Six or maybe seven, then eight and finally down to three GoodGymers descended upon the enchanted Fishponds Wood Nature Reserve to construct part one of a very secret den (work-tools shed).

The first task was to find an incognito spot in the middle of the thickest thorny bushes and clear the way by attacking the bush with anything sharp we could find. Thanks to the well-equipped York City Council van of tricks and tools, we made light work of clearing the bushes and leveling the ground.

I didn't know what a mattock was before I came to GoodGym. Now I can't get enough of them!

Whilst reminiscing of the early 90’s hit Insane in the Membrane, we laid our pristine sheet of membrane on the ground and set about the highly important task of measuring and marking where the shed foundation flagstones would go. Based on a very wide variety of estimations of what 2 inches is and how long and wide 8 flagstones will be, we rather loosely plotted our future shed site with stakes and strings.

Using the power of a dozen arms, the team enthusiastically mixed cement, sand and water into wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow and spread onto the membrane, ideally without pulling out all the stakes and string.

What consistency should it be? Aim for cheesecake base!

An assortment of spirit levels and handy spotters ensured that the cement base was a perfectly flat bed, fit for a queen, or six flagstones as was actually the case. As each flagstone was inched into place, a cheer went up as we proudly looked down on our beautiful creation. Then to make sure no one else would interfere with our handy work, we promptly covered the whole thing up with leaves and branches and left without a trace of our very existence.

Can you see anything from the path? Nah, it just looks like bushes.

The day dawned bright and sunny with not a cloud in the sky - or so it must have done outside Mitch’s window seeing as he cycled the the mission in his less than waterproof jeans. In fact, the weather was very soggy and had the rest of us wishing we had worn more clothes, waterproof socks and with a tinge of jealousy over Vicky’s umbrella (Mitch take note).

However, this did not put off 24 Yorkies who braved the rain, not to mention the large number of Junior parkrunners. Organised by GGer Michael, who was also the run director, we were given our roles and offered plenty of encouraging words to the runners as they passed.

Big shout out to Lizzie on braving the conditions and in doing so notching up an incredible 200 good deeds. Standing at the turnaround point next to a big puddle did mean getting a splash every time a runner went pass but given the conditions this hardly seemed to matter.

At the end of the task it would prove a while before getting warm and dry as most of the team were still out and about either on the next task of the day or supporting and running the infamous Brass Monkey - congrats to all for braving the conditions including Michael who seemed relieved parkrun finished just in time for him to sprint to the over in time for the start