So this was a small turn out by York GG standards with including the Mormon tag team only 13 runners showing up on this sunny Bank Holiday evening - rumour has it that there was another GoodGym group in a beer garden in York 'helping' the landlord with his pale ale?

Anyhow we welcomed newcomer Elder Rex and set off on a 4km trot to Heworth Without to meet Roger. Elder Rex hadn't been told he would be running until just before he met us and ran the whole distance in a pair of regular leather shoes!

Roger soon got us to work pulling up grass from around the small sapling trees so that they would grow strongly.

Goodgymer: "What is that frothy white stuff on the grass?", Barbara: "It's Cuckoo spit". Goodgymer : "It's what?"

Elder Rex and Lyman had to leave but were miraculously replaced by Elder Stumpp and Minnich who appeared from nowhere!

Twenty minutes later we had tidied all of the trees and could get down to some fitness in the play area. Nick had some serious exercises planned but before he could explain the GoodGymers were all over the play equipment - we did eventually get down to some 'proper' drills including partner exercises - Elder Stumpp: "It's supposed to be higher", Elder Minnich: "what?", Elder Stumpp "Get your butt in the air!"

But the play equipment was just too exciting for most - the only disappointment being that Ellie didn't fit in the children's seats on the roundabout.

Then it was another steady trot back to base - if that play area was any closer we would be doing our drills there every week I reckon!

31 GG Yorkies ran to do two good deeds across the city!

We celebrated loads of exciting race news from a PB-tastic weekend before welcoming along Are who had turned up for his first ever GoodGym session - make sure you give him a cheer. Then we wished a big happy birthday to Ellie B before cheering on not one, but two GG Yorkies who were completing their 50th good deeds! Massive cheers for Aidan and Christine, who got joint custody of the Cape of Good Deeds on tonight's run.

Rowntree Park

Half the group ran over to Rowntree Park to help Cath and Rosemary clear a big patch of weeds and plant new plants (which had to be symmetrical to the opposite side). It was almost as though Rosemary knew about our lack of horticultural knowledge as she described which plants had to go where.

The big spiky one has to go in the middle, really sharp and spiky!

It was like a description and a risk assessment all in one go, perfect for us. Cath still had faith and tried to educate Freya, Shelley and myself on some of the plants. Apparently it was not "all geranium" as I had guessed.

You can tell the lady mantle because it's furry - Cath

So once we definitely knew what we could dig up and what needed to stay, we were away. Wheelbarrows full of weeds were dumped, holes were dug in all the places we could avoid old concrete and we planted day lillies, hebes, forget-me-nots and skimmias.

There was one enormous potted plant that needed to go in the middle but even our strongest GoodGymers couldn't dig a big enough hole into the hard ground, so we had to mess with the symmetry and dig a hole elsewhere. Birthday girl Ellie proudly held up a big rooty bit of plant which she had dug out only to be informed that it was a special dogwood that had been planted a couple of weeks back... so she quickly re-planted it and pretended nothing had happened. The last bit was to water all the new plants in, and Ian got a duff bucket with a hole in it but was very stoic with his wet foot.

With our task complete, we boshed out a fitness session in the park. We started with some lunges, jumps and duck walks, and followed that with a partner exercise relay before finishing with the Happy Birthday Squat Challenge!

Sanderson House

While Rowntree Park got the birthday girl, the Sanderson House group had the two caped crusaders, celebrating their 50th good deed. On the way there, it was only fitting that we stopped outside of St Aidan's Church for a quick photo shoot. After all, Aidan was now practically a Saint, and he had the Cape of Good Deeds to prove it.

Over at Sanderson House, we were met by the Treasurer who had been asked to bring the paint for the fence, but didn't know any more than that. Fortunately it was pretty easy to spot all of the things we could do when we walked round the corner to see a garden full of overgrown grass and weeds, and a fence covered in peeling paint.

Our hosts soon found us a selection of tools and a battery powered lawnmower. Nick armed himself with a pair of shears and started hacking at the grass, to make it short enough for the lawnmower to get through, while others took a more rustic approach and pulled up handfuls of the stuff with their bare hands.

Anyone want a hair cut? (Nick)

Once the grass was tamed to a suitable level, Tim raked off the cuttings, and Max swooped in with the lawnmower to finish the job.

Meanwhile, Carl started work on sanding down the fence, assisted by Alaya. She was delighted to find a job that didn't involve squatting after completing her first half marathon yesterday!

