27 very soggy GG Yorkies made it through flash floods to do good at Millthorpe School.

A massive thunderstorm had been going for about an hour leaving parts of the city (and some GG Yorkie's houses) waterlogged. Drenched runners arrived victoriously, particularly Mel who was really rocking the 'triathlon in my clothes' look. Big shout out to Alison who came for her first GoodGym all the way from Malton in horrendous weather!

Luckily the rain stopped before we were due to head out to do good. It was only half a mile to get to our task and our walking crew of Katie and Sean led the way whilst the runners did a little warm up. At the task we were met by Emma who told us a little bit about Forest School and how it's so important to get the kids outside to experience the Great British weather. We agree, maybe they'll end up being GoodGymers.

Our tasks were to dig over two big areas of weedy, mossy stuff so that grass seed could be planted, and to rip up an old, rotten boardwalk around the two ponds. Those who were most into carnage and destruction headed for the boardwalk. The only tools were spades and forks, really for all the digging.

How are we supposed to do this? Using our bare hands? - Christine

Yep. With gloved hands, everyone got stuck in ripping up the chicken wire and yanking bits of wood up.

I don't know if now is the time to say that I have actually fallen in a pond before.

Despite her previous form, Helen still headed for the pond but stuck to the safety of digging in the very soggy grass. The soggy grass gang were very much enjoying the squelching sounds of digging and were determined to call people over individually so they could listen.

It's like the first spoon of trifle! - Alison

Over on the other side, a huge patch of digging had been completed. Adam had arrived slightly late and immediately found a huge root to attempt to dig up.

I found that root earlier and instead of tackling it, I went over there - Bad Nick

The whole boardwalk had been removed except for a few very long posts (a job for another day) and a massive area of grass had been dug over. It was time to celebrate with a bit of fitness and tonight we introduced a brand new game.

The Egg of Power

The Egg of Power gave some lucky individuals the chance to decide what exercise everybody had to do. Some people - like Huw - made bad choices and had everyone doing burpees. Timer Sean was merciful though and didn't make us do them for too long. Obviously there was dancing because everyone knows we love a little dance at GoodGym (excellent suggestion by Lizzie) but it was new-ish GG Yorkie, Emily, who 100% took the win for best exercise.

Monsters Inc Bunk Bed!

If you're unfamiliar with the exercise, see here. Emily demonstrated with quite outstanding enthusiasm and sound effects and deserves a big cheer.

Don't forget we have an extra session on Thursday this week starting at 18:30 - this is a Starter Session so we meet at the task. Invite your friends!

Another night, another time we didn't finish the path. Alas! I was sure we would this time..

This limestone path at Heworth Holme has been keeping us busy for over a year now and it's mouth-wateringly close to being finished. I was trying to remain positive but all the regulars were in doubt that we would get it done. Katie - a fairly new runner - was being positive with me.

I'm running with untainted optimism! - Katie

New runners Anna and Emily grabbed some spades and started shovelling as we put 40 minutes on the clock.

There was residual limestone at one end of the path, a massive pile of it at at the other end and the empty section right in the middle that needed filling. Karen was busy trying to tidy up the weedguard around the corners before the wheelbarrows of limestone landed - and Jonathan had to pedal really fast back to St Nicks for more weedguard because some baddie had nicked the roll that had been left.

Nick (actual Nick, not St Nick) managed to end up with a squeaky barrow and everyone kept thinking there was a whining dog sneaking up on them as he went back and forth at an amazing pace.

Time ticked away quickly and with only five minutes remaining, we knew that this would not be the time we finished the path. Lucy was finishing up the raking in the middle section and was struggling to stop as she was mesmerised by the biscuit-base appearance of the limestone.

It's so good, it's making me think of cheesecake.

We took all the wheelbarrows and tools back to the end and weren't too despondent as not finishing meant that we just get to go back and have more path-building fun another day!

We finished our run with a mini glute and hamstring workout before a nice stretch on the floor.

A team of 30 GG Yorkies ran to give Gale Court Farm a makeover

We started out by welcoming our new runners and celebrating the very lovely Lizzie who was running her 100th good deed and got to run in the awesome Centurion Cape!

Our task was to give a makeover to the communal outdoor spaces at Gale Farm Court - a sheltered housing complex with care for older and disabled residents.

A few of the residents came out for a chat. Mel introduced herself to one who was poking his nose through the fence.

I'm Lee and this is 'Chip Fat Pat'

We never learned why she was Chip Fat Pat but she was a genius as Mel was trying to pick up spiky holly offcuts and Pat handed her a couple of bits of plywood to use as scoopers instead.

