It was the third Saturday of the month and this always sees Goodgymers attend parkrun at our local Princes Park before heading out for breakfast. We have been doing this consistently since January so we knew we were in for a Gr8 time!

Today was Princes parkrun 666th parkrun. It's a busy parkrun and today there were 606 participants (almost 666) including Amina,Bekah, Jess, Jo, Sian, Steph and lovely to see our dear friend Roz (Goodgymer for many years and Jo's daughter). Everyone ran really well with several people getting PBs.

It was time then to head for breakfast which today was at Rhubarb a nearby cafe that has been on the list for a while. Lucky for us Ellie went straight there as soon as they opened and helped the staff to rearrange tables so we had a big table to sit together.

The thing about the monthly parkrun breakfast is that there is such a lovely warmth (not just from the weather at the moment) its a time of chat connection and coffee (ok i just had to throw that beverage in for alliteration purposes). Far from talking rhubarb conversation ranged from Nelson number, fibonacci sequence, what's on at the cinema, and what to have for breakfast. Leo definitely earned star of the month as he showed everyone how to put their parkrun barcode into their Google wallet.

As another parkrun breakfast morning drew to a close and whilst people's loyalty cards are filling up and another mystery category has been attained (to be revealed in December) and it was time to carry on with our weekend I for one left filled with not just a hearty breakfast but a heart full of time spent with lovely people

A great group of Liverpool Goodgymers met at St Luke's Bombed-Out Church on Leece Street and were greeted by the lovely bar staff from St Luke's Garden Bar and Cafe. Painting supplies and sizeable buckets of Ronseal presented, each Goodgymmer selected their brush and the throng of preservative on oak filled the air. The task in hand, to apply wood preservative to the remaining benches and tables in the gardens to complete some much needed sprucing! With no time to lose everyone jumped into action, brush in hand with the table per hour challenge fresh in the mind.

Well Goodgym by name, Goodgym by nature! This bunch did exactly what it said on the Ronseal tin. Clambering, stretching, bending and avoiding the table numbers - 9 tables protected and the good people of Liverpool may be merry for many seasons to come!

A few words from Kate the contact from St Luke's:

"Thank you so much for painting so many tables yesterday! That's loads more than I was expecting! Please pass on a massive thank you to everyone who came."

Well done all, a great job and we've already been invited back. And welcome to new Goodgymmer Sanda who joined us for her first session!

GoodGym Liverpool meets every Monday for their group runs, followed by a task in the community. Two runners, SallyAnn and Dike, met at The Suitcases (Duke Street) for the run. Only Dike ran, while Sally cycled alongside, providing company and some coaching to the upcoming marathon finisher wannabe (pun intended). They headed to Park Lane, the venue for the day’s task, where they would meet up with Sian, Lucien, Danchito, Clara, Leonardo, and Elaine from the Urban GreenUp Project Liverpool, who would coordinate the task of the day. Previous tasks with Elaine had involved uprooting overgrowth at the Park Lane green corridor, so most GoodGymers who turned up that day expected the same. However, Elaine had a different plan—clearing a pile of green waste from previous weeding sessions. The waste was piled in a corner, some bagged but most left loose. The task was to re-bag the waste and load it into a van. Everyone worked on clearing the waste except Lucien and Elaine, who focused on uprooting more overgrowth. Stem after stem, shrub after shrub, they bagged everything by hand while chatting and laughing. Not even the thorns, the smell of decomposing leaves, or the sight of slugs could dampen their morale. In about an hour, more than three-quarters of the pile was re-bagged. The icing on the cake was an elderly man—probably a local—who, on seeing the GoodGymers clearing the rubbish, pulled out his phone to take photos while praising their efforts. By the end, the walkway, which had been blocked by the pile of green waste, was clear and fit for use again.

On a particularly humid Monday, a crew of Liverpool Good Gymers headed to The Greenhouse Community Centre on Lodge Lane with the aim of doing some good! Heetu led the run from the suitcases with her usual enthusiasm, meeting others at the task. Sian even perserved with a broken single-pedal bike to get there on time!! We were all very excited to find out that this tasked marked 150(!!!) good deeds performed by Sally Ann!! A fantastic achievement, truly worth celebrating. So grateful and proud to have her as part of Good Gym Liverpool. Some of the team soon got stuck in weeding around the greenhouse centre whilst others started the arduous task of shoveling and transporting mulch to various areas around the building. By the end of the task a large part of the grounds was well-weeded and covered with an even level of mulch. Some of the team had also managed to litter pick the surrounding area, helped by Sam, a member of the local community. At the end of the session, the grounds were looking particularly tidy and we were all pleased to have helped out and had some exercise doing so. Well done to all.

It was a rainy morning, which might have put off some runners but not our intrepid GoodGym gang, we are far too focused on collecting stars for our parkrun loyalty cards to be deterred by weather. Bekah, Sian, Leo and Steph ran while Lucien watched the runners and the ducks and took photos. A big cheer to Leo for his first official parkrun, although certainly not his first park run! The rain was in fact a welcome relief compared to the hot sun of our June parkrun, although by the time we crossed the finish line it was muggy and humid. Unfortunately no one was able to join for our usual post-run breakfast today, but we look forward to the next one!