Tonight’s mission took us to Fulford Ings, where two wheels and two feet united for another round in the fight against Himalayan balsam.

Our group split into two, with Ed leading the runners to the task while Vicky guided the cycling crew. After arriving at the beautiful riverside location, it was straight down to business. Armed with gloves and plenty of enthusiasm, we spread out across the Ings, pulling up as much balsam as we could before it had the chance to spread its seeds.

The distinctive pink flowers may look pretty, but this invasive plant crowds out native species, so every handful removed makes a real difference to the local habitat. Before long, piles of uprooted balsam were growing, and areas that had been thick with the plant were looking much clearer.

As always, the task flew by thanks to great teamwork, plenty of chats, and the satisfaction of seeing immediate results. With another productive evening completed, we headed home knowing we’d helped protect this special green space for wildlife and future visitors, with a few folk putting the ribbons around tansy friendly plants en route so the farmer wouldn't chop them down.

A big well done to everyone who ran, cycled, pulled, and piled. Same time next balsam season? 🌱🙌

🌞 28 lovely people gathered at the end of a warm day for tonight's group run. We were thrilled to see Andy for the first time in a while 👋 We cheered everyone who ran the Fountains 10k yesterday, especially Claire who came first in her age category in her very first race - incredible 🏆 Already warm, we warmed up further before running/walking the short distance to Southlands Church⛪

🌿 We were there to continue the work that we started a few weeks ago, including weeding paths and beds and untangling bind-weed. Steve Rice worked so hard that he broke the (possibly antique) fork that he was using. Meanwhile, Kit and Michael were working equally hard removing a sadly-collapsed tree and replacing it with another 🌳

🐈 Lots more people were working very hard around the side and back of the church, unhelpfully impeded by the little tabby cat (pictured) who decided to do (both types) of its business in the flower beds. (Sorry for the over-share, and the terrible pun.) Anyway, in positive news, we (hopefully) managed to stop the cat eating the dragonfly it was trying to hunt, without the use of the extra-long watering hose 🐲 (Turns out there's no dragonfly emoji so a dragon will have to do)

📸 In no time at all, it was time to stop and spend an appropriately long amount of time "organising" (faffing about) the group photo. And we still didn't manage to get everyone looking the same way but never mind!

💪 We headed to Scarcroft playing fields for our relay-based fitness session. Again, time was spent clarifying the direction we should all be facing. But once we got that, away we went! We all got the chance to plank, squat and lunge, and then we did it twice more, just to make sure that every team was following the rules correctly.

⌚ After that, it was time to head back to base for our cool-down stretches and to hear about what's going on this week. And then it was time for the pub, a perfect way to end the evening 🍻