We started today's session by saying our geeky interest in honour of Embrace your Geekness day! There were mentions of spreadsheets, cloud spotting and jigsaws to name a few.

We also congratulated the group of goodgymers who completed the 58 mile ultra in the lakes in the heatwave and the group who ran up and down Snowdon despite their race being cancelled.

Mitch then led off a small splinter group to Acomb Library.This is what they got up to-

We arrived at the library not to new raised bed, but old rotten beams of wood. We quickly got to work moving them from the garden and out to the drive. These will now be used for the path at fishponds woods.

After half an hour the garden was left crystal clear.

The remainder of the group headed to New Walk to drag many sacks of grass to the collection point. In goodgym style this was completed much quicker than expected so we headed off for a bit of fun fitness in the form of goodgym scrabble.

Despite stretching it out we still had a nice early finish so a few thirsty folk headed to the pub where in true geek style, Paul showed some strava tricks which got us debating each others' popularity!

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? 🌱🙌

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!

Tonight was our first balsam bashing of the season and there was plenty for everyone! 🌱

Before setting off all the way to Fulford Ings we celebrated May's goodgymer of the month Hannah Hannah has become a Monday night regular as well as giving up time on many a Friday. To top it off she's upped her running and is training for a marathon! What a legend!🤩

Matt also completed his 250th parkrun so we cheered him too!

Finally we welcomed Scarletto her first group run. Not sure how she heard about goodgym!

After all the kudos we headed off with Ed leading the run and Vicky with a cycling group.

At the ings we were net by Nicola who had been bashing all day but assured us there was plenty left! We avoided midges, nettles and thistles best we could and after 45 mins had accumulated piles to be proud of.

We then headed home with a pit stop on the bridge of pain for some mexican wave fun fitness and then finished off with birthday squats for Peteand Scarlet 🥳

Finally, we wished Ali a bon voyage as he heads back to France. Thanks for joining us and hope to see you again one day!🇫🇷

Six sunny Good Gymers met at the Little Knavesmire to assist St Nicks with clearing a bank of weeds and replacing them with wildflowers. Neil and Barbara (the movers) energetically dug up big clumps of grass while Rachel and Lyndsey (the shakers) shook off the soil before they were carted away by Vicky. Then we planted wildflowers and ate biscuits - lovely.

Barbara Vicky Claire Lyndsey Neil Rachel

Tonight's bumper turnout came with its own challenges as Ed turned from run leader to shepherd in order to keep things going as smoothly as you've come to expect from Monday night group run. With newcomer Nathan yet to appear we were stuck celebrating Chris's brunch at the weekend, before Charlotte saved the day with something actually worth applauding having climbed a particularly difficult climb! But just in the nick of time Nathan arrived and received a warm welcome, before we set off. Give him a big cheer 🎉

Laura set off first with a walking group, before Ed led out the run with Amy backmarking. After a short run out we met taskowner Maeve on New Walk and split the group into 2 with Pete leading the breakaway team to Millennium Fields (more from him later).

At New Walk the team got to work, armed with scythes and spades, removing the docks to make way for less invasive species. James S, Katy, Martin and Kit made light work of the big clump of docks with some epic scything, whilst the rest of the team got stuck in digging up the roots and getting them into sacks ready to be moved down to Millennium fields to meet the others later on.

We picked up a few extra bodies as Pete's crew completed their job, which made for a mad flurry of activity towards the end before we started the short walk down to meet the other group. This is what they had been up to...

After dropping the scythers and dandelion pullers off a group of 10 were led by Pete to Millennium Fields, a place of many a task. After finding the hidden stash of tools it was not hard to find the big pile of woodchip. Getting stuck in we soon realised that one barrow was not enough and while some managed to cup some in their hands Charlotte did a quick dash to her allotment for an extra spade and a very big drag bag. That allowed us to very quickly shovel, rake and stamp the path until the pile had miraculous disappeared. Nice to see Holly return after joining us for her first task in Jan and proceedings were scrutinised throughout by the part carbon fibre, part hero that is Vicky. Soon after we were joined by Ed's crew for fitness fun.

Fitness tonight involved trying to keep a "pizza" on your hand whilst running around and being chased. All perfectly normal stuff and not in the least bit confusing for onlookers from Millennium bridge!