With different jobs all over the site, I needed helpers. Tim was first up and keen as always. He was sent on a mission to find a tonne sack and bring it around for all the cuttings to go in.

At the back, it was sweeping madness as everyone used the tiny brushes to clear all the moss and weeds around the pathways leading to the tool shed and the recycling area. Debs was chief sweeper as she has the big brush and swept the main area to absolute perfection.

Speaking of recycling, Mitch had heard that there was a job to tear up cardboard and was super keen. Resident Frank had pointed out an ENORMOUS box that needed deconstructing so it could fit in the recycling bin. Mitch diligently went to work tearing the box into millions of tiny pieces. Excellent.

I've made a mistake

Unfortunately he then accidentally fed 80% of it into the glass recycling bin which was locked with a chain. We know Mitch is nothing if not persistent so he then found a litter picker and set about extracting all the cardboard bits and depositing them into the right bin!

Over at the big clear, Aidan had arrived with a spade and set to work digging out some massive plants with Katie F and Huw. Frank had led us through the building to this spot and initially we had thought we'd set a building alarm off but it was just a really strong mobility scooter reversing bleep.

At the front courtyard, Tim was committed to his tonne sack duty and was ensuring we got the maximum amount in by seriously compressing it with jumping. Now another challenge..

THE 5 MINUTE BROOM CHALLENGE!

Tristan was up. He had five minutes to run around to the other side, nab a broom, bring it over and sweep up everything as fast as possible. He sprinted off and honestly I've never seen anyone sweep with such power. Amazing.

With just a few minutes to go it was mega sweepy time at the recycling courtyard which had been utterly transformed and looked fantastic! One of the residents had demanded we have some biscuits and had gifted us a whole box of them via Stef, who was totally chuffed about it.

It was supposed to be a steady run back and Tim had promised to lead a nice one but we all know what he's like, so some people went for it whilst the rest of us had a nice social.

We celebrated our good deed in the best possible way... hill reps! Quite a few tonight had their first ever experience of Windmill Rise and there was some excellent sprinting going on as we practised good arm drive and bringing those knees up!

After stretching out we discovered the biscuits we had been given we the actual best biscuits EVER and everyone was very happy ever after.

'Til next week, be a good one.

An enormous team of GG Yorkies ran to complete three tasks helping out in Scarcroft Green, Glen Gardens and 'The Nose' at St Clements Church

After welcoming our new runners we gave some massive cheers to Carl as it was his 50th Good Deed! Carl has been with us since the very first run and he shall wear the Cape of Good Deeds next week once err.. I've found it in my house move.

We also gave a massive shout out to all the runners who raced at Endure24 over the weekend and turned up all tired and with sore legs, especially Tim and Becky who not only came 2nd in the mixed pairs, running 135 miles, but also both volunteered for the longer run this evening!

Hardcore Endure24 runner, Paul, led out the longer run team to Glen Gardens whilst other hardcore Endure24 runner, Leanne, led out the second longest group to St Clements Church (which was a whole extra 200m past our shortest run of 550m).

At Scarcroft Green we had loads of different tasks going on:

• edging the pathways
• clearing overgrown greenery from the path
• cutting back low branches on trees
• clearing a huge area of overgrown shrubbery
• doing a litter pick

Everyone swiftly split into their teams, grabbed some tools and ran off. Whilst Graham was chuntering away about blisters on his delicate hands, new runner Karen was straight in, scraping the path edges and pulling up the rogue turf and weeds. Everyone on path edging was very amused with the teeny tiny brushes that sort of looked like giant toothbrushes, but they were surprisingly effective.

Whilst John was litter picking he found a painted stone which we gave to Helen to take on an adventure to the Lake District. So thorough with his task, he accidentally found the same stone 5 minutes later!

Maddy managed to find a tiny bicycle on her litter picking adventure and it was taken for a spin before being added to the growing pile of bags. With 3 minutes left on the clock, everyone joined in to frantically sweep and clear the last of the paths before we met the other teams for a group pic and fitness sesh.

Team Nose Weed (written by Leanne)

This super six must have run really fast on the way out as they arrived at St Clement's Church 10 minutes early. While they waited for taskmaster, Lyndall to arrive they located "The Nose" and had a 'nose' around. It's a community garden full of delicious treats: raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, potatoes, courgettes, and much more.

Lyndall asked us to edge the flower beds and get rid of any weeds to make it look more presentable for a forthcoming open day.

