What a crazy weekend!! To cover everything would probably turn this report into a university dissertation so I'll do my best to capture the essence of a brilliant event in as few words as possible! It was brilliant.... ok I'll give you a bit more!

Firstly, a massive thanks must go to Aron from GG Leeds for coming up with the idea and setting the wheels in motion. Who would have thought that a 48hr virtual relay event could be so much fun? An even bigger thank you and well done goes to both the York team captains (Tim & Debs) for their time and effort in organising the rest of us Yorkies into two very evenly matched teams.

The event started bang on midday with George leading the way for the IncreDEBles. His run set the tone for the rest of the 48hrs, running quicker than planned and with a super-fast handover to Paul Kelly. The speedy handovers were a theme throughout the event, making a mockery of the 2 mins allocated time in the schedule. (We'll discount 2 minor exceptions...) Each runner was so keen to get going as soon as possible that they were pacing nervously up and down the street waiting well before time. Never before had a WhatsApp message, simply saying 'go' been so keenly anticipated! (So much so that soon any sentence even containing the letters 'g' and 'o' had potential for setting off the next runner prematurely).

With the banter flowing on social media (there really were some excellent slippers on show!) and selfies galore of happy excited runners who'd completed their latest lap the camaraderie within the team was excellent. Captain Debs oversaw the constant updating of the super-efficient spreadsheet and managed her team with aplomb, never needing to give anyone the 'hair dryer' treatment over the entire 48 hrs! (How close some people came we'll never know...)

Day and night seemed to merge together. The 'night shift' enjoyed the cooler of the conditions but forfeited sleep. The 'early morning shift' spent all night checking the updated schedule but were rewarded with gorgeous early morning sunrises. The 'day shift' got the hot running conditions and more people to dodge, but, in theory at least(!), could sleep at night.

By the time Monday morning came around there were a few weary bodies pushing themselves on the final laps of the race. There were even more weary runners who'd already completed their laps trying to work out where a suitable vantage point may be to cheer on the last few runners. A quick glance at the leaderboard showed both York teams out in front, although with London seemingly making up random numbers throughout (which were rarely divisible by 10!) there was no time to take the foot off the pedal! With Debs starting the last lap for the IncreDEBles at 11:16, it was clear the team would finish on an amazing 560km completed. Her run turned into a celebratory lap with team members popping up (socially distanced of course!) at various points on the route to cheer her home. The only remaining question was whether the other York team would also match 560km. When the news broke that Nick had completed his leg at 11:59:45 allowing David to get away before the cut-off time, it ensured both York teams would finish equal top of the leaderboard. There wasn't one disappointed runner in our team!! It was a fitting finish to a great weekend of running.

Every single runner gave 100% on every lap they completed, so much so that it's impossible to single out individual runners for praise. Each person contributed to the collective team effort. A 1hr 10min pb proving just as valuable as a 41 min lap. The biggest prize available in this event wasn't completing the most laps (though that's always nice!), it was that feeling of joining together with the rest of GG York again, being part of something bigger than individual performances and achieving something together. Oh... and Ellie... your cookies were amazing, thank you!!

Fancy reading more to check out our other York Team's Run Report here!

On a boiling hot bank holiday Monday, 31 fabulous runners and walkers braved the heat to do some good!

We were joined by newbies Charlie and Denise. Charlie is the third member of the Drury family to come along and get involved in GoodGym, whilst Denise is a local councillor with a keen interest in one of tonight's tasks.

Tim and Leanne were leading the longer run out to New Earswick Bowls Club where our task was to lift up the summer sports floors; a series of large plywood boards.

Carl was coordinating our other task which was a pilot project for 'bench marking' as part of theAge Friendly York initiative. The end goal is to create a map to show where all the benches in the city are so that people know where they'll be able to sit when they venture out.

We divided up into five groups of walkers and runners, and took on five zones within Guildhall Ward to log all the benches. I set each team a bonus challenge to complete exercises on every bench, which some teams took more seriously than others.

There were a lot of queries around what is a bench versus just something that is possible to sit on.

That's not a bench, that's an anti-terrorism device

Mel and Ellie managed to find a lovely little pirate ship which also was not a bench, but they enjoyed sitting on it nonetheless. Speaking of pirates, they also came across Gary (not a very piratey name) who involved them in some re-enactment scenarios on benches around the bar walls.

Laura's team found lots of bank holiday revellers sitting on the benches they were logging, and having a generally marvelous time.

We're Good Gin! Take our picture!

There were some excellent bench exercises with step ups, tricep dips, leg raises, side planks and extreme planking by Becky Mo, but anyone who got back early got the 'white line workout' which involved lots of jumping, balancing and hopping too.

Most teams relayed that there were not enough benches for people to sit on, with some teams finding only 2 or 3 benches in their whole area. Becky and Lindsay, however, seemed to hit the jackpot.

We found 57 benches!

I declare them the winners. But I think Mel, Ellie and Debs win the photo comp.

Tim's team were onto a winner as the Bowls Club has air conditioning and the team there had cold water ready for them.

After working out how to best incorporate jumping into the task, they got to work loading the boards onto two trolleys and unloading the boards into a container for storage.

There was lots of enthusiastic trolley driving from Katie and Charlie, mainly so they could get back inside and enjoy the aircon for a bit!

Work started to slow as space got restricted in the container But we got all the other boards piled up and ready for transport.

"Seven!" Mike overstating how many boards he could carry.

Next week, Leanne is the boss for a lovely task at Fishponds Wood and we'll announce GG Yorkie of the Month for August. Don't miss it!