Lots of fun to be had at Derbyshire Cricket Foundation's Parkinson's Cricket session today.

We warmed up with target practice, working on hand-eye coordination, and then went on to play cricket with everyone taking a turn at batting and bowling.

One batter gave us an extremely memorable shot - the ball travelled the complete length of the hall, through the kitchen door, and ended up in the sink!

Today Tracey cycled along to meet the guys at Derbyshire Cricket Foundation's Monday Mates session. After parkin up beside a few old bangers, she bounded up the stairs like a rocket to help with the set-up before the guests arrived. Alex had organised three quizzes this month, and everyone was (b)on fire with enfuseiasm to answer the tricky questions. Then we had some live music - you can't hold a (Roman) candle to Tim for such a sparkl(er)ing performance.

On the way home, she (Catherine) wheeled her bike along a different one of the fawkes in the cycle path, (Gunpowder) plotting a Freedom parkrun along the Alvaston route.

Four enthusiastic GoodGym members from GoodGym Leicester joined Sarah to distribute new leaflets to parkrunners, and what a fantastic day it was! Including our newest GoodGym Leicester member Rebecca recruited by the amazing taskforce member Nick, great to meet Rebecca and weldone getting involved.

We kicked things off with the scenic Markeaton parkrun—an exhilarating first experience for all the GoodGymmers. The course was a delightful mix of mostly tarmac paths and a gentle slope, leading us through a lovely woodland area before opening up for another lap. Sarah finished as the first lady, racing ahead to ensure the leaflets reached the runners quickly.

We were met with an enthusiastic response from a diverse group of runners, including members from various running clubs. A gentleman from Derwent Runners even offered to help spread the word within his club!

The Markeaton parkrun volunteers were also incredibly supportive, agreeing to include our next session in their run report.

These are positive strides toward welcoming new GoodGymmer's in Derby! Weldone GoodGym Leicester supporting the event!

Next GoodGym Sessions in Derby (Please click on the link to find out more and sign up)

Monday 4th November 12 to 1pm Derby Woman's Centre https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/sprucing-up-the-women-s-centre-garden

Wednesday 6th November 6.15pm to 7.45pm Litterpicking supporting Sustrans https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/getting-fitter-picking-litter-plogging-cycle-route-6-in-derby

"Don't Dream It, Be It, Wild and Untamed Thing" said Tracey as we looked at the litter pickers. "There's some litter Over At The Frankenstein Place". So we set off, seeing the rose-tinted glasses on the pathside. We thought that we were in a Time Warp when we saw a packet of Poppets: they still make them! It's good to do a GoodGym session Once In a While. I'm Going Home now though.

The pesky trees near Ms S's house had deposited berries and leaves all over Ms S's path. After mowing the lawn with a lovely new mower, Tracey set to with a broom and cleared them all up.

Ms S was a pleasure to meet, and a great help with bagging and binning. She also makes a smashing cup of tea, and we had a good chat after doing the gardening. Turns out that we both worked for the same company in the past, though very different jobs.

Another lovely morning at Derbyshire Cricket Foundation's Parkinson's Cricket. Everyone warmed up with a target ball game, and then throwing and catching different sized balls. Then we focussed on batting practice, trying to hit the ball in as straight a line as possible. Initially they were aiming for Alex (the DCF community officer), but as the batting got more accurate, he wisely moved out of the way and placed a cone as the target.

Tracey had a good workout chasing the balls, and placing them on small cones for the batters to hit. Everyone did really well, and it was amazing to see people's smiling faces as they made visible improvements in accuracy throughout the session. It's not just Harry Brook and Joe Root who are cricketing stars this week.