This was officially our coldest group run yet, with temperatures hovering just above freezing, but that didn't stop an incredible 24 runners from turning up! What has been lovely to see is that each week we're still seeing plenty of new runners, so keep telling your friends, colleagues and everyone you know about how awesome GoodGym is and get them involved!

This week's new intake were Lorraine, Faye, Suzanne, Hannah, Minnie and Karly. Give them all a cheer, they deserve it for coming out to their first group run when it was so chilly!

We also welcomed back Liz and taskforce Rach after their respective injuries.

After a quick warm up, we made our way down the hill towards the farm, with Aron in the lead, and Katie backmarking for us for the first time. She definitely deserves a cheer!

After some looping back to keep the group together, and some bonus squats while we waited for the lights to change, we arrived at the farm where Luke ran us through the tasks we needed to do.

Two of the lines of compost that we turned last time out needed to be combined into one, a brand new line of compost needed turning, and some sand bags which were being used to weigh down the covers needed swapping out for gravel bags.

The teams quickly formed, trying to spread out the head torches as best as possible, but the first ones to start making progress were the bag hunters. Adam, Katie, Tom, George and Rach grabbed their wheelbarrows and started the hunt. After the first few bags were found and swapped over, it soon became clear that searching for black bags in the dark, that were placed either on soil or black ground sheets, was quite a tricky task! The search took them everywhere including the vegetable patch:

"I have never been so amongst and within some brussels sprouts" Katie

The rest of the sandbag searchers continued their hunt, but with bags seemingly harder and harder to find, a cry of 'Sand Ahoy!' went up when one was spotted. That is a group getting into the real GoodGym spirit.

The other crew were by now up the hill turning over the soil. We learned that the piles of rotting vegetation could reach temperatures of up to 70 degrees celcius, and have even been used to grow pineapples! GoodGym is not just fun it's educational!

After last week's talk of favourite tools, this week we got to add pitchforks to our arsenal. One newby seems to have perfectly understood GoodGym from the start:

"I went for a pink pitchfork, it clashes with my trainers, but it'll all be brown in the end anyway so it doesn't matter!" Minnie, first timer

The soil turning was heavy work and everyone was working very hard, with steam coming off not just the compost but the runners as well. luckily the compost included the remains of apple pressing so the smell was a little more pleasant than last time were here. One runner still wasn't quite sure about the whole situation:

"It's like skiing in poo!" Abi

A particular shout-out needs to go to Alex who seemed to be doing the work of around 5 people at once! Every time I turned around he'd cleared a whole area by himself which was absolutely amazing!

Having been set the task of making the lines of compost as tall and narrow as possible, we had created some seriously impressive structures , although sometimes we'd been a little too ambitious and the piles collapsed. All in all it looked incredible, and amazing to see what can be done in such a short space of time.

As we brought everything to a close, Luke reiterated how much this work helps the project, because it's a task they basically wouldn't manage to do without us. So you can all bask in that warm glow of a job well done. He's also thinking of other projects we can get involved with, potentially including a crack team of scythers (probably not a word) who can be trained up and go on scything missions around Leeds which sounds ace! Watch this space!

With all the tools tidied away we headed back along the footpath, with a line of head torches bobbing along and a full moon to guide us.

The run home included one big hill (which I could pretty much copy and paste into every run report) so runners were able to take this at their own pace, with some taking it easy, and others racing ahead at the front. We all arrived back for a quick debrief and stretch, before everyone went their separate ways.

Don't forget that next week we have our social, hope to see you all there!

20 Runners ran 4km to help make sure the Life House is ready for opening

The cold weather and half term saw our numbers ever so slightly depleted, but we still had an amazing group of 20 tonight! Great work. Special kudos goes to Anne and [Anne](/runners/anne-ingleson who were completing their first ever run with us tonight. We had Kati, a tourist from GoodGym Huddersfield showing her support for another Yorkshire GoodGym, and it was also lovely to see some returning faces who haven't been for a few weeks - It's great to have you back!

As the weather was so cold, we did a really gradual running specific warm up, building up our movements from our feet and our ankles upwards. We all somehow ended up very close to each other by the end so maybe there's a little work for us on keeping our heads up.

Next we headed off down to wards Seagulls, with Aron leading and Tom backmarking. It was the same run as last week, so it wa the same drill - gentle jog down the hill, with a bit of looping back (up the hill!) to keep the group together. We'll all be masters of the hills in no time!

When we arrived at Seagulls. Cat and Kate were ready and waiting for us this time and they had what seemed like an impossible list of jobs for us to do. We were tasked with:

• Painting a window frame in the lovely blue from last week
• Edging all the floor with grey floor paint
• Painting the entire floor
• Painting one large wall
• Covering two walls with a PVA glue wash so paint would stick to it
• Painting the toilets
• Bonus coat rack building if there was time

Whew! They really like to test us! But this is GoodGym and we felt we were up to the task. We immediately split into small and started attacking smaller jobs as little teams. This was going to take lots of teamwork to make sure we didn't paint someone into a corner and leave them stuck there, so we planned some paintless corridors that we would leave, so people could make their way out at the end. We decided to leave the toilets and the coat rack for now, but cracked on with everything else.

Everyone jumped straight in and got cracking on, even if they didn't always know exactly what they were supposed to be doing!

"I'm not really sure what edging is, is it just painting round the edges?" Ellie, GG Leeeds

Everyone worked out what needed to be done, but with the edging clearly the slowest task, early signs weren't good for getting it all completed within the time. Co-operation was the order of the day though, and the wall painting team in particular seemed to have it all sorted, with a range of heights among the team meaning they could reach high and low!

