Tonight was a perfect GG York task with absolutely zero skill required, just hard graft and the ability to break stuff! But before we got stuck in to the session we celebrated the previous week's happenings with J, PK and Leanne having completed a via ferrarta course and a couple of p.1's at parkrun for Matt and Ed (not that it's a race, of course!)

So off to the task, with Vicky and Babs being our biker gang, Laura leading a steady group and Ed leading the main group with Amy backmarking.

A very enthusiastic welcome greeted us at Glen Allotments and some excellent instructions which basically boiled down to "move stuff from here and chuck it in the skip. Oh, and here's a hammer if you want to bash it up a bit"! There was also the promise of some baked goods at the end, (but only if they'd earned it - Ed)

We soon got into the swing of things with a one group staying in the allotment and handing stuff to our runners and then brining it over to Mitch and Michael who were on skip organising and smashing duties. There were all sorts of methods for breaking the items down including chucking it on the floor, kicking it, bashing it with other stuff and eventually making use of the aforementioned hammer 🔨

Before long the skip was full and the allotment plot was looking a whole lot clearer, even if there was still a bit left over that we couldn't fit into the skip. Still definitely worthy of some cake, but only after fitness....

This week, the group were organised into 4 teams with members of each team coming up to collect a card from Ed which corresponded to a particular exercise. The team that completed the most exercises and therefore had collected the most cards would be first in line for cake. This clearly spurred on Max's team who completed a whopping 15 exercises and had first pick of the rather excellent flapjacks and rock cake 🎂

David, Stef and Laura were joined by several of new local residents to help with the upkeep of Holgate Community Garden. It was great to see some new local residents getting involved and there were some great ideas for improving the garden discussed. David and Stef moved and rehomed a compost bin and compost which had been put on a flower bed and the weeded along the bed. Laura weeded the long bed and set people off with planting broad beans and radishes in the raised beds. It looked a lot better by the time we finished.

It was back to Holgate Allotments for tonight's task but before we set off we had a fair bit of cheering to do. First off we welcomed newcomer Jody who was joining us for her first ever goodgym session. Welcome Jody! 👋

We also gave a big round of applause to everyone who had taken part in the Snake Lane 10miler over the weekend. There were PBs for Jane, James, Amy and Ed as well as an excellent showing from Neil, Leanne, Nick and Steve. Well done guys 💪

Over the weekend Stef had also completed his 400th parkrun at the York Community Woodland event (or YoCoWo for short). Awesome work Stef!

Finally it was time to set off to the task with Ed leading the run out and Laura backmarking, whilst Nikki led a small walking group and Vicky led a steadier running crew. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Helen who swiftly got one group underway on cutting back some bramble along the side of Holgate beck, whilst the rest of the group were given the very simple instruction of getting everything clear from the shed!

Before too long, there were all sorts of old tools making their way from the shed and down the line of able GoodGymers before being taken back towards the top of the allotments. Sam was our man in the shed, with Vicky coordinating the movements on the outside whilst the rest of the group did an excellent job of running back and forth with various items including an awful lot of spade handles, screws, saws, and what appeared to be a giant corkscrew.

As efficient as ever, the GG crew got the shed completely cleared with time to spare and so as a bonus shifted a few other items from the allotment including a very heavy oil drum which Jamie and Nick duly rolled all the way back to the top of the allotments, much to the delight of Paul Kelly who thought it resembled a barrel from Donkey Kong!

With the shed and brambles all clear and the rain starting to pour down, we stopped for our team photo and a quick but complex fitness sesh that involved holding a squat position and attempting to get out of it without moving at the same time as anyone else. Turns out it's easier to manage with 13 people but significantly harder in a group of 26!

It was then back to the Ackhorne for a quick stretch and a pint for a small group of thirsty volunteers