Tonight we started the session by talking about the This Girl Can campaign to Lift The Curfew which highlights how exercising in the dark makes women feel and what they can do to make this better. Throughout the evening we added words to our flag which described different negative feelings which have been experienced.

For the task tonight we split into two group including our first group cycle and headed off to Heworth Stray. We were met there by Roger and split into two teams - one group raking up grass and the other planting trees.

We made quick work of both including Helen rescuing a frog and team trees losing a spade. We attempted TWICE to find it but failed both times! Hopefully Roger will have better luck in daylight.

We then posed for the photo and headed back to base, with the cyclists only marginally beating the runners!

This week we welcomed 20 GG Yorkies to our first Group Run of October. And as it was the first session of the month that meant we started off by handing out September's GGer of the month award. This time it was Jenna's turn for completing an amazing 9 Good Deeds and also baking some delicious cakes along the way. Giver her a big cheer 🎉

Nikki was still being sensible following her epic ultra so led a solo walking group whilst the rest of the gang numbered off by naming our favourite animals from popular culture (Beaker from the muppets is definitely not an animal, Mitch!). Then it was off to the task with Ed leading the group and Babs and Laura backmarking.

We arrived at the task to be greeted by Helen who gave us a brief overview of what we'd be doing and then leading us to the allotment plot that needed our attention. She also took us past an area we'd done a lot of work on over the past couple of years which is now a thriving garden area.

We were then given tools to help us clear the allotment, but it could probably be said that a few more forks rather than spades might have coke in handy. Nevertheless we were making excellent progress with Nikki and then Mitch on hand-scything duties whilst Craig was in charge of the wheelbarrow. Unfortunately Ed forgot to take a 'before' photo, which meant taking an 'after' photo would have also been completely pointless but I can promise you we achieved quite a lot and the allotment was looking an awful lot clearer by the time we finished.

After a quick group photo and jog back to the Priory Centre (or a speedy walk in Nikki's case) it was time for the fitness session. Tonight it was a set of 3 exercises completed on the minute mark, every minute, for 5 minutes. Therefore the quicker you got through the exercises, the more time you had to rest before the next set. Clearly Charlotte loves her rest time as she was racing her way through the exercises before anyone else, until Rich clocked on and started to get competitive.

Their was time for a bonus extra round of exercises at the end of the 5mins, and Max had been enjoying himself so much that he decided to double the number of reps in each exercise for a final flurry! Then it was time for a quick cool down stretch and some delicious cake made by who else but Jenna.

It was time for celebrations at tonight's group run with so much awesomeness happening recently. Firstly there was a big round of applause for Jenna who got a new PB at the Great North Run. There were also cheers for Vicky, Neil and Ed who all took part in the Tholthorpe 10k at the weekend, especially for Vicky who achieved a season's best time. We then handed out the GGer of the month award to the wonderful Lucy who is pretty much the ideal GoodGymer, always getting involved, always smiling and leading tasks when she can. Oh and it also happened to be AA Vicky's birthday, but more on that later 🥳 🏅 🏆 👏

After a brief warm up, Ed led out the run to Acomb Primary School where we were met by Amanda who gave us the lowdown on tonight's task. Basically continuing the work we'd done previously in clearing the wooded area in the playing field so that it can be used as a forest school. We were soon getting stuck in, armed with saws, loppers and sheers.

There were brambles, sticks and branches everywhere as the busy GGers made excellent progress clearing a path through the woods. The green bins were soon getting filled up and we weren't short of volunteers for people to climb in and jump on top of them to make more space. Although Steve had a helping hand from Rich in getting back out of the bin!

With the task drawing to a close and the woods getting darker we broke on through to the other side and cleared enough space to see some daylight at the end of path, which meant it was time to down tools and get ready for a bespoke fitness session courtesy of the birthday girl herself.

Now, GGers aren't always the greatest listeners and on this occasion there was certainly a little bit of confusion about what type of animal walk we were supposed to be doing and who was supposed to be doing it. So a bit of a reset was needed, but we were soon back underway demonstrating some perfect bear walks in the correct order. I'm not entirely sure if there was a winner but we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

We then gathered in the cones and sung 'Happy Birthday' for Vicky before making our way back to the Priory Centre where some delicious cookies and cake courtesy of Vicky and Jenna were waiting for us 😋

The answer of course is to node but more of that in a minute…..The rain had come and gone and so with a flurry of last minute sign ups we were up to 18 - not bad considering it was also a Bank Holiday.

Recognising the Griffs recent completion of the SW Coast path and in particular a fabulous 300th good deed for Lucy there shortly followed a gentle warm up. With a nod to the cheese rolling competition held on the same day we numbered off to the favourite choice of accompaniment to cheese - some expected answers but also some weird choices…..no names.

It was one of our longer runs to the task so we had 2 groups who arrived at the same time and were soon put to work by the good people of St Nicks to attack GG’s long term adversary - namely Balsam. There is certainly enough of it in York and we could do a task every day and still find more. However, our efforts are never in vain as the work we and other groups do keeps it in check. Split into groups we had some pulling and some scything although all of us may have been suffering from the odd nettle sting. Those that pulled were careful to node … in other words make sure the root type bits are separated from the stalks to ensure no re growth occurs. There was some discussion about the voracity of Balsam for shampoo and we may find out if it works if indeed Rich works it into his scalp.

While Jenna was vigorously attacking with the scyth and Craig (good to have you back) was unearthing signposts signs amongst the undergrowth, Helen and Catherine were getting stuck in to their first group run by decimating the dreaded plant. However, when Helen got waterproof trousers and full jacket out of her bag it suggested that she had done this before and while it looked warm she may have been the only one protected from the nettles.

After the group photo the 2 groups started out together with one group making use of a local fitness frame by showing core strength and dodgy made up exercises before catching up with the other group in time for stretches, pub and brownies (thanks Babs - delicious as always). Thanks for all that came - a lovely evening as it turned out - lets hope for more during round 2 next week