The January challenge is officially over and despite the monumental efforts of everyone at GG York, we still had an impressive 20 legends turn up for tonight's session, inverting soil at Millennium Field.

Before we set off we awarded the prestigious January GoodGymer of the month award to the super-human Michael who ran a ridiculous amount of KMs whilst also completing a remarkable 23 good deeds. Top effort Michael, give that man plenty of cheers 🍻

We then set off to Millennium Field with Ed leading the run out and Jenna, Laura and Abigail as our backmarkers. Those at the front got a bit too far ahead so did some very questionable wall sits whilst they waited for the rest of the gang to catch up! And then we arrived at the task to be greeted by Maeve and Nicola from St Nicks.

Nicola stole Mitch, Michael, Martin and Stef (the Mmms for short) to do some forking compost work, whilst everyone else joined Maeve at the South end of the field to start digging out clumps of soil and then flipping it over, ready for wildflower seed to be spread on top.

You can tell a lot about someone by how they invert soil - Vicky

The instruction was to dig out random areas but that didn't stop some GoodGymers from getting quite artistic with their inverting. Ben created two very neat connecting squares, whilst James went for quantity over quality and had dug out the biggest patch by far, if not the neatest!

The task was soon complete and the final ask was to spread the seed around on top of the patches we had just dug out, before trampling them down. We then set off and picked up the Mmms en route to a fitness session on the other side of the bridge

We used the seating area next to Rowntree Park to do a series of exercises followed by a quick dash up the stairs and a sprint round to do it all over again. Mitch was like a man possessed, completing 6 full sets, with Jane not too far behind as our leading lady

It was then time for the brief jog back to CVS complete with a few nore wall sits along the way!

5 GoodGymmers (plus honorary GoodGymmers Arthur and Fergs) joined the local community of Fulford for an epic tree-planting session. 500 trees were to be planted and protected so we got stuck in (literally, stuck in the mud).

Trainers weren’t the best footwear for the boggy conditions so some soggy feet were made but it didn’t deter us and we got the job done (with help from local families and Scouts), with time to spare.

6 keen goodgymer's met on an pleasant tuesday evening for some soil inversion and wild-flower sowing. After a quick demonstration from St Nick's Maeve, and the realisation that yes it is really is as simple as it sounds... we got to work!

Some honest good work was done tonight with Nikki not letting herself have a biscuit break until her square was complete and a PK fitting in an extra row even when we were all finished up.

Great work on the turfing gang - now you all deserve a biscuit or five!

Tonight was another big night of celebrations as we kicked off with a round of applause for Amy W's 30th Birthday. The applause didn't last long though as it got Fergie the dog over-excited, so we then did a big round of jazz hands for all the weekend runners, especially Rich who completed the Lake District Mountain Trail whilst the rest of us were busy eating sausage rolls and drinking Gin at the Marathon du Malton. But the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Barbara who has been part of GG York since day one and earlier in the week had completed her 600th(!) good deed. What a legend! 🎉

We then numbered off by naming our favourite style of potato featuring hash browns, curly fries and roasties. Then it was off to the task with Ed leading the meaning group, backmarked by Claire. Nikki, Amy W and Tess were the walking group whilst Vicky and Abi run/walked. After a brief pause for some wall squats we arrived at the task to be greeted by Maeve from St Nicks who set us off promptly with scything, raking and digging to spruce up this area of New Walk. Amy H and Tess were having their first scything experience so received a bot of extra tuition from Maeve whilst the old pros were hacking away like there was no tomorrow.

I feel like I should be topless doing this - Rich

The cuttings soon piled up and the dumping area was a fair trek away so we set off some speedy folk to be in charge of shifting the cuttings using a tarp, a wheelbarrow and also a ton bag on top of a plank with some coasters on it. Unfortunately it did mean that there was a bit of hanging around at the end of the task, but that gave us some time to sing happy birthday to Amy W whilst doing some birthday squats. In fact, there was enough time to do it twice so Vicky could record us!

Then it was off to Tower Gardens for tonight's fitness. This time out we played a game of rock, paper, scissors that involved jumping forward when you win or going back to the start if you lost. In classic GoodGym style half the people absolutely nailed it whilst confusion reigned over the over half. After several games (more than enough time to get a handle on the rules) Abigail and the boys were declared the overall winners despite some dubious jumping going on.

Whilst all this was happening Michal had also arrived with a cake delivery to compliment the delicious brownies that Babs had brought along, so there was no shortage of sweet treats available when we got back to CVS. We then said it our goodbyes whilst some people headed off to the pub

We had loads to celebrate tonight on what felt like the first proper summer evening group run of the year. So first off it was a round of applause for Jenna for braving the early morning Run/Swim at DeerShed festival. Then it was a shout out to Nicola for a course best at Heslington parkrun and Richard for a seasons best as well, although clapping was delayed until they finally arrived at the task! We also celebrated Jackie taking part in her 100th Good Deed! But the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the most amazing news that Vicky and Neil got engaged at the weekend and we could not be happier for them both💍

So after all the wonderful weekend news, we celebrated the start of the Paris Olympics by numbering off with the event that we would add to the Olympics if we could. If only the 40m zig-zag was an actual sport, Paul Kelly would be a shoo-in for a gold medal, whilst it was also good to see Carl back himself in ultimate frisbee!

Then it was off to the task with Ed leading and clearly not realising there are quicker ways to get to Fishergate Trianlge than the route that leaves you stranded on a traffic island! At the task we Maeve from St Nicks who dished out the instructions and set us off to work on pulling up the grass and weeds before they overtake the whole space, which is starting to become a lovely little nature spot

The focus was on the bigger clumps of grass at the top end of the triangle, so most of the hard work went into ripping up that, whilst other people took more leisurely approach sitting on the wall and pulling out the dandelions. Before too long it became clear that the hot weather and close surroundings were sapping the energy put of the group and encouraging lots of chit chat, so the decision was made to stop 5mins early and make a start on the hill reps!

After a quick team photo, the walking group headed back to CVS whilst the rest of the gang went the long way round to Blue Bridge Lane for some sprints up and down the hill. Each rep had a different person shouting 'go' just to keep everyone on their toes. But that stop everyone from putting in maximum effort on each rep. Top running guys!

Then it was back to CVS for some stretches and baked goods courtesy of Jackie and Vicky

See you all next week 👋

T'was a quiet mid week July evening meet

When two goodgymer's came out to play

In the muggy yet somewhat pleasant heat

They were met by St Nick's Maeve

Who explained grass was the goal

Amy quickly got to work

Whilst Lyndsey got confused - ohh

But soon we came together

and dug and pulled and cleared

In the humid mid week July weather