17 truly spectacular GG Yorkies came along on Bank Holiday Monday to go Himalayan Balsam Bashing at Rowntree Park!

...and 7 of those had already come straight from a bonus mission for York Greenways at Naburn Station, so let's give massive double cheers to Emily who completed her first ever mission today, along with Lizzie, Leanne, Nick, Maddy, Becky and me!

We also welcomed a brand new runner to the gang tonight, so massive cheers to Louisa too, give her a huge warm GoodGym welcome!

With Nick leading the pack tonight we ran up Micklegate and hung a right to join the riverside path. It was just a mile of running before we met Cath and the other volunteers from the Friends of Rowntree Park. We love a succinct briefing at the start of our tasks and Cath was bang on, separating us into a big team and a little team.

The little team were tasked with digging up some old plants to put in some new ones whilst the bigger team tackled the Himalayan Balsam along the riverbank, pulling it all out and piling it up ready for collection. The little team finished first and stormed up the path to boost the manpower, just in time to finish pulling up all the balsam we could lay our hands on from the park gates all the way to Millennium Bridge.

Since we were all the way at the bridge it seemed a terrible shame to miss out on the opportunity to run up the steps a few times, so we had a bonus workout round with step reps, sprints and sit squats. THEN we headed back into the beautifully newly planted ornamental garden in the park for our animal-themed workout with:

• DUCK WADDLES
• WALKING LUNGES (not an animal, but still great)
• BUNNY HOPS
• REVERSE LUNGE WALKS! (as before)

The duck waddles really were a sight to behold, with some extraordinary hip mobility talents in the GG york crew.

So, next week we are running 6km to construct a footpath and would love for you to come along, you can sign up here. Don't miss out, come and join our great big fun, do-gooding exercise party, hurrah!