On possibly the grottiest evening in a while, 20 of the grittiest runners took to the streets to run 5km and tackle some challenging tasks at Beecroft Garden Primary School

Tonight's very classy title pun comes from our very own birthday boy, Bradley, with a few choice words throughout this report from regular resident punner, Oli.

Over the weekend we had some great work happening on a community mission at Manor Park, well done to Oli, Sarah, Vic and Rachael (a GoodGym Greenwich regular), who planted bluebell bulbs, something that can be enjoyed next spring, possibly passing on one of our runs! We also had some great racing, with Clare tackling what looked like a very hilly 10k in Beckenham Place Park and Juliet racing at night, to grab herself a glow-in-the-dark medal, nice! Our other news this week is that we have two newly-qualified Run Leaders. Well done to Amber and Kim, who have both now completed the UKA Leader in Running Fitness course and done their Run Leader training. This means they will be able to lead groups if we have two tasks, or can cover the sessions if I am away, exciting times at GoodGym Lewisham!

Just one new runner joining us this week (and extra kudos for turning up in this weather!), Lewisham Love to Stewart, we hope you enjoyed your first - very muddy - task at GoodGym!

With the ground being so boggy, we did a quick on-the-spot warm-up before heading up towards Crofton Park, with Clare very kindly back-marking and keeping us together on the go. Earlier today it had been pouring with rain, you know, really pouring. At about 5.30 a few people were getting in touch to say they weren't going to make it, which is fair enough, but just look at the photos! Look at those smiling faces, all twenty of us, who weren't put off and went for it anyway. Superstars. With a touch of GoodGym magic, the rain had stopped and our task was just fine. It was muddy, that's for sure, but we were able to work at two big tasks over the course of about thirty minutes.

If you wanna have a good time, just a gimme a wall!

• At the front of the school, a large team of rakers dealt with the mammoth task of clearing all the leaves. Some used actual rakes, some used massive brushes and some did their best with child-size brooms. There was also a bit of child-size fun to be had around here, bouncing on the incredibly squishy ground next to the climbing frame...

• To the rear of the building, in the sensory garden, a smaller team got to work on the steps that we worked on previously. There was a lot of lifting of heavy wooden structures, plenty of digging and shifting of heavy clay soil and a great deal of toing and froing with trugs of soil, bricks and rubble. This task was a muddy one, no question about it. By the end of the evening, each of our helpers had the additional challenge of lugging their now heavy feet back to Lewisham.

Birthday (mud)Cake

As we wound up the task, we were offered bananas to restore our energy (thank you!) and gathered for a group photo. At this point Bradley let slip that it was his birthday (I thought it was tomorrow!), so of course we had to sing (I'm sorry if anyone close by had to endure my singing, I started off way too high!) before saying goodbye (until next time!). Passing by Hilly Fields, we took advantage of one of the steepest hills for a bit of hill training. It's hard not find a hill on your runs around here, but it is hard to force yourself to run up and down it on your own. Hill repeats are a great way to build strength and encourage good running form, so it's well worth the effort! Pushing hard up, we turned and jogged down when the first person reached the top. This was repeated again and then once more with an 'up and over' to take us back to our start point.

In celebration of her Run Leader status, Amber led tonight's stretches and we talked about next week's task, where we will head to Wildcat Wilderness to fill a skip. There is no lighting at all here, so please bring whatever light you have! Clare also told us she will be running her 100th parkrun at Hilly Fields on Saturday, so please come along and help her celebrate! In the meantime, if you want to add an extra good deed to your collection, join the group run tomorrow in Bromley, where there might be celebrations for Bradley's birthday, ahem.

See you soon!