As March draws to a close, 27 runners took on a 5k round-trip to help at Hither Green Station embankment.

A big welcome this evening to Lucy and Sean joining us for their first ever GoodGym group run, Lewisham Love to you! It was also lovely to see some familiar faces returning after a little break, it's always good to welcome people back (with open arms).

If you have been part of this GoodGym magic for a while, you probably know all about coach running, missions and community missions, but if you're new, or need a reminder, have a look here to see how you can get involved in some extra-curricular activity. Three of our runners did exactly that on Saturday morning, by working on a very special task at Torridon Primary School. At the school there is a lovely garden, featuring a pond. This pond is home to frogs, toads and some rather gorgeous newts and was in need of a really good clean. Well done to Clare, Darryl and Stephen, who worked hard, but with great care, to restore some freshness to this habitat. Read all about it and check out the photos here.

As if all this wasn't enough for one weekend, Clare then went on to race in the London Landmarks Half-Marathon, as did Nadine and Anita - well done racers, show us your medals (Clare did and it was epic!).

This week's task was taking us back to Hither Green, this time to work on the other side of the tracks. Here the local community are working hard to establish a wildflower meadow and it was our job to rake the area and to sow the many thousands of seeds that will make this happen. A big thank you this week to Kim, for leading at the front of the run out, Conroy for leading the return leg and to Marta for back-marking and joining in the party at the back.

On arriving at the task, Anne-Marie very quickly gave us our special railway-safe hi-vis vests and a rake or fork, then pointed everyone in the direction of the 800sqm of ground to be raked. That sounds like a lot...because it is! We're not put off by such challenges though, so set off in a methodical line, working with focus (and a bit of chat, well, a lot of chat). As always, I was buzzing around taking photos and making sure everyone was working safely and happily, but I wasn't paying full attention to where I was and wasn't supposed to walk. No worries though, because I was soon TOLD!

Once an area had been raked, it was time to scatter the mix of sand and wildflower seed, making sure each section was covered. This pattern of activity went on until we reached the top of the bank and it was time to tramp our way back down, pressing the seeds into the surface. Depending on how vigorously you tramped, this could be quite an effective fitness session! Gathering our rakes, we continued the tramp all the way round to Springbank Road Community Garden, so the kind people who had lent tools to us could pick them back up.

If you enjoyed exploring Hither Green and want to come back soon, we have the opportunity to join in a river clean up on Saturday, sign up here.

At this point I should maybe have mentioned that we would be giving the Monthly(ish) Time Trial a go on our return to Glass Mill. There were some who pushed super hard coming into Cornmill Gardens and might have saved a little something if they'd known! Our time trial is basically four laps of the area outside our start point, which is just under a kilometer (though it's perfectly fine to go for one, two or three laps if you prefer). There was some very committed running going on, with that competitive spirit showing through at times. If you want to check out the Strava segment and see where you are on the leaderboard, have a look here.

Next week we will be off to Crofton Park, to help shift a ton of gravel at Beecroft Garden Primary School - come along! In the meantime, we have a community mission to help at GRACE's charity shop 50p sale on Saturday - sign up here.

See you soon!

With a warm glow from a weekend of mutual support, 17 runners covered 5km to help at GRACE.

I'm feeling humbled by the many stories coming out of yesterday's Big Half, there was so much support to be seen around the course (and beyond), with friends turning out to encourage each other, run together and to help strangers achieve a goal, by volunteering. We had first-time racers, we had personal best times, we had dedicated cheering, we had BBC TV shout-outs and we had sweaty hugs (they're the best). If you were out there yesterday in that wind, smiling, pounding, clapping, sprinting, marching or cheering, give yourself a very big pat on the back, you deserve it.

If you want to see what goes into overseeing a water station at a big race, read this lovely run report and look out for a few familiar faces.

Weekend goodness, some extra chances to do good:

• On Saturday we have a chance to plant trees at Blythe Hill Fields, sign up here to create something that you can visit on your runs!

• On Sunday our friends at GoodGym Bromley are volunteering at the Crystal Palace junior parkrun (it's a community mission, so you get a parkrun credit AND a good deed!). Check out the details and sign up here, it's a really lovely way to spend an hour on a Sunday morning.

Our run this week was to take us to Lee, where we were helping out at GRACE. With many of our legs tonight feeling 'challenged', our warm up was all about shaking things out, mobilising our joints and getting ready to run. A big thank you to Marta for back-marking - I half expected everyone to want to go at the back tonight!

We were met at GRACE by Claire, who briefly told everyone about the great work they are doing to help people both locally and at refugee camps in Europe. This week we were going to try and make a dent in the many bags of donated clothes, sorting them into piles of women's, men's and children's clothing. Over the time we have visited GRACE we have found some 'interesting' items and tonight was no exception. There was an awful lot of giggling from Emily and Clare, who seemed to have a knack for finding knickers! There was much debate about whether clothes were for boys or girls (why not both?) and also about how someone could donate their old knickers, three flip-flops and a lacy whatsit?!

