On a very windy Sunday morning our GoodGymers at Acton junior parkrun did everything to prevent the scanned finish tokens from flying away. Another would-be escapee was the GoodGym flag weighed down by the shoes we collected to be recycled with Jog On. The last challenge of that morning was not letting the flyers to be blown by the wind at our third session.

After a break for a coffee, Alan, Mohamed, Sevan and Kash ventured to the streets of Acton to distribute 400 leaflets to spread the word about the Reduce and Recycle Hub before 7th of December. In the spirit of sustainability, they decided to:

• Recycle the task listing to include leafletting for another partner at the same time
• Reduce the time needed to help promote two sustainability initiatives in Acton
• Reuse the bundle of flyers they had collected after the Tuesday session for Library of Things!

The highlight of the Reduce and Recycle Hub flyer that caught the public's attention was the Jolly Christmas Jumper Swap. Hopefully the residents so excited about replacing their last year's jumpers with a new (preloved) outfits will find their way to the hub in the couple of weeks.

The Library of Things features didn't go unnoticed either!

Lady 1: £8.50 for a wet and dry vacuum per day is good.
Lady 2: If only I could hire someone to do it!
Sevan: You can't hire the people only the stuff.
Lady 2: For enough money, you can hire anyone.

Any takers?

Across the country, it was a Bert windy today and Acton Park was no different. Sevan and Mohamed arrived early to find Geoff, today's Run Director, almost finished with the course set up. The funnel poles were in the ground and Mohamed placed the "Caution Runners" signs at the top and bottom gates. Everything else was at risk of blowing away, including the runners and volunteers, so there were no cones to mark the course or lightweight table for the token sorting.

Harvey took advantage of the conditions, deciding to fly down the hill to the start line, where there were a good group of brave runners. 38 of them were blown around the course including Chikako who was the VI guide and Alan, whose tail walker tail was blowing in the wind. They flew past Mohamed and Joanna who were marshalling. They then tumbled over the finish line and into the funnel, where the other GoodGymers were at work. Sevan and Harvey were timekeeping, Divy was handing out finish tokens and Kash in her favourite role scanning barcodes.

There was little to pack up, so results were quickly submitted and then it was onto collecting all of the shoes that were brought for recycling.

It was a day for celebration, albeit a bit chilly, a bit damp and a bit overcast - not that we had our spirits chiiled, dampened or cast aside - the 600th Gunnersbury parkrun! What a amazing achievement for the volunteers and Gunners parkrun family. Clapping was loud and cake was consumed.

To mark the occasion, We Run Ealing organised a collection of old running shoes to be recycled by the good people at JogOn.

GoodGym Ealing and Hounslow came out to support parkrun - volunteering, cheering and running - and to donate their (perhaps a bit ponky) old shoes. A packed morning with a packed sack of old shoes and cake-packed tummies!