The promise of staying around for a drink after tonight's session obviously convinced enough people to run with us this week and we had a bumper turnout. 32 runners were part of our amazing crew, including Leah and Suzie who both joined us for the first time. Go and give them a cheer!

This week's task was in aid of 'The Lost Plot', who use gardening at their allotment to offer an alternative to traditional talking therapies for people in sustainable recovery. We were tasked with collecting as many leaves as possible which the group could then use to turn into leaf mulch. There was no task-owner on site with us, which meant trainer Aron went wild with the power.

The whole group was split into 5 teams with their tasks as follows:

• To collect as many leaves as possible in their teams, and deliver them up the hill to the allotment before the time ran out.
• To come up with an excellent team name - as it's GoodGym, ideally a pun.
• To take a great team photo.
• To come up with an inventive exercise that they could demonstrate to the group.
• Bonus points would be awarded for excellent teamwork, camaraderie and general excellent banter.

There was also the promise of a fabulous secret prize for the winning team, which really got everyone's head's in the game. After a quick warm-up demonstrating some potentially inefficient leaf collecting techniques, we were off.

The allotment is in Hyde Park/Woodhouse moor, which roughly 100m away from our start location, so we took a slightly scenic route to the allotment to make sure we were all thoroughly warmed up for our task. We pointed out where the leaves needed to be left and headed down to the edge of the park where there were loads of leaves and a bit more light.

Armed only with gardening gloves and some bags, the teams were free to collect leaves wherever they wanted, and on Aron's shout, each group raced off to claim their own patch. With the 30 minutes of frantic leaf counting underway, it looked like the breakneck pace might prove unsustainable.

"It's like the crystal maze!" Goodgymer whose name was lost in the melee.

Bags were being filled quicker than we could count them, and they were stuffed full to the brim. After realising we definitely weren't going to have enough bags to last us the full 30 minutes, the decision was taken to start running the bags up the hill before emptying them into one gigantic pile, and then refilling them.

After the initial buzz started to fade, thoughts turned to the other tasks the groups had been set. Here's what they all came up with:

• Team 1 - Don't stop beleafing

Exercise - frog squat/leaf collecting

Photo - team frog squat with added leaf throwing

• Team 2 - The Unbeleaveables

Exercise - erratically falling leaves with wide stance fast feet

Photo - Team tree, with a two person trunk, and everyone else as leaves.

• Team 3 - Mulch ado about nothing

Exercise - Tree pose

Photo - group tree hug

• Team 4 - Don't stop beleafing (again)

Exercise - choreagraphed workout (The Monster Mulch) with 3 exercises set to the music of Journey

Photo - Boomerang of leaf throwing with added musical accompaniment

• Team 5 - Mulch ado about nothing (again)

Exercise - Curtsy squats (another gloriously inefficient leaf collecting technique)

Photo - leaf throwing action shot

By now, a huge pile of leaves was forming and with 5 minutes to go, teams started collecting closer to the allotment gate, with everyone congregating around the two trees that were closest. As the final countdown commenced, everyone raced into the finish line to make sure their leaves counted. The final pile was enormous, and even though Team 1 tried to keep their own pile separate, eventually common sense prevailed and all the leaves were piled in together.

We got a quick snap of the whole group before heading down to the corner of the park where the teams demonstrated their exercises. There was wonderful mix of strength, endurance and even flexibility, and so obviously this had to be a group workout. We started with the Monster Mulch's high energy, before running through each of the exercises and finishing with the relative calm of the tree pose. All of the exercises were 'creative' and left people surprisingly tired. Awesome work everyone.

We jogged back to our start location for a stretch and the big reveal of our winners! Despite picking a team name that was shared by another team, the judges were impressed by their commitment to a theme, and with everything either about or set to the music of Journey's Don't Stop Believing, there could only be one winner. Team 4, Don't stop beleafing took home the Curly the Caterpillar cake, and more importantly the glory!

We all then moved inside to the warm of the pub for a drink and a chat to fully debrief the day's evening's events, and the winning team even shared their spoils! What a team.

There was lots of news to share this week as we had two new taskforce members, Tom and Rachel and we had runners out this week at the Yorkshire 10 mile and Yorkshire Marathon! Well done everybody!

We also welcomed five new faces this week, Ian, Chris,Riobhne, Amanda, and Harriet. Go and give them all a cheer!

We had a quick warm up with our Big Wave and there was definitely some progress. I reckon we'll have that nailed in no time. The run out was super simple down one big hill, so we kept it nice and steady and looped back (up the hill) to keep everyone together. After crossing Kirkstall road with the lights that took an age, we were there at Seagulls Reuse!

