Five esteemed GoodGymmers volunteered to help York Museum Trust put on another of their parties in the park.

Rich and Pete, being used to a better class of customer, handled the premium gate, scanning and wrist banding the VIPs. This gave Pete ample opportunity to perfect his two finger technique as no one likes it too tight. We hand to turn away one pair who tried to bring a laptop in but they managed to get someone to look after it for the price if a kebab and were soon back in.

Meanwhile Carys and Mitch handled the masses on the main gate, for some reason depriving many of them of their deodorant - perhaps not the best plan. Jenna was in charge of pointing, but later found her GG spot of the night with Patrick Grant (from the Sewing Bee).

Despite many opportunities for mooning, we mostly managed to keep our clothes on (not wanting to create more washing for Joshua's mum), and finished in time to see Self Esteem, where Rich used the cheap excuse of a conga line to fondle Ed who he found in the crowd.

👋33 GoodGymmers gathered for tonight's group run. We were thrilled to welcome Kirsty to her first group run and hope to see her for many more!

🎉 Following that, what began as a distinct lack of things to celebrate turned into a diverse celebration, of new parkruns, birthdays and theatre appearances. We also need to acknowledge the brilliant Claire who got GoodGymmer of the month, not only for her incredible contribution to our very own Tiny Forest (which is absolutely thriving) but also her prize-winning running at her first ever race!

✌After some disgruntlement from Stef about the boring nature of the proposed naming and numbering off, we were invited to state our favourite thing about Stef. These compliments varied from the somewhat superficial (though still justified - Stef's shorts were very nice!) to the positively heartwarming. Allowances were (very justifiably) made for people who perhaps hadn't met Stef before. No such allowances for Steve Rice though, who mistakenly heard that we were chatting about our favourite fingerbowls (so had to say that as well as his favourite thing about Stef!)

🌱 After all that jollity, it was time to run to tonight's task. Ed led the run while Claire backmarked and in no time, we got to Acomb Primary. We were split into Team Courtyard and Team Forest School. Team Courtyard's task was to tidy up the courtyard (other than the floor, which some of the school children will be tackling shortly). Meanwhile, Team Forest School were making space by clearing anything low-hanging, in the way or likely to grow and block the space. Some people had saws, which they used very enthusiastically. Some people used their hands to (try) and pull up newly growing things. Some people tested out the hammocks (making sure they're safe for the children, obviously...) There was also the mission to identify sticks that could be used for den-building, which involved some of us trying to strip small branches off larger branches. It helped make us feel productive anyway...

🌿 About 5 minutes before our finish time, a new pile of sticks was identified, for taking to the rubbish pile. All hands were on deck and determined to finish as much of this task as possible, leading to some selective hearing on some parts...

📷 Time for a team photo and some playing cards-based fitness. Amy's team won, despite cries of foul play and burpees-based bias.

👏 Next, it was time to run back to base, stretch and head homewards/pubwards. We also heard about Jamie's incredible Leeds-Liverpool canal running adventure. More info to follow - we can't wait to hear how he gets on running over 120 miles! Thanks everyone, until next time!

A small but mighty crew headed down to the riverside this evening to tackle a familiar invasive foe: Himalayan balsam.

After a run or cycle to the task location, we split up along the riverbank and got stuck into pulling up the plants before they have a chance to spread their seeds. The recent weather had left the ground soft, making it satisfying work as roots and all came free with a gentle tug.

Working our way along the path, we soon created impressive piles of balsam and opened up space for native plants to thrive.

With plenty of plants removed and the area looking noticeably clearer, we gathered for a group photo before heading to the memorial gardens for fitness, feeling pleased with another practical contribution to keeping our local green spaces in great shape.

Tonight we did some exercises around the circle then froze into different positions. It was then back to base for a stretch out.

We also congratulated all the impressive runners who completed races and relays over the weekend, cheered Mitch for doing his 600th deed and Neil his 100th, and welcomed Yashodh and Nada to their first group run.

Great effort from everyone involved!

After a cooler wetter weekend the sun came out for the gardening session at Holgate Community Garden. Jane planted the bean and courgette plant she had grown at home and redirected the honeysuckle. Carys and Becca weeded around the sweet peas and vegetables and cleared around some of the smaller trees to give them more chance. They then all weeded around the train. David helped to weed the beds and prune the large jerusalem artichokes. Laura cut back brambles and did some weeding on the long bed. At the end some of us enjoyed free juices from local resident Suzy who was doing a test run for her new juicing business in the garden.