It was glorious Yorkshire Marathon Day. A day people count down all year for. Wait up all night in anticipation for. A day of greats, of victories, swollen knees and sweaty faces.

The weather Gods were smiling down on us. It was a crisp and sunny morning. The Goodgymmer’s came rolling in two by two hurrah hurrah! Some of a bit more cheery than others…

As Chief today, I knew I needed to motivate everyone with the lure of points. The rules were: impress me and you get points, be sassy with me and you’ll soon see those points tumbling away!

After a brief briefing - where we found out there were no bacon sandwiches on the way - we got to work. Everyone pitched in, carrying the water, stacking it on the tables, opening the lids ready for the runners. We were quick. Well some of us were quicker than others. Jane was a pro at flipping the lids, but she mocked my lip flipping skills which lost her many many points. Hannah and Jenna had lid flipping tips so they were +15 each! Laura was quietly efficient, +10!

We were so quick at the prep, there was even time for a few shop runs for pain au chocolates in lieu of the bacon sarnies. Max delivered the first round and then Nick came with the bakery goods. This earned them both 30 points!

Then the countdown to the first runners was getting closer. We discussed tactics, we checked our reserves, we got into formation. Nick had the good intentions of bringing a speaker (+20) but alas, the speaker’s charge didn’t even last a whole song (-5).

Then the runners came, slow at first. The speedier, but still very polite and thankful, runners came through. Then it hit. Thousands of runners, desperate for our water, came pouring in. We couldn’t hand it out fast enough. We couldn’t restock. It was chaos! Max turned into a genuinely helpful goodgymmer and replenished our water reserves so fast (+20)!

I was pulled away from the action to help an injured runner and missed all the fun. Leanne described it as “the most chaotic ever!” So everyone can have +50 for being superstars during the madness.

Some respite came soon after where we got into some water fights. Ed lost most his points at this stage. Rule of life: never anger the Point Giver-Outer. Lionel won many many points for having my back.

Final Points Tally: 1. Jane: -80 (far too sassy!) 2. Ed: -33 (work ethic was sub optimal. Also attacked me with water!) 3. Helen: -13 (disobeyed orders!!) 4. Paul Kelly: +15 (obeyed my orders, even if reluctantly) 5. Leanne: +20 (there was a lot of sass, but general work ethic was good) 6. Neil: +64 (is married to someone cooking me a roast) 7. Laura: +72 (for being clever with blister plasters!) 8. Hayden: +77 (the sun god) 9. Nicky: +83 (star helper) 10. Lisa: +94 (It was lovely to meet you, but minus points for being related to James.. sorry!) 11. Rebecca: +97 (efficiency pro) 12. Emma: +99 (water queen!) 13. Max: +101 (gave me food!) 14. Amy: +102 (extra points for being an Acorn) 15. Nick: +103 (gave me better food!) 16. Hannah: +104 (great lid flipping tips) 17. Jenna: +107 (also good lid flipping) 18. Sam: +112 (Acorn and defended my honour) 19. Vicky: +146 (is currently cooking me a roast dinner so I have to be nice) 20. Lionel: +1063 (THE LEGEND)

Five Goodgymers had a lovely morning working alongside other volunteers to clear the beds and plant a new sensory garden at Huntington Library. Lyndsey and Kirsty started out by liberating a neglected quince bush from the weeds (and uncovering hidden treasure in the form of a £20 note!), while Rachel, Jenna and Lucy got stuck in digging over the beds and hauling manure. We watched the expert gardener lay out the plants according to her plan, then helped settle them all in nicely to their new positions, where they will provide bright colouring and lovely scents for library visitors. We were then treated to snacks and a cup of tea - thanks for having us!

Tonight we started by celebrating Becca's 100th good deed! Amazing work, well done

After a quick warm up Ed headed off to York in Recovery's allotment with an elite group of 8... heres what they had to say

The Hob Moor allotment crew headed out to carry on the work we did last week with the guys from York in Recovery. We picked up Tristan on our way down and met up with taksowner Tracey at the allotments.

The tall chaps, Neil and Michael carried on with trimming the hedge that had been getting out of hand. Nick, Mitch and Tristan got stuck into turning over a raised bed. Carys and Sanjay helped to clear out a compost bay ready for everyone else's off cuts. And George and Ed helped to rat proof (hopefully!) the bottom of the shed by nailing some planks of wood across the bottom.

We made great progress on the various tasks and left enough time for a quick "hill" rep session on hob moor before jogging back to base

Meanwhile Leanne led out the rest of the pack to the bowling club where we did some weeding in preparation for tree planting. We were finished in plenty of time for some running drills and a slice of Lyn's delicious Victoria sponge or lemon cake! They do spoil us!

It was then back to base and a few went off to the pub for a refreshment.

It was great to meet new recruit, Beth, who joined us this week. With 4 volunteers, we soon had the tables wiped, folded and stacked, then chairs away, floor swept and carpet hoovered. As Jess was short of helpers, our last task was to empty and re-bag the bins. All done. Before you knew it, we'd 'bin' and gone!