On a crisp sunny September morning 4 Goodgymers headed over to Osterley Park to help out at Junior Parkrun.

Along with 11 regular volunteers we helped out in various roles and cheered on 25 juniors as they crossed the finish line. The morning was rounded off by marking Beth’s 250th good deed 🤩 with an out of this world chocolate and raspberry brownie baked by Beth, huge congrats and keep hitting those milestones Beth-An especially if we can count on such tasty treats!

The sun was already shining brightly when six West London Goodgymers made their way over to Osterley Park to volunteer at Junior Parkrun.

This was our first time helping out and we were greeted by the lovely Arlene who was stepping in as Run Director for the day. Kash and Sevan were first to arrive after a 10k run from Ealing - huge kudos both for giving your time and running over early on a Sunday. Kash and Sevan quickly got to work helping set up the course, before Beth, Johnny, Divvy and Michelle arrived by bike. We’d been allocated tasks for the 2km and we were all curious to see how many 4-14 year olds would be coming along today. The last Junior Parkrun had gathered around 15. Whether it was the glorious sunny morning or the fact Osterley Juniors has had a little enforced break recently due to filming at the Park we don’t know but along came 36 children and young people. If you’ve never volunteered at a Parkrun before we can’t recommend it enough, and JP is even better still.

Seeing the mini people (plus Beth and Johnny) warming up we all got in the mood to cheer on the array of ages taking part. What we weren’t anticipating was seeing an absolute champion smash the course PB. The first finisher made it look so very easy, gliding through the 2km circuit of two laps and a stretch out to the perimeter in 6m31s 🙌🏻

Just as impressive were all 35 of the remaining field of runners, some as young as 3 running with their parents and all throwing themselves into a sprint finish as they crossed the line!

Well done to the super six for supporting today, we could have seen a future commonwealth champion! Great to be part of such a well run and fun event