There was lots to celebrate tonight following the weekends goings on. First up we had the wedding of Vicky and Neil (congratulations guys!) followed by a fair few members completing Thorp Perrrow parkrun dressed in wedding attire, including what could possibly be the first ever parkrun P1 featuring a chap in a dress carrying a handbag (classic Mitch). We then carried on the celebrations by numbering off whilst listing our favourite things about weddings, including lots of mentions of the various foods!

After that it was time to venture to Greenfields in a Woollard sandwich with Ed leading the run out and Amy backmarking. Meanwhile Vicky led a cycling group. Upon arrival at Greenfields the guys were organised promptly into 5 different groups and then led off by a volunteer from Greenfields to get stuck into their task. The following is the best recollection Ed can possibly give of what each different group was doing, without actually bothering to take the time to ask...

The first group were near the entrance and appeared to be hacking away at grass with relatively blunt instruments. Amy in particular seemed to be struggling to actually get any of the grass cut and every time Ed returned she'd swapped her instrument for one that she thought might be sharper. I think Michael may have actually managed to get some grass cut with a sickle but I can't be sure. He just looks like someone who can cut grass reasonably well.

The next 3 groups all seemed to be around the same sort of area. I think they were cutting grass near the raised beds or possibly even weeding in the beds, but I can't be sure. Mitch was asleep on the floor for a bit and Abigail was absolutely covered in stuff out of the beds which meant Babs had to get rather familiar with Abigail to help clear her backside! Steve constantly had a wheelbarrow. Laura was definitely removing grass from the side of a raised bed but didn't really seem to know why. Mitch had a wee in a bush. Abigail kept making faces. Jake and Matt appeared to genuinely be getting some work done, but I'm not sure if it was useful or not.

The final group were rather conveniently placed near the fruit trees and I honestly have no idea what they were doing. Rich had a rake but was leaning on it quite a bit. Lucy was very well hidden deep into the bushes. I think she was just hiding so that she could eat the fruit. I think I saw Neil and J cut some grass but I could be wrong.

After all that hard work it was time for a classic Greenfields symmetrical photo before a quick wedding themed fitness session, but only after Amy had reminded Ed that it was supposed to be wedding themed! There were some squats to start the wedding day, some lunges up the aisle, some very questionable dancing including the macarena and a little lie down at the end of the wedding featuring some burpees.

All in all a fab session at Greenfields and we'll be back again soon!

We started today's session by saying our geeky interest in honour of Embrace your Geekness day! There were mentions of spreadsheets, cloud spotting and jigsaws to name a few.

We also congratulated the group of goodgymers who completed the 58 mile ultra in the lakes in the heatwave and the group who ran up and down Snowdon despite their race being cancelled.

Mitch then led off a small splinter group to Acomb Library.This is what they got up to-

We arrived at the library not to new raised bed, but old rotten beams of wood. We quickly got to work moving them from the garden and out to the drive. These will now be used for the path at fishponds woods.

After half an hour the garden was left crystal clear.

The remainder of the group headed to New Walk to drag many sacks of grass to the collection point. In goodgym style this was completed much quicker than expected so we headed off for a bit of fun fitness in the form of goodgym scrabble.

Despite stretching it out we still had a nice early finish so a few thirsty folk headed to the pub where in true geek style, Paul showed some strava tricks which got us debating each others' popularity!

A small but mighty crew headed down to the riverside this evening to tackle a familiar invasive foe: Himalayan balsam.

After a run or cycle to the task location, we split up along the riverbank and got stuck into pulling up the plants before they have a chance to spread their seeds. The recent weather had left the ground soft, making it satisfying work as roots and all came free with a gentle tug.

Working our way along the path, we soon created impressive piles of balsam and opened up space for native plants to thrive.

With plenty of plants removed and the area looking noticeably clearer, we gathered for a group photo before heading to the memorial gardens for fitness, feeling pleased with another practical contribution to keeping our local green spaces in great shape.

Tonight we did some exercises around the circle then froze into different positions. It was then back to base for a stretch out.

We also congratulated all the impressive runners who completed races and relays over the weekend, cheered Mitch for doing his 600th deed and Neil his 100th, and welcomed Yashodh and Nada to their first group run.

Great effort from everyone involved!