Tonight we started by welcoming new comers Sophia, Joss and Rebecca then we applauded Paul Kelly's parkrun pb and Steve's epic lakeland marathon.

To name and number off we all pledged to do something to show we care in honour of Carers' Week, Men's mental health wed and loneliness awareness month. Lots of people said they would be making contact with someone or doing an act of kindness.

The walking (and a bit of running) group set off leaving the rest to warm up and follow shortly afterwards.

Christina was waiting for us at West Bank Park with a selection of tools and barrows. Before we could move the compost to the skip we needed to remove the rather unpleasant smelling stuff which had been fly tipped there. This didn't phase Pete, Vicky and Sam who made quick work of it, ready to welcome the continuous relay of wheel barrows.

After a good workout we then tidied up and had a game of fitness dice. Rich was particularly good at sit ups (or rather sit downs!) .

We then headed back to base for done well earned cake and promised to return on 30th for part 4!

Our first Group Run of 2025 saw a bumper turnout of 32 dedicated but chilly GoodGym Yorkies head off to West Bank Park for a night of leaf clearing in the play area. Buy before we set off we welcomed 4 newcomers Amy, Clare, James and Sam. Give them all a big cheer 🎉

We also had a few things to celebrate tonight, starting with awarding the December GGer of the month award to David who also happened to be completing his 200th Good Deed tonight. Way to go David 💪. There were also cheers for those that had taken part in some of the festive races including Chevin Chase and the Jolly Holly Jog. Well done guys!

It was then time for a quick but much needed warm up, whilst our walking group set off to the task. Vicky led a run/walk group (although by the sounds of it, it was a lot more run than. walk) and Ed led the main group able back marked by Babs and Laura.

At the task we were greeted by Kristina from the City of York Environment team who was expecting a fair fewer GGers than had arrived, so quickly grabbed as many extra tools as possible to keep us busy. We then set off armed with rakes, shovels, brooms, wheelbarrows and a leafblower, with the aim to clear as many leaves from the play area as possible.

We soon got to work with Clare and James sweeping leaves away from the play equipment whilst Babs and Nick got to work shoveling snow. The rest of the gang were busy with turning over the mulch in the leaf bays and getting them ready for the mass of leaves that were soon heading their way. Well, apart from Ellie who was spotted playing on the springy rocking horse type thing!

After a solid 40 mins or so of leaf clearing the park was looking a lot better so we gathered up the tools and got ready for tonight's fitness session, courtesy of Nikki; A game of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Cones. This involved two people battling it out to be the first person to pick up the cone after following Ed's instructions, with the losers completing 10 squats after each defeat (there's a chance Rich might have sore legs in the morning!)

Then it was back to CVS for some stretches followed by left-over festive treats courtesy of Vicky