All Bark and No Light

12 runners came out amidst the pouring rain to shift 5 tonnes of bark in a play park!

Luckily by the time we had warmed up, the rain had stopped so we puddle-dodged all the way towards Clifton. The park we were aiming for is called Ashton Avenue Play Area and on the map, it is very much on Ashton Avenue. Mel led us straight to the Avenue and we ran all the way up. No park. Then we found a tiny path at the end, that must be it. Nope. So we rang the task owner who told us it was down a tiny path.. another couple of laps of the street and we scouted it, phew!

"I really enjoyed doing Ashton Avenue several times, it gave us a chance to enjoy the scenery", "Yeah I agree, squeezing between the parked cars and the hedges was a highlight!" - Mel and Leanne, GoodGym members

We arrived to a gigantic pile of bark; just over five tonnes of the stuff. We had 35 minutes, 5 wheelbarrows, shovels and rakes: the challenge was on.

Challenging it was! After ten minutes it felt like the pile was exactly the same size but with the team into a good flow, we started to pick up the pace. The five minute countdown sent everybody into a frenzy; the shoveling rate was rapid and wheelbarrows were being carted at high speed to the outer reaches of the park boundaries.

The final ten seconds was a blur. It was absolutely incredible to have barked the park in this time and some people felt the best way to celebrate was with a bark angel.

"I've got bark in my pants" - Anonymous GGYorkie

Another important part of our role was to safety test the new bark floor. Two teams raced, trying to get from one side of the park to the other without touching the ground.. despite that, we touched the ground a lot and decided the bark was a very effective safety measure.

Another good deed in York done!