Many hands make light work and we certainly proved that with our task this evening.

The task was to spread woodchip in the woods along the route for Woking Parkrun as the course gets very muddy this time of year.

In addition to a great showing from local GoodGym members, people from several local running clubs even including 2 children from junior parkrun got stuck in to the work without complaint.

The huge heap of woodchip provided by the council was a lot smaller by the time we stopped as it was starting to get dark.

We did not really have enough tools for the 17 volunteers to use but Jenny brought her wheelbarrow, Rebecca brought various buckets, we borrowed the parkrun token buckets and Richard brought a shovel so we got by.

A brilliant result and a fun task so a big well done to everyone. Alys brought her dog to supervise us and he loves the attention, as we loved the ice lollies that Rebecca brought.

Look forward to the next one!

This morning Adam and James met at Woking parkrun to help out.

The beauty is you can help out but still take part. So many ways to participate in parkrun and get social.

Nice milder weather and improved course conditions made for a nice run/walk

The weather has been awful the last few days which has left much of the course either under water or more like a swamp.

This did not stop 186 runners completing the course! Well done everyone!

Nursing an injury, I was not able to run but volunteered to give out the finish tokens instead, but at the last minute, the RD realised he was a timekeeper short so I switched to that.

Wednesday night's mission was like putting lipstick on a pig. In the dark.

Despite it being touch and go all week whether the mission would go ahead due to the rain and flooding, including a (somewhat hopeful) last minute weather update of rain from Wayne (which did not happen), 6 GoodGymers attended Woking Park to lay wood chip on the parkrun course.

Armed with only 1 wheelbarrow, 6 buckets and some spades, James, Wayne, Alys, Anne and Becky welcomed the new James to his first GoodGym task. The parkrun course is a complete mud bath although it has improved from earlier in the week when it was one giant lake.

Undeterred, the GoodGym gang managed to lay wood chip where it was most needed on the stretch along the stream. James M focused on the giant puddle on the turn after the bridge, mainly because it was closest to the pile of wood chip, but also because he claimed it was a slip hazard. He was also valiantly helped by Astrid the dog.

The rest of us focused on the hair pin turn into the woods, well, what we could see of it anyway. Although there is still much to do, especially the path in the woods, we made a good start and will hopefully make a positive difference for parkrunners on Saturday. Personally, I will be going to a parkrun with a lot less mud!

This evening, we went back to the park to try to continue the works we had started to improve the surface for the Woking Parkrun woodland section.

It had been raining hard for several days, and this evening was no different so we had a struggle but we valiantly pushed on as best we could, but ultimately with only 4 of us, a lot to do and a lot of rain, progress was not to the level we wanted.

We decided after a short time to just focus on one main area where a quick effort would have a high impact and gave it our all.

We will be back in a few weeks to more.

Last night we had the task of laying wood chip for Woking Park Run.

Meeting at Woking Leisure center - for once I was actually early! Well done to those who ran there from home!

We headed to collect the tools from the pavilion - equipped with wheelbarrows, buckets, spades and forks, we set off to find two big piles of wood chip - Thank you to the council for sorting out the delivery of equipment and wood chip. Everyone selected their weapon of choice. It was a great way to build up some distance, walking back and forth up the path with wheelbarrows full of wood chip .

We set off to work laying wood chip on the muddy section of the Woking Park Run loop in the woods. We have plenty more to do and will be back in a couple of weeks to finish off the task. We hope the runners of Woking Park Run enjoy a less muddier path this Saturday! Especially as it is raining for the next couple of days.

Next Week

We will be litter picking with the run company.