Lewisham's finest fourteen were fleet-footed over 7km, clearing the Waterlink Way of its litter and knocking out a few fierce hill repeats along the way!

Every so often, for various reasons, a task might have to be cancelled. Tonight we were due to visit the wonderful Wildcat Wilderness for one last group run and task before it gets too dark. Sadly, the brief rain shower this afternoon meant it would be too slippery (and it was decidedly grey and dark by early evening) to carry out our task safely. We still headed out towards Catford, keeping to our plan for a longer run and took along bin bags and disposable gloves, to enable us to clear away any litter along the Waterlink Way.

It was lovely to welcome along four new runners tonight, hello to Ben, Tom, El and Catherine, who were all set to tackle our run and to get stuck in to our slightly different task.

After hearing about an upcoming one-off mission in Crofton Park this Saturday, a bit of chatter about coach running and a reminder about how easy it is to sort out a DBS check, we popped out into the fresh air for a name-check and head-count, a game of high-fiving, some Shoulders, Knees and Toes fun and a few little drills. Hearts pumping slightly, breath panting a little and with a light glow to our cheeks, we were off towards Ladywell and beyond.

Racy!

It was good to hear about the goals that people have set themselves (you can do this in your profile), with races to work towards and times to smash (well done to Sean on his parkrun PB on Saturday!). A few runners have half-marathons coming up (in Henley and in Manchester) and a group of Lewisham GoodGymmers are looking forward to the Petts Wood 10k in about three weeks' time - it's great to enter a race as motivation to keep you running.

We quickly found ourselves in the leafy surroundings of Ladywell Fields, regrouping to make sure nobody was left behind (thank you to Caireen for being tonight's back-marker and well done on even making it, since you weren't feeling 100%!). It's a great route through Ladywell Fields, with its nice smooth paths, optional hills and babbling river running through. Quite soon though, you have to traverse the slightly less picturesque Halfords/Wickes carpark, a small price to pay when you rejoin the path on the other side.

A River Runs Through

The Waterlink Way is pretty special, connecting Deptford/Greenwich with Beckenham Place Park (with the odd industrial or grimy bit every so often). On one side you have the River Ravensbourne (joined in Catford by the River Pool, which passes Lewisham Hospital, the train station and Deptford Bridge, before hitting Deptford Creek and the Thames). On the other side of the path is the train line to Charing Cross and Cannon Street. The path is largely traffic-free, but we did have to shout 'Bike!' a few times to alert each other to the cycle commuters who were eager to race home.

Across the water from the Wildcat Wilderness, we distributed bin bags and disposable gloves and set to, picking up any litter we could find. At first glance, it all seemed remarkably clean but, on closer inspection, there was quite a bit of rubbish to be found, with four bags being filled in one small stretch. Mindful of the resident foxes, we made sure these were carefully placed in nearby bins, with a bin bag dash being performed swiftly by Ben and Helen.

P-push it real good!

As is usual on a group run, we had the chance to push harder on our return leg, even with a longer run! In Ladywell Fields is a handy hill, complete with a row of evenly spaced lamp-posts. Gathering around (and avoiding the Tour de Lewisham race crew), we contemplated the second task of the evening, to run up hard, then jog back down. With four or five lamp-posts to reach at decreasing intervals, the group gritted their teeth, pushed hard and did a set of impressive hill repeats. Such determination! Listening well, everyone took on board the instruction to drive arms back, lift high from the hips and pick up the knees. Strong running everyone!

Time now for a steady run back to base, rounding the evening off with a quick sprint finish and a good heart-rate-lowering stretch. We talked races some more and introduced the concept of the GoodGym Race Team, yes, there's even a race team! Head-torches at the ready from now on, as the group run enters the darkness of autumn. Sign up for next week's run and task here and help us do good in Lewisham whilst getting yourself fit into the bargain.