A snap of cold weather brought snow to Luton this week and caused our group run to be a frosty one.

The hardiest runners came out for this weeks group run to Penrose roots, where Pete had a bramble and weed clearing task for us. We ran hard and fast to keep warm and then worked hard chopping away at the weeds and raking the cuttings up into a big pile.

Breath making large clouds in the icy air we kept on going until the area was clear and then quickly took some photos and ran on into the cold night. It was not one for hanging around outside!

Pressing hard on the return journey too, we managed to keep the cold at bay long enough to make it back into town and bid each other goodnight, with very welcome hot showers waiting for us!

We had a team of four to kick off a new project at the Toddington Road Allotments. Task owners Jim and Mary want to create a new area of smaller plots for the more senior allotment members to take on, rather than be overwhelmed by the enormous plots on the rest of the site.

Currently covered in grass and weeds the whole plot would take ages to dig over so we set a reasonable target and worked at it for a little over an hour with the plan of spreading this task over several weeks.

Newbie Brenda got her first taste of a Goodgym task, but she is no stranger to digging over ground, though in her case using a hoe rather than a fork. At the suggestion, task owner Jim went away and rustled up a couple of hoes which definitely are a faster way of turning the ground over, and also a bit more energetic!

We got the planned area done with a bit of spare time too so we added a bit more on before calling it a day. It was a good task and we had a good chat while we worked.

Reaching out to new areas we went to Houghton Hall Parkrun for a change this week and were able to welcome newbie Brenda to GoodGym for her first session!

The three of us enjoyed a good run and took the opportunity to spread a few flyers around the other runners and try to find some new members.

A team of five came together for a 5km round trip to the 61 Football Club where the changing rooms needed a good scrub down as they'd got pretty muddy!

Hot soapy water, brooms, mops and scrubbers were all employed to restore some cleanliness to the grubby changing rooms and shower. Working against the clock and with a smaller team than normal we did our best to tackle the grime. We definitely got the worst of it off but there's certainly room for another go at it to get the clubhouse in a truly clean state, we'll come back in a couple of weeks to finish the task properly.

Club manager Richard treated us with chocolate biscuits and squash before our return journey into town, the club are always very hospitable and thankful for our efforts!