🐣 A small but perfectly formed group of GoodGymmers met for our Easter Monday group run. Illness and the threat of rain (oh, and bank holiday fun/chocolate-eating) may have put some of our gang off but those who came, came with (possibly Easter chocolate-fuelled) energy.

🌳 We heard about Barbara's impressively hilly 10k yesterday before heading off to Heworth where we met Roger and Alex. Alex had brought two trees to plant (and a cute toddler who was watching throughout) whilst Roger had supplied woodchip to freshen up the muddy paths.

👍 Martin C had beaten us there and had already got stuck in with the barrowing of woodchip along the paths. Mitch and Lyndsey joined them, with Mitch impressing Alex and Roger with his run-barrow technique.

🌱 Abigail, Barbara and Martin B were on Team Tree, getting an upper body workout digging large areas. Memories of inversion came to mind as these guys had to cut and dig through turf before digging the soil beneath.

🌈 With one tree in, there was time to get another almost done (with Alex just needing to finish the stakes and drilling). All just in time to watch a beautiful double rainbow come out, which made the little rain shower we’d just experienced well worthwhile.

🥾 Meanwhile, Team Woodchip had covered various bits of muddy paths, hopefully making walking around there a much more pleasant experience for everyone.

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️It was soon time to run back to base and head home or to the pub. Thank you everyone, it was great to get so much done 💪

6 GoodGymers arrived at Jubilee Wood to continue with digging up wood chip piles and filling in low spots around the woods.

Unlike last time, there were multiple small piles and just one footpath to lay the bark on. Oh, there was also lots of small bark piles, lots of gates, lots of fences and lots of walking. Many words could describe the task but quick and efficient are not them!

Regardless we got stuck in. Abi tried to make the task more efficient by leaving a wheelbarrow on the opposite side of a park fence so we would scoop the wood chip over (it went as well as expected). However with Nicky's shortcut and through everyones hard graft, we had all the bark chip cleared and the path low spots completely filled.

Another wet Monday night didn't stop 34 GG Yorkies from coming to do good!!

We gave some big cheers for everyone who raced at Kielder at the weekend and for Amy who boshed the Royal Parks Half.

Pete was awarded the Cape of Good Deeds as he completed his 50th good deed at Hartrigg Oaks last week. If you haven't gone and given him a massive cheer yet, make sure you do!

Brand new runner, Emily had never run in the rain before (a regular occurrence from our friends across the Atlantic) and wasn't sure of the protocol.

Do I wear a jacket?

We split into two teams with just over half going with Leanne for more tasks at The Malthouse and just under half coming on a longer run with me to the mystery location that is Heworth Without.

We go to Heworth Without twice a year to help maintain their wildflower meadow, and most people can never remember where it is or how to get there, hence 'mystery'.

As usual, it was extremely wet and there was even an unavoidable bonus puddle on the way in.

I'd only just dried out these shoes from last weekend - fell running squad Lucy

Task owner, Roger, was very well prepared with a rake for everyone and a load of tarps laid out for us. Our task was to rake all the cut grass off the wildflower meadow, load it onto tarps and drag it across to the woodland on the other side of the field.

Lizzie was trialling an innovative approach to winter tasks by strapping a portable floodlight to her chest whilst Emily was just doing her best to rake near anyone with a headtorch.

We finished dragging the last tarp across the field and folded up the rest neatly, except Carl who obviously does not fold the bedsheets at home.

Leanne's Malthouse Report

19 of our finest good doers walked, ran and sprinted to the Souk just 500m away from our meeting point.

On arrival, task owner Emily and a puppy greeted us with a variety of tasks. Two teams set to work on separate painting tasks, while others challenged their spacial awareness by manoeuvring large pieces of furniture up the stairs, around corners into the upstairs room.

Four brave souls volunteered to go out into the rain to move some empty barrels and generally tidy around. That left Ian, who was in charge of ripping up old bed sheets to make rag bunting. He was soon joined by a team who added the torn up pieces to the existing bunting (and to their heads).

After 40 minutes, we ran out of tasks, so it was time to gather for a game of 'I went to GoodGym' -a workout for both our bodies and our minds (based on the shopping list game). I started the game off by saying

I went to GoodGym and everyone did one squat

The next person added an extra exercise and an extra rep "I went to GoodGym and everyone did one squat and two burpees" (thanks Paul A)

The final list of exercises were:

1 squat 2 burpees 3 star jumps 🌟 4 walls painted 5 second lunge on right leg 6 seconds of your very best dance moves 7 second lunge on left leg 8 bum shuffles 9 high knees 10 jumps 11 spotty dogs 12 high kicks 13 heel flicks 14 heel taps 15 second superhero pose 16 high fives

Fitness done, we went back out into the rain for the short run back and cool down.

32 GG Yorkies split into two teams for a mass of mostly raking activities across the city!

After welcoming one brand new runner to the gang (give Issy a cheer!), we made a very exciting announcement.

GG Yorkie of the Month!

This new monthly prize will go to someone who has made a big impact at GoodGym; whether it's through participation, reaching a goal, organising an amazing event or something we deem special that needs recognising.

Our first ever monthly winner, October 2018's GG Yorkie of the Month goes to...... Katie Kelly!

Katie has been a member for a while but has become very involved in the last month, racking up loads of good deeds across group runs and missions. She didn't let being late from work stop her at a mission, lifting chairs and tables in a super smart skirt. Katie has also been one of our chief walkers, helping to make our group sessions friendly and accessible for everyone. She also took one walking group on a very extended walk to one task, not because she was lost of course but because they needed lots of exercise...well done Katie.