It wasn't long before everyone was hard at work. Every so often there was a shout of:

Has this bit been done? (practically everyone at some point)

Despite this, it did look a fair bit neater and most certainly 'done' by the end of the task. At the 30 second call, Mitch quadrupled his productivity in removing some grass from the last flower bed and just managed to finish his patch within the allotted time.

We paused for a quick snack picked freshly from the garden before the long run back round the corner to Scarcroft Green. There we joined the rest of the crew for Egg's fitness session.

FITNESS!!!

Tonight's fitness session involved a bit of push/pull with a partner and I think we have to applaud Katie F who gave a heroic effort in pushing Huw who is at least double her height. Kudos to Barbara also who paired with her own daughter and immediately regretted it, Ellie G is an absolute powerhouse!

After all that we split into four big teams for a planking and commando crawling relay - which everyone definitely completed and there was no cheating, none.

As we gathering for our final group piccie of the night, we were joined by the ward councillor, Jonny Crawshaw, who gave us a big thank you before we ran the whole 550m back to base.

On a beautifully warm and sunny evening in York - a big bunch of runners turned out to help with lots of different tasks!

Amongst them was a GoodGym tourist, Clare from Lewisham, so let's make sure we give her a big ol' Yorkshire cheer for joining us. We also need to give some massive cheers to Nick, who ran the 55 mile ultra, Race to the King, at the weekend. Nick very sensibly volunteered to be our walking back marker and give his legs a bit of a well-earned rest.

Leanne, Tim and Lizzie each led out a flyering team allocated to a different zone. Our challenge was to deliver 1500 leaflets to the South Bank/Fishergate area advertising the Millennium Field Summer Fair. Each leader had to photographically memorise their zones from the master map and had nothing but a piece of paper listing the streets they needed to flyer but they were unfazed by the challenge.

The rest of us ran to Rowntree Park to meet Beki and Rosemary. Our jobs were:

• To clear/wheelbarrow 3 x 1 tonne sacks of soil and deliver to trenches in the playpark
• To bag up a big pile of green waste into sacks
• Plant begonias in raised beds (which we dug in a few weeks ago)

errr.. and..

• The technical challenge of undoing an access gate using a sprocket set.

With 35 minutes on the clock, the challenge begun. Wheelbarrows of soil were swiftly loaded and waited outside the fence whilst Paul Kelly and Debs battled the technical challenge. There was talk of team lifting the heavy barrows over but we decided to be safe (and patient) instead.

Over at the big pile of stuff, one bag was filled quickly and Huw, Helen and Carl were busy breaking down as much as possible whilst Tristan was sent off on a sack-finding mission. He succeeded and the team were able to continue their excellent work.

Lizzie's flyering team were first back, with the other teams not far behind. As they all arrived back, runners were diverted to digging, wheelbarrowing, sack-filling and begonia planting. Beki was running back and forth like a proper GoodGymer, checking what was happening and making sure we were filling all the right holes.

With everyone back, the pace picked up and we cleared all the soil with five minutes to spare; just enough time for everyone to do lots of good stamping to bed it in.

Cones of Joy!

What better way to celebrate a good deed than with a brilliant fitness session?! Max hadn't fully understood what was happening and had managed to sneak off and get his very own cone of joy in the shape of a massive ice cream, but he did manage to demonstrate sit ups whilst holding it, which was very impressive.

Everyone else paired off and mentally prepared for the challenge ahead. Beki - who is now officially an honourary GG Yorkie, even joined in to make up even numbers. 25 stations of fitness. 15 minutes. Best stations included:

• Crab kicks (yes, Nick, crabs do kick like that!)
• Laying down cycling
• The cheering cone
• The dancing cone (may have to be renamed 'the rave cone')
• Sit down/Stand up

There were serious things like squats and lunges too, and everyone enjoyed a bit of sleeping lions before we composed ourselves for a big group piccie and a gentle run/walk back.

Next week is another double tasker - long or short, you decide!

A fantastic 50 GG Yorkies came along for a huge task to help Tang Hall Smart!

It was brilliant to welcome along so many first timers to the run tonight, and a big shout out to Amanda who rallied the troops from her own Monday night running group to help us out, we love a bit of collaboration.

With Leanne leading the way, we headed over to the Burnholme Community Hub and were welcomed by the extremely well-prepared Sue Williamson, Founder of this incredible community company. Sue told us a little bit about all the amazing things they are doing before showing us all the stuff we needed to move. Furniture, tables, computers, amps and more, it all needed moving from the old building to the new, fancy purpose-built building which was just next door.

