After parkrun this morning, seven runners headed over to Gledholt Woods to help Richard and Jim from Friends of Gledholt Woods to tackle a large amount of litter which had been chucked over the wall from Gledholt Bank.

The team included GoodGym first timers SallyAnn Masih who regularly walks her dogs Sonic and Fudge in the woods, John Fletcher who was visiting Huddersfield parkrun as his usual parkrun of Storthes Hall had been cancelled and Julie Polzin, who I ran 5k with at Acre Street Runners several months ago and had told her all about GoodGym then. Also on the team were Helen Rutherford, Liz Walsh and GoodGym regular Ben Godfrey. (Ben politely let me beat him at parkrun this morning! Thank you Ben!)

Everyone donned their gloves, grabbed a bin bag and we were off. SallyAnn, litter picking champion, was the first to fill her bag. There was the usual fare of empty plastic bottles, crisp packets and coffee cups. Some of the more unusual finds included a toy train, a tooth brush, a duvet and a sign informing us fly tippers could be fined up to £50 000 or face up to six months in prison!

25 bags later we had collected most of the rubbish and the woods looked far more attractive. After the obligatory group photos some people shot off home for a much needed post-parkrun shower, while the caffeine addicts amongst us headed to the cafe in Greenhead Park for a coffee, chat and a read of Thursday's Examiner! https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/amazing-gym-group-makes-every-16279275.amps://

After a Star Wars themed parkrun, three runners met up with Paul from Friends of Greenhead Park at the bowling club hut by the parkrun finish line. We donned our gardening gloves, picked up our forks, and followed Paul to the bottom of the park. Our tasks was to clear a border of weeds and flowers that had past their best ready for the park's upcoming Green Flag Award inspection. Numbers were a bit depleted this week due to knee injuries and parkrun tourism, so we quickly got to work. Meg, a GoodGym regular, Liz, returning for her second GoodGym and I speedily completed our alloted task and left with a great sense of satisfaction of a job well done. There was talk of a Star Wars themed report, but as I'm not much of a fan it has proved just to much of a challenge, although if anyone has some good lines please comment below and I'll happily edit them in! Also thank you to Victoria Knight-Phillips for the photo of Darth Vader, aka today's run director at Huddersfield parkrun, Ben Carter.

The glorious sunshine of last weekend had vanished but still seven intrepid GoodGymmers joined the 500 runners on the start line of Huddersfield parkrun this morning. A big thanks to RD Tony Pinnington, sporting a fresh clean shaven look, for the GoodGym shout out in the run briefing, and then we were off. I ran with parkrun first timer, Ben Godfrey, explaining to him how parkrun worked and the route. We ran together for the first 4k and then in true Ben style he shot off like a missile and there was no way I could keep up with him. Congratulations (through gritted teeth) to Ben who completed his first parkrun in 27:57 this morning. Also a big shout out to Helen Bennett who was the 38 minute pacer, achieving double volunteer status at parkrun and GoodGym, and managing to run 5k!

After completing our runs we met up by the bowling hut to get our instructions from Paul from Friends of Greenhead Park. Paul is a well known face to Huddersfield parkrunners as he is a regular volunteer directing and cheering on runners from his favoured spot by the paddling pool. I have run more than a 100 parkruns at Huddersfield and I can honestly say I don't think I've done a single one, rain, shine or even snow, when Paul hasn't been there.

GoodGym newbies Zena and Steve Whalley teamed up with GoodGym regular Saul and attacked the rhododendron bushes hanging through the fence on to the pavement alongside Park Drive South, filling at least six bin bags with clippings.

Helen Bennett, fondly also known as 'the shouty lady' due to her ability to cheer on runners at great volume, grabbed the broom and cleared the drainage gullies along the edge of the paths of pink blossom, making some attractive pink stripes on the grass as she went.

Ben, another GoodGym regular quickly recovered from his parkrun success and trimmed the grass where it over hung the drainage gullies. (Although I did see him having a sneaky sit on a bench at one point so maybe not quite as recovered as I thought!)

Liz Walsh, another GoodGym first timer, and I went down to the bottom of the park, forks in hand, and dug over a border ready to be planted later in the week.

After 45 minutes of hard graft we reconvened back at the bowling hut, had the obligatory group photo and some of us went straight home for a well earned shower, while others went to the cafe in the park for a coffee.

GoodGym will be back again in Greenhead Park on Saturday 4th May at 9:45 , under the direction of Paul from Friends of Greenhead Park, to complete some more gardening and tidying tasks. We hope you can come and join us!