Over in one corner, new runner Are was working with Emma and Jenna to uncover some healthy looking fruit and vegetable plots. Across the other side of the garden, Aidan and Lucy wrestled some nettles and brambles into submission and Christine set to work scraping weeds out from between paving stones. Within 30 minutes, green bins and compost bins were filled to bursting. We still hadn't opened the paint tins - but that would have to be a job for another day.

Aidan handed the Cape of Good Deeds over to Christine for the return journey. On the way back, we stopped off at West Bank Park to unveil another Egg special fitness session, led by Nick. While half of the group did step ups, pull ups and tricep dips (and a bit of monkeying around) on the outdoor equipment, the rest did some running drills, before swapping over. Then it was a swift run back to base for birthday cake-assisted cool down stretches.

A lovely crowd of 26 (including two slightly late ones) ran to two tasks to do good all over the city.

We gave run leader Nick a massive cheer to celebrate his London Marathon success and also welcomed along new runner, Hannah, to the gang. Not only that but we gave a hearty cheer to Alex and Nina who were visiting all the way from London. Finally, we gave the wonderful Taskforce Tim a huge cheer as he donned the Cape of Good Deeds for completing 50 good deeds last week. He wore it all the way in, so if you thought you might have seen a superhero running down Hull Road this evening, that'll have been Tim.

Paul and I led out two groups to Fishponds Wood and arrived there about the same time, except I had unfortunately lost half of my group.

I followed some random people in red t-shirts down a side street - Leanne

It's easily done, so once we had reunited the group, we cracked on with raking up arisings and moving them on a giant blue tarp to another area. It didn't take long, but fortunately Kristina - who is now very well clued up on GoodGym - had plenty of other jobs for us to get on with. Next up, rubble and lopping.

It's like the crystal maze in here, we're now entering the rubble zone!

Most of the group headed over to clear some rubble whilst we stupidly left a small crew (including Tim) lopping some overhanging branches off a tree. We returned ten minutes later to find the lopping had been fairly extreme.

You don't have to get it all down, it's a wood! - Kristina

Everybody chipped in to gather the enormous pile of almost a whole tree onto the tarp, and we dragged it to the top end. Job done.

Spark Report by Nick

Tonight our team headed back to SPARK York to continue where we left off last week - a short jog later we met up with Ellie B and Lizzie at the project and Tom from SPARK dished out the tasks.

The first job was rolling out metal fencing mesh so that we could provide edge protection to the scaffold handrails on the upper decks. We had an unroll and pull team, a cable tie team and a snipping team all working in unison. Barbara asked Lizzie to be her bit holder, and some people though she'd asked Lizzie to be her bitch. Either way, Lizzie obliged.

Mel was asked if she felt strong.

My arms are screaming no but my mind says okay!

Before we knew where we were, she and Ellie B were chucking pallets up the stairs with vigour.

15 minutes and 20 metres later we were all done. We did some light lunging to keep warm while some of the others moved and painted pallets, others moved and stored corrugated roofing sheets and then we all relocated some new planters. Job done!

There was just enough time to hold a lunge for a group pic and then we trotted back to find everyone else on the floor doing core exercises. We nearly left and went straight to the pub but decided we best join in.

On the first warm and sunny evening of 2018, a crazy large group of 51 GG Yorkies ran to a fabulous new project in York

We gave a big round of applause to our new runners and screamed wildly for Tim, who ran outstandingly well at Brighton Marathon yesterday. Not only did he run a marathon but it was also his 50th good deed so make sure you go and give him a massive cheer. Now, I was Bad Egg this week and had completely forgotten the Cape of Good Deeds (Leanne said it must be to do with being a new mum, having 'puppy brain') so I sent an emergency message to have the cape delivered to the pub for afterwards - more on that later.

We had three groups running to Spark: York this evening. A long run group lead by Paul and back-marked by Leanne, a short group run led by me and back-marked by Tim, and a power walking group led by Ellie and back-marked by Christine.

The Spark: York project is a fabulous enterprise using containers to enable small business, charities and community groups to have a space they can use (and afford). One of these brilliant projects is York Nurturing Community, whose café will provide allergy-aware, hot meals prepared with intercepted surplus and donated food on a Pay-As-You-Feel basis. Emily from YNC was the person who asked us along to help out and she had a big old job list for us!

It's my first GoodGym run and I'm the first at the task! - Rosie

The short run and walk group arrived almost together, and once we were hi-vised up we set about the following:

• Clearing a ditch of rubble into a skip
• Painting the ceiling of the YNC container
• Wire brushing pipes ready for painting
• Clearing wood from one container to another
• Sanding down some upcycled furniture
• Clearing out all the rubbish from another container
• Varnishing a mosaic which had been lovingly made by children with disabilities

Phew. Whilst everyone was getting on with those jobs, the second run group turned up and were tasked with cleaning every window and glass door, as well as sweeping everywhere. We also had to move lots of various items to different locations. If you took a moment and just watched the action from above, it was quite a sight. Hi-vis scurrying all over the place like little ants.

