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!

A hardy 27 runners ran on a freezing cold evening to help out at Holgate Community Garden.

We had two brand new runners with us, give some big cheers to Mitchell and Andrew for rocking our their first ever GoodGym in sub-zero temperatures.

We also need some massive cheers for Lisa and Paul who both ran half marathon PBs yesterday at Brighton Half and Harewood House Half respectively. Not only that but we had a solid GoodGym showing at Snake Lane 10 too, with Leanne, Becky, Tim, Nick and Paul Kelly running their socks off!

We split into three groups for our run. A longer group, a shorter group and a walking group. The shorter group arrived at the task first to be met by Jules, and were delighted to find a huge array of tools at their disposal. The task was to completely clear a neglected patch of all the weeds and overgrown stuff which was well bedded in. Once the area was cleared and dug over, it was going to be used to create a small edible garden for the local community, containing fruit trees.

Around the patch were also four broken concrete bollards. Another part of the task was to locate/dig up the broken tops and match each top to it's broken base to see if they could be fixed.

The walking group were not far behind; they arrived to tiny squeals of excitement as somebody had discovered that we had been given brand new, still packaged loppers. It's the small things that make GoodGymers happy.

They're new! So sharp!

By the time the long run group arrived (fresh from some bonus hill reps on Windmill Rise) all the easy chopping back had been done. It was time to fork. Forking and digging up the roots was hard graft. We found all sorts in there; an old crow bar, a squash ball and what we thought were potatoes but were reliably informed by Jules, were in fact quince, relics from the last time the patch had been used.

Shelley and Amy were trying to make themselves look busy so I set them the challenge of compressing the plant matter down to make more space in the rubble sacks. This resulted in Shelley doing lunges inside one of the bags, which made me very happy. After this they took on the borders of the area, doing an excellent job of sweeping and clearing all the grassy weeds from the edges.

The first time I've ever lunged in a bag!

We finished up by matching the bollard tops to their broken bases, and running all the tools back to storage before a 10 minute round of Cones of Joy to get nice and warm again. Emma was making up her own exercises and it was a few stations in before I realised she was just basically doing a lot of press ups. With that resolved, it was madness as everyone did their best exercises in the dark. The cones did work and everybody seemed particularly joyful as we made our way back to base.

** A group of GG Yorkies braved a cold Thursday night to create a new footpath at St Nicks!**

We welcomed along three brand new runners to the gang, let's give a big cheer to:

• Bridget
• Parker
• Tyler

Apparently a brand new wood-chipper arrived at St Nicks yesterday, ready to recycle lots of old Christmas trees. Whilst the team were figuring out how the millions of pieces of this fine bit of machinery go together, a local contractor pitched up with a truckload of wood-chip (also from Christmas trees) looking for a new home. Perfect.

One very dark and slimy patch of pathway had been boarded ready for us, as the team wasted no time in filling wheelbarrows and running them over one by one.

The path smells like Christmas!

The pine tree chippings certainly did have a wonderful aroma, and the raking team were doing an excellent job of spreading it around evenly too.

With it being a bit chilly, the work rate was high as everyone did all they could to stay warm. Christine seemed to be averaging a 'barrow a minute as Tim and Robert were sprinting the full barrows up the path!

It's going uphill!

The path did meander slightly upwards which made the second half of the task that little bit tougher, no match for us though. With just a couple of minutes left on the clock, the last two wheelbarrows took the wood-chip all the way up to the steps: our task was done.

Cones of Joy!

The best way to celebrate the completion of a good task is with a lovely little fitness session. We completed a Cones of Joy workout with the timing station being a bunny hop circuit around the tree and back. Exercises included:

• Squat-kicks
• Hurdle jumps
• Spot jumps
• Walking lunges
• Pretend ladder climbs
• Can-can kicks

...and lots more.

Our next group run will also be our birthday run! We'll have been running for one whole year, come and join us for a 5km to Glen Gardens!