There were a few tired bodies as we made our return to the Monday night group run after an epic Goodgym camping weekend in Derbyshire. But that didn't stop our group from shifting a load of cuttings from the stunning wildflower meadow that we'd previously helped to plant at Clarence Gardens 💪

We started the night with a small but perfectly formed group celebrating the new male half-marathon wolrd record by naming the things that they believe they could hold a world record in. Turns out we all really back ourselves when it comes to eating challenges! It was then off to the task with Vicky and Babs heading out in the steady group, Jenna on bike and Ed leading the main group with Abigail backmarking.

Upon arrival we met a few other Goodgym Yorkies who had gone straight to task, and after some very simple instructions (basically shift the cuttings from A to B) from taskowner Iain, we were soon up and running. Nick and Micheal armed themselves with the tarp and made great progress shifting huge mounds of the cuttings whilst the rest of the gang raked and collected what they could into ton sacks.

Over at the skips James and Kit worked their hardest to trample down the cuttings to ensure that we could fit in as much as possible. Such was their dedication to the cause the Kit almost managed to get himself buried under a tarp load of cuttings at one point! But with the skips filling up and time running out attention turned to raking up and shifting as much as we could before calling it a night.

After a quick stop for a photo we then had time for brief fitness sesh which involved 4 teams competing against each other to see who could jump the furthest and run the fastest whilst shifting a cone from one end of the field to the other. It was a photo finish and to be honest Ed possibly wasn't paying close enough attention to see who actually won but it was definitely Jame's team or possibly George's!

We'll be back at Clarence Gardens in a few weeks to finish off the job!

Tonight we saw a bumper turnout for Holgate Community Allotment which meant there were plenty of hands on deck for a proper evening of GoodGym gardening.

Before we set off we celebrated PK and Leanne's epic hike up Kilimanjaro, as well a some great 10k running from Stef at the weekend.

When we arrived we were met by Helen who had a long list of jobs. We got stuck into turning the compost, cutting back brambles, watering trees and clearing the school plot, giving everything a much-needed tidy-up. There was also a group of scrumpers sorting the windfall apples. 🍎 Because there were so many of us there was lots of opportunity to stand about and have a chat too!

We rounded off the evening with a lively game of Fitness Splat, proving that even after all that digging, chopping and clearing, there was still plenty of energy left in the tank for a bit if fun!

A bumper turnout, a bumper workload and finally a bumper crop of apples. A very productive night at Holgate! 💪🌱

see you next week!

🏅 A gaggle of excellent GoodGymmers gathered for our weekly group run. First of all, we heard about some incredible running over the weekend. David Barrett won a race and not just any race, a (very) extended bleep test! Much kudos to David! Meanwhile, Matt won a parkrun (not a race, apparently...) And Ed did a Hardmoors half (but sadly got injured partway round, and still completed it, somehow!)

🦸 Next, it was time to celebrate 3 more heroes, of the 50 good deed variety. Huge well done to Jen, Matt and Jamie, who got to split the 50 cape between them!

🪏 After a quick warm-up, it was time to start running/cycling to Greenfields Garden for some (slightly) guerrilla gardening. We were helping the no-dig crew tonight, digging up grass to put on layers of cardboard to mulch down onto the bed below. There were a few tool options available to assist, including spades and loppers, or some of us used our hands...

🦗 A few grasshoppers/crickets were spotted (hence the pun), leading to a discussion about how to tell one from the other. It turned out no one was quite sure how to tell them apart but the internet tells me that crickets have longer antennae and are nocturnal. So we probably saw grasshoppers...

🍎 Anyway, it was hard work digging up grass so when we given the option to search the orchard for windfalls, many of us took it with open arms.

💪 Soon, it was time to down tools and start fitness with Nick. He claimed to find a way to make squats and planks fun and was almost right, though our moving tunnels of planks ended up in some particularly itchy grass!

🍪 Time to head back to base for a cool-down stretch and birthday biscuit-beer combo at the pub (thanks Nick!) We heard about lots of fun things coming up this week so plenty to get involved with. Thanks everyone!

On a chilly but sunny spring evening, an amazing 23 GG Yorkies came out to do one of our more bizarre tasks of the year so far. The initial excitement of heading to the Foss Fairy trail was soon diminished when Ed informed the group that we were actually going to a disused hockey pitch near the trail, rather than spending any time "away with the fairies" as Jamie put it! 🧚‍♂️

We welcomed Sanjay who was doing his first ever GoodGym task tonight 👋 and also gave a big cheer to the absent Rich who had completed the Fred Whitton round over the weekend, which I'm led to believe is a ridiculously long and arduous bike ride over a lot of passes in the Lake District. Rather him than me!

We warmed up by naming our favourite mythical creatures, although it's debatable whether the fraggles and the hobbit count in that category! When then set off with Ed leading the run and Jenna/Laura backmarking. We also managed to get a few step reps in at the front of the Premier Inn thanks to Kit's enthusiasm!

Tonight's task seemed to involve sweeping and scraping a lot of debris from an old astro turf hockey pitch. It's not entirely clear what the end goal is, but the team armed with brooms and shovels soon got to work and made good progress revealing some of the old lines on the pitch

Meanwhile another group tackled some brambles and nettles that were growing through the fence onto the pitch, whilst David and Amy went on a litter pick, which featured task owner Tracy running after some local youths that had previously pinched the litter pickers! 🏃‍♀️

We then stopped for a quick group photo before it was time for tonight's fitness session. After initially starting with Ed confusing the number of groups with the number of people in a group, we eventually got started with an excellent demonstration from Lucy, Martin and Laura. It was all very simple really, Jump, Lunge, Squat (or JLS for short) in a relay to the end of the pitch and back. Straightforward enough, until everyone arrived at the end of the pitch and weren't entirely sure how to turn around and continue the JLS routine. After a bit more clarification of the rules from Ed the group had a second stab at it, and despite some dubious squatting, everyone managed to get the hang of it to set up a tense finish at the end.