Remember, remember! The 4th of November, it's the Monday night Group Run slot!

Tonight we headed off to the Groves to help shift a load of bricks, as well as dig out some weeds and re-plant a few bushes. It was a smaller gathering than usual at the Priory Street Centre as a fair few GGers were getting a pre-task good deed in already, but we still had a decent crowd and welcomed back Anne who was returning for her 2nd group run. Give her a big cheer 🎉

Before setting off to the task we warmed up by celebrating the 24th anniversary of the premier of the film 'Dances with Wolves' and naming which animal we would like to dance with and why. There were some very interesting choices including a zebra, a platypus and Siegfried and Roy's white tiger (rather you than me, Graham!). Then it was off to the task ably backmarked by Abigail and Laura.

The other group had already made a good start and helped get the test of us up to speed on what needed doing. So we split off into those shifting bricks and those clearing weeds. Taskowner Tracy also got Ed on hand with a spade to dig out a few bushes that needed to either be shifted elsewhere or just removed entirely. This meant that I'm bot entirely sure what all the various groups were getting up to but excellent progress was obviously made as we managed to complete the task early, meaning we had more time for fitness (aren't we lucky!)

Vicky had created tonight's fireworks-ish themed sesh with people getting into pairs and completing exercises written on a down on a ticket (fit-tix?). The team with the most tickets at the end of the sesh would be declared the winner and tonight's prize went to Mitch and Charlotte who had completed a remarkable 32 tickets! Although anyone who has previously witnessed the speed of Charlotte's burpees won't be surprised in the slightest.

We then made our way back to base and said our goodbyes

Tonight we had a bumper turnout to help at the Kings wildflower meadow path.

A select group set off at party pace followed by the main group after naming and numbering off. We were also joined by a few cyclists and some folk joined us at the task.

We had a few unexpected late sign ups so we needed to split into two groups with one taking on the litter pick challenge and the other tackling dock leaves.

The litter pickers had a list of treasure to find in pairs with the tie breaker being a selfie. Mitch and Lyndsay were the only team to collect everything even though they had to climb over the fence to the beck!

Group dock leaves were introduced to a new tool - the lazy fox - which was used to slice dock leaves at their base.

Time quickly passed and we were back off to base via a few hill reps on little Hob Moor.

All our good work was rewarded with Rich's brownies, which were still warm!

Despite the earlier rain we were treated to some very pleasant sunshine for tonight's group run.

We welcomed newcomers Chris and Polly to the group and named off stating our favourite vegetable in honour of national vegetable day. Counting at the same time proved too complex so Vicky did a headcount instead!

Laura led out the group with Barbara and Vicky backmarking.

When we arrived we collected tools and got to work clearing a forest as part of the schools new forest area. We chopped, sawed, lopped and tugged away and we soon filled the green bins, made a pile yo be chipped and made a stack of den building logs.

To finish we did a tough tabata session - 20 seconds hard with 10 seconds rest. Everyone gave it some good effort and we were quickly through two rounds, got a group photo and on our way back.

Great turnout and effort tonight - good work everyone. Hope to see you soon. Next week its another school, another forest school at Tang Hall Primary.

5 GoodGymers were tasked with sanding and varnishing a few slightly sorry looking noticeboards so they could have a new lease of life . These will be put back on to the popular York - Selby cycleway so we needed to make sure the boards looked nice and fresh for everyone to see.

Luckily between the 5 humans and 1 dog, we quickly managed to get the boards sanded and glossed so they look brand-spanking new!

We started tonight's group run by belatedly awarding our GoodGymer of the month accolade for February to the marvelous Nikki , who had continued her January exploits into Feb and been a shining example for other Task Forcers. Well done Nikki 👏

We also welcomed newcomer Sarah who was doing her first ever task tonight. Let's give her a big cheer 👋

A bit of daytime drama meant that our services were required elsewhere, so instead of going to Ashton Park, tonight's group run saw us head to Clarance Gardens for a spot of unsupervised wildflower seed spreading! Ed did his best to explain what was required of us, and with a few suggestions from the rest of the team, we soon decided on a system that saw everyone lining up a meter apart, with a few seed topper-uppers running between them all 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️

Babs seem to focus on quantity rather than quality and raced ahead of the rest of the line of seed spreaders, whereas Graham took a bit more time and care with his seeds and stamping. Let's see when they bloom who had the best technique!

With most people having whizzed through their seed portions in lightning quick time, we needed to fill the rest of the session with something or risk an early pub exodus. So Leanne led a congo/indian file stamping line to make sure that no spot was left un-stomped.

Before too long it was time for the fitness session and an opportunity to get to know each other a little better. The GGers ran in a circle (again led by Leanne) and made thier way into the middle for an exercise every time Ed called out something that they had done before. Unsurprisingly almost all GGers have baked a cake or planted a tree in their lifetime. Unfortunately we didn't uncover too many secret tattoos though!

Huge well done to everyone for a fab session. Next week it's off to St Chad's scout hut for a classic painting task!