On a beautiful evening in Lewisham, 25 eager athletes covered around 6/7km of running and cleaned about a kilometre of glass at Seniors.

After a wet and wild weekend, it was a treat to have a calm evening with a stunning sunset to run towards. Did you see that weather yesterday?! Amazingly, while many of us took cover under the duvet, a few of our regular runners decided it was a great day to be out there, tackling a challenging event. Nykolette was celebrating her birthday, not with a lie-in and a big mug of coffee, but with the Beckenham Half-Marathon! Joining her was Jacqueline who, possibly in an attempt to get home quicker, ran a personal best time! Now that's some impressive Sunday morning action! Meanwhile, on the south coast, Eleanor was also running a half-marathon, but with a little swim and ride beforehand. It was lovely to see Eleanor in the foyer this evening, with her Weymouth Half-Iron(wo)man medal, thanks for coming in to show us and very, very well done, that must have been so tough.

We had one absolute first-timer this evening, welcome Harley and also a tourist, who has visited a few different areas now, welcome Joanna, Lewisham Love to you both!

This week's task took us all the way up Blythe Hill, to Seniors. Thank you to Bradley for being tonight's back-marker (after running a very long way yesterday, I wonder what he's training for...), making sure nobody was left behind. Usually when we visit Seniors, we come back via Blythe Hill Fields, but I could see that it would be too dark this time, so we ran here on the way and were treated to the most gorgeous sunset. As we ran away, we noticed the moon in the other direction, full and glowing, simply stunning!

At Seniors, we were met by Cathy and Emma, who had joined us unexpectedly (woo-hoo!). Cathy talked everyone through this evening's task, cleaning as many windows as we could manage (and reach). We were using the traditional method of newspaper and vinegar. It took everyone a while to get used to the overpowering acidic tang and there was a lot of talk of fish and chips! As we worked, Cathy was telling us about all the upcoming events taking place here, with music and song, talks and gatherings, she also prompted us to tell anyone we know, who may benefit from visiting the space, all about the activities and social opportunities that happen here each week.

As we said goodbye, we promised to come back soon and definitely before our now annual Christmas decorating visit (a popular group run!). Running up and down hills, chatting all the way, we returned to Glass Mill, with a sprint finish and a stretch. Feeling inspired by bread week in the Great British Bake Off, I had had a go at making Chelsea Buns, perfect for that post-run hunger pang.

As we ran tonight, I realised how invisible we are as it gets dark, it's a good idea to get yourself a head-torch for running in the autumn and winter, if only to let other people know you're coming! Good luck this weekend to Jenny, who is running a half-marathon in Glasgow, don't forget to bring your medal next time! Next week we will return to Beecroft Garden School, for some more work in their garden space, sign up here and join in the fun.

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 :)

With the sky turning orange, a sprightly 26 runners ran through Ladywell towards Crofton Park, to help out at Beecroft Garden School, covering 5km along the way.

Thanks this week to Oli, for our clever title pun, good work!

Ah, it's good to be back. Thank you to Lucy for looking after everyone last week, while I had a break, sounds like you had fun :)

In my absence, some new people came along, so I had lots of new names and faces to learn, along with those who joined us for the very first time tonight. Lewisham Love to you all, especially Olivia and Clare, who made their GoodGym debut.

On a mission

Before our group runs, I like to check up on what everyone has been doing and there have been an impressive number of missions and coach runs happening in the past week. Well done to Oli and Clare, who took on their first ever missions, taking us into the 190s with our mission tally, isn't that just incredible?! If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, have a read about what missions involve, here. You just need to bring some ID along for me to check, then do some online training to prepare you to go out and help people who might be feeling a little isolated, easy.

Our little warm-up saw us jumping, running, hi-fiving and shoulder rolling, before we headed out towards Ladywell with Bradley back-marking, making sure we didn't leave anyone behind. At Beecroft Garden we were met by Gemma, who enthusiastically told us all about the various jobs that needed doing. With so many people, it took us a few minutes to organise ourselves, before some smaller groups set off to take on:

• lifting, shifting and delivering bags of sand (heavy work and somewhat chain-gang-like, hence the title!)

• weeding and tidying in various raised beds across the playground

• digging away the soil behind where the sensory space will go

• transporting this soil to the bed near the gate, to be spread and raked

• watering the plants

Does it mattock what it's called?!

I busied myself by moving between the various spaces, taking photos, keeping an eye on time and making sure nobody took out their neighbours with a pickaxe swing (I must add here that we actually had both a pickaxe and a mattock, very important detail Helen). As ever, we found time flying by and were soon gathering up tools, wheelbarrows and weeds and enjoying the healthy hospitality on offer (thank you!). If we can all remember to bring head-torches, we might manage another trip here before it gets too dark.

Those who know me well, know that I like to make use of Hilly Fields when we're over this way, so off we went, to take on the winding hill that we usually run down at parkrun. This time we worked in pairs, taking it in turns to run up hard and steady down. There was an air of disbelief when I said how many times, but you all did brilliantly! On Saturday, our lovely parkrun at Hilly Fields will be celebrating its sixth birthday! This means a chance to run it in the opposite direction and, of course, all the cake :)

Next week we will revisit the 'secret' garden that is Luxmore, where we will do some planting, sign up and join in here. On Sunday there is an opportunity to grab another good deed to add to your collection, by joining in a community mission, spreading the word about a Twilight Walk to raise funds for St Christopher's Hospice.

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!

Feeling the wind in their hair and the sun on their cheeks, a fabulous thirty ran between 3 and 4km to help paint the railings at St Mary's Church.

Thank you this week to top-punner Tom, who wowed us with his wordy skills for this evening's title pun.

After two weeks away from my Monday night fun, it was great to be back and with so much to celebrate!

• First up, we congratulated all those who took part in the I Move London Relay over the past month, both running and volunteering. Everyone involved will now be a World Record breaker and will have helped raise £45,000 for some great charities - well done!

• Next we gave a BIG round of applause to Conroy, who will be heading a little further south as of next week, to be the new trainer for GoodGym Croydon. We all wish you well Conroy and will no doubt be coming on tour to support you, and will always be here when you need us for some Lewisham Love.

• And finally...a HUGE well done and a very big cheer for Kim, who tonight completed her 100th good deed! Kim joined us two years ago and has gone from strength to strength with her running in that time, taking part in her first race at the Petts Wood 10k, catching the bug, then working up to her first half-marathon and is now training for the Venice Marathon in October, what a journey! Kim is a great friend to many in our group, being there for everyone and offering support on the run (and at the top of The Hill at Hilly Fields parkrun, with our own four-legged mascot, Molly, at her side). Well done Kim!

No first-timers this week, but I was very pleased to meet a few people who joined while I was away - hello and welcome!

Get me to the church on time!

Tonight we ventured towards Ladywell Fields, to visit a brand new task. St Mary's Church is the oldest building in the borough of Lewisham, with a church having been on this site since the 11th century, so quite a special place to spend our evening! If you haven't sauntered through the passageway alongside the church in a while, you might like to take a wander down here to enjoy the incredible changes that have taken place in the garden. Over the past couple of years, a team of volunteers have worked with the Ladywell Unit, which is part of the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), to create a beautiful Therapeutic Garden (I was lucky enough to enjoy some potatoes, picked fresh from here on a recent visit!). Our job this evening was to make a start on cleaning and painting the long stretch of railings that run alongside here.

We were met by Marion and fellow volunteer, Carmine, who had everything set out for us, ready to get stuck in. We were also met at the task by Lucy, who is very familiar with St Mary's, having been christened here, what a lovely connection! With such a large group, we had to divide the tasks and the equipment carefully, with some using wire brushes and sandpaper to get rid of old paint and rust (thank you to those of you who also brought brushes from home), whilst others were wiping down the surfaces, post-sanding, and another group set-to with the sticky black paint, transforming the railings and smartening up the entrance to the church.

As the time passed, I wandered around, making sure everyone was happy in their work and saw some interesting and varied approaches to the job. Stephen had a very focused technique, working hard to clear all traces of paint on one particular piece of railing, making it as smooth as possible. Matt was brushing with such great determination that he wore down the whole of one side of a brush and, alongside him, Nykolette and Helen were so anxious to reach the end of their stretch of metal, that I almost had to drag them away! Great work, everyone.

Our hard work was rewarded with some refreshments, thank you for looking after us Marion, we look forward to returning next week, to continue the painting!

Lucky (tri) dip

Our evening wasn't over yet! Running over to the park, we positioned ourselves by a handy little hill, ready to take on a quick lucky dip fitness session. Depending what you picked, you might be doing hill repeats or strength training, or a mixture of both (if you were really lucky!). I quickly realised that I had been ambitious about this session working with a group of thirty, so paired people up to reduce rest time (sorry!), you keep me on my toes, always finding ways to challenge my carefully planned sessions ;)

Give me just a little more time (trial)

You have Conroy to thank for this little moment of off-piste activity, as he requested a time trial (it's been a while). For those of you who don't know, we have a (roughly) monthly time trial, which involves running four laps of the area outside our start point, which is (very nearly) 1km. This is a Strava segment, which you can view here - there's a leader board and everything, which Kim is at the top of (I'm pretty sure she's come along in her own time to bagsy that smasher of a pace!). Maybe you could get yourself up there, why not have a go? After all that effort, it was nice to be able to celebrate Kim's 100th good deed with some sweet treats brought along by Amber, thanks Amber!

I look forward to seeing some of you up at Hilly Fields parkrun on Saturday, which is Pacer Week...and Conroy's 100th parkrun! If not, see you next Monday to tackle some more metal.