GoodGymers and our friends at MAC have good soles - too many really! So we've had a clear out, but rather than put those extra shoes in the bin, we are giving them the chance to survive and be useful with charity Jog On.

We hope those that are in good nick can have many a happy run on their new owners' feet, and the few that are too beaten up for running will be shredded and used to produce fuel.

Well done to everyone who collected/donated and an extra cheer for Dave - he was joining us for the first time, and he donated more shoes than anyone else.

Happy New Year one and all! And what better way to kick off 2024 than with parkrun, GoodGym, cake and a healthy dose of mud?

This morning Maidenhead parkrun #390 met GoodGym Windsor and Maidenhead Community Mission #1070.

326 parkrunners put on their trainers to run, walk and skip their first 5km of the year around the Braywick Park route, and 33 volunteers put on parkrun hi-viz and their best cheering voices to welcome the runners and help make the event a success.

14 of those volunteers were GoodGymers, showing up for our first good deeds of our January Challenge. If this event was the first time you've come across GoodGym, then welcome! Please do have a browse of our listings and sign up to join us on a session. This month we'll be doing everything from planting trees to taking down Christmas decs for Age Concern. We meet every Wednesday evening in Maidenhead and Thursday evening in Windsor, and have plenty of other activities to choose from during the daytime and at weekends too. Everyone is welcome and there is no minimum time commitment. Any questions, email amylovell@goodgym.org.

Many thanks to parkrun Run Director Nick, who welcomed us in his GoodGym t-shirt and kept everything running smoothly. No time for his famous poetry today, but a sign language volunteer and lots of milestones to celebrate meant his briefing was still characteristically welcoming and engaging.

Milestones included Isla Ralph and Robin Lovell joining the Junior 10 club, Katie Colwill, Harry Povey, John Furley and Maggie Hyndman reaching 25 parkruns, Jemma Springle, Sue Kitson, Dalton Crook, Laurence Derx, David Gordon Smith and Emily Bullock reaching 50, Lyndsey Cunningham and Richard Coleman reaching the big 1-0-0 and Joanne Whitfeld hitting an epic 250. Congratulations to these heroes!

There were 38 people running/walking Maidenhead for the first time, 8 of whom were doing their first ever parkrun. 27 people celebrated PBs this morning, which is no mean feat on a muddy course and following late nights seeing in the New Year. Well done to Steve Francis and Louise Fry, who zoomed round to be the first male and female finishers respectively - inspiring stuff!

The numbers always give cause for celebration and are of interest for the stats geeks among us, but the reason we all love parkrun is the supportive and friendly atmosphere we find there every Saturday morning, and as a bonus on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Like at GoodGym, it doesn't matter how fit you are, the main thing is that you're getting out, being active, being sociable and doing something positive...

...and there is often cake! Thanks to today's baked goods providers Claire, Juli, Susan Maskell, Ros Ralph and Sol, who helped make parkrun extra rewarding today!

Happy New Year, happy parkrunday and many happy returns!

It was time for another GoodGym takeover - yay! But this time a number of star bakers whisked up a plan to make sure the Maidenhead parkrunners left with full bellies, full of cake! There were gluten free cakes, dairy free cakes, gluten free AND dairy free cakes, banana cake, carrot cake and not to mention sweets, lollies and brownies. I mean who even goes for a run if they don't get cake straight afterwards?! It was also a slighty belated celebration for Sophie and Stephan who both celebrated their birthdays yesterday...only a few years apart of course.

Firstly a big welcome to Chris who is a regular parkrunner, Run Director and MAC-er who logged his first GoodGym mission today. Welcome Chris and well done!

At the start of the morning, Liz (parkrun RD) assembled all her troops. The funnel was set up on the path as the grass was too boggy and the marshals set off towards their stations. There was a turnout of 335 parkrunners and parkwalkers including dogs and buggies. Kelley was in charge of photographs and as always did an amazing job of capturing lots of happy faces all getting their Saturday morning parkrun (and GoodGym) fix.

At around 19 minutes the first runners started to come in with an exciting sprint finish between first and second place. Then the funnel started to fill up and we finished at around the 1 hour mark when the tail walker crossed the line. The timekeepers, token team and funnel manager stayed in sync all the way through (definitely a win!) and made sure the parkrunners and parkwalkers stayed in order in the funnel. The number checker was on hand in case anything went awry and the barcode scanners were then on hand to make sure everyone gets a time and to more importantly, direct them to the cake stand and learn more about GoodGym!

We finished with a volunteer photo with all the amazing volunteers which included both GoodGymmers and regular parkrun volunteers who give up their time, sometimes week after week, to make sure this amazing free event can go ahead. Although by the time the volunteers all re-assembled at the end, there was no cake left!! Note to self... must bake more next time.

GoodGym Windsor & Maidenhead are currently competing in the January challenge and we are very close to hitting our target of 250 good deeds and with today's turnout we are now a lot closer. Well done everyone!! It was a great morning all round with lots of smiles, PBs, first timers and CAKE! Watch this space as we will be back for another GoodGym parkrun takeover (or even a bakeover) very soon!

Sheila, Liz and Stephan all volunteered at the vaccination centre this morning - it was practically a GoodGym takeover! We had a steady stream of people coming in for their COVID and 'Flu jabs. It was quite chilly outside when welcoming people into the centre, but we swapped round tasks every hour or so, so it was back inside for a warm up.

Another Saturday afternoon shift at the vaccination centre at the Town Hall. It's Covid booster time along with flu vaccinations for those who want it. It was great to be back after a couple of weeks' break and to see some familiar faces coming back to volunteer at the Saturday afternoon shift. It was good to see that we had an amazing turnout of people wanting their jabs. Can't wait to do it again next Saturday.