As light faded, 29 invincible athletes ran out into the borough, to help at Luxmore Gardens, covering 4km along the way.

Thanks this week to Tom for our super title pun and also Oli, who has some marvellous puns throughout this run report.

What a weekend of top running! We had lots of people either running or volunteering at Hilly Fields parkrun, who were celebrating their sixth birthday. We had Tom stretching his legs up in Newcastle, at the Great North Run (RED ARROWS people, RED ARROWS!) and Kim - who is training for her first marathon (in Venice) - ran her longest run ever! This is all very inspiring. This week we had a couple of new faces, Lewisham Love goes to Amy, who was doing her first ever GoodGym group run and Sophie, who has visited many other GoodGym areas over the course of her 300+ good deeds!!

Our warm-up saw everyone being 'It' and everyone doing a fair bit of squatting. We also enjoyed some squatting hi-fives before heading out along the Lewisham Way towards New Cross. Thank you Tom for being this week's back-marker, possibly feeling the DOMS setting in as time went on!

Manure the one for me

Feeling sprightly, even on that hill out of Lewisham, we found ourselves at the task in record time, so took the opportunity to visit the beautiful mural that we prepared the wall for a few months back. Check out the group photo, it's really quite lovely. Lucy soon appeared, forks at the ready and showed us where we would be working tonight. There has been so much going on here since our last visit, with trees being pruned to allow in more light, a whole section of beds filled with plants and this area of soil being rotovated, ready for us to step in. To the side of the area was a huge pile of manure, warm and 'fragrant'. It was our job to dig over the soil and dig in the manure. Cue lots of activity, with forks, shovels and rakes being employed in the dig-over zone, wheelbarrows being run to-and-fro, tipping their contents, before running off again and a team of waterers trailing a hose along the path to fill cans and buckets, to water the plants that went in at the weekend.

Luxmore fun where that came from

It feels a lot earlier than previous years, but we suddenly found ourselves in darkness. Luxmore Gardens is a 'pocket park', so is surrounded by houses and enclosed by tall trees, but this was dark! It's time to dig out the head-torches (great work from Eleanor, who was debuting her new torch, looking good!). After returning all the tools, we ran back downhill (phew!) to our start point and the Monthly (erm, oops!) Time Trial. Oh yes. Those who fancied it could run one, two, three or four laps of Cornmill Gardens, which is pretty much 1km (and a Strava segment if you're into that sort of thing!). Well done to everyone who had a go and pushed themselves and also to our cheer squad, who did squats and lunges to keep warm.

Next week is a brand new task, up at Chelwood Nursery, where we will be working outside (head-torches please!). This means a 5k round-trip and some Hilly Fields fun on the way back, if you're really lucky. Sign up here to make it happen. As we stretched, Conroy told everyone about a lovely local relay race happening on Sunday in Hilly Fields. There are still places, so have a look here and sign up if you're interested, it's a really great cause to raise funds for. Good luck to anyone taking part!

See you soon :)

Enjoying a cool breeze and some gorgeous evening sunshine, a fabulous 24 superstars ran through Ladywell to help out at the Wildcat Wilderness, covering 7km of running along the way.

Another heartwarming week of goodness, with many runners heading off over the weekend to help older people in their homes, with tasks that they couldn't manage by themselves and others running to visit their coaches for a friendly chat and a catch up. Really great work everyone, this makes all the difference.

Just recently we seem to have had a general air of celebration, with many of our regular runners reaching milestones (how wonderful?!). This week it was the turn of Vic, who has been with us since April 2017. It didn't take long for Vic to fit right in and become part of the GG Lewisham family and to become a regular at our local Hilly Fields parkrun, where she can usually be seen, either volunteering or driving hard up the hill to finish strong (sometimes as first woman). This is quite often fitted in before a mission, or a run over to our friends at Wildcat Wilderness, where Vic has become known for her incredible ability to create new paths, so much so that she was presented with her very own, personalised 'Wonder Woman' sparkly weed-basher! Well done on your 50th good deed Vic, it's been a joy to run (and chat) with you!

How appropriate that we should be visiting Vic's favourite place this evening so, after some fun warming up, we ran the rather pleasant route through Ladywell Fields towards Catford. As always at the Wilderness, we were met by Maria, who had an array of tasks for us to get on with. In the garden area (where vegetables are being grown), were a group shifting a cardboard structure which turned out to be a castle (Helen's Moving Castle - that's a film isn't it?), this will no doubt be used to insulate a raised bed or something, or maybe just allowed to compost down. As this went on, Maria told us about some of the plants here, inviting us to taste various things and pointing out some rather splendid squashes that are taking over at a triffid-like pace.

