Early risers aided by Gail and Sam having set up and checked the course, the morning sun then warmed the multitude of runners and volunteers arriving for parkrun number 401. A supercharged and eye-catching splash of red Goodgym t-shirts formed as we assembled for marshall, scanning, parkwalk and timekeeping duties along with some dual role GG volunteer-and-run superstars. A happy team and a healthy contribution to a successful parkrun.

On this week's group run we welcomed Pam to the team after recruiting her at last weeks session. After the intro and warm-up we headed out to Holy Trinity Church, for our second go at a good spring clean.

We polished the pews, took Henry Hoover up the aisle and dusted off the organ pipes and the cobwebs up on the rafters.

With everything shiny and smelling of polish we did a workout in the aisle, walking lunges, star jumps, squats and press ups got the blood pumping in preparation for the return journey back into town.

We were joined this week by Ibrahim for his first taste of a group run after doing a few community missions. Martin took the lead to complete his Fitness Leader training and we headed off on a 4km journey to All Saint's Church, where Fr David and his team of garden helpers awaited the arrival of Goodgym help.

The Church's allotment area needed tidying up and readying for some fresh planting, now the warmer weather has finally arrived! We dug out the weeds, cut down overgrown shrubs and dismantled knackered old trellises, leaving the whole garden much tidier and two beds of soft black earth ready for planting.

Before we left Martin led us on a quick fitness blast of squats, planks and walking lunges, a good warm up for the return journey back into town.

A trinity of runners met up in town to run out on a quest to find the Holy Gail who was meeting us at the task this evening.

We had a surprise on arrival as Gail had blessed us by bringing a new team member, so we welcomed Jenny to the gang and set about the evening's task.

The 150 year old Holy Trinity Church had gathered a bit of dust and lost some of its sparkle. To kick off a series of tasks to polish up the church's rough edges we got started with giving the floors a good vacuuming and mopping and also polished up some of the pews.

After 40 minutes of effort from our team of 5 there was a noticeable difference, surfaces were shiny again and the air was filled with the smell of furniture polish. William and Violet, our hosts for the evening, were very pleased with the diligent work of our team and are looking forward to us returning for another visit soon!

This months Park Run takeover, was given a little bit of extra sparkle ✨️ as Dani and Duncan not only came to help with set up, as part of the takeover, but they also both achieved to milestone of running their 50th Park Run. Gail and Sam joined them to get the event set up, an early start thats not for everyone, but they always do a fantastic job. Martin was marshalling and enjoyed cheering 👏 on all the runners 🏃‍♂️ as they passed him in the delightful April sunshine 🌞. After finishing their milestone run, Dani and Duncan 🎃 walked round the whole course again to share brownies with all the marshal's. Well done team on another successful takeover and well done to Milestone duo on the achievement.

Tonight, 9 of Luton Goodgyms finest came together to support Penrose roots to recovery. The team made there own way to the task, some running from town, and others making their own way. Tigger even parked up early then went for a cheeky 10k run 🏃‍♀️ beforehand.
We were welcomed by Lynne at Penrose with all the tools to get stuck in to turning over a vast bed, preparing it for planting potatoes 🥔. There were quite a few weeds to clear and the team cleared quite a few wheel barrow full. We didn't get to dig the trenches but we'll no doubt be back to support again soon. Great job team. You're all awesome.