Tonight we had a great evening, coming together at Heart & running down to Left Bank where we painted some event stands & the remaining picnic bench. We love visiting Left Bank as it has such a great vibe, with all sorts of activities going on from break dancing, to art, to GoodGyming! We always get the offer of free drinks at the end, which are gratefully received :) Newcomer Lloyd even decided to paint his Man City jacket!! I'm pretty sure that chief mischief maker (& Man united supporter) Jubz had something to do with encouraging this vandalism. In his words... 'when beautiful souls come together, art occurs...'. I think that sums up our night perfectly!

Congratulations to Katie Presley on her 75th mission tonight! Thanks for all you do for GoodGym Leeds.

Tonight 12 GoodGymers ran from Heart down to Left Bank to finish what we started in summer with painting the picnic benches. It was a little darker than last time we did it, but we managed with the help of a portable light supplied by Left Bank.

Adam thought his team had finished but the perfectionist in me thought otherwise, so they went back & finished the job...sorry Adam!

After painting, we finished off with a beer at the bar. Left Bank always look after us :)

Thanks so much to Helen for another great run. I know we moan about the hills, but we appreciate your effort!

Welcome to Guy who joined us tonight for his first session. We hope to see you again soon!

Tonight 13 of us ran from Heart down to Left Bank (after a little detour from Katie)!

The staff asked us to sand down and paint benches with pink & red stripes. We got to work and the benches looked great; the staff are going to gloss them tomorrow to finish them off.

Afterwards, Left Bank kindly gave us a drink each as a thank you, which were gratefully received.

Welcome to Irene who joined us for her first session tonight.

Well done to Adam on his 20th good deed tonight & Bryony for her 10th!

It was a great evening, thanks all :)

Six Leeds Good Gym friends ran to our fantastic neighbourhood community/arts centre, Left Bank, this week. We took to the dark streets for a short run making good use of our headtorches across the park. Once at Left Bank we were issued with two sacks of crocus and daffodil bulbs and a bunch of repurposed wooden spoons. Torches on again and into the garden we went. A good hour of planting these bulbs was rewarded with a free drink and a chin wag. We particularly enjoyed Paul's tale of his student toga party and the inevitable consequences of Scouse mischief!

9 goodgymers made their way to Left Bank to help repaint some storage cabinets.

We welcomed back Katie on her first group run post-covid.

We ran the long way to Left Bank. Going up towards Headingley and back down Cardigan Lane. We made a slight error in navigation - which I'm blaming on the GPS - but Helen quickly helped us find our way back on track.

The Task

We had 4 cabinets to paint, and so we split into pairs and worked together to get the task done. We must be experts at painting, because we had painted all of the surfaces within record time. Therefore we had time at the end for a bit of friendly competition of table tennis. Winner stays on. Elspeth wins the award for most competitive!

After refreshments courtesy of Left Bank, we headed back to HPBC via Woodhouse Moor. Another task successfully completed and another 2km run done!

Well done everyone, see you next week.

We banked another good deed this week - at the wonderful Left Bank Leeds. A creative space for the community, Left Bank hosts lots of events, workshops and activities, all set within a converted church. It's well worth another visit.

A warm welcome to Zainab , who joined us for her first goodgym task. Let's give her a cheer!

The run

9 goodgymers were treated to a hot and sweaty 2km run. We tried staying in the shade for as long as possible by running around Woodhouse Moor. Inevitably we had to leave the shade behind us for the last part of the run, but thankfully it was all down hill!

The Task

We were welcomed in to Left Bank with open arms, offered some light refreshments, and then got to work varnishing the picnic benches (not in use!)

Katie, Josie and Helen were the most diligent out of the group since they were finishing their bench, just as everyone else was starting.

Everyone else eventually caught up, and we found we had actually got through the task in record time (we'd run out of benches)! It was therefore time to switch to an impromptu litter pick. It was suggested to do a tag-team litter pick / relay, which was quickly dismissed as being a rather silly idea...

Nevertheless, we had an ace team of litter pickers who quickly gathered up lots of the litter around the perimeter of Left Bank. At one point, Sarah and Josie were even taking the time to pick up tiny pieces of confetti. That's dedication!

The Run Back

Great work everyone we managed to get a lot done in a short space of time. All that was left was a jog back to Hyde Park Book Club. We ran back via Burley Park (as it's always nicer to run through parks!)