A bumper group of Goodgymers gathered at Dinton Pastures parkrun this morning for event number 288.

After the usual SPRINT to the start (one day we will be early.....) we gathered for the all important pre run selfie and listened to the run briefing.

The course is a 2 lapper with a bit of a congested start - next time we'll scooch to the front a bit more. We ran through wood land and skirted a couple of lakes for what was a lovely course and all looked terribly athletic at the finish!

After a photo with some with the sign and accompanying blossom we headed for the all important post run breakfast as an excellent cafe in the grounds of the nature reserve. Becky and Gary sparked an accidental debate about the combination of sweet and savory on one dish with their order of some pretty epic looking pancakes!

We also started planning the events that we needed to complete our parkrun alphabet!

Finally, and most importantly, happy birthday to Poppy Dog! 4 today!

After our December endeavours shifting many bulk bags of sand for Botley Primary School, yesterday we were back to shovel and rake shingle.

The school are rejuvenating their inner courtyard into a more usuable space, both for children and teachers, but as it's surrounded by corridors and classrooms it was a logistical puzzle to work out how to get the gravel/shingle from the delivery point into the courtyard. With a solution found (a pallet truck), we were called in to lend extra hands to the task.

In less than an hour and a half our team of 7 GoodGymers and 4 school volunteers managed to get 9 bulk bags of shingle shifted into the courtyard, shovelled and barrowed around the space, and beautifully raked to an even finish.

Many hands make light work of a big task!

With the clock change to BST on the horizon we made an early start to get as much light as possible for our Wednesday task at Makespace.

We had a task list to try and get through, and did really well on it - many hands can work magic in a short time.

We hefted pallets, weeded raspberry canes, shovelled leaf mould, cleared the compost area of weeds and rubbish, watered thirsty plants, and started sanding down the picnic benches. As a lovely post-task bonus we had a twilight run over Port Meadow (where the bats were dancing around) and along the canal.

Welcome to GoodGym Joe!

In a totally opposite experience to the previous quiz, this one was very speedy and we'd finished in 90 minutes. No repeating questions and having a break after each round at the Jude! We didn't come first or second, and none of the other results were announced, so let's just pretend we were obviously in third place. Poppy the dog gets an honourable mention, despite her lack of question-answering.

Wendover Woods - home to the Gruffalo, Stick Man, several well marked walks and runs and, to date, my favorite parkrun.

A gorgeous one lap course through the woods, with a stinker of a hill in the middle, this parkrun was glorious! We were very lucky with the weather - blue skies and sunshine all the way, and there was an excellent ratio of dogs to runners, including our Poppy.

As usual we finished up our trip with a coffee and a chat - mainly plotting and planning our next runs and day dreaming about property in France or Croatia!

Welcome to Emma! Thanks for coming to your first (official) Goodgym session!

Dinton Pastures next month, can't wait!