A heavenly 17 ran and waded in the River Quaggy, clearing litter from the river and its banks in partnership with Thames 21.

Thank you Ivo for the title pun, a contender for the IPOTM?

'Who is running the Big Half?' I asked and a fair few hands went up. Not long now, just three weeks until 200+ GoodGym runners join the many community groups and charity runners (and chase Mo, of course) around the inaugural event that passes right through our borough. Someone who is taking her first half-marathon very seriously is Amber, who had already clocked eleven miles when she arrived at Manor Park this morning, really well done Amber! Some of us had been up to parkrun as a warm up (well done Clare on some excellent motivating, as tail-walker and Rebecca for taking on the 5k challenge for the first time) and some joined us by bike, we like to squeeze in a bit of extra activity en route!

Joining us for the very first time were Julia and Joe, choosing a freezing Saturday morning to start their GoodGym journey - give them a cheer and show them some Lewisham Love. A big welcome also to Jess, Chris and Paul, who were on tour from GoodGym Camden and Wandsworth, great to see you!

A starter session is a little different to our weekly group run, where we run out to our task, work hard for 30-45 minutes then run back, with a fitness session en route. Today we were staying in Manor Park, a little sliver of green space between the houses of Hither Green. This lush park is edged by the River Quaggy, currently rushing by, following a recent downpour. We were met by Lawrence, from Thames 21, who would guide and lead us in our wading task. First of all, we had to warm up and think a little about our running technique, ahead of our various running challenges. We played a little game, getting to know each other's names, we lifted our knees, working hard to keep our bodies upright and focussed on running relaxed, tall and open. Putting this into practice we embarked on a quick fartlek ('speedplay') session, first of all as a large group, then in smaller groups, seeing how easily we can slip this into a run in the park.

Quaggy! Quaggy! Quaggy! Plog! Plog! Plog!

Thanks to Alex for this little treat, via Twitter!

Grabbing some litter-pickers, gloves and bags, we quickly scanned the park for any discarded litter, with some finding the challenge of picking up a lolly-pop stick or bottle top particularly engaging. Keeping warm, we jogged back to Lawrence and found our waders, giving ourselves the extra workout that comes from balancing on your running shoe, whilst trying to get your whole leg into a giant welly. We listened carefully, as Lawrence talked us through the safety aspects of river wading, then split into two groups to enter the river at different points. Using long sticks to help us balance and feel the river bed before stepping forward, we worked in pairs, chatting as we went.

We have worked previously with Lawrence, in the River Ravensbourne near our usual start point at Glass Mill Leisure Centre, so it was great to be able to explore a new part of London's 400 mile network of waterways. Thames 21 work throughout the year, engaging volunteers in the communities that the rivers pass through. You can find out more about upcoming events by looking at the calendar here, with the rivers Pool, Ravensbourne and Quaggy being our nearest, here in Lewisham.

We decided that half an hour was long enough to be in the water at this time of year, so out climbed our waders, laden with bags of rubbish (including a sandbag, a plank of wood and a rusted piece of twisted metal). Waders were sorted back into the correct crates and warm clothing put back on. We might normally run off or do some strength work at this point but, looking around, I saw that what was needed were hot showers and big mugs of tea! Good work everyone! Next up in Lewisham is our group run on Monday evening, have a look here and sign up, we would love to have you along.

As we ran and worked today, we were filmed and interviewed by Simon and Greg from the BBC. Our report should be broadcast next Saturday on BBC Breakfast, keep an eye on our Twitter accounts (@GoodGym and @GGLewisham) for updates.

Thank you Lawrence and well done everyone for working so enthusiastically on such a cold morning!