After warming up with a coffee after parkrun, we headed out along the lake path to see what we could clear.

Inspired by my socks, we introduced Andy and Nene to some exclusive Pompey vocabulary - there was talk of dinlos, squinnying and chufty badges, amongst some other slightly ruder expressions! We then moved on to languages, and Andy impressed us with his Welsh!

We didn't find many of the usual litter pick bingo finds, but Dave did find a delightful bow tie! There was also some death-defying stunts to retrieve litter from the reeds - fortunately nobody added a cold-water swim to their morning.

Team GG headed out to Lakeside today to help and partake in parkrun.

We had people in the car park, marshaling and dancing. Some say to entertain the arriving runners, others say to try and increase their temperatures from below zero.

The course was a mix of pink and red as we headed out and marshalled and cheered.

Jen also added to the good doing by shouting out "Pole!!!" and "Keep Left!" to ensure all runners were safe. She continued this in the queue for pistol run coffee by bellowing out names of orders as the staff made them.

After a quick pit stop, nine Goodgymers headed to the kennels for our third task of the morning: to freshen up three tired benches. There was lively debate about the best way to flip a bench and why it was it best to leave the arms un-painted before attempting that. Big thanks to Helen for providing tea, biscuits and sweets but especially for introducing us to the gorgeous Ruby who showed off her ball skills and showered us with kisses - she even taught us the command 'scratch my bum!'

After parkrun we made our way along the tree line collecting litter.

A few stray golf balls were found and 2 bags filled.

As we went to put them in the bin we also found chairs and a mystery bag which turned out to be empty, in true GG style we upcycled this to carry our found recycling!

Great running and volunteering efforts at parkrun today!

We had Jen (timekeeper), Jane (scanner) and Dave (tokens) representing GG in the Funnel Squad, whilst Andy kept runners in check as a marshal whilst Sammy successfully managed to keep up with another very nippy parkwalker!

Well done to today's runners, Sinéad, Wilson and Nene - hope you logged your kms for the January Challenge!