It’s been an eventful weekend for our members up and down the country so a big well done to them all, however time to get back home. Our Lewisham members clocked up some serious steps this weekend from parkrun, missions, races and volunteering at various events. Have you seen the marvelous photos of the GG Water stand, at the British 10K? Not only were they keeping the participants hydrated but they also gave the loudest cheers.

**Stop! Hang on a minute, as she’s always writing the run report she only gets mentioned in the credits but not this week! I’m sure you would all agree that our trainer Adele deserves some special cheers, she splashed away in the Thames taking on the Henley mile what a way to keep cool in this weekend’s hot temperature!

Hey all thanks for coming along to tonight’s group run welcome to our first timers Katrin, Andrew, Hannah and Sabina hope you enjoyed your time with us tonight and hoping to see you at our next run one of our favourite task.

It’s Monday evening and there is a group of people in the lobby of Glass Mill dressed in rep tops, everyone walks past looking a bit puzzled wondering what’s going on as there are a lot of chatter amongst the group, there are folks still arriving each been greeted with smiles and hello as the group gets bigger and bigger.

We huddled closely together as I ran through the tasks and the safety briefing along with our regular words about good gym before moving out to the area that was once grass for our head count and warm up. Domestics out the way we headed of running towards Deptford for our tasks. Yes, there were two again tonight, a group of five being led by Kim to the Samaritans and 15 being led by me to the Woodpecker Youth Centre. As we arrived at our point of separation Kim led her group off to their task and my group carried on to the Woodpecker youth club.

As we arrived at the woodpecker youth club we were met by Charlotte who had been looking out for us, she ran through what she wanted us to do and proceeded to unlock the gates around the premises to give us free reign. In one area of the grounds the blackberries were begging to run wild and capturing areas they were not allowed in. Other areas had overgrown plants that needed a trim and bushes growing between the bricks. We break out into small groups armed with brooms, hedge shears, bin bags, bill hook, scissors and various other tools to regain control of the grounds.

As we worked and chatted it was really nice to see our first timers getting stuck in Andrew got into a tight scrape with the with the bill hook as he cleared the bushed between the bricks. Hannah who had been using a broom that had been broken off the stick was not going to be defeated in her endeavors to sweep up the rubbish resorted to duct taping the broom together while Sabina and Katrin ensured the rubbish was bagged up.

Over by the overgrown plants Clare had made a big inroad into the pruning before enlisting the help of Malcolm as she realized she had pruned it like a bad fringe on one side and needed to get the other side which was a bit higher so in subbed Malcolm for his height. Over by the black berries Oli and co was adamant not to be beaten by the overgrown blackberry they had less chatter a more determined look on their faces as they raced against time to clear the area. I am pleased to say that despite a few cuts after the buzzer had been blown they were victorious.

Berries wheelie bin naughty

The area had been cleared of the overgrown berries but there were still enough berries left over for those who wanted to refuel on them after the battle had been won.

What about our friends over at the Samaritans? Well they had to tackle clematis plants that had decided to invade the neighbouring garden, cleared weeds from the paving stone, cut back the brambles from the raised beds. Then as a final swan song they put the clematis cuttings into the compost bin tidied up and had a photo session while waiting on us to rejoin for the run back to Glass Mill. For the return leg of our journey we ran back through Brookmill park where we in co-operated our fitness session into the run all the way back to the point where we had to leave the park/Waterlink way to get back on the main road. We arrived back at Glass Mill safely in tact did our cool down stretches and said our farewells.

Pushing on through in sweltering heat, 24 tip-top athletes ran 5km to make a difference at Crofton Books and Beecroft Garden School.

Thank you to Olifor tonight's title pun and some cleverly interspersed puns within this text. Thank you also to Jacquelinefor the Beecroft Garden photos.