My group of leaf gatherers at Clarence Gardens

We had a simple task to bag up as many leaves as possible in 40 minutes. The bagged leaves were to be taken to Greenfields Garden (half a kilometre down the road) where they were to be mulched and used as compost.

Armed with big green scoopers and rakes, the group split into four teams and started bagging. Everyone quickly learned not to attempt to drop a full double scoop into the bags because inevitably the leaves will just go everywhere and be back on the floor.

Iain suggested we load up the van with bags and race him up there to unload, instead of running individual bags up the road. This was a much better plan since the bags were both spiky and numerous.

We had to tie little knots in the bags before loading them into the van but there were definitely a few instances where an untied bag got passed over the fence and only one person knew it was untied...

With the van absolutely full to the brim, we raced Iain down the road and formed a human chain ready to count the bags out. The human chain was slightly more spread out at the van end as Ellie and Jenny ran tiny shuttles to keep the flow going.

50 bags exactly!

It was a good haul.

Becky's report from her debut as run leader!

We had an 'exciting' journey there, as we witnessed the aftermath of a bike accident. 3 fantastic GG Yorkies (Bec, Mel and Tim) volunteered for an extra bit of good, walking the injured party home and making sure she was safe and looked after, before racing on to join the rest of us at the task. She was very grateful.

Where do you work? I want to buy you flowers!

Meanwhile Mitch aimed to speed up the journey for the rest of us, by switching his head light to green and causing minor chaos at traffic lights.

Eventually the rest of us arrived at the task, and having waiting for Mitch to test out the slide (obviously it needs checking for safety, very kind of him), got started.

We began by raking up grass cuttings on to tarps, then dragging them down to the bottom of the field to spread. Cue 20 minutes of frantic raking, hauling tarps and distribution (frantic to stop us from freezing rather than because there was too much to keep up with).

Finally with sighs of relief (or chattering from cold, it was hard to tell) we downed tools and finished with a game of'Follow my Leader, leading winding paths round the grass with each leader picking a form of motion, e.g. doing lunges, skips, duck walks, etc.

We began to head home, ably aided by our back markers, who decided to proactively sprint past us, presumably on the basis that then everyone would have to get home faster.

We're fast back marking group, we're not here to get left behind - Tim

Finishing with our usual sprint up Micklegate, we arrived, tired but proud, back at base - and got to scoff loads of chocolate given to us by a mission recipient!

So this was a small turn out by York GG standards with including the Mormon tag team only 13 runners showing up on this sunny Bank Holiday evening - rumour has it that there was another GoodGym group in a beer garden in York 'helping' the landlord with his pale ale?

Anyhow we welcomed newcomer Elder Rex and set off on a 4km trot to Heworth Without to meet Roger. Elder Rex hadn't been told he would be running until just before he met us and ran the whole distance in a pair of regular leather shoes!

Roger soon got us to work pulling up grass from around the small sapling trees so that they would grow strongly.

Goodgymer: "What is that frothy white stuff on the grass?", Barbara: "It's Cuckoo spit". Goodgymer : "It's what?"

Elder Rex and Lyman had to leave but were miraculously replaced by Elder Stumpp and Minnich who appeared from nowhere!

Twenty minutes later we had tidied all of the trees and could get down to some fitness in the play area. Nick had some serious exercises planned but before he could explain the GoodGymers were all over the play equipment - we did eventually get down to some 'proper' drills including partner exercises - Elder Stumpp: "It's supposed to be higher", Elder Minnich: "what?", Elder Stumpp "Get your butt in the air!"

But the play equipment was just too exciting for most - the only disappointment being that Ellie didn't fit in the children's seats on the roundabout.

Then it was another steady trot back to base - if that play area was any closer we would be doing our drills there every week I reckon!

It was almost a very wet evening for a GoodGym run but luckily the rain stopped just in time for 17 GG Yorkies to head over to Heworth Without.

Firstly, we celebrated all that amazing racing at the Yorkshire Marathon and 10 mile yesterday. No amount of racing miles or personal bests race can stop our lot as Leanne, Becky, Nick and Paul rocked up as fresh-legged as ever. Nice work team!

On arrival at Heworth Without, we were met by Dr Roger who explained our three tasks:

• Rake all grass cuttings from the wildflower onto tarps, then drag and spread them onto the tree area
• Resurrect three vandalised trees with stakes
• Pull up grass from the roots of the young trees

We only had 25 minutes on the clock and by the time we began, it was already very dark. I shone as much light around as possible with the portable floodlight but it was a big area to cover.

Raking grass is actually quite hard in the dark!

Know what else is hard in the dark? Taking good photographs!

Nick and Paul assisted Roger with the broken trees whilst over at the wildflower meadow, everyone was enjoying the peace of the evening being broken only by the sound of an owl.

There were a few squeals as the tarps were dragged across the field, I might have forgotten to warn everyone that the middle section was basically underwater. Oops.

Once the grass was spread and the tree root team had cleared space around the young trees, we squelched back across the field - dropped all the equipment back and headed off.

Our fitness session involved a HIIT pyramid with very short rest periods. It was a long 6 minutes but it would have felt a lot longer had it not been for Stef's endless motivational quips.

Pain is just a sensation and sensations are to be enjoyed - Stef

Next week we're painting and building bat boxes! It's gona be ace, so sign up now.