26 runners ran 3km to help Hyde Park Source with a range of tasks at the Rosebank Garden

GoodGym Leeds is really starting to feel like it's coming together nicely. It's so great to see returning faces, lots of happy chatter and first timers just getting stuck in like they've been here since week one. You guys are ace!

We had 5 new runners this week: Elizabeth, Pete, Derya, and Julia who is our first task owner to come along and get involved in the run from the start! They all deserve a massive cheer! Go and give them some love.

After last week's deluge during the task we had a lovely autumn evening tonight. We did a quick "Jump in, Jump out, Jump left, Jump right" warm up to get everyone's heart rate up, and more importantly to get everyone laughing!

Then we took a slightly longer route to the task so we could make the most of the fading light and a beautiful Leeds evening. Heather was on backmarking duty this week, making sure nobody got left behind.

Once we'd made it to the Rosebank, and grabbed our tools, Julia set us four tasks:

• Clearing a big patch of brambles
• Litter picking around the edge of the park
• Leaf collecting for leaf mulch
• Planting bulbs

Everyone got straight to it and within seconds there was a buzz of activity. A pile of brambles formed within minutes, and separate bags of leaves and litter and were filling up nicely. We had a concerned local resident wondering what exactly we were up to, doing all of this in the dark, and while we couldn't quite convince him to join in, once he knew what we were doing he appreciated our efforts.

Over at the bulb planting, Julia was giving a lovely description of how the crocuses and daffodils needed to be planted, but one of our GoodGymmers (who will remain nameless) just wasn't quite taking it in...

"I'm not really sure what I'm doing to be honest!"

Loving the honesty there! We're all learning at GoodGym, so I'm sure you'll be a bulb planting pro in no time! We had a bit of drama when we uncovered what could have been some electrics (which we left well alone) but in the end we got lots of bulbs planted, and it will be great to come back in spring and see them in bloom!

The last things to do were to chop up the brambles and pile them back onto the verge where they could break down, and give the paths a quick sweep.

Julia was very happy with what we managed to achieve:

"We normally only get a chance to sort out the Rosebank once a month with our action day, so it's really great that you could help us with all this!"

Even the fitness session wasn't enough to wipe the smile off everyone's faces! We decided to make use of the Rosebank's cool stone circles and paths and have ourselves a circuits session. We had 5 stations:

• Squats
• Modified press-ups
• Shuttle runs
• Tricep dips
• Step-ups

We had one round of 30 seconds on 30 seconds off, followed by a second round of 40 seconds on 20 seconds off. It was great to see the synchronised step-ups, one team adding their own extra difficulty with jumping squats, and the great teamwork that everyone showed. I particularly loved chief motivator Dave who was keeping the troops working hard when they we finding it tough. He definitely deserves an extra cheer!

With our workout done, we headed back to base, with a bit of student slalom, for a quick stretch and debrief.

Thanks for another awesome session tonight, I can't wait for next week already!

29 runners ran 5km to help turn over soil to create compost for Meanwood Farm

After the absolute explosion of activity that was our first task last week, it was hard to know what to expect this week. You guys completely smashed it though, and it was amazing! We welcomed 10 new runners to the gang this week, and it is awesome to already see some returning faces.

After a brief warm up, we ran down Woodhouse ridge in the fading late, a final reminder to everyone if they needed it that we're definitely in head torch season now. We carried on up to the farm, where Luke had all the tools out waiting for us.

After everyone had grabbed a tool, we headed further up the path to find out what was in store. Our task was to move three separate lines of compost at varying stages of decay to aerate them and help to create better soil. This would then be used for growing vegetables as part of the farm's gardening project for people with learning disabilities. Each line needed moving around a metre up or down the hill, and then compacting into a neat triangular shape.

We split up into three teams and found that each line of compost had its own challenges. The oldest compost was already pretty well broken down, and was therefore much heavier work, while the 'freshest' compost had quite a fragrant aroma. There was also steam coming off the piles, which apparently meant we knew it was working!

"It's like a poo sauna!"

As everyone got stuck in and found their rhythm, we really started to see some progress. Some of the lines started out a bit wiggly, but with a bit of direction we were back on track. Luke definitely seemed happy with the progress we were making.

"You lot are superheroes!", Luke, Task owner

He went on to explain that this task would normally take months to complete, so to get it all done in one evening (in the dark!) was huge for them. Great job everyone!

After tidying up the lines as neatly as we could, we handed back the tools and headed for home. We just had time to sneak in some cheeky hill reps focusing on form, before jogging back to base for a quick stretch.

Make sure you give each other a cheer, and see you all next week!

An AMAZING 68 runners ran 3km to help completely clearing two large sections of verge for Bedford fields!

Our first task had high expectations, and boy did you all live up to them!

It was a bumper turnout for our first task, and everyone was happy, smily and chatty, spending bit of time getting to know each other before we got underway. We had a lovely send off from Councillor Rafique, and after a quick warm up of 'Jump left, jump right, jump in, jump out' it was time to see if Leeds was ready for GoodGym!

As the task was so close, the runners went for a nice lap of the park before the light faded, while the walking group headed straight for the task. It was tough to keep so many people together, so we split into two, with Aron at the front of one group, and GG Yorkie Trainer extraorinaire Egg at the front of the other group. Grace and Heather were our backmarkers.

We arrived at the task and Ian gave us a quick pep talk - our tasks were:

• To rip out any weeds/nettles/brambles out of two overgrown areas.
• Move everything we'd pulled out further up the path.
• Add the "woody stuff" (a technical term) to the dead hedge, with everything else thrown over the hedge to rot down behind it.
• Another small group headed off to do some heavy lifting moving some big logs.

After some early apprehension about just pulling out nettles and brambles protected only by some gardening gloves, everyone got really involved and there was a whir of activity. There were people pulling, chopping, running this way and that, and lots of motivating each other!

"It's like I'm back training with the paras here!" Ian, task owner, Bedford Fields

Everyone pitched in with whatever tools were available and we really started to make some progress, even if some people did have a bit of trouble with the tools...

"This rake is really mugging me off" Gillian, GoodGym HQ

When the log shifters rejoined the group we really picked up the pace, and we made some massive progress. As our 45 minutes came to a close, we swept the path and cleared away all the tools, before Egg led a round of birthday squats for Trainer Aron's birthday.

It was just a short run back to base, but we stopped off for a bit of a fun cone workout to really get our sweat on! Everyone worked really hard on the range of exercise and there were loads of synchronised squats and rope climbs which was lovely to see.

After we collected all the cones, we took a gentle jog back to HPBC, where we had a nice stretch and (for some of us) a well earned drink, with the warm glow of a good deed done (or was that nettle rash?)

Thank you all for such an amazing launch, you're all fab. Go give each other a cheer!