If the sticker is red, it has to go upstairs. If the sticker is blue, it also has to go upstairs.

Everybody desperately tried to find something with a yellow or green sticker and soon a swarm of good was making it's way across the bit of wasteland in between the old and new site. Over at the new Hub, Al and other Tang Hall Smart folk were on hand to make sure all the kit ended up in the right room.

We were all delighted to see Sean, who was our official GG photographer for the evening. For those that don't know, Sean has been a keen GG Yorkie and mission runner from the beginning, but has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. You can read his story here. It's brilliant to have you back Sean!

As you can see from Sean's fabulous photos, some of the equipment was particularly large, with filing cabinets, a piano and a huge photocopier in the mix.

I think you shouldn't carry the piano up the stairs - Becky, very sensible

A few of our runners got distracted doing a spot of filming with Abigail from BBC York, but she was getting them to lunge so I didn't mind and let them crack on with it.

In an unbelievable 25 minutes, everything was moved, way ahead of schedule! It is really mind-blowing what you can achieve with a bit of people power.

With all that time to spare, we had a great little percussion session and made beautiful GoodGym music (or a truly terrible din..) with Laurence on the drums and Sue on the sax. There were also jumping squats and lunges, obviously.

With all our good done, we completed mini running drills to get our legs fired up for the 3km run back to base.

Thirty minutes before our group run was due to start, the heavens opened. A torrential downpour that struck fear into the heart of many a GG Yorkie. Despite that, a super 27 Yorkies turned out to help with two graveyard tasks.

We welcomed along three brand new runners to the team, so give some hearty cheers to Jesse, Fiona and Elder Chand!

TEAM DICK TURPIN

I delegated the lead out run to Catherine and Lucy, it turns out Lucy can navigate anywhere if it's near a Wetherspoons. We arrived at George St, where the infamous Dick Turpin is apparently buried , and Iain greeted us with a huge pile of woodchip to top up the perimeter path.

Before that though, Ellie B had to clear up some confusion from a passer-by.

Where's GoodGym? Does it have a sauna?

With 40 minutes on the clock it was an all-action affair, with wheelbarrows of woodchip shuttling back and forth. Once the bark was all shifted, we did a bit of fast feet to bed it in properly, with new runner Jesse, doing all sorts of fancy footwork.

The path was done in no time at all so we focused our energy on edging the rest of the gravestones and having a good old tidy-up before celebrating our good deed with a fitness session at Clifford's Tower.

STEP REPS!!

The challenge involved doing a set of exercises between rounds of step reps, all 55 steps of the tower.

• Elevated lunges
• Quick steps
• Side Steps
• Split squats
• Box jumps
• Descending squat jumps

We even finished off with a run back along the bar walls.

TEAM ACOMB (written by TIm)

There was electricity in the air as an intrepid 15 headed up the "hill" to Acomb. The sky trembled with excitement as I stepped up to the plate to assist Run Leader Leanne to lead out the long group. The hardy 15 had already braved thunder, lightning and deluge so nothing was going to stop us getting to St Stephens Church and cracking on with the task. Well, nothing except going the wrong way anyway, but luckily Katie was ready to leap to my aid and assure me that I was going the right way!

The lovely Stephen and John met us in the graveyard and quickly set us up with some awesome tasks. Firstly the legendary Norweigian tourist Are (on his last GoodGym with us!) and Huw got to work clearing the overgrown bark path around the graveyard whilst Katie and Mitch jumped in and started lopping off overhanging branches and holly.

A fearsome unit moved in and got to work trimming the grass and removing turf from around the World War 1 graves that the church are looking to restore. Meanwhile Lizzie, Ali and Elders Chand and Minnich got stuck in bagging up woodchips for donation to local gardens!

After protests (mainly from Mitch) of: "Tim do some actual work!" And "Tim you are not the boss of me!" We were all relieved to see the arrival of half a job Paul Anderson who proceeded to immediately spill a bag of carefully packed woodchips.

Before we knew it, time was up. Invigorated by our amazing task and thankful hosts we decided the hill at Acomb Green wasn't tough enough, so we headed over to the renowned "steepest hill in York" at Windmill Rise for some epic hill reps!

Tim we are going to put all the running watches on you and make you do the hill reps for everyone! - BadGym Becky

Back at base, the teams gathered back together for a stretch and we reminded everyone to sign up for next week's massive task. See you next week!

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!