In the aftermath of storm Bert, 16 GoodGym Yorkies breezed in to clear up the leaves in Glen Gardens. We started tonight's session with a round of applause for all those running at the weekend, particularly the brave souls (fools?) that made it to parkrun in the sideways rain on Saturday morning. You're all mad/legends.

We numbered off by saying the one thing that could tempt you to part with your money on Buy Nothing Day, and no surprises to learn that we are almost entirely motivated by food. Mostly chocolate and pizza! We then set off to Glen Gardens with Ed leading the way and Abigail and Laura backmarking.

At the task we were greeted by Ian from the Council's environment team who set us straight off to work on clearing leaves from the paths. There was only leaf blower though, so that job went to a very eager Abigail who was got her hands on the tool for the first time!

The rest of the gang made use of shovels, forks, rakes and leaf grabbers, collecting them up in ton sacks and shifting them to the composting area. Unfortunately it was only towards the end of the task that Amy finally discovered how to hold the leaf grabbers properly. Every day is a school day!

Before long it was time to wrap up the task and line up for Vicky's Mexican wave themed fitness session, pitting two teams against each other to see who could complete exercises the fastest. Ed and Rich's competitive spirit was on full show as the teams were neck and neck going into the final exercise. Unfortunately for Team Ed, Rich's team had a trump card up their sleeve in the fact that Martin is a ridiculously quick skipper (who knew?) and were awarded the victory by umpire Laura

Don't forget to get yourselves signed up for our upcoming sessions at the Groves this Thursday and the Santa Sleigh on Fri 6th

6 hardy GoodGymers braved the freezing temperatures to shift soil into new raised beds at Woodthorpe School. It was so cold the soil was solid when we arrived but it was nothing we couldn't handle with some overly enthusiastic bashing with spades! After an hour we'd managed to empty both both big sacks and fill 4 beds which we were told the students are very excited about planting - and we'd even managed to warm up a bit too!

We SQUASH a lot into a 30 minute task; hoover, wipe, shift, stack, fold, heave, pack sweep, scoop - and chat. All done! It was free pumpkin today. Well done Penny and Mike. Smashed it!

An impressive turnout tonight in very cold conditions!

We started by celebrating some phenomenal running at the weekend with Michal doing some Bob Graham training, then Ed and Rich escaping from Meridan and covering 75 and 121 km respectively!

Max then led the group out to Holgate allotments and Rich led a walking group.

Once we arrived Helen provided us with a barrow full of tools and we quickly got to work clearing a plot ready to be let. Despite the cold the ground was soft and we soon had the area clear.

After a quick photo we headed off to do some sprints to warm up. Everytime Ed shouted whistle, we ran faster. He decided this was better than blowing a whistle so rival whistles couldn't interfere with proceedings.

We then headed back to base where we sung happy birthday to Paul Kelly and were treated to some of Jenna's fruity flapjack.

Tonight we met and started by celebrating all the amazing running that went on over the weekend. We then welcomed new runner Ana to her first group session. To name and number off we all said something we were proud of- lots of interesting facts emerged including singing with S Club 7, sand sculptures and being good at chess!

We then split into two groups for the two tasks:

Amy led one group to the Groves where we were met by Tracy and set to work clearing a raised bed and moving a tree. Both jobs were successfully executed in time to return to base for fitness.

Ed's group report-

We split off into 5 pairs to distribute the call out for events leaflets for York International Women's Week. Amy H and Jenna set off on their bikes to Fulford Road. Max and Mitch opted for the longest route out to Bootham and Burton Stone Lane. Ana and Carl headed to Bishy Road. Abigail and Nikki did the Town Centre, whilst David and Ed headed to Monkgate and Layerthorpe.

Max and Mitch did manage to make it back on time despite taking a detour to the pub, although they did have the most leaflets left over so may have had their priorities a bit skewed despite their protests!

Once we were all back, Ed led a session of every minute on the minute fitness including squats, burpees, lunges, stars and sprints. Despite some stiff legs everyone got stuck in and before we knew it, time was up. Some folk headed to the pub, others home.