"We really are the perfect team!" Abi, GG Leeds

Kate from Seagulls was still absolutely buzzing from what we'd managed to achieve last week, and was really happy to have us back. We're already talking about some exciting future projects we could team up on, so watch this space!

"We really wouldn't have been able to do all of this without you, it's freed us up to do some other stuff which just wouldn't have managed to achieve without you!" Kate, task owner, Seagulls

By now, team PVA glue had whizzed through their task, thanks in part to Farid's double handed painting technique! They were mostly repurposed to the glamorous job of toilet painting, with others joining in painting the floor. We were starting to get a little cramped in the middle of the room by this point, with some people 'customising' their trainers. I'm promised it should all wash off, unless of course you think they look better this way! The tight spaces meant there was some imaginative lunging, yoga posing and in some cases dancing to make sure the paint was properly applied to the floor.

Finally, we reached the really tricky part, people started to make their way out of the room, with a human conveyor belt of paint tins, trays, rollers and paintbrushes. Clare and Liz decided they could smash out the hat rack in the final few minutes so they jumped to it, while everyone else was dancing a careful ballet out of the room in the tiny available paintless spots.

Tom had positioned himself furthest from the door and become Last Man Painting, with Adam doing his best to paint him into a tiny island adrift from the rest of the crew. With one final balletic leap, Tom was out of the room, the tiny square he'd been standing on was painted over by a team of three, and the whole operation was complete. What a task!

Amazingly, there was still time for some running drills before we headed back up the hill. The drills we did were:

• Single leg balance
• High knee walking
• A-skips
• Butt-kicks
• Heel to Bum kicks

Everyone felt very silly at times, but there were definitely some things for us to take away, particularly around balance, and whether one side is stronger than the other.

Finally, we made our way back up to base, with a bonus loop-back hill rep for those who were brave enough, with high fives for everyone else, before an easy stretch and debrief. Top work tonight team, you absolutely smashed it!

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!

29 runners ran 5km to help turn over soil to create compost for Meanwood Farm

After the absolute explosion of activity that was our first task last week, it was hard to know what to expect this week. You guys completely smashed it though, and it was amazing! We welcomed 10 new runners to the gang this week, and it is awesome to already see some returning faces.

After a brief warm up, we ran down Woodhouse ridge in the fading late, a final reminder to everyone if they needed it that we're definitely in head torch season now. We carried on up to the farm, where Luke had all the tools out waiting for us.

After everyone had grabbed a tool, we headed further up the path to find out what was in store. Our task was to move three separate lines of compost at varying stages of decay to aerate them and help to create better soil. This would then be used for growing vegetables as part of the farm's gardening project for people with learning disabilities. Each line needed moving around a metre up or down the hill, and then compacting into a neat triangular shape.

We split up into three teams and found that each line of compost had its own challenges. The oldest compost was already pretty well broken down, and was therefore much heavier work, while the 'freshest' compost had quite a fragrant aroma. There was also steam coming off the piles, which apparently meant we knew it was working!

"It's like a poo sauna!"

As everyone got stuck in and found their rhythm, we really started to see some progress. Some of the lines started out a bit wiggly, but with a bit of direction we were back on track. Luke definitely seemed happy with the progress we were making.

"You lot are superheroes!", Luke, Task owner

He went on to explain that this task would normally take months to complete, so to get it all done in one evening (in the dark!) was huge for them. Great job everyone!

After tidying up the lines as neatly as we could, we handed back the tools and headed for home. We just had time to sneak in some cheeky hill reps focusing on form, before jogging back to base for a quick stretch.

Make sure you give each other a cheer, and see you all next week!

An AMAZING 68 runners ran 3km to help completely clearing two large sections of verge for Bedford fields!

Our first task had high expectations, and boy did you all live up to them!

It was a bumper turnout for our first task, and everyone was happy, smily and chatty, spending bit of time getting to know each other before we got underway. We had a lovely send off from Councillor Rafique, and after a quick warm up of 'Jump left, jump right, jump in, jump out' it was time to see if Leeds was ready for GoodGym!

As the task was so close, the runners went for a nice lap of the park before the light faded, while the walking group headed straight for the task. It was tough to keep so many people together, so we split into two, with Aron at the front of one group, and GG Yorkie Trainer extraorinaire Egg at the front of the other group. Grace and Heather were our backmarkers.

We arrived at the task and Ian gave us a quick pep talk - our tasks were:

• To rip out any weeds/nettles/brambles out of two overgrown areas.
• Move everything we'd pulled out further up the path.
• Add the "woody stuff" (a technical term) to the dead hedge, with everything else thrown over the hedge to rot down behind it.
• Another small group headed off to do some heavy lifting moving some big logs.

After some early apprehension about just pulling out nettles and brambles protected only by some gardening gloves, everyone got really involved and there was a whir of activity. There were people pulling, chopping, running this way and that, and lots of motivating each other!

"It's like I'm back training with the paras here!" Ian, task owner, Bedford Fields

Everyone pitched in with whatever tools were available and we really started to make some progress, even if some people did have a bit of trouble with the tools...

"This rake is really mugging me off" Gillian, GoodGym HQ

When the log shifters rejoined the group we really picked up the pace, and we made some massive progress. As our 45 minutes came to a close, we swept the path and cleared away all the tools, before Egg led a round of birthday squats for Trainer Aron's birthday.

It was just a short run back to base, but we stopped off for a bit of a fun cone workout to really get our sweat on! Everyone worked really hard on the range of exercise and there were loads of synchronised squats and rope climbs which was lovely to see.

After we collected all the cones, we took a gentle jog back to HPBC, where we had a nice stretch and (for some of us) a well earned drink, with the warm glow of a good deed done (or was that nettle rash?)

Thank you all for such an amazing launch, you're all fab. Go give each other a cheer!