Squeezing in one last good deed and a few kms before the end of January, GoodGymers were out and about at parkrun this morning.

I was marshalling at Brook Leys parkrun, cheering 643 runners and walkers ( a course record!) as they took on the tight corners of the course. A beautiful morning in the sunshine ☀️

Across the other side of Cambridge, Harriet was running her 100th parkrun! An amazing achievement, congratulations 🎉

Further afield, there was a bit of parkrun tourism with Caroline in St Albans, showcasing her 25 milestone t-shirt and Alexandra completing a rather extreme parkrun in Lithuania, complete with snow! Well done 🙌

Alongside our weekly community missions, GoodGymers in Cambridge have been out doing good across the city, helping the local community and pushing us closer to our January Challenge target!

Nick cleared litter from some of the worst hit areas. Not only did he clear it, he sorted the recyclables to ensure they were disposed of responsibly and reported fly-tipping to the council.

Michele did an extra leaflet drop for Cambridge City Foodbank covering another two streets on a daily walk.

Catherine took a plastic tub to a Greene King pub in support of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Great work team 🙌

We once again loaded up our backpacks and set off for a weighted jog delivering leaflets around the community in support of Cambridge City Foodbank's winter appeal 📨

The team met at Parkside Pool where Catherine distributed some of the haul to Caroline and Harriet. The 3 then set off for an illuminated jog across town to meet Michele in Newnham, where they paired up to make the task a social activity! 👩‍❤️‍👩

In just 40 min, we hand-delivered 300 leaflets! When we reconvened, we alll eagerly shared and compared our notes and observations on the beautiful glass door designs, doorways decorated with fairy lights, intricate (and sometimes glove-snatching!) letterboxes and curious dogs 🐶

In a double-header evening, we met Nick at a nearby pub for our January social. We warmed ourselves by the fire and ate some notably tasty chips, catching up and celebrating all the good deeds we'd accomplished this month - so far!!! 🫶

As a team, we're all super proud of the effort we're making and all the fun we're having along the way. Here's to keeping up the momentum and continuing to build and support our Cambridge community! 💪

This weekend, Cambridge GoodGymers put on their red t-shirts and grabbed the binoculars to take part in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. Nearly 6 millions birds have been counted so far!

The weather might have been a bit grey, but the birds came out and we managed to record some valuable data to help understand species numbers in the area. There were sparrows, magpies and pigeons a plenty. Herons are a fairly common sight along the river Cam and one very kindly touched down for Caroline and Michele - a case of right place, right time!

Daiana had the support of a purr-fessional 🐈 and Caroline had an im-peck-able birdwatching snack 🍦

We had no r-egrets taking part and enjoyed a peaceful, wholesome morning.

For this week's group task we were were doing good and getting fit through a group run and donating pre-loved items to charity.

Three GoodGymers met for a Cambridge city run. We joined Girls that Jog, a local running club, on their 5km route. It was very social, chatting all the way, but at some point I got separated from Harriet and Caroline. My group headed back to the start and on receiving a message from Caroline to say they'd taken a detour to the gelato shop, I immediately sprinted across town to find them. There is nothing more motivating than a Jack's Gelato.

It turned out to be a mis-communication and they hadn't stopped for gelato, just to take a selfie outside the shop (Caroline's favourite)! Cue another, slightly less springy, sprint back across town to meet them. Reunited and all in good spirits at the ridiculousness of the situation we parted ways for the evening, each running back home. Although slightly disappointed not to have had gelato, it turned a 5km run into a 10km run, so bonus for the January Challenge at least!

To do good, several GoodGymers have been having a thorough sort through their belongings and donating pre-loved items to charities of their choice across the city. Helping with a January refresh and providing items to raise funds for those doing important work in our community🙌

We were back at Fulbourn Hospital parkrun this weekend for the second time this month! Caroline & Harriet arrived bright and early to help with set-up, and were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise for their early morning alarms 🌄

They got to work filling in all the rabbit holes with upturned cones, marking the route and putting out signs to guide the runners and walkers. Having only been there once before as a marshal, this all helped jog Caroline's memory of the course in anticipation of the run ahead 🏃‍♀️

The pair ran together with a priority of making it a social activity, chatting non-stop throughout and cheering on familiar faces along the way. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Caroline's 25th parkrun (the milestone t-shirt has been ordered!) and for Harriet to warm up ready for her 100th parkrun next time around 💪

After helping with close-down too, they joined others in the cafe for a bit of coffee and cake to warm up. What a wonderful way to spend a morning! 🥰