This week we welcomed 20 GG Yorkies to our first Group Run of October. And as it was the first session of the month that meant we started off by handing out September's GGer of the month award. This time it was Jenna's turn for completing an amazing 9 Good Deeds and also baking some delicious cakes along the way. Giver her a big cheer 🎉

Nikki was still being sensible following her epic ultra so led a solo walking group whilst the rest of the gang numbered off by naming our favourite animals from popular culture (Beaker from the muppets is definitely not an animal, Mitch!). Then it was off to the task with Ed leading the group and Babs and Laura backmarking.

We arrived at the task to be greeted by Helen who gave us a brief overview of what we'd be doing and then leading us to the allotment plot that needed our attention. She also took us past an area we'd done a lot of work on over the past couple of years which is now a thriving garden area.

We were then given tools to help us clear the allotment, but it could probably be said that a few more forks rather than spades might have coke in handy. Nevertheless we were making excellent progress with Nikki and then Mitch on hand-scything duties whilst Craig was in charge of the wheelbarrow. Unfortunately Ed forgot to take a 'before' photo, which meant taking an 'after' photo would have also been completely pointless but I can promise you we achieved quite a lot and the allotment was looking an awful lot clearer by the time we finished.

After a quick group photo and jog back to the Priory Centre (or a speedy walk in Nikki's case) it was time for the fitness session. Tonight it was a set of 3 exercises completed on the minute mark, every minute, for 5 minutes. Therefore the quicker you got through the exercises, the more time you had to rest before the next set. Clearly Charlotte loves her rest time as she was racing her way through the exercises before anyone else, until Rich clocked on and started to get competitive.

Their was time for a bonus extra round of exercises at the end of the 5mins, and Max had been enjoying himself so much that he decided to double the number of reps in each exercise for a final flurry! Then it was time for a quick cool down stretch and some delicious cake made by who else but Jenna.

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