19 GG folk met to brush up on their painting skills at Park Grove School. we welcomed Claudia to her very first GoodGym and were also joined by Amy for her first group run.

After owning up to our favourite Karaoke songs - Boney M Lucy - really? and a quick leg swing warm up we headed off to meet the gaffa Vicky at the school

on arrival Mitch along with 3 other GGers went off to the Secret Garden to help out Tracey of Fairy Trail Fame. They were tasked with clearing a pile of compost, rubble and other fly tip to clear the area for a new garden to be installed.

They got straight to work digging, bagging and trying to find the strangest item (tied between computer mouse and tiny bathtub...).

Meanwhile back at the school the rest of the crew had moved some heavy podiums and were painting up the old rainbow fence while Jamie showed his sense of hue-more with a steady stream of paint themed puns. Laura was caught blue handed wearing the cape of good deeds while painting - congrats on reaching 400 awesome good deeds Laura!

we got a good chunk fence painted and then it was onto the sports field for a quick round of squats and burpees to AC/DC's Thunderstruck before we had a mini sports day.

Abigail's team won the well known quoit on the head relay race with some dubious use of the hair bun, Lyndsey exhibited an extremely unorthodox lunge technique in the quoit on the head lunge relay and Claire really came into her own with some very dainty backwards running in the famous quoit on the head backwards running race.

it was then just a short trot back to base before no-one went to the pub - the horror!

This week was our 3rd and final session getting rid of Balsam at Fulford Ings, but before celebrating the finale of our Balsam bashing trilogy we had some serious celebrating of our own to do with plenty of epic achievements since our last outing. Firstly we had the tired legs crew who had conquered the Swaledale Marathon at the weekend - well done Barbara, Lucy and Amy (as well as several others who couldn't make it tonight) ⛰️. Then it was cheers to Mitch, who had been on the sauce on Saturday, winning the Beer Mile 🍺. Plus all our summer series runners who had put some serious effort in at the Knavesmire last Tuesday with a few PBs thrown in for good measure. Well done everyone 👏

After a quick warm up in honour of National Ballpoint Pen day, we headed off with Abigail and Pete brining up the rear and Amy leading our walking crew. We even had time for a few tricep dips in the sun as we went over Millenium Bridge. What a glorious evening this was going to be.... or so we thought 🤔

Things started well with the our intrepid GGers picking up where they'd left off last time and making good progress, uprooting Balsam left, right and centre. But before too long a figure emerged out from the bushes and took exception to our efforts. Obviously we can't please everyone with our Goodness, and Nicola from St Nicks handled the situation admirably, but the grey clouds had started to gather on tonight's task both figuratively and literally!

To placate the disgruntled resident, we focused our efforts further down the Ings and were soon back into our rhythm with Craig looking particularly pleased with the size of the Balsam he had pulled, whilst Leanne was starting to make a rather impressive pile!

But with time running out and the wind picking up, it was time to set off for a quick fitness sesh on Millenium Fields. We managed approximately 2mins worth of fitness before getting absolutely pelted by some seriously chunky hailstones and deciding to pack it in and hide under a tree. We understandably lost a few runners who beat a hasty retreat to the safety of their homes, before finally arriving back at CVS.

There was something for everyone at this week's Group Run with cycling, walking, steady and faster options on offer for a fantastic 24 GGers. We started by welcoming first timer Sophie who set off with Vicky et al as part of the walking crew 👋. We also announced the first half of the GoodGymmer of the month award with Mitch getting his turn in the frame for getting stuck in to a load of Good deeds and leading some missions. Well done Mitch 👏

Before setting off, we warmed up with a nod to World Bicycle Day (according to Amy's Garmin) by pretending to ride our imaginary bicycles around the CVS car park, much to the dismay of the more avid cyclists amongst us 🚲. Then it was off the Fulford Ings for Balsam Bashing Round 2!

At the task we were joined by Emma and a rather late Ben, who looked like he'd put in some serious effort to try and catch up with the running crew🏃‍♂! Nicola from St Nicks gave out a brief overview to those who were making their Balsam Bashing debut whilst the more seasoned veterans got stuck straight in.

Anna and Sophie made a fab start and soon got to work pulling out what they thought was Balsam left, right and centre, before Ed pointed out that what they had been pulling out was unfortunately something else! Don't worry guys, there were a few others making the same mistake

There's not too much else that can be said about Balsam that hasn't been said before, but there was much debate over the correct method as well as plenty of new pun options for future run reports. By the way, this week's genius word play came from Abi, not me!

Before too long it was time to head back to base, but not before a quick plank race on millennium field, with some very questionable planks and some very eager plankers

When we got back to CVS we were able to dish out the second half of our GGer of the month award to Lyndsey who had also completed a shed load of Good Deeds over the last couple of months as well as keeping the Friday Lunch Hill Rep Club alive 💪

Fab sesh everyone. See you next week for the third and final bash