This Friday night was a very successful mission with Friends of Crookes Valley Park. Goodgymmers turned up with enthusiasm in spades. James and Abi took the opportunity to run laps of the lake, whilst Michelle and Celine went for a swim before the task.

We welcomed new members David and Emily and were joined by a couple of friends of CVP before getting the task briefing from Simon. We were to prepare an area for perennial meadow flowers.

We headed to a freshly strimmed patch and proceeded to make hay while the sun shined. Then the turf work really began: removing the the top layer of grass and soil with spades. We collected up the sod piles and then worked to dig it over with forks ready to sow seeds.

It was sweaty work and we all got our fitness session for the day! Having made a splash, a few of us jumped back in the lake for another dip and/or headed up to the pub overlooking the lake to toast what we had managed to achieve 🍻

A solid turn out for tonight's group run - 24 Sheffield GGers braved the cold to help our friends over at Sustrans. Amongst the group tonight were two newbies, David and Anna. Hope you enjoyed the run. Give them a cheer and a chat when you next see them!

After a brief intro (using my whistle to get everyone's attention, thanks to a burgeoning sore throat) we set off up to the Sustrans location. Maltravers Road, AKA "that big hill", takes up most of the route each way. With a couple of loop-backs thrown into the run to keep everyone together, we conquered the 1.7km hill. Luckily the task site was just at the top over the traffic lights.

With Sustrans Simon being a regular friend to GoodGym, and us knowing the site fairly well, it didn't take long for everyone to pick up tools and get stuck into the variety of tasks on offer: * Litter-picking * Sweeping leaves * Shovelling debris * Chopping plants * Fixing a fence post!

As we worked, an older man who lived locally said he was happy to see us doing what we do. He had apparently been trying to do similar work by himself for decades, and was glad that bigger groups were getting involved. That's what GoodGym is all about! Half an hour's work done, and it was time to return to base. After saying goodbye to Simon (who'd fallen over at the weekend and was a bit worse for wear), we headed off back to Maltravers Road. Downhill this time. Back at base we stretched off and had a round up of what's happening in the near future:

1. Sheffield Half Recce 2/4 - led by Steve on March 5th, meeting at half past 6.
2. Frog Walk Pocket Garden Spring Clean organised by Celine, March 7th
3. Steve and Zof's Barista Class - March 7th

Happy Running :)

First of all, we welcomed newcomer David, and then...

Congratulated Chris on reaching his 50th good deed. He's been coming to GoodGym whenever he can for about 2 years, and as he says, "It's not about getting the T-shirts!" ...and he's quite right. Helping the community, along with the social aspect of enjoying like minded people's company is definitely where it's at!

A group run led by me wouldn't be complete without sprints, intervals & hill reps - and that's just what we did to and from the task - turning it into a decent session in the process.

We met Magnificent Martin from Regather at Lynwood Gardens, whereupon we divided into groups and set about spreading mulch on the squelchy paths, clearing ivy from around an area of willow tree saplings & litter picking the area.

We then headed back to base via hill reps & a long sprint up The Moor.

Happy running!