We started tonight's group run by belatedly awarding our GoodGymer of the month accolade for February to the marvelous Nikki , who had continued her January exploits into Feb and been a shining example for other Task Forcers. Well done Nikki 👏

We also welcomed newcomer Sarah who was doing her first ever task tonight. Let's give her a big cheer 👋

A bit of daytime drama meant that our services were required elsewhere, so instead of going to Ashton Park, tonight's group run saw us head to Clarance Gardens for a spot of unsupervised wildflower seed spreading! Ed did his best to explain what was required of us, and with a few suggestions from the rest of the team, we soon decided on a system that saw everyone lining up a meter apart, with a few seed topper-uppers running between them all 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️

Babs seem to focus on quantity rather than quality and raced ahead of the rest of the line of seed spreaders, whereas Graham took a bit more time and care with his seeds and stamping. Let's see when they bloom who had the best technique!

With most people having whizzed through their seed portions in lightning quick time, we needed to fill the rest of the session with something or risk an early pub exodus. So Leanne led a congo/indian file stamping line to make sure that no spot was left un-stomped.

Before too long it was time for the fitness session and an opportunity to get to know each other a little better. The GGers ran in a circle (again led by Leanne) and made thier way into the middle for an exercise every time Ed called out something that they had done before. Unsurprisingly almost all GGers have baked a cake or planted a tree in their lifetime. Unfortunately we didn't uncover too many secret tattoos though!

Huge well done to everyone for a fab session. Next week it's off to St Chad's scout hut for a classic painting task!

Monday evening meant it's time for another GoodGym group run, and this one had everything that we love here in York. Logs, mud, digging and a pet dog were all on offer but before all that we needed to warm up on a chilly February evening. So this time, in honour of Johnny Cash who was apparently born on this day in 1932, we named our favourite black or at least very dark things and we had everything from Black Metal to Blackberries!

Vicky and the party pace crew set off early before Ed led a group, backmarked by Nikki, to join them. At the task we met Kristina from City of York Council as well as Jan from the Friends of Fishpond Wood, and Callum from Forestry England together with his dog Dylan. We were then led deeper into the woods to a particularly boggy area that will become a drier path through the woods in due time.

It was then time to get to work. Half the team armed themselves with spades and began digging a drainage trench, whilst the others began shifting logs to form the outline of what will become the path. There was some interesting log lifting going on with Martin favouring the over the shoulder look (one for the GG calender) and others preferring the rolling method

I've got a lady log 🪵- Abigail

The trench digging got boggier and the logs got heavier but the GGers were up for the challenge, albeit with some taking an occasional break to stroke Dylan the dog, and before long we'd run out of logs and were ready to head back to base for a spot of fitness.

Tonight's fitness involved two lines of GGers shifting a cone from the front to the back of their line through twisting their core or reaching up and squatting down. But it was no contest with Nick's team finishing comfortably ahead of Jenna's. Once all was said and done we said our goodbyes with some people heading to Dom's pub quiz, rasing money for Mind. Good luck in the quiz, guys 👍

Five minutes before we were due to set off on our group run we got a call saying the council van had been broken in to and they needed to cancel.

A quick phone call and we swiftly rearranged to go to Park Grove and do next week's task a week earlier.

We warmed up and numbered off saying what we'd like a day to be named after as we were unimpressed by it being National Arabian Horse Day. Goodgym and running featured and the other end if the spectrum with do nothing day and stay in bed day!

We also celebrated some outstanding running at Snake Lane 10 with PBs galore. Well done!

We then headed off to task with Leanne as run leader, Pete middle marking and Amy bringing up the rear.

Once we arrived, Gary had lots of tools ready for us to divide into team hedge weeding and team woodchip Spreading (woodchip proving more popular!)

We managed to clear the whole pile of chips with plenty of time for some circuits including a bit of playground hopscotch.

Our route home took in a pit stop at the amazing light display on the art gallery.

After an exhausting January challenge, an impressive 23 GoodGymers turned out for the first group run of February. We celebrated those who had run at the weekend including a cheer for the absent Nikki Gover who ran a PB at the Dewsbury 10k 🍾. Well done Nikki! We then numbered off by naming our favourite things with pips in them 🍋 Then it was off to the task...

James looks like a criminal - Leanne

The team picked up where we left off after our last trip out to Ashton Park, and armed with saws and bolt cutters quickly got to work. Pete and James aka 'The Muscle' took care of the heavy duty stake removal with their crowbars in tow.

And then things got a bit messy. Some of the tree guards were easier to remove than others and so we ended up with a surplus of people trying to free the final tree from its intertwined wire guard.

Too many cooks spoil the broth - James

So with too many GGers and not enough space around the final tree we started the fitness session a bit early. This week it was a Squid Game inspired session featuring a fitness version of Red Light, Green Light. First up it was a lunge race, then a high knees race, followed by a squat race.

There's no nice way to say this, so I'll just be honest. Abigail is terrible at Red Light, Green Light!

With the final tree still not free from its wirey prison, Leanne led a team back to CVS whilst Ed waited around for the rest of the group to get the job done. Lo and behold a few minutes later the final tree guard was removed and we could finally head back to base

Great job everyone!

A small but perfectly formed group of York GG-ers (aka the Friday Fun Club) met Kristina from York City Council on this sunny but blustery Friday morning.

We tidied up one of the flower beds at the side of the park, trimming back many spiky bits (thanks for the extra gloves 🧤 Kristina!), removing dead bits and raking up any leaves. Ed also did a good litter pick.

We left the area looking a lot neater and tidier for the local residents and park users to enjoy.

🍁 18 excellent GoodGymmers met on a lovely November evening for an autumnal classic - leaf-clearing.

🎇 Ed led the group to Glen Gardens, which was locked and dark on our arrival. We soon heard from our task owner Iain that he’d gone to Clarence Gardens by mistake so he quickly headed over to join us at Glen. In the meantime, we did our fitness session first (which proved to be a popular option!), which was a belated (and tenuously-linked) bonfire bonanza. Thus followed sparkler skipping, toffee apple squats, Catherine wheel side crunches and rocket sprints. These sprints were then extended to the different entrance that Iain arrived at with the van.

🌬️ We got to work quickly and split into teams to tackle different parts of the park. Neil took on the blower challenge, moving between the groups to blow leaves in the right direction to be raked, leaf-handed then bagged/barrowed. Meanwhile, the leaf bin crew were tackling the three bins, moving the compost that was already there to make space for the new leaves. There was even space for a small amount of fun, including the moment (captured on camera) when Ed may have dropped some leaves on Max's head...

🥳 In no time at all, we’d filled the bins and the paths and grass area were both noticeably clearer of leaves than when we arrived. Iain was very grateful and will be ready at Clarence Gardens when we go in a couple of weeks for more leaf-clearing action.

⏰ It was soon time to head back to base and on to the pub for most of us while others headed home.

🙌 Thank you everyone, and hopefully see you again soon!