Covering 5km of running, thirteen top athletes took to the streets of Sydenham to help out at the Community Library.

As you can see from the photos, we had a half-marathoner in our midst. On Sunday, Clare took on the inaugural Big Half, a half-marathon organised by the London Marathon team, starting on Tower Bridge and finishing by the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. The event was different in that it was focussing on the communities it passed through, with many participants representing community organisations and charities in the four host boroughs. GoodGym were out in force, with 250 runners taking part and lots of non-running members out on the course, cheering everyone on (I was in Deptford with my son, catching a glimpse of Sir Mo himself as he glided by, before taking the win :) As I sat down to write this, I noticed that Clare was also doing her 25th good deed this evening, so a double well done!

On the subject of half-marathons, we also talked about the very local Beckenham Half-Marathon, which is taking place on September 23rd. It was brought to our attention by Ian, who ran the race last year and enjoyed it. Why not sign up and give yourself a goal to work towards (Kate and Ian have already committed!)?

Shelf life

Tonight's task was over at Sydenham Community Library, so off we headed, doing a little knee-lifting warm-up as we went (the High Street was particularly busy this evening, so we probably provided much-needed entertainment for the static traffic). Thank you to David for back marking this evening, making sure nobody was left behind. As we ran, there was a mysterious rattling noise coming from Bradley's rucksack which, he informed us, was Smarties. Nice! Turns out he was joking and it was actually a supply of vitamins. Bother. Everything was just fine though because, at the task, Ilse had laid on a delicious selection of treats! Who needs Smarties when you have mandarins, coconut macaroons, Bourbons, cheesy twists and cheesy/spicy savoury triangles? Thank you Ilse!

There were a few different jobs lined up for us tonight, with everyone picking something they liked the look/sound of:

• painting the toilet
• cleaning the IT equipment (using fancy spray cans)
• pulling out the fridge in the cafe, to clean behind it
• taking books off the shelves to clean underneath

Everyone got stuck in, pausing occasionally to enjoy a snack, with piles of books building up and cloths getting surprisingly grubby - the library is on a busy main road, with all the grime drifting in from the traffic passing by. Ilse informed us that the Romance section was especially filthy, of course, but Louise found that the Science Fiction was also quite grimy. Interesting. As time ticked by, there was the inevitable chatter about what we're reading and the odd rumble of laughter as a funny title or subject emerged from the shelves. Gathering together our cloths, sprays, brushes and rollers, we wrapped up our work for the evening and made our way back outside.

Witness the fitness!

On our return leg, we like to have a little fitness session if there's time and tonight I had planned a simple version of a classic (I had hoped to use the local basketball court, but it's still bathed in darkness...soon, soon). Running between the grass and the benches, we tried to cover as many laps as we could in one minute (I let Clare rest her legs, I'm not that cruel!). Well done to everyone, it's quite an intense exercise after a 5k run! This is a great way to test your fitness and look for improvement, choosing a space that you will revisit at intervals to see how you are progressing.

Don't forget (I forgot to mention it!) that this Thursday is the monthly GoodGym social, which is in Greenwich this time, so not too far away. Sign up here to meet runners from other areas, to hear from the guest speaker and vote for the International Pun of the Month. While you're at it, why not sign up to next week's group run for more of the same good stuff?

As the frost crept in, a tip-top ten took to the streets to spread the word about GoodGym and to climb a reaaaaalllly long hill.

First things first, it's the end of the month, so the end of our January Challenge. At the time of writing, we are in the lead in our division, with a marvellous 49 good deeds and a smashing 354km! It's a shame we can't put a lid on January right there, because our closest followers, Hounslow, have a run to do tomorrow evening and might just step alongside us. You know what to do everyone, get yourselves to a Wednesday group run! ;) We also took some time to celebrate our Heroes of January, with most of our leaders being absent this evening, but let's give them some respect anyway.

• Most good deeds: Hannah, with 6, followed by Tim, with 5
• Greatest distance: Tim, with 121.2km, closely followed by Molly, with 97.7km
• Most cheered: Hannah, with 62
• Most cheers given: Louise and Hannah, with 2 each (come on, I think we can be a bit more cheery than that!)

I think we all deserve a great big collective pat on the back for getting through the darkest, coldest and at times - remember January 2nd?! - wettest month, good work everyone! At the weekend, Stuart took on a 10k race in our local Crystal Palace Park. He did so well in the wind and mud, pushing hard all the way. Great work Stuart! (See his photo and lovely medal above).

Welcome!

How wonderful to welcome not one, not two, but three new runners this week! Let's give a big cheer to Helen, Joe and David.

This week we had planned to spread the word about what we do here in the borough of Bromley. Sadly my stack of GoodGym flyers didn't arrive on time, so we were working with what I happened to have at home. There are a few roads nearby that have the most beautiful little cottages on them, so we headed there and discovered we had just the right amount of cards to cover this spot. Our group split into pairs and took off, cards in hand. I waited on the corner, smiling at passers by and chatting to one resident, who had been somewhat startled when he came face-to-face with one of our runners as he left his house to walk the dog! He was intrigued to know more, so our task was working!

Running up that hill

Once the word was spread, it was time for our run and fitness session. Our regulars seemed keen to point out to our newcomers that 'it's not normally like this!', though I pointed out that there isn't really a 'typical' group run, it's different every week! With a little more time to push ourselves, we took a longer and better-lit route towards Crystal Palace Park, which included a hill...a very long hill. As we always say, you have to learn to love the hills around here, because there are many. Good work everyone, it did go on a bit! With some downward skips, we found a gate to the park that was actually open and stepped carefully, enjoying our now peaceful, calm surroundings.

Seeking out some light, we drove our knees hard to the top of the steps and paused, overlooking the running track and sports courts, the perfect spot for a bit of HiiT! I think this came as a shock to the system, a longer run AND strength work?! Why not?! We were up, we were down, we were pedalling, we were jumping, we were planking and we were pushing. Excellent.

Next week we will be off out in our community, doing more good, sign up here. Don't forget, if you're on Strava, we have a February challenge coming up, where you can win yourself a special GoodGym Love Running badge. Have a look here and join in (and here is the GoodGym group, if you want to connect with other runners).

See you soon!

As the wind whipped up, 14 fantastic faces smiled their way through Penge, to cover around 3km and paint the walls at Melvin Hall.

This week we welcomed a brand new GoodGym runner, Anna, who is friends with Bea (we like it when people bring their friends along!). We also said hello to Lauren, who has been along to a starter session in Lewisham, but was joining us here for the first time, welcome! Lauren is one of our 200+ runners who are taking part in the Big Half in March and we are now happy to offer places to our runners in boroughs outside the race route. There was lots of talk about this last night, with Stuart being on the verge of signing up and Stephen already diving in head first! If you do fancy trying this new race (with top cheering from me!), then sign up here and get training!

This week we were returning to Melvin Hall to continue our, as David said, Forth Bridge-like painting challenge. This means a short run down the road, so a quick warm-up and off we went. En route we were briefly joined by a small boy (appropriately dressed in red!), who skipped along with us for a moment, until his mum hollered for him to come back! Thank you to David for being our back-marker this week, keeping us together as a group. We were met by Councillor Kathy, who showed us where to find the equipment and everyone got stuck straight in. After a rather challenging start last week, with the emulsion bubbling on the surface of what looked like gloss, our intrepid team rolled on another coat, with the finish looking much better. The various pockets of activity were:

• the corridor and stairs (and then into another corridor, not wanting to stop!)
• finishing that pesky peach area, getting into the nooks and crannies in the top corners
• creating a sauna effect by cramming five people into one small office space off the hall

As I circulated, taking photos, wiping up any drips and generally getting paint all over myself, I heard snippets of conversation, with Bitcoin, liquidity, half-marathons and volunteering being covered. One treasure, offered up by Tim as he and Ian cursed that peach paint, was that the French equivalent of 'A bad workman blames his tools' is 'A good workman has good tools', something for us to keep in mind when we visit tasks! Someone who clearly follows this already is Ian, who brought along his paint stirrer from home! After weeks of looking for something long and stirry, giving the paint tubs a jiggle and resorting to using unmixed paint (oh, the horror!), we could now perform our task with the utmost professionalism, thank you Ian.

Rollers, brushes and trays washed up, we had a moment to work out who was singing the version of 'Tragedy' blaring out of my mini speaker and, yes, it was Steps. Classy.

Running back towards our start point, we continued up to Crystal Palace Park (yes, I heard those groans), where we enjoyed some hill repeats. We are surrounded by (splendid) hills here, so it's best to just go with it and embrace them. This particular hill acts as the start for Crystal Palace parkrun, so good to practice if you're a regular! Keeping our torsos tall, driving our arms and lifting our knees, the hill was embraced fully, with three strong repeats, jogging down to recover. Watching from behind, I could see great arm-drive and great determination. Good work.

As we stretched, we talked about this Sunday's 5 or 10k race in Crystal Palace Park; there are still places at the moment, so go for it and good luck to Stuart, who is taking on the 10k! Ian told us about another racing goal that is far enough away to build towards with confidence, the Beckenham Half-Marathon is in September and very local, so let's make it one of our GoodGym races shall we? Next week we will meet again at 6.45, to do some more good, sign up now and put it in your diary!

This week 16 wonderful GG-ers ran 4.5km (ish) delivering booklets for our fabulous hosts, The Phoenix. Most were kitted in their Santa hats / outfits, with Graham even riding a reindeer. Paul came armed with extra outfits, including a Santa dress – which Hazel wore with pride.

We were joined by GG newbie tonight, Heather – who moved to London to marry Shawn! Give them both a cheer!

After a quick warm up by the side, we ran off up the hill. After about 1.5km of running, we split into teams and began the leap frog flyering. Damian took one team, while I took the other. We had four bags full of the booklets – and as ever, made quick work of the lot!

Then it was time for a quick fitness session, starting with squats, burpees and lunges; and finishing with a race to 100 step ups on the curb. Graham was the speediest, very quickly followed by Sarah.

Damian then lead us back to base, while Freya and Rupesh took charge of the back-marking.

We then did all the stretches before heading upstairs at the Phoenix for our Christmas celebrations. There were many snacks, some even homemade, and a surprise appearance from Eleanor.

Tonight was Danica's last GG Barnet run before she leaves the country forever (or for ages) to go traveling. Give her all of the cheers and the virtual hugs

Thank you all for a wonderful year of GG Barnet-ing. Next week will be our final run - but I won't be able to make it. You'll be guest lead by the wonderful Camden Paul. See you all in the NEW YEAR!

Tonight it was round 2 as we once again met Nicola from A Mile In Her Shoes to help sort kit donations. We had 12 lovely runners including one newcomer Emily, big welcome!

We mixed things up tonight and did a hill session before the task by running over the the infamous West Walk to complete a few reps. To encourage/bribe the runners I promised prizes for the first person up the hill each sprint rep. Michael K and was first over the line on attempt number one and looked like he'd really worked hard for his haribo reward and second time round Tim bounded to victory to claim the treasured red GoodGym laces. Good work from everyone all round!

We then jogged down to The Kings Arms (a massive thank you to them for hosting us for the past two weeks) to start on the new batch of donations to sort. We had a few different things crop up this evening including an array of running knickers with delightful motifs printed on the bum, unfortunately not very useful for the charity but a good source of entertainment for the group!

Again even though there was a mountain to sort through this evening we got it all done and everything is now ready to be given out women who are finding their feet through running with this great charity. We will continue to work with A Mile In Her Shoes in the future but if you'd like to be involved more in the meantime head over to their facebook page and think about popping along to their free fun running fitness session on 16th December.

Last but not least a little shout out for Michael C who looked after Hannah on the run tonight as she is a little injured, it's lovely to see everyone working together and looking out for each other.

Great job tonight everyone, happy running!