Leanne and Tim managed to baggsy the job of fireproofing one of the containers. It involved wearing one rubber glove each, donning a mask and hand-spraying clear liquid all over the wooden surface. Unfortunately, Tim's mask broke so he had to keep going to the door, taking a deep breath and running back in.

It's basically like diving - Tim

The final massive job was to shift two tonne sacks of sand across the site where it would form the foundations of another area. With only one wheelbarrow, people were grabbing buckets, cardboard boxes, pots and pretty much any recepticle they could find to fill with sand and take across. Once the bags were half empty, big teams of super strong GoodGymers were dragging them over and tipping them in. It was a spectacle.

We finished up with a thank you from the team, and I was delighted that they joined in with our workout - a GoodGym version of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.. which - you guessed it - included squats and lunges.

Mel, Ellie and Rob did an amazing job of repacking the hi-vis vests into size order and the heroic Ellie carried them back to base with the walkers.

I'm like hi-vis Santa! - Ellie B

After a team stretch out, some of us headed to the pub and Tim finally got to wear his cape with pride. There was some excellent posing with a pint and he shall run victoriously next week, with the cape blowing in the breeze. Don't miss out on that.. you can sign up here.

I leave you with a terrifying (but real) quote from our own GG Danger Man, Tim.

So, I think I'm probably fireproof too now, after all the spraying. Who's got a lighter?

A solid crew of 29 GG Yorkies ran to Heworth Holme to continue building the footpath!

We welcomed along one brand new runner to the gang this evening, so give your best cheers to Huanqi!

Also big cheers to Stef, Becky and Lizzie for running the Colchester Half Marathon yesterday; the first event of the BIG SIX this year.

It is always a very special night when the clocks go forward and we have our wonderful, light, long evenings back. For some of our newer runners, this was the first ever time they've been able to see what they were doing with their spades!

That pile of limestone at the end of Heworth Holme never seems to get any smaller, so we set one team off filling wheelbarrows whist another team headed further down to carry on extending the path by digging out the space to lay border planks, as well as banging in stakes.

Bev was on fire; fresh from her first ever 10 mile run at the weekend, she was storming around with her wheelbarrow in a very energetic manner. Lucy had taken on safety duty and was helping everyone get over the ledge and down the slope with their heavily laden barrows.

With 30 minutes up and another chunk of path constructed, our work for the evening was done. We ran back via Glen Gardens for a special treat...

It's time for the bleep test!!

The start of summer is a great time to test where you're at fitness-wise. Ellie and I set ourselves as the end markers and did a series of beautifully choreographed movements whilst the rest of the gang pushed themselves to their limits.

Gradually, more runners dropped off and joined our cheering line to see who could hang on the longest. Strong showings from Tim, Max and Mitchell but it was Jenna and Paul who were the last woman and man standing.

It's nice to turn those horrid school memories back into a positive experience!

Two of the Glen Gardens volunteers had been locking up whilst we were running and asked if we could padlock the last gate when we left, since they kindly let us stay in the park for five minutes after closing. However, as we tried to leave, we were almost certain they had completely locked us in. Every gate appeared to be padlocked shut.

Luckily, Tim found one open gate over by the tennis courts and waved us all over, but not before Max had starting scaling the gate to make a hasty escape and leading a mutiny with him!

Remember we have a starter session this Thursday which is open to all abilities. Sign up and tell your friends!

A group of 14 GG Yorkies went to Rowntree Park to do a massive litter pick!

Last weekend was the official Big Spring Clean but the big pick was postponed due to all the snow.

Rowntree Park is very long with all sorts of hedges and fences for rubbish to get caught in. We headed off in pairs on a one hour challenge to gather as much as possible.

Ellie picked up a bit of litter before realising it was in fact, a dead frog and dropping it with a shriek.

Leanne and Paul Kelly also found some dead frogs as well as the inside of a kinder egg.

Huw and Tim found all the good stuff including a pair of Calvin Klein boxers.

Picked them up expecting the worst but they were pretty clean - Tim

Everyone gathered back together and some of the team got involved with can crushing whilst the rest of us got ready for our BALL BAG workout.

One of the balls was blank which meant each person could pick ANY exercise for 25 reps. Everybody but one went with lunges which brought joy to my heart.

We've got a squatter!!

The rubbish was condensed into bags, recycling sorted and overall it was a good job done!