It was amazing seeing you all running through the yard, completely mad, but it's great!" Kate, Task owner, Seagulls

We all piled in to the bright, light and airy space (which certainly makes a change from our recent tasks), and Kate ran though what we needed to do. There were some bright pink pillars that needed to be painted blue, and some shelves and a whole load of walls to be painted white.

Before we'd even finished talking, people had paintbrushes in hand, going straight for the pillars, obviously very excited to get going. Everyone else spread out along the walls with big rollers, small rollers and brushes, and basically started painting wherever they could reach.

Within seconds the pillars started to take shape, and our GoodGymmers gave their approval.

"I love this colour! I want it in my house!"

People were being very resourceful, switching places when then could no longer reach, moving stepladders around to where they were most needed, and generally just asking if they could paint everything! It was lovely to see, and it's great to see how the group already just dives into tasks, work together to get it done, but also seemingly have a great time doing it.

With around five minutes left, a few GoodGymmers even started washing the paint brushes, which meant one less job for the Seagulls crew.

With everything packed away we had time for some quick photos and then a a quick 'Tornado' workout in the yard, where we learned: * Lots of runners have medals hung up in their house * Almost nobody is actually from Leeds! * You've pretty much all taken running kit out of the wash to wear it again * You're all definitely going to be back for another GoodGym session!

We then jogged back up the monster hill (with more looping round) until we all made it back to base for a stretch.

Unfortunately Rachel rolled her ankle on the run back and is going to be out of action for 6 weeks, so she definitely needs some love! Go and give her a cheer!

The unpalatable truth about GoodGym is that sometimes it's dark, cold, muddy, and you've quite possibly had showers where you didn't get as wet as we did last night, but the number of happy smiling faces on the way home said it was all worth it!

27 runners ran 8km to help get an allotment ready for Growing Better

Tonight was the first real test for GoodGym Leeds. It was properly dark, the forecast had long been warning of rain, and it was a longer run which could have put some people off. We needn't have worried! An AMAZING 27 of you turned up to brave the elements, and prove that GoodGymmers do good whatever the weather.

An especially big welcome is deserved for the 7 new runners who chose tonight for their first experience of GoodGym. Eleanor, Fleur, Dave, Dominic,Alice, Anna, and Alastair all deserve a massive cheer! A big thanks also needs to go to the GoodGym York crew for their support.

After a quick Big Wave warm-up (that will definitely be getting another airing as you lot need the practice), we set of down towards the canal, with Heather doing a great job of leading us out and keeping the group together, and Rachel making sure nobody was left behind. Great job guys!

We arrived at West Leeds Activity Centre where Dorota seemed amazed that we'd even turned up with all the rain! We headed across the very slippy (this will be important later) field to the allotment, where Dorota gave the group a bit of a run down of some of the tasks we could complete, and a brief overview of what the allotment would be used for.

"We're planning to use the allotment as a community space so people can come in and use it, and also for people with learning difficulties and mental health challenges as a safe space in nature" Dorota, Task Owner, Growing Better.

Having seen the huge allotment space, the task was to create a barrier around the edge with pallets, to stop brambles from encroaching on the allotment, and do a little bit of tidying up of the small orchard on the edge of the allotment. While a group headed back to pick up some tools, everyone else arranged the pallets around the edge of the allotment. It was slow going moving across the very wet and muddy field to collect the tools, so the group started some impromptu squats and lunges to keep warm.

The tools arrived, and the team got to work. Between the crew, it was decided the best plan of action was to dig a shallow trench so we could slot the pallets in and then stamp down the soil around them to hold them in place. Apparently this level of complex work was all too much for one GoodGym tourist, showing that not all Yorkshire GoodGyms are created equal.

"I'm not used to having to think this much!" Mitch, GoodGym York Run Leader

Everyone made great progress despite the rain and soon it all started to take shape. A small group of would-be interior (or should that be exterior) designers decided that we absolutely needed a threshold to mark the entrance to the allotment and found the perfect sized piece. Fabulous.

With the barrier in place, and a little much needed trimming in-between the trees of the orchard, there was just time for a picture of handiwork before we headed back. A few were worried that in the light our work might not look so impressive, but you've got to admire the confidence of those who dream bigger...

"It's like the Great Wall of GoodGym!" Rachel, GG Leeds

There's absolutely loads we can get involved with so there's a good chance we'll be back to finish of the job and get involved in some other tasks at the absolutely huge space they have. If we go back in the summer, there will also definitely be the opportunity to have a go on the incredible assault course!

We all headed back to base, with two runners swapping stories of how they managed to end up completely covered in mud in the aforementioned slippery field, with a lucky few at the front of the group spotting a fox happily trotting along.

A few quick stretches followed back at base, along with some drinks and cakes to celebrate Aron's 50th Good Deed.

Great work everybody!