Over on the other side of the wilderness, another group worked hard (between handfuls of blackberries or a juicy plum) to clear an area that has been opened up by inquisitive children, who have created the perfect tunnel/den. Unfortunately they have chosen an area that was previously used as a dump for all sorts of rusted metal and broken glass. With great care and attention, this team very thoughtfully dug and lifted out the sharp items in an attempt to make it safer. In addition to the rubbish, we also uncovered some rather smashing treasure, with vintage drinks cans (some older than many of our runners!) and a perfectly intact milk bottle (well done Rosemary!). Expect a museum of curiosities to pop up soon. Before we left, Maria told us about a fruit-picking day happening this Thursday. If you want to find out about all the activities that are going on here, it's a good idea to sign up to the mailing list, to receive regular updates.

On our return to Glass Mill, we did a cheeky wall-squat and some nice tri-dips before stretching, ahead of our social at Mamma Dough (no doughy cores here!). Next week we are visiting our good friends at Seniors - sign up and come along! In the meantime though, don't forget to join us at 11am on Saturday at St Mary's Church, for a community mission, our chance to make some progress painting those railings.

Run happy!

23 runners ran 7.5km to weed, clear undergrowth and shift woodchip at Wildcat Wildnerness

Lewisham News

• Long time Lewisham runner Kim Parker is about to clock up her 100th good deed, give her a cheer! AND Veronice Norcross just hit her 50! Amazing - cheer her here.

• At the weekend more than 70 GoodGymers went to Stratford-upon-Avon to run, talk about GoodGym and generally have an awesome time. Here's the report from the parkrun we descended upon to inspire you to come and join the Shindig next year!

• A big old hello and welcome to Emma, Larissa and Charles who joined us for the first time last night.

• Next week the group will be off to St Mary's to paint the railings - sign up here.

That's enough of the business...

With Adele away, it was my annual trip to cover her at Lewisham and boy have things changed... and that's not just the colour of the grass outside the centre! After a briefing we headed outside to warm up - trying out some hopping drills to get us thinking about reducing our contact time with the ground as we run - this helps make us more efficient runners and reduces the risk of injury. Hooray!

Off we set for the 3.5km to Wild Cat Wilderness which you can find out more about here. Wild Cat Wilderness is a community green space in Catford coordinated by the Rushey Green Time Bank, a local charity. It is a natural wilderness off Catford Hill where you can explore nature and the wildlife, play or relax in its peacefulness or learn new skills. On our way there we paused for some primal squatting, wall-sitting and to power over the loop-di-loop (the technical term...). Caireen met us there and Caz took us into the wilderness to get started. We split into two groups:

• Clearing undergrowth with machete-like things around the outdoor kitchen.
• Shifting woodchip from a pile and spreading it around trees

In the 30 minutes we moved the majority of the woodchip pile and cleared a huge amount of undergrowth. The kitchen will be used to teach children about raw natural cooking. It's an amazing space! We got loads done and Caz was thrilled.

On our way back we took advantage of a nice clear bit of park to stretch our legs a bit and get some speed in - a great feat in this weather!

A super duper evening, thank you so much for having me.

Keep running happy, Lucy

Not ones to be put off by a bit of rain, 21 awesome athletes covered 8km of running, sanded numerous floorboards and cleaned a kitchenful of cupboards.

No first-timers today, but what a joy it was to welcome Lucy back after what feels like forever! We missed you Lucy! Stepping right back into it, she took on the role of back-marker, with Helen for company, top team.

After last week's epic Medal Monday, this evening felt quiet in comparison, so plenty of time to contemplate just how wonderful it is that no fewer than seven of our runners have been to visit an older person for a chat in the past week. Well done Monica, Anita, Nykolette, Conroy, Jacqueline, Rebecca (and I went to see my coach on her almost 88th birthday too).

Comic Sands

This week's task was taking us back to Goldsmiths Community Centre (it's been a while), so a long run of 8km in total, WITH A HILL! Since our last visit, so much has been happening, with the new cafe and charity shop really taking shape. This will provide a focus for the building, where groups can meet and local residents can come and breathe life into this purpose-built community centre. Our job was to sand the recently revealed floorboards, making them ready for varnishing. A team of willing sanders put on masks, grabbed some sandpaper and blocks and worked hard on a patch of floor...the noise was immense! Those who found the dust a bit too much, were tasked with pulling out the contents of the kitchen cupboards and giving them a jolly good clean.

Normally at our tasks there is a lot of chatter, but our sanders could barely hear themselves think, with the scratchy sound echoing around the empty room. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the radio was on, the talk was flowing and the Lady Di and Monster Munch mugs were being passed around. It really was a task of two halves. It was interesting to see how people's true character could be revealed in their sanding style, we had the:

• follow one floorboard all the way along the room

• sprawl belly-down, creating a human-shaped patch (crime scene alert!)

• neatly sand yourself into a corner

• take off a whole layer of wood

• work in every which way, like a dusty starburst

It was definitely one of those tasks that you don't appreciate until you step back and survey the space. Fantastic work everyone, you really made a big dent in this challenging job (I have a feeling we'll be back!).

