6 of us went to the canal towpath in Armley to help clear the way for walkers, runners and cyclists.

We ran to the canal, a winding 1.5 mile descent to Armley, taking the boundary of woodhouse moor and finding green space to run in (as much as possible whilst it's still light).

Once at the meeting point , we were briefed and given a selection of tools to tackle the overgrown vegetation. We and spread out along the canal path; some of us removed part of a tree that was obscuring the path and others wokred on removing low hanging branches or any that were causing an obstruction. We also found a decent amount of litter.

It didn't take long to make a big difference to this small section of canal, but we certainly got noticed by the public today. We received many thanks from passers by. It was great encouragement and satisfying to immediately see the impact of our time. Well done everyone!

We banked another good deed this week - at the wonderful Left Bank Leeds. A creative space for the community, Left Bank hosts lots of events, workshops and activities, all set within a converted church. It's well worth another visit.

A warm welcome to Zainab , who joined us for her first goodgym task. Let's give her a cheer!

The run

9 goodgymers were treated to a hot and sweaty 2km run. We tried staying in the shade for as long as possible by running around Woodhouse Moor. Inevitably we had to leave the shade behind us for the last part of the run, but thankfully it was all down hill!

The Task

We were welcomed in to Left Bank with open arms, offered some light refreshments, and then got to work varnishing the picnic benches (not in use!)

Katie, Josie and Helen were the most diligent out of the group since they were finishing their bench, just as everyone else was starting.

Everyone else eventually caught up, and we found we had actually got through the task in record time (we'd run out of benches)! It was therefore time to switch to an impromptu litter pick. It was suggested to do a tag-team litter pick / relay, which was quickly dismissed as being a rather silly idea...

Nevertheless, we had an ace team of litter pickers who quickly gathered up lots of the litter around the perimeter of Left Bank. At one point, Sarah and Josie were even taking the time to pick up tiny pieces of confetti. That's dedication!

The Run Back

Great work everyone we managed to get a lot done in a short space of time. All that was left was a jog back to Hyde Park Book Club. We ran back via Burley Park (as it's always nicer to run through parks!)

On today's run we had a first time attendee to goodgym! Make sure to give Paul a cheer. We also had Sarah join us, who has now taken part in two areas, having previously run with Goodgym Lewisham.

The Run We ran through Meanwood Valley Trail and went the long way to the farm , about 3km, taking the ascent in our stride as we climbed Sugarwell Hill.

Once we'd arrived at the farm we were pleased to see the Alpacas, who were all huddled together near the entrance to the farm. A great way to end a run!

The Task

Tonight we were given a lesson on how to mulch apple trees, which turns out to be rather scientific!

Wood chip is used to help prevent weeds from sprouting, to help the trees retain moisture and help to fight off pests and disease. Ben at Meanwood Valley Urban Farm is the real expert, so you're best to come and ask him all about it the next time we go back to the farm. In the meantime, you can find out more here

We split into groups. Katie and Paul were stationed in the orchard and laid down the wood chip around the trees, whilst the rest of us took it in turns to fill barrows and transport the wood chip to the orchard.

Credit due to Katie and Paul, as Ben was complementary of the arrangement around the trees:

That looks very artistic!

By the end of the task, we had relocated at least 30 barrows full of wood chip, which was now protecting 6 more apple trees. Good work everyone!

Parting gifts

As a thank you for our efforts we were given bags to pick our own lettuce, which we all took home to enjoy.

In back to school spirit, we welcomed lots of new faces to GoodGym Lewisham this evening - Holly, Sarah and Sebastien it was lovely to have you all join us! After a bumper load of news celebrating our August heroes and lots of weekend mission running, I was nearly out of breath before we even started the warm up!

With a long run ahead of us this evening, we did a few dynamic warm up moves whilst moving in a circle (from where I stood everyone looked wonderfully graceful!) before heading off up and over those hills between Glass Mill and Seniors. All good long runs feature a support crew, and it was a fun surprise to run past Adele cheering us on from her front garden - hi Adele!

On arrival at Seniors, we were very pleased too to see Sarah (who is edging tantalisingly close to that coveted black tshirt!). Cathy had a choice of tasks lined up for us, either down in the cellar or out in the garden. On such a lovely evening, the thought of Christmas decorations and cellars didn't seem particularly appealing, but Clare, Sarah, Louise and Arran got into the sorting spirit, whilst Adam and Ian (who we welcomed from Croydon this evening!) donned some serious-looking safety gear to clear rubble out of a forgotten crawl space.

Meanwhile, above ground and out in the garden, Norma had put the rest of this evening's runners to task, with some weeding and digging over of soil. As all intrepid GoodGymers do, the digging team were cracking on with gusto, without necessarily knowing quite what all their hard effort was for! It perhaps didn't matter to Oliver, who proclaimed that digging and weeding were his two favourite GoodGym pasttimes anyway (the tasks that keep on giving), but it turns out that there were a load of new plants lined up ready for planting once the soil had been turned, to rejuvenate a forgotten corner of the garden in time for Seniors' next open day in October. I had it easy in comparison, with Norma taking me on a tour of the polytunnel, including a freshly picked cucumber to take home!

Thank goodness I had a bag with me, or it would have proven to be a rather cucumbersome gift!

We took in the sights at the top of Blythe Hill Fields on our way back to Glass Mill, with London looking particularly spectacular in this evening's colourful sunset. I offered Norma's cucumber as a prize to the person with the best 10th birthday photo idea, but most of the suggestions were too risky for my liking (human pyramids and climbing on bins were both ruled out!) so I kept the cucumber to myself and we settled with a line of 10's held proudly aloft in front of one of South-East London's classic views. Thanks to both Clare and Sarah for backmarking this evening.

As Cathy was excitedly telling us, GoodGym is celebrating its 10th birthday this September, with a party at City Hall no less! Get your ticket here to celebrate with other GoodGym members, trainers, runners, partners and friends. And don't forgot the monthly GoodGym social which is this Thursday and open to all.

See you soon and happy running!