a bit of order back to the space.

Bit by bit, the area started to transform. Paths became clearer, corners looked brighter and the gardens felt more open and cared for. After plenty of teamwork, laughs and muddy hands, we wrapped up the session feeling accomplished before heading back, knowing we’d made a real difference to a much-loved local space.