Cups away, masks and smooth sandpaper discarded, water sipped down dry throats, group photos taken; it was time to go. The return leg from here always feels so much easier, with a nice downhill stretch to take us home. Those of us who arrived back first found a patch of wall (window) to sit against, willing our fellow runners to appear around the corner. A brief respite with some toe-taps and we were back at the wall, good work. As we stretched, we looked ahead to next week, when we will return to the Albany Garden, to fill some new raised beds with compost and shift some massive logs, sign up here to commit to a great upper body workout :)

As Storm Eleanor whipped around, twenty toughies ran 5km across Lewisham to sort through donations at GRACE.

It might have been one of the grimmest evenings to go running, but somehow, all these amazing people felt the need to pull on their Lycra and head on down to Glass Mill to do some good. Additional kudos and Lewisham Love go to our FOUR newcomers and one tourist, welcome to first-timers Mary, Tom, Mary Anne and Sarah and to Hannah, who was crossing the border from (our gorgeous neighbours over in) Bromley (I might be biased, they're my Tuesday night lovelies...). If you click on their names you can give them a cheer, go on, it feels lovely to get a cheer :)

A big thank you tonight to Jo, who has made my life so much easier by coming up with this week's title pun, good work Jo, I can get an early night now!

So, this storm. A few of us were blown this way by bike and some came flying through the doors sideways, which made our warm-up a bit more challenging. Well done to everyone for staying upright and for entering into the games with gusto! Gathering round, we set our various devices going (did you all get new watches for Christmas, there was a fair bit of beeping going on?!) and set off towards Lee. Thank you to Caireen for being our back-marker this week, making sure nobody was left behind (or blown away).

On arriving at GRACE, we were quickly given direction by Claire, who pointed out the many bags of clothes, shoes and random bits and bobs, which were to be sorted into the great big white bags, with the various categories, women, men, children, babies. As always, everyone grabbed a bag and got stuck in. Anyone who has been here before, will have noticed the changes over the time we have been visiting and we always marvel at the progress that has been made - when we came to this space the first time, it was an empty shell, full of dust and in need of a lot of attention. Now we see a shop space, a community space and an area to sort and prepare clothing to be taken to those who need it.

Of course, it wasn't long before the pants were out. It's tradition now for someone to uncover some either massive or 'interesting' items of underwear and tonight we hit the jackpot with some wide pants AND some frilly knickers. Good work Amber, Vic and Hannah!

Quite soon all of the white sacks were full to overflowing and full time had passed (we did push on for a tiny bit longer!). We said our goodbyes and promised to return in a few weeks, as Claire and her team have a few trips coming up and could do with our help. If you want to help out at other times, check the website here to find out how you can get involved.

Heading back, I invited Conroy to take the lead, while I wheezed away at the back (yes, even your robust trainer feels under the weather sometimes). Thank you Conroy for guiding everyone home and for keeping the group moving until we all regrouped for some press-ups and tricep-dips at the curvy bench. A quick round of planks (ouch, we've neglected those over Christmas!) and it was time for a stretch. Don't forget to sign up for next week, when we will run over to Seniors to take down the Christmas decorations (this is a slightly longer run, of around 7km in total) and also link your Strava to your GoodGym profile, to make sure all your miles count towards our January challenge!

Great work team!

A dozen do-gooders, dashed miles, shared some smiles. Then trees they did sprinkle, in baubles and tinsel & wrapped up some gifts for some deserving local kids.

Run report to be read, to the tune of "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

We don't want a lot for Christmas There is just one thing we need. To run and wrap up all your presents, for Goodgym we must do a Good Deed

We just want to run from base, all the way to Kilburn, Kingsgate. To make their wish come true.... Goodgym elves with Christmas tasks to do!

We don't want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing we need. To run and wrap up all the presents. For Goodgym we must do a good deed.

Half the group will get to working, there upon the trees outside. Hanging baubles makes us happy. We will finish in time, come what may!

The other half will get to know, how to make those windows glow. Hang baubles from the roofffffff. Santas going to want to stop by too!!! Oooohhh and Rudolph!

Oh, we won't ask for much this Christmas, we won't even wish for snow. We're just gonna keep on waiting For more chances to help this community grow.

We'll be back in new year, AJ, don't you worry about a thing. To volunteer some more of our time. Running fast & get our pulses racing!

'Cause we don't just want to help tonight. We'll be back, even though, now we take flight. But what more can we do? That's one more Goodgym task done by this crewwwww.

Oh, all the lights are shining so brightly everywhere. As we run back home down Kilburn High Street's glare.

And all the crew are happy, even though its nippy. Lets get moving, as the time is nearly at an end, I don't want to miss 'First Dates' on TV.

Oh, we don't want a lot for Christmas, this is all we ever want. To help the people of dear Willesden, while our legs take us on a little jaunt.

Now it's time to say Goodnight. See you next week? I hope we might. Make our wish come true.... All we want is more good tasks to do!!!! 2018 with this fantastic crew!!! Without them I just don't know what I'd do!!!! ohhhhhhh baby!!!!

TA DAAAAAAAAAAAA.

See you next time familia for the last Goodgym of the year!!!!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE