After the success of our mission on Sunday with WEAct, Julie organised another GoodGym task along the Hoe Valley. Alys (and her little dog Quinn), Julie, Kirsty, Anne and Wayne, sorry, Adam ran to meet Richard in Mayford.

Richard is well known to GoodGym Woking as we often go and help him set up the railway tracks for the monthly “All Aboard Club” sessions which he runs for SEN children. This time it was Richard’s first GG mission without his “All Aboard” cap. We were all delighted when he let us use all the gardening tools he had brought with him!

Julie and Anne realised that the WEAct team had cleared all the Himalayan balsam in the areas we had planned to work on. But after a few metres of running, we found more to deal with.

Firstly, Julie asked for volunteers to cut back one of the bushes which encroached the path, allowing better access for walkers and runners. Richard and Wayne, oops, Adam did so diligently.

Armed with a long handle tool, Kirsty opened the path. Kirsty had warned everyone to cover their arms and legs to avoid being stung by nettles. Guess who forgot that covering your ankles was just as important? (no other comments). Poor Wayne, sorry again, Adam might not have read Kirsty’s messages. But this did not stop him tackling the nettles with enthusiasm. I wonder how his limbs are feeling this morning.

We pulled out a large patch of the invasive Himalayan balsam while discovering more as we worked up the path. We will return before the plants produce their seeds to try and limit their invasion. Julie will keep the WEAct team of our task.

The group ran back to our meeting point, fighting mosquitoes and calling Alys’s dog “This way”, which he is responding well to, every time he was taking another route.

Adam, we know your name really and apologise for calling you Wayne all evening!

Will you be joining us this coming Sunday to help Woking junior parkrun?

Happy running to you all.

Julie and Anne ran to Mayford Meadows to help a group of people from WEAct to pull balsam from the path along the Hoe.

The Hymalian Balsam have really pretty flowers and grow next to water. Unfortunately, they are very invasive as their seeds can be projected up to ten meters from their stem. Already, people living along the Hoe Valley have noticed how much they have expanded and know something must be done about it. Hence the involvement of WEAct with whom we have already done different missions.

Julie and Anne worked together and managed to clear quite a large area making two enormous piles of the balsam. We had to stomp on them and leaving them in a pile will help with them not making roots for next year.

Anne, who had forgotten to pack her gloves, was saved by Julie who always has some spare in her magic bag. Another issue was the stinging nettles, thank goodness we did not run in shorts, but our arms are still tingling! The bindweeds (le liseron in French!) did not help either as they gathered the nettles to the balsam…

But hey-“Hoe” after one and a half hour, we had cleared up a large area and were rather pleased with the result! So much so, that we will invite the whole team to pull some more balsam before the flowers produce their seeds! Hopefully most of you will be able to join us for a pleasant run and a rewarding task!

In the meantime, happy running to all of you!

Woking Wonders: Junior Parkrunners Dash into Sunday with Smiles and Speed!

This morning, Woking’s junior parkrun course was buzzing with energy as 175 enthusiastic young runners tackled the two-lap, 2km route with great spirit and determination. The first finisher zipped across the line with an impressive time of 7 minutes and 38 seconds, setting the pace for a brilliant event full of effort, fun, and community cheer.

Helping make the event a smooth success were four fantastic volunteers from Woking GoodGym: Karen, Kirsty, James, and Wayne, who took on the role of marshals with gusto, guiding runners around the course and cheering them on with trademark enthusiasm.

A big thank you to all the runners, families, and volunteers who made this morning’s run such a happy event. Whether it was their first time or their fiftieth, every step counted and every smile mattered.

Congratulations to Wayne for achieving his 250th good deed with Woking Goodgym!

See you next week for more junior parkrun magic!

As I took the scenic route to reach Woking High School, where Horsell Summer Fayre was taking place, I had to run a fair part of the way! Good job I practise with GG Woking!

I am part of Woking Street Angels and we were raising funds by selling pottery items given by one of the 🛣️ 😇s and her friends. It was also an opportunity to let people know about the work done by volunteers every Friday and Saturday evenings in Woking.

At the same time, I talked about GoodGym and we might be asked to drop leaflets for Woking Rotary Club! Let's wait and see!

Having been nominated as leader yesterday, Julie rushed to the task to ensure she was at the foodbank on time.

If only she'd checked the email she would have realised that it was actually a group run so while she waited for the customers to leave and started hoovering, the rest of the gang were waiting for her at the Leisure Centre. Despite the delay, Nadia, Anne, Andy and Kirsty had a good run and arrived in perfect time to get cracking with the mops.

The floors were soon a lot cleaner thanks to more hoovering by Andy and eagle-eyed Kirsty spotted some pot plants in need of some tlc.

This task always flies by and after the obligatory photo half-way up the stairs, we ran back towards the Leisure Centre.

Thanks to all the Goodgymers for their hard work, and looking forward to our next tasks on Sunday 27th.

Despite the threat of rain, 125 children (including 13 first timers) turned out for today's junior parkrun, with Karen, Laura & Alys making up three of the volunteer team. Karen has recently fractured her foot, but still turned out boot 'n' all!

Today's run director Jennifer managed to get the attention of everyone attending with the help of a megaphone, and some lucky junior parkrunners even got to use it whilst listing rules. A few wristbands were given out, and a special shout out to Rhiannon who has been attending Woking junior parkrun since 2017 running her last junior parkrun as she turns 15 next week!

Karen & Laura were out marshalling, whilst Alys handed out finish tokens. It's a task that's always made a bit trickier due to a few parents not listening to the rules about the finish funnel, so we had a couple of younger kids and a parent manage to slip through.

The rain timed itself perfectly with the start of the run, but it didn't stop 38 children getting a PB and volunteers managed to keep a smile on their faces thanks to umbrellas & rainjackets.

We volunteer at junior parkrun whenever it's on, so please do come and join us if you have a free hour on a Sunday morning.