An impressive turnout of 19 GG Yorkies (and 1 GG Geordie) braved the less than impressive bank holiday weather to help St Nicks look after the green spaces on down by the river on New Walk. Before setting off we welcomed Issy along to her first GoodGym outing and Christine to her first task although she has been a regular at socials for some time. Give them both a massive cheer 🎉

We also had the honour of being joined by Aimee from GG Newcastle who came bearing the Golden Trowel, which is awarded to the most good GoodGym area during the January Challenge. So after a quick warm up featuring our favourite seasonings/sauces we posed for some photos with the trowel before heading on our way to the task 🏆

Tristan led a longer run, whilst Vicky led the more direct route with Ed and Rich making up the walking group. Upon arriving at New Walk were met by task owner Maeve who set the group to work armed with scythes, rakes and shovels in order to remove dock plants and cut back some of the nettles. GGer Martin also met us at the task and soon got to work digging up some of the bigger plants.

The team of GGers weren't the only ones foolish enough to be out in the rain by the river and we soon attracted the attention of lots of small bitey insects. Fortunately David was on hand with some bug spray to keep us all from getting too badly bitten.

Sheets of tarpaulin and sacks were soon getting full of weeds and getting shuttled back and forth to the dumping area which was a hood few hundred metres further down the path. Perfect for getting some more distance in those legs!

With time running out Maeve spotted a few larger docks which needed particular attention from our own Dock King, Martin who tackled them with ease before Michael and Hannah dragged the last tarp away. Whilst waiting for them to return we had plenty of time to celebrate Leanne's Birthday with some happy birthday squats, as is tradition. We may have also added an extra syllable to Leanne's name just to sneak a bonus squat in.

Happy birthday dear Le-a-anne

Then it was off to Vicky's fitness sesh which involved various exercises located at intervals on the slightly hilly Blue Bridge Lane. Poor Aimee had never come across a spotty dog before, and I'm still not entirely sure she knows what it is after being shown by GG's least rhythmic member, Tristan!

We then posed for a photo on Blue Bridge before all running back together, followed by walkers Ed and Rich

Great turnout for our social run at Kirkham Priory.

Pete led out a 12k route, Michael a 8k and Vicky a 5k. Thank you to the run leaders and to Rich for the route planning.

All the group had an enjoyable session in the lovely countryside and some of Michael's group even managed a quick dip in the river afterwards. Unfortunately I can't include the quote from him afterwards.

We then assembled at the Stone Trough pub for some grub before heading home

We met tonight for a social run to kick off the bank holiday weekend.

Everyone assembled in Poppleton and we welcomed new comer Louise who was visiting from London.

We set off at our different paces only to end up back together at the train crossing - quick photo opportunity- then back off again. All groups included the Knapton community woodland and the strava segment, with some records being broken.

We then trotted about the area in our three packs and met back at the White Horse pub for some delicious food and an evening of good company.

It was back to West Bank Park tonight to carry on with last week's task of emptying the compost bins into wheelbarrows and running them over to the skip in the car park.

Before setting off we gave a round of applause to Vicky and Helen who had completed the Wensleydale Wander at the weekend and also welcomed Becca along for the first time. Give her some cheers 🎉

After a quick titanic themed warm up, it was the off to the task with Ed leading the run out and Nick leading a walk/run group which, by all accounts, was mire run than walk!

At the task we were greeted by Kristina from the council's eco team who got us to focus on one area rather than the 2 we were spread across last week. Mitch and Vicky were our designated skip people to help with coordinating the inbound wheelbarrows.

I want to join the Red Barrows - Leanne

The tactic of sticking to one area seemed to work and the crew got into a good rhythm with their shovelling and barrowing. So much so that they started to get creative whilst running with the wheelbarrows, with Nick being very keen to show off the first ever outing of the GG 'Red Barrows'.

As the task drew to a close there was just enough time for Michael to completely empty his compost bin. He was so proud of this achievement that he demanded we got a photo of it. Well done Michael 👏

For fitness, the group split into two teams and picked cones with either a set of exercises or an "egg" underneath them. The team with the most eggs would be declared the winner. Although thanks to a lot of luck and a little bit of cheating from Lyndsey, it really wasn't much of a contest at all!