Another night, another midge death squad. This time it was the turn of Bootham Stray allotments to experience a midge swarm of biblical proportions. Note to self, if it's been raining then bring bug spray!

As tonight was well over 6k in total we met for promptly at 6.15 to set the party pace group off, joined by a small GG bike gang. Ed led the remaining GGers after welcoming newcomer Dan and numbering off by naming our favourite flat things in honour of Earth Day. I'm informed that Hydrostatic Bearings are the best flat things ever!

We arrived at Bootham Stray allotments and soon got to work turning over a disused patch that really needed a lot of work. And then the midges came...

I feel ticklish all over - Ben

On one side, Mitch's tool of choice was a 4-pronged spinny thing that he used to twist the weeds together, as if he were eating a bowl of spaghetti. Whilst the rest of the crew, armed with forks and spades, soon made light work of the turf, weeds and roots before tackling bigger things like old guttering and ground sheets.

It was an entirely different vibe over on the other side with Bec spending the night on the tiles whilst Dan got hammered, as the two of them uncovered some old tiling and the head of a hammer respectively.

As the night wore on the midges got the better of us and we called it a day, but not before a group photo and some jaffa cakes kindly provided by the task owner. We then set off back to the Priory Street Centre where Bec learnt that spinning around helps you to touch your toes, and that if you touch a wall with your armed stretched out, then put your arm down, you'll fall just short of touching the wall when you bring your arm back up. Who knew!?!?

The promise of painting enticed a good turnout for tonights run.

We started off by naming and numbering off and we marked 112 years to the day since the titanic sunk by saying our favourite ways of crossing water featuring paddleboards, pedalos and platypuses!

Ed then led the group over to Park Grove in somewhat blustery conditions .... perfect for painting surely.

We were met by Vicky and split into two groups. The first set about repainting the fence (and grass in some cases). David did a great job as quality control making sure there were no gaps and Barbara's drippy bits were spread out!

The second group were tasked with freeing a bench from tree which had grown through it and clearing away plants from the fence.

All was going to plan until we felt the wind pick up and clouds gather. We quickly packed up and then the rain came just in time for fitness.

We put on brave faces and did some circuits until we finally moved under cover to do some star jumps and penguin huddling until the clouds passed.

We were greeted with a rainbow and split into four teams for a tug or war tournament. The Area Activator team won in the final (I think a coordinated effort was key rather than strength!).

We then headed back to base for a stretch and to hear about the week ahead.

Well done for braving the weather. See you next time!