Sand and Deliver!

On an extra special 'extra' day, thirteen energetic, eager runners leapt to do good at the Goldsmiths Community Centre in SE6.

It was lovely to see so many familiar faces, welcome one new-comer and to say 'hi' to visiting super-do-gooder, Frances (50+ good deeds, yes, 50+!!). We talked about missions, coach running, upcoming tasks, the social (after next week's group run - Meze Mangal, drool) and St David's Day, before a head-count and some good old warm-up activities out on the (thankfully less muddy) area, outside Glass Mill. With a hop, skip and a leap, we took Lewisham by storm, a flash of red amongst the evening traffic. Our presence prompted a couple of toots and one delightfully spontaneous yoga-mat guard of honour, complete with a round of applause, from some women having a post-yoga chat outside a church hall. Ah, thank you for the encouragement!

We ran this bit faster!

Our outward journey saw us chattering along Hither Green Lane, with a few comments about how we seemed to be going faster than last time. Darren wondered out loud if it was just that we were familiar with the long, seemingly never-ending road, or were we really picking up the pace? A quick survey of our various devices on arrival at Goldsmiths and we found that we had, in fact, smashed our previous time over that distance - go us!

And now for a sit down

This week's sanding was of the skirting-board variety, which meant people adopting various elaborate poses, to reach all the nooks and crannies behind pipes, under radiators and even behind a piano. Check the many beautifully executed yoga poses...The skirting boards were sanded in no time, so Katharine quickly found some doors for our runners to tackle and also reassured us that she has many tasks for future weeks (we're looking forward to seeing how the room looks after it's been painted).

Sanding's dusty work, so there was a quick rush to wash away the green grime, with Niall winning the prize for most coverage. There was a chorus of 'Brrrrr's as we emerged back into the cold and someone - come on, who was it? - said 'Ooh, a bus!'

No buses were taken

We decided that running was most definitely the best way to pass through Lewisham and enjoyed the slightly downward journey back to Glass Mill. A few sprints were sprinted, back to the entrance and our core and stretch work was taken inside to a slightly less gritty surface. There was some super-planking, strong side-planking (with a nice leg lift from Jacqueline, she must be some sort of planking pro) and then some nice juicy stretching.

We looked forward to our return visit to Crofