Yesterday morning started with a chilly -3 degrees (brrr!) but quickly warmed up to reveal a gorgeous sunny day—perfect for marshaling at Warwick Racecourse’s Park Run. I’m always amazed by how many people rise early on a Saturday and make their way to the racecourse for the 9 a.m. start, whether they’re running, jogging, strolling, or just chugging around the 5 km course. The Park Run volunteer community is such a friendly and welcoming bunch that it truly makes this Saturday morning ritual something special. And yesterday was no different.

It was an extra treat for me, though, as I had the chance to meet Alex and Sam from Warwick Council’s ‘Active Travel Team.’ They had a stand at the Run’s meeting point, chatting with people about the benefits of cycling and encouraging everyone to get out and about. Not only did they kindly look after my bike while I was marshaling, but I also received a lovely free gift from the team—a set of bike lights. On top of that, Alex gave my bike a quick check-up to make sure it was roadworthy. What a bonus!

It was fantastic to meet such a great team, and I hope 'Active Travel' and GoodGym are able to collaborate on some future events. Thanks again, guys!

1 GoodGymer made their way to Warwick racecourse to help with the smooth running of Warwick Parkrun.

Another day, another Parkrun! This Saturday, Alexandra was on token support duty, helping hand out finisher tokens to the runners as they came through the funnel. While this seems relatively simple, things get a little bit complicated when one of last week's runners has taken home token number 185 and the Run Director has to make quick work of a paper alternative. As a first time token handler, I was worried about the possibility of this tiny piece of paper flying out of my hands in the high winds and messing up the count for all 280 runners!

Luckily just before the runners set off, another volunteer arrived with a replacement token and all was set to run smoothly. Once the runners were off, it was only about 15 minutes before the first runner came into view and it was time for frozen fingers to start readying the token stacks. Slowly at first, Alex and Youssef began handing out tokens, alternating after every 50 runners and by token 60 the finishers were coming in thick and fast.

With a start time of 9am, the final park walkers where coming through by 10am and us volunteers were ready to fight the winds to get back up to the briefing area.

It's always an absolute pleasure to volunteer at parkrun and we'll be back in the next few weeks!

2 GoodGymers had an early start helping out with Warwick parkrun.

GoodGym has become something of a regular fixture at parkruns and this week was no different. This week our Goodgymers got stuck in with barcode scanning for the finishers. The atmosphere was lovely despite the freezing weather with over 200 runners turning up for Warwick's 96th parkrun. If you're considering getting involved in parkrun, now is the perfect time to start so that you can catch the big 100!

A massive well done to Katherine for braving the cold weather and having a brilliant run this week. Well done Katherine!

We regularly volunteer at parkrun and there are opportunities for pre and post event volunteering so you can help out before or after running!

Part 2 of our double good deed this morning. You can see the run report here: https://www.goodgym.org/reports/double-good-deed

2 Goodgymers had achieved a double good deed before 10am by volunteering at Warwick Racecourse Parkrun helping with barcode scanning, as well as handing out leaflets for Raceways.

It was a blustery start but the sun was out to keep us warm whilst we waited for the runners to start coming in to the finish. The first runner was back in what seemed like no time, so with phones at the ready we started scanning.

225 runners later, all the scanning was done and the results uploaded. Another sunny, smiley Parkrun completed.

3 Goodgymers started the weekend with some Parkrun volunteering coupled with completing the 5k run that is weekly Parkrun.

Nigel and Katherine started early at Warwick Racecourse Parkrun arriving at 8:15am ready for pre-event set-up. This involved setting up the start/finish ropes, putting up various signs warning other course users of runners and providing arrows to guide runners, as well as setting out the all important turning point at the correct position so that all runners complete the correct 5km distance.

With everything sorted, runners were waiting with trepidation as the skies became darker and just as the race director started his briefing, the heavens opened so everyone took over under the big tree near the start, before admitting defeat and heading to the start line with rather soggy feet to start the event.

Meanwhile, just 4 miles down the road in Leamington, Allan was also getting rather soggy whilst waiting for and taking part in Leamington Spa Parkrun around Newbold Comyn. Allan's volunteering however took part at the end of the run as he was on post event close down, meaning he had to hang around whilst rather damp (and no doubt getting cold) at the end after multiple bouts of rain throughout the event to help with packing away all the signs and cones. Has he mastered the origami challenge of getting the Leamington Spa Parkrun sign back in the bag yet?!

Can you spot the difference between the before and after photos?!