A quick tidy up before we posed for our group photo, medals on show, then we ran back towards Glass Mill. I had planned an intense squat-up-and-down session with music, but thought better of it when I saw how tired our half-marathoners were (I'm not that cruel). Next week's task is still being confirmed, so sign up anyway and take a lucky dip!

On a crisp January evening, a record-breaking 37 outstanding athletes ran 5km and helped at Crofton Books.

Happy birthday to us! THREE YEARS of doing good in Lewisham! Just to help us get our heads around this fact, here are some statistics that illustrate the extent of our efforts since we started back in January 2016.

• Total good deeds - 5,691
• Total missions - 229
• Total coach visits - 941
• Total group runs - 193
• Total KMs - 72,043
• Total cheers given - 100,024
• Total cheers received -77,348

Just look at those figures, all done by 993 different runners! In coming weeks we will have completed 6,000 good deeds between us! It's especially heartening to note that we will soon have paid 1000 visits to an older person for a chat, reducing isolation with every visit. Well done to every single person who has been along over the past three years and who has gone on to volunteer outside of our activities, who has stepped up to a race start line (and finish!) and who has made a friend through what we do - this is a pretty special community that we've built here, in our little corner of South East London.

January Challenge

We are currently first in our division for good deeds (144) and utterly smashing it on KMs (1955)! Well done everyone, especially those who went the extra mile this weekend, by attending starter sessions, missions and community missions! If you haven't connected Strava or Run Keeper to your profile, now's the time! A special mention has to go to Emma, who 'did the treble' over the weekend, by completing a mission on Friday, another on Saturday morning, then a community mission shortly after!

A big welcome and all our Lewisham Love go this week to Suzi. We hope you enjoyed the evening, you certainly chose a special week to join us!

In this colder weather, it's even more important to warm up, but more important than anything ever is to have some fun. Handshakes, stuck-in-the-mud and a few hi-fives and we were ready to run. Thank you to Marta for being a tip-top back-marker tonight, keeping us together on the run.

3’s a crowd, 37 is a record!

As we arrived at Crofton Books, I realised that we might just beat our attendance record and, with a couple of people trailing in after us...we did! 37 runners, all ready to get stuck in! Jason had a lot for us to do this week. He had been over to Brixton to collect some HUGE bookshelves for the shop and these needed bringing in from the van (they really were very tall). The shelves they were to replace needed clearing (human chain!) and there was a lot of jiggling to be done to accommodate the new storage.

One for the record books

Meanwhile, in the children's section, Silvana had some more shelf action. These shelves had been dismantled and are quite complex in design so, in addition to wiping down and dusting, they needed reassembling with an allen key. This was a task that required thought and consideration, so there was much chin rubbing and head tilting! It was amazing to see the progress that was made, with a wall now being ready to take more books, giving a wide open space for children to enjoy the many activities on offer.

Outside we had a team of litter-pickers. There has been some great planting along the wall of the building, but sadly some people throw their litter over the fence. This was no problem for our crack team of pickers, flying around and getting it done.

With time flying, we had to clear the floor of books, so the library will be usable, so back to the human chain (though it's difficult not to get distracted as interesting books pass through your hands!). Jason had set the turntable going and the music set the pace, with 'Two minutes!' then 'One!' being called. We really could have stayed all night, but sadly had to leave so, gathering for a group photo, we said our goodbyes and ran the downhill route back to Glass Mill.

Many hands make light work... of 25 pizzas

As if all that running and lifting. shifting and building wasn't enough, we just about had time for a plank relay (cue a bit of moaning and groaning!). Those of us who were able, then headed over to Mamma Dough in Ladywell for some post-run pizza. We also enjoyed some birthday cake and the light and fluffy pannettone that Silvana had kindly given to us - thank you! At the social, I presented a few medals, marking some notable contributions. Well done to Bradley, who has been very nearly every week since he joined us a year ago (he also goes to GoodGym Bromley on a Tuesday, so is about to get his wings!), thank you to Oli, for making my life that little bit easier with his beautiful puns (see his work throughout this report) and a very special award for Jacqueline, our longest standing coach runner, who has visited her coach now for three years, sharing a cup of tea and making someone feel special. To finish, here are some words from our punmeister...

'Thank you for...

• Painting walls and passing balls
• From Glass Mills
• To Moby drills
• For group runs and humorous puns
• For feel-good missions
• And even hill repetitions!
• With high-knees
• Past abandoned WCs
• For making friends
• To sprinting ends
• Through injury woes
• Wielding garden hoes
• Bringing sore feet
• For home-baked treats
• For planting flowers
• In passing showers
• For evening trots
• Despite dreaded squats!
• Up to Hilly Fields
• Down for social meals
• Helpful training tips
• Whilst filling skips
• For friendly faces
• At local races
• Wearing head torches
• Flyering through porches
• Helping at Wildcats
• Wearing Christmas hats
• Surviving aching thighs
• To share free mince pies
• From tree collection
• Earning award selection
• For feeling fine
• Come rain or shine!'