A fabulous fourteen ran 5km to plant trees, shrubs and roses and to push themselves in the outdoor gym.

A big welcome this week to Angela, who joined us for the very first time - she chose a lovely evening, with a nice outdoor task and a fun fitness session. Great work Angela!

There was a lot of talk this week about London Marathon, with most people having tuned in on the telly and some going over to watch in person - what a day! We also talked about parkrun, for those who hadn't heard about it before. Check here to find out about the free, timed 5k runs, they're really rather special. Ian told us that his son reached his 50th parkrun milestone on Saturday in Bromley and, over at Hilly Fields, Bradley ran another PB (he's unstoppable!). Meanwhile, over at Oxford parkrun, Tim achieved the highest age grading, of just under 80%! Great work everyone! We also talked about Strava, it's such a great way to keep track of and support and encourage each other and Bradley has very kindly set up a GoodGym Bromley group, which you can see - and join - here.

Avenue of blossom

This week's task took us on a slightly longer run than recently, with a 5km round trip to Sydenham Community Library. The run, though a little chillier than at the weekend, took us past the most beautiful blossom, which has sprung into life since our last visit (a big thank you to Ian and Louise for back-marking). As I located Ilse, the rest of the group explored the outside space, with Hannah (quite rightly) taking the throne and Bradley rushing off to try out the outdoor gym! Once the shutters to the library were lifted, we were able to collect all the tools, plants, gloves and hoses and head over to the beds that were to be our focus for the evening.

Having a whip round

Ilse very patiently went through the various jobs, with large plants, smaller shrubs and tiny 'whips' needing to go in. After the recent - and sudden - hot weather, the ground appeared very dry and hard but, once our strong runners got busy with the shovels, holes were appearing all over the place and plants were going in at a pace. Particularly impressive was Torie, who was determined to dig a hole deep enough for the beautiful choisya. She dug and dug, referring back to the plant to see if it would fit and, pretty soon, in went the plant. This will definitely be one of those tasks that we will revisit and enjoy, seeing the progress and growth that will happen over time. Once the roses, hedging plants and shrubs had been planted and watered, it was time to gather our tools and return them inside, where Ilse had very kindly provided us with drinks and snacks - thank you, we really appreciate it!

Play away!

After saying goodbye, we only needed to jog a few steps to reach our fitness session, which allowed everyone to have a go on the outdoor gym that had been pulling them earlier. A little warm-up in pairs was followed by a shuttle-run/gym equipment relay. We all commented that the machines, if used for long enough, really do offer a pretty good workout - they seem popular too, with a few people coming and going while we were there). Good, strong work all of you, that was fun!

Running back, we pushed hard up the final hill to our start point (there's no avoiding it!), where we stretched and talked about the upcoming GoodGym Olympic Games, which we need to start practicing for - sack race, egg and spoon, relay, all the favourites. Next week we are delivering flyers for a fantastic organisation called Bloom Bakery, who provide training for people who are unemployed, to help them on the journey back into work; sign up here to join us. Before we all went our separate ways, there was just enough time to tuck into some ginger cake, to celebrate my 250th good deed. I can't believe how quickly they've added up, with sixty of them being visits to my 'coach' for a chat - you can find out more about this in a little feature that appeared on the BBC this evening and also here. It's a lovely thing to do and makes a big difference to someone's quality of life.

Covering 5km of running, thirteen top athletes took to the streets of Sydenham to help out at the Community Library.

As you can see from the photos, we had a half-marathoner in our midst. On Sunday, Clare took on the inaugural Big Half, a half-marathon organised by the London Marathon team, starting on Tower Bridge and finishing by the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. The event was different in that it was focussing on the communities it passed through, with many participants representing community organisations and charities in the four host boroughs. GoodGym were out in force, with 250 runners taking part and lots of non-running members out on the course, cheering everyone on (I was in Deptford with my son, catching a glimpse of Sir Mo himself as he glided by, before taking the win :) As I sat down to write this, I noticed that Clare was also doing her 25th good deed this evening, so a double well done!

On the subject of half-marathons, we also talked about the very local Beckenham Half-Marathon, which is taking place on September 23rd. It was brought to our attention by Ian, who ran the race last year and enjoyed it. Why not sign up and give yourself a goal to work towards (Kate and Ian have already committed!)?

Shelf life

Tonight's task was over at Sydenham Community Library, so off we headed, doing a little knee-lifting warm-up as we went (the High Street was particularly busy this evening, so we probably provided much-needed entertainment for the static traffic). Thank you to David for back marking this evening, making sure nobody was left behind. As we ran, there was a mysterious rattling noise coming from Bradley's rucksack which, he informed us, was Smarties. Nice! Turns out he was joking and it was actually a supply of vitamins. Bother. Everything was just fine though because, at the task, Ilse had laid on a delicious selection of treats! Who needs Smarties when you have mandarins, coconut macaroons, Bourbons, cheesy twists and cheesy/spicy savoury triangles? Thank you Ilse!

There were a few different jobs lined up for us tonight, with everyone picking something they liked the look/sound of:

• painting the toilet
• cleaning the IT equipment (using fancy spray cans)
• pulling out the fridge in the cafe, to clean behind it
• taking books off the shelves to clean underneath

Everyone got stuck in, pausing occasionally to enjoy a snack, with piles of books building up and cloths getting surprisingly grubby - the library is on a busy main road, with all the grime drifting in from the traffic passing by. Ilse informed us that the Romance section was especially filthy, of course, but Louise found that the Science Fiction was also quite grimy. Interesting. As time ticked by, there was the inevitable chatter about what we're reading and the odd rumble of laughter as a funny title or subject emerged from the shelves. Gathering together our cloths, sprays, brushes and rollers, we wrapped up our work for the evening and made our way back outside.

Witness the fitness!

On our return leg, we like to have a little fitness session if there's time and tonight I had planned a simple version of a classic (I had hoped to use the local basketball court, but it's still bathed in darkness...soon, soon). Running between the grass and the benches, we tried to cover as many laps as we could in one minute (I let Clare rest her legs, I'm not that cruel!). Well done to everyone, it's quite an intense exercise after a 5k run! This is a great way to test your fitness and look for improvement, choosing a space that you will revisit at intervals to see how you are progressing.

Don't forget (I forgot to mention it!) that this Thursday is the monthly GoodGym social, which is in Greenwich this time, so not too far away. Sign up here to meet runners from other areas, to hear from the guest speaker and vote for the International Pun of the Month. While you're at it, why not sign up to next week's group run for more of the same good stuff?

13 runners were carried on the wind through Penge this evening, covering 3km of running and also the walls of Melvin Hall with paint.

Thanks this week go to Helen for her marvellous title pun.

Lots of amazing running going on again at the weekend! Well done to Louise and Stuart, who joined in with the GoodGym London long run, meeting runners from other areas and ending up in Greenwich for a post-run drink. Nice! Great work from Clare, who not only ran 18km, but slipped a challenging 10k race into the middle! The other rather special news this week is that Louise went on her first coach run - this is where you are paired with an older person for a weekly social visit. Quite often the people we visit are isolated and might not see anyone for days, so Louise is doing something really great :)

No newcomers this week, but how lovely to see Dan after a little break, good to have you back Dan!

Hallright on the night

We warmed up a little, what with yesterday's milder weather being a big old tease and the wind whipping the cold air around our lycra-clad bodies. Our run wasn't too long, taking us down to Melvin Hall for more painting (we're getting there!). As I ran, I heard about the route that our Sunday long runners went on, it sounded great, a sunny day and a riverside run! We also chatted about our neighbours being on BBC Breakfast at the weekend, fancy. On arrival at Melvin Hall, we were met by Kathy, who showed us down to our space, passing us the tin of primer as we went. Hannah got stuck straight in with this, enjoying covering up the bands of darker colour at last. The rest of the group filled trays with white paint and got rolling.

Is this alwhite?

A few minutes later Louise appeared, 'I'm pretty sure we used magnolia in the 'peach room' before...' Oops! Back came the trays and we quickly returned the paint to the tub, washed the rollers and started again...with the right paint! With a committee meeting in the adjacent room and an antenatal class in the main hall, we tried to keep our talk quiet (not easy) and missed out on my usual banging tunes ('Hoorah!' say my runners).

Painting the town (lucky) red

In the corridor, Stuart and Stephen were talking about Chinese New Year. Now, I hadn't intended for this to happen, but I seem to be making a weekly list, so this week we're finding out people's Chinese zodiac signs.

• Stuart - Ox (steadfast, solid, a goal-oriented leader)
• Stephen - Pig (extremely nice, good-mannered and tasteful)
• Hannah - Snake (seductive, gregarious, introverted, generous, charming)
• Adele - Rat (quick-witted, clever, charming, sharp and funny)
• Jane- Rooster (practical, resourceful, observant, analytical, straightforward)
• Rachael - Dog (loyal, faithful, honest)
• Harriet - Golden Dragon (energetic and warm-hearted, charismatic, lucky in love)
• David - Pig (as above)
• Louise - Tiger (authoritative, self-possessed, has strong leadership qualities, charming)
• Dan - Sheep (creative, thinkers, wanderers, unorganized)
• Clare - Tiger (as above)
• Kate - Water Snake (as above)
• Helen - Tiger (as above)

How interesting that all the tigers congregated in the same room, the collective noun for a group of tigers is a 'streak' or an 'ambush', no comment! As we are now in the year of the dog, it seems Rachael is meant to wear lucky red, how appropriate!

Having painted everything we could in the time we had (including our own clothes in places, though Kate gets all the cheers tonight for her awesome painting onsesie!), we washed our equipment and packed it all away until next time. We didn't dare use the kitchen to wash up this week, with it having been newly fitted and looking very lovely (thanks to the new local Bunnings store).

Talking of which...I had planned for our return run to go via the recreation ground, but took the wrong road, so where better to lunge ourselves silly than Bunnings' car park?! It was all about the glutes this week. It's very easy to let your quads and hamstrings do the work when you're running but, if you really want to feel the force, you need to engage your glutes. A couple of rounds of lunge variations and we certainly knew where our glutes were located. Stretching them out, we contemplated next week (sign up!) and Stuart suggested we also hang around afterwards for a drink (and food if you like, it is hungry work, after all!). Good thinking Stuart. See you then!

As the frost crept in, a tip-top ten took to the streets to spread the word about GoodGym and to climb a reaaaaalllly long hill.

First things first, it's the end of the month, so the end of our January Challenge. At the time of writing, we are in the lead in our division, with a marvellous 49 good deeds and a smashing 354km! It's a shame we can't put a lid on January right there, because our closest followers, Hounslow, have a run to do tomorrow evening and might just step alongside us. You know what to do everyone, get yourselves to a Wednesday group run! ;) We also took some time to celebrate our Heroes of January, with most of our leaders being absent this evening, but let's give them some respect anyway.

• Most good deeds: Hannah, with 6, followed by Tim, with 5
• Greatest distance: Tim, with 121.2km, closely followed by Molly, with 97.7km
• Most cheered: Hannah, with 62
• Most cheers given: Louise and Hannah, with 2 each (come on, I think we can be a bit more cheery than that!)

I think we all deserve a great big collective pat on the back for getting through the darkest, coldest and at times - remember January 2nd?! - wettest month, good work everyone! At the weekend, Stuart took on a 10k race in our local Crystal Palace Park. He did so well in the wind and mud, pushing hard all the way. Great work Stuart! (See his photo and lovely medal above).

Welcome!

How wonderful to welcome not one, not two, but three new runners this week! Let's give a big cheer to Helen, Joe and David.

This week we had planned to spread the word about what we do here in the borough of Bromley. Sadly my stack of GoodGym flyers didn't arrive on time, so we were working with what I happened to have at home. There are a few roads nearby that have the most beautiful little cottages on them, so we headed there and discovered we had just the right amount of cards to cover this spot. Our group split into pairs and took off, cards in hand. I waited on the corner, smiling at passers by and chatting to one resident, who had been somewhat startled when he came face-to-face with one of our runners as he left his house to walk the dog! He was intrigued to know more, so our task was working!

Running up that hill

Once the word was spread, it was time for our run and fitness session. Our regulars seemed keen to point out to our newcomers that 'it's not normally like this!', though I pointed out that there isn't really a 'typical' group run, it's different every week! With a little more time to push ourselves, we took a longer and better-lit route towards Crystal Palace Park, which included a hill...a very long hill. As we always say, you have to learn to love the hills around here, because there are many. Good work everyone, it did go on a bit! With some downward skips, we found a gate to the park that was actually open and stepped carefully, enjoying our now peaceful, calm surroundings.

Seeking out some light, we drove our knees hard to the top of the steps and paused, overlooking the running track and sports courts, the perfect spot for a bit of HiiT! I think this came as a shock to the system, a longer run AND strength work?! Why not?! We were up, we were down, we were pedalling, we were jumping, we were planking and we were pushing. Excellent.

Next week we will be off out in our community, doing more good, sign up here. Don't forget, if you're on Strava, we have a February challenge coming up, where you can win yourself a special GoodGym Love Running badge. Have a look here and join in (and here is the GoodGym group, if you want to connect with other runners).

See you soon!

Fending off the icy wind, eleven runners tackled 5+km and painted vast swathes of Melvin Hall.

Once again we have Stuart to thank for this week's dazzling title pun, he's on fire!

Before we got stuck in this week, we celebrated the achievement of one of our runners. Clare often runs with GoodGym Lewisham, as well as here in Bromley and joined in the Run up to Christmas, as part of the Lewisham team. As a group, they covered just under 1300km between the first and twenty-fifth of December and Clare herself covered an impressive 68.3km! It was my job, as team captain, to hand out the beautiful medals :) Well done Clare.

Joining us this week for the first time, was Anthony, who has previously run with GoodGym in Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth. Welcome Anthony!

Here in Bromley we have a great start point, it's a pub (and theatre), what's not to like?! We do have limited space though for a warm up and, as our group grows, the little patch of pavement outside is looking less and less possible (sorry pedestrians!). We must put our thinking hats on and get creative! This week we were returning to nearby Melvin Hall, to continue our Forth Bridge scale painting challenge. Over Christmas, the volunteers who run Melvin Hall were incredibly busy, with many social events, including a Christmas lunch for those who might otherwise have been on their own over the festive season (this was also supported by our start point, the Bridge House). I'm sure you'll agree, this is a rather special community resource.

After a brief bounce around outside, while I tried to get hold of Kathy, we were in and raring to go! During our previous visits, we have worked hard painting over the peach in one of the halls, there was still a little area left here, which Ian valiantly took on. We were also expanding our painting horizons this time, with Hannah and Jane tackling a toilet, Anthony and Tony covering some more peach in an adjacent office and Stuart, Louise, Rachael, Molly and Clare working their way along a corridor and stairs. All around was a buzz of activity, with motivational tunes playing (Final Countdown anyone?!) and rollers rolling. As always with painting tasks, time was up pretty quickly, as we also needed to wash our brushes and rollers and leave the space nice and tidy, great work from everyone here.

Last week I noticed how much our group enjoyed the longer run, many of our tasks have so far been quite close by, so it felt good to stretch our legs and push a little harder on the run. I decided this week that we would try and extend our post-task run, with the aim of reaching 5k. With Ian taking the roll of back-marker and being super encouraging and supportive - thank you Ian - we headed away from our start point and out towards Cator Park (which was in complete darkness, oh for those lighter summer evenings...). Every so often we would regroup, occasionally looping back to try and stay together. As we neared the Bridge House, I released those who wanted to for a little sprint, with a few runners darting away like race horses! In total we actually hit 5.5km, so all those loops were worth the effort!

I'm sure he won't mind me saying, but Tony celebrated a really special birthday before Christmas, reaching the big 7-0! He showed us photos of he and his wife enjoying a birthday lunch and also showed off his new Fitbit. I'm pretty sure the stats were looking good after this week's run Tony, happy birthday!

Next week we might be returning to Melvin Hall, to be confirmed, but sign up anyway and join us for an uplifting run, chat, fitness session and task.

As Storm Eleanor whipped around us, eleven intrepid adventurers ran to Living Well and sorted through a mountain of donated food.

That's right, our first run of 2018 was into the eye of the storm. Clare kindly gave us a weather report as we gathered in the garden of the Bridge House, 'Rain and, at 7pm, dangerous winds'. This meteorological maelstrom didn't put off three new runners though, so a very big and warm welcome to Anna, Emily and Harriet!

A big thank you to Emma for this week's title pun, I'm sure you'll agree it's a cracker to open 2018 on!

We were keen to get going, so I quickly mentioned our starter session this coming Saturday. A chance for regulars to enjoy a daylight task at a more relaxed time of day and also for those who are not sure what it's all about to have a taste of all things GoodGym. We will be meeting by the information centre in Crystal Palace Park at 10.30am, so you could even run parkrun beforehand if you want to! I also talked about the GoodGym-wide attempt to reach 5,000 good deeds this January and to smash 50,000km. Do you think we can? Make sure you have linked Strava to your GoodGym profile to make all your runs count.

To the task!

A quick warm-up and we were off! Everywhere felt very quiet, the Christmas lights were still twinkling, but the odd abandoned Christmas tree could be seen here and there. Quite soon we rounded the corner and ran the last few hundred meters to our task at Holy Trinity Church. We were met by Rowena and Jane, who showed us the long tables, which had been laid out to take the strain of the numerous bags and boxes to come. Heading back out into the wind, we saw just how full the container was, with a recent influx of donations. On our last visit, we had a few more runners, so found a human chain to be the most useful way of transporting the items between container and table. We tried this, but it didn't seem to work this time, with people deciding a grab-and-run technique might be what was needed. A few rounds of this and it was evident that the human chain is most definitely the way to go.

It's amazing how quickly the table fills up, with shouts of 'The table's full!' being heard before long, this was met with a return call of 'Sort!' And sort we did! It was a treat to come in from the cold and match items to their corresponding crate and, every-so-often, an item didn't fit any category, so joined the 'odds and sods' at the end of the row. Time flew by and so did the bags, with the first table now empty and the crates all full.

The task bore fruit!

As a post-task treat, we were all given a lovely big orange to restore our Vitamin C levels and help us fight the cold, we held these aloft and gathered for our group photo, proudly admiring our handiwork. Well done everyone! Rowena and Jane told us about the many people they had helped over the Christmas period and we heard about some of the challenges faced by the volunteers here. If you are keen to donate items of food, it might be good to get in touch to see what's most needed, there can be a shortage of certain items, with coffee, long-life milk and toilet roll being some of the items that often get overlooked.

Stepping outside, we saw that the storm was brewing, with the wind whipping up and the rain coming down. We had enough time for a very quick fitness session, but I decided my planned game with cones (or Game of Cones?) wasn't going to work tonight! We warmed up with a game of 'everyone's it', some 'shoulder' tag and then a vortex game, where random people were called in to do jumping jacks, squats and so on. Using the handy church wall, we did some quick New Year push-ups and tricep dips, with a wall-sit as a treat to finish off. Such strong women, all of you!

Well done everyone on pushing up the last hill towards home, for stretching in the rain and for not mocking me as I had to walk due to a coughing fit. I hope to be fighting fit next week, when we will be heading out again, same time, same place, to do more of the good stuff.