5 GoodGymers were tasked with sanding and varnishing a few slightly sorry looking noticeboards so they could have a new lease of life . These will be put back on to the popular York - Selby cycleway so we needed to make sure the boards looked nice and fresh for everyone to see.

Luckily between the 5 humans and 1 dog, we quickly managed to get the boards sanded and glossed so they look brand-spanking new!

Two dedicated Goodgymmers spent an hour sanding and varnishing in the sun to spruce up a weather-worn interpretation board.

We initially set to work sanding the posts and then moved in to the board. The board was more tricky as it still had loads of staples and screws from previous notices that were difficult to remove. Soon we had the board and posts looking suitably scuffed up.

After brushing off the sawdust and wiping everything down we liberally applied the varnish.

Everything had gone far too smoothly (pun intended) so if course when we poured white spirit into a container for cleaning the brushes, it had a massive hole and went everywhere. Luckily, quick thinking from Penny to mop it up using the builder's wipes saved the day.

The board is now ready to go back to the Greenway and should last a few more years.

❄️ 16 excellently hardy GoodGymmers met on a chilly Monday evening for another two-task session.

🦸‍♀️ We were thrilled to congratulate Abi on her incredible 500th good deed (501st tonight, technically) and hope that the cape managed to keep her warm!

🚲 Ed led a group punctually for a longer run, 4k each way to help York Greenways near Knavesmire Wood. Here’s what he had to say about it:

🏃‍♀️🏃5 of us headed out from Priory Street and were joined by Carl en route before being greeted by Peter from York Greenways at the task.

🌳 We each decided upon our tool of choice and got to work on sweeping or shovelling back the greenery that had grown over the top of the cycle path. Carl and Bec zoomed down the track focusing on quantity, whilst the rest of the guys with shovels were able to hang back removing the tougher clumps of grass that had broken through the path.

💪 In fact Carl and Bec put in such a sterling effort that they thought the task was done when we still actually had about 10mins left, so swiftly got back to work!

🦷 Meanwhile, the rest of us named, numbered and warmed up whilst discussing our childhood dream jobs (in honour of National Dentist Day, apparently). From Blue Peter presenter to archaeologist to fighter pilot, we discovered the ambitions that most of us had failed to meet, or have replaced with alternative achievements!

🧭 Leanne and Laura led the run to Holgate Community Garden, navigating the ginnels to go via the Barrett house to collect the tools needed.

🧹 We’d been promised stiff brushes and these were supplied, along with rakes, to tackle the leaves stubbornly stuck to the basketball court and paths. Teams assembled around lights to get stuck in and clear different parts of the court. Alternative tools had to be sourced to address the broken glass that appeared but Laura was on it and dealt with it quickly and efficiently.

🌱Once the basketball court was done, smaller tools were provided to start to tackle the grass growing around the play equipment. Leanne did a great job of demonstrating her climbing skills and flexibility on said play equipment whilst Steve spread his clumps everywhere. The remaining grass clumps were gathered and distributed and it was time for the group photo.

📸 The play equipment seemed a natural structure to pose with before some people snuck off pre-fitness to help take the tools back to the house of Barrett.

🌛 Those who stayed for fitness were treated to a paired (and triangular) hill sprint joy, on the slopes around the garden. Oh, and it was a full moon, so that was a nice backdrop.

🍻 It was soon time to head back to base for stretches before pub/home. And we could all breathe a sigh of relief that the rain/snow had held off for the evening.

🏁 Thanks everyone, hope you warmed up quickly and hopefully see you soon. You can see what we’ve got coming up here, including shed demolition on Saturday morning and race marshalling/social walk on Sunday.

🌧️ 16 hardy GoodGymmers gathered in the drizzle for our two-task group run this evening.

🐍 We celebrated the achievements of everyone who did the Snake Lane 10-mile race yesterday. Incredibly impressive to see you again tonight!

🚲 A hardcore team of eight opted for a longer run and headed to Bishopthorpe to help York Greenways with the cycle path there, near Sun on the Solar Cycleway ☀️

🗯️Here’s what their leader Mitch had to say…

🍂 6 of us ran 10k to help clear the Selby cycle path of leaves and debris. Armed with scrapers and 'very soft' brushes, we got to work removing the slippy hazards (or caressing them according to Paul K). After 40 mins of hard work in the cold and rain, we managed to clear a large chunk of the cycle path 🥶

🍎 The rest of us ran/walked/cycled to Holgate Community Orchard to do some (hopefully) final digging there. Even in the dark, we could see the transformation compared to when we first started our work there. Incredibly lovely to see, and probably even better in daylight 🌞

⏱️ The gang cracked on with the allocated digging and finished in (possibly) record time. Along the way, there was much chat and muscles built but sadly no Aurora sightings thanks to the somewhat heavy cloud cover ☁️

💪 After that upper body digging workout (and the many miles run yesterday), the enthusiasm for hill sprints was understandably low. The raised beds made for handy props for further upper body workout before we called it a night and headed back to base to stretch and socialise 🍻

😁 Thank you everyone, especially considering the less-than-ideal weather conditions. You’re all troopers 🙌

Six of us met Peter from York Greenways on a blustery but mild and sunny Friday afternoon. We set to work reclaiming the cycle path from overgrown vegetation using loppers and shovels to scrape off debris to widen the path.

Peter (armed with hedge trimmers) asked me to follow him "just around the corner" to a side path where he wanted to continue trimming back a very thorny hedge. My job was to collect the very spiky cuttings and try to make a habitat pile if possible. This was ok at the start of the path but as we continued along the path (getting very much further and further away from the others) it proved very tricky to hide the large and spiky branches into the hedge and make sure the cycle path was properly swept to avoid tyre punctures.

Seeing that Peter had created several more piles of spiky cuttings I called for backup and soon Rich and Nikki joined me. With their help we got the last bits tidied off the path and Rich managed some more edge scraping with his spade on the way back to the others.

After a last quick sweep it was time for a group photo in the sunshine before going our separate ways. I'm sure we'll see Peter again soon on another task.

'Twas a bright sunny morning at Knavesmire Woods, when 5 GG's met Peter from York Greenways to clear vegetation from the edge / verge of the cycle/walk path. Peter wielded the hedgetrimmer, Barbara the bowsaw, Jenna fought brambles whilst Louise, Claire & Al took turns with spades, brushes and ensured the passing public were safe. An hour later the path was a foot wider and free of the pesky, spiky sloe hedge & brambles with all trimmings put to good use as little woodland creature hotels.

Peter thanked us for our hard work and said we would be welcome back to help the good work - there's miles of path!

After the task, some of us retraced Louise's footsteps to find her lost gloves on our way to the cafe.