It was chilly but the sun was out for a glorious parkrun morning today. We have an amazing amount of volunteers as some people were saving themselves for the Nantwich 10k run that is taking place on Sunday. I was the Run Director (RD) today with Fin Dobson in as shadow RD as he increasing his confidence of speaking to the runners and learning the duties involved. 278 people took part today plus 34 volunteers, great support was given to the runners and everyone was reminded by me that it’s international happiness day on Thursday the 20th of March so I challenged people to be happy all week. There was a lovely buzz around the park, the fact that spring is trying to arrive meant the flowers are starting to bloom and the tree blossom starting to bloom. The cafe terrace was full with people enjoying a well deserved beverage.

That had to be a record litter-picking haul this week! Five super GoodGymmers spent a chilly Wednesday evening covering a very small area but making an enormous impact - ten huge bags of rubbish collected in 80 minutes! Takeaway wrappers and cups definitely topped the list, followed by bottles and hairnets from a local food factory. The award for strangest item found goes to Mark, we're all still puzzled by the large jar's contents - possibly pickled foods, although it bore a strong resemblance to brains!

Well done to Maurice, Marjo, Mark, Nigel and Karen - a very rewarding evening's work where we could really see the results. An enjoyable evening too in lovely company, and its fair to say that Marjo really enjoyed the evening and will be back!

As the Run Director (RD) today I got to the park nice and early to make sure the conditions of the course were ok to go ahead. The beauty of getting there at this time is the park is almost empty, the sun was raising, the swans, geese and ducks were in fine voice welcoming the start of the new day. Today was International Women’s day so we made sure we gave a big shout out to all the women attending today, whether this be running, spectating or marshalling. I shared my RD duties with Fin who has completed all the other volunteer roles and this was his first time in this role. Although he is 16, Fin is very mature and carried out the responsibilities without a hitch although he was a little nervous about using the microphone to speak to all those running. Today we had over 360 runners, the conditions were great for running and there were a lot of personal bests. I was very fortunate to be supported by a great team of marshals that made the morning run without a hitch. After we packed up it was time for a well deserved coffee in the cafe and a chat to friends who I’ve been lucky enough to make through Parkrun and Goodgym.

Yes, you read that right ... the sun put in an appearance at junior parkrun this week! Hooray!

83 juniors crossed the finish line, supported by lots of parents either running with them or cheering them on - what a fantastic atmosphere! We even welcomed an international visitor from Finland too!

Nigel and Mark were both marshals on the finishing straight, cheering the juniors on to the end, while Maurice and Claire were marshals around the course with the juniors passing them twice on their 2km run, walk or skip, and Karen was waiting for them at the finish line as a timekeeper. junior parkrun is such a lovely event for all the family, and just as rewarding for the volunteers too. Well done everyone!

Nicola and Mark flew the flag for GoodGym today at Crewe parkrun, with Nicola at the helm as the warm and welcoming Run Director after completing an early morning course check, and Mark being a super chatty barcode scanner.

Well done both of you - 331 people were able to take part today thanks to your tome and effort!

There was a fair bit of nervousness about whether junior parkrun would have to be cancelled yet again due to weather - just how many storms have we had this winter?! - but when the forecasted strong winds stayed as a strong breeze, we were good to go!

It was lovely to have Mark join us on a Sunday morning, and between the GoodGym team we undertook the folloing roles: volunteer coordinator ~ run director ~ barcode scanning ~ 4 marshall points ~ post event close down ~ results processing ~ photographer ~ social media. A great morning's work helping young people to be active!