What a great weekend of volunteering and running! We had a community mission this weekend. These are fairly new to us, allowing us to send a smaller group of volunteers to help out in the community, outside of our group runs. Our heroes this weekend were Emma, Sarah and Nykolette, who trailed around local streets, spreading the word about this Saturday's Family Fun Day at the Ewart Road Clubhouse - well done you three! We had some very determined running from Clare, who ran the Hever Castle half-marathon yesterday IN THAT HEAT! Wow, it sounds like it was pretty hard-going, but the hog-roast afterwards seems to have done the refuelling trick :) We had lots of our regulars at Hilly Fields parkrun on Saturday, either running or volunteering and Bradley has been a regular feature at the I Move London relay, joining in on numerous runs now and spending a lot of time volunteering (I'm pretty sure he'll get his own Guinness World Record for his efforts, he should!). There is still plenty of time to sign up to join in, with the event continuing until the end of the month.

This week we had not one, not two, but three new faces joining the run. Lewisham Love goes to Matthew, Christine and James, welcome.

We don't beetle about the bush!

We had a bit of fun with tonight's warm-up, playing a little ball game and partnering up for some dynamic stretches. Bradley took the role of back-marker, making sure nobody was left behind and off we headed to Crofton Park. On the way, we did good deed number one, saving a beautiful beetle (we think a female Stag Beetle) from being trampled on (see photo, with foot for scale), always doing good ;) Having visited Beecroft Garden Primary School last week, we were returning in the same direction, so decided to split up into two groups, one under the guidance of Jacqueline (thank you!), continuing the good work on the raised beds at the school and the rest of us a little further down the street at Crofton Books.

At the library, we worked in small groups, sorting through donated books. One group were alphabetising (I am full of envy), another were sorting through a box, others were pricing books and another group were sorting through some bags outside, then watering the plants along the edge of the building (I hadn't realised there was such a great outdoor space here, with a grapevine and everything!). As is usual here, it wasn't long before some literary gems were uncovered, with Kim sharing a lovely fitness book from the eighties. We all gathered round to enjoy the illustrations of people 'jogging' in massive jumpers and tiny short shorts, we were also rather taken with the 'hip twists' and the advice for running in the dark. I just had to buy it to add to my collection!

Buckets of fun

Over at the school, there was a hive of activity, with our top team of gardeners working hard to clear the soil from behind the wall, digging the dry, hard ground, lifting it into wheelbarrows and transporting this to the front of the building, to be used in another bed. This wall is due to be repaired and can't be done until the soil is moved, so great work everyone, you were really digging the Sensory Garden! This task was a particularly good upper-body workout, with buckets and trugs of soil being lifted and shifted and some great wheelbarrow action to work those thighs and glutes.

Once our work was done, we regrouped seamlessly out on the road, gathering together to run up and over to Hilly Fields. At the bottom of the steep hill, I suggested that some people might like to push hard to the top. Like the adventurous athlete that she is, Eleanor (fresh some GoodGym tourism to Liverpool) took the lead, running fast ahead of us, with a group following closely behind, trying to catch her! At the top, we formed a circle, with my speaker blasting out in the middle, ready to introduce a really lovely squats session. Oh yes. Around three minutes of up, down, hold repeat, glutes burning, thighs throbbing, faces grimacing. Excellent work all of you and not a bit of groaning going on!

As we planked and stretched back at Glass Mill, we talked about next week's group run, another double task, this time over in New Cross, at the Woodpecker Youth Centre and the Samaritans. We will need all hands again, so do sign up. I won't be here, but you will be well looked after by Conroy.

See you soon!

On the most scorchio evening this year, 25 of the coolest runners took on 7+km of running and shifted 70+ bags of woodchip at Ewart Road Clubhouse.

We have had another brilliant week of volunteering and running, with Emma up at the Hilly Fields Fayre, helping to set up, Juliet, Vic and Ian helping out an older person with their garden and many of our runners doing what they do every week, which is running to spend time with their 'coach', the person who gets them out of the house when they don't feel like it. Great work everyone.

GoodGym gives you wings!

Talking of missions, last week we had a very special milestone, when Nykolette and Stephen went to visit Mrs G in her home. They helped out with the task they had signed up to, then realised that she was going to be left alone when the health visitor had left, waiting to be collected by an ambulance. Being the kind, thoughtful people they are, Stephen and Nykolette decided to stay and keep Mrs G company, reassuring her and chatting until the ambulance arrived. This also happened to be Nykolette's 100th good deed. Nykolette has been a big part of our group for around two years now, joining in group runs, going on missions, coach running and taking part in lots and lots of races with the GoodGym Race Team. Those of us lucky enough to know Nykolette can tell you what a kind and thoughtful friend she is and how she goes out of her way to look after others (she volunteers at parkrun, Lewisham Food Bank, Big Red Box, Crisis at Christmas...and possibly others she hasn't even mentioned). Well done Nykolette, keep on doing good and being the most sparkly person I know :)

Joining this delectable team of do-gooders for the first time this week was Eleanor, trying out her first ever GoodGym group run. We also had two visitors, Ian from our neighbours and friends over in Bromley and Chi, all the way from Haringey. Lewisham Love to all of you!

You might have gathered by now that it's been pretty hot today (around 30 degrees), so our warm up was a slightly sticky affair, with a swift game of British Bulldog, that came to a quick conclusion due to some very skillful tagging! Feeling quite warm enough, we got going towards Ladywell. With my H&S hat firmly in place, I made sure we stopped every so often to catch our breath, regroup and take a big swig of water, I felt like I was dragging my legs through treacle, whilst trying to hold a breathless conversation and run up a hill. Phew!

A chip off the old block

The last time we visited the Ewart Road Clubhouse, we were inside, painting the walls and washing the windows. Since then, a rather wonderful sensory garden has popped up (though I'm sure it's taken a lot more work than just 'popping up'!), giving the whole space a lushness and texture that you simply couldn't have imagined before - great work everyone! We were met by Dominique, who offered us water and then showed us the massive stack of woodchip sacks that needed transporting over to the open space, then spreading out, to create an area for children to run around. This area was also housing some broken slabs and rocks, which needed moving out of the way, giving our intrepid teams of two an excellent upper-body workout.

As always at a task, I tried really hard to get a 'before' photo, but everyone was a bit too quick for me. You can still see from the photos though, just how much of a transformation this made. Like little ants, a line of volunteers carried the sacks, with another team cutting them open and tipping them out and a further team raking and spreading the woodchip to cover the rough ground and help prevent weeds from peeping through. In just twenty minutes or so, the job was done - how amazing is that? Something that might take existing volunteers a few days to do! We really hope this has made a dent in the remaining work at the garden. We were told that, on Saturday July 14th from 11-4.30 there will be a Family Fun Day, where the sensory garden will be officially opened by Councillor Pauline Morrison - we are all invited!

Run to the hills!

Our run back to Glass Mill felt ever so slightly easier, with a downward slope, but some people just don't find this enough. As part of his GoodGym tourism, Chi likes to tick off a few different challenges along the way, including a Strava segment and, this time, a steep hill. I casually pointed towards Blythe Hill, which he promptly peeled off to run up! We all continued on our merry way, enjoying a more gentle approach and met up with him further along, where he informed us that he had also tackled Vicars Hill, really, you know, just in case Blythe Hill wasn't steep enough.

As you may know by now, this Saturday sees us enjoying the now annual event that is the GoodGym Olympic Games, a day of sporting expertise, camaraderie and playful competition between the different areas. We had had a request from Jacqueline, to practice the egg and spoon race but, as she'd already left us, we decided to have a go anyway, with the clear winner, with a very professional form, being Chloe. A special mention must also go to Kirsty, who had a very determined and focussed style, never seen in this field of play before. If you can't make it to the games themselves, you can still get involved, by taking part in the GoodGym Olympic Games Nationwide Race, a chance to show your creativity as well as pushing hard over a 1km run. Have a look at the link to see how to log the run and go out there and have some fun (as Chi did, trying his best to get near the top of our GG Lewisham Monthly Time Trial Strava segment...!).

Next week...a brand new task, our first at a school. We will be visiting Beecroft Garden Primary School in Crofton Park, to work outside in their garden. Expect a 5k round trip, a fun task and some fitness fun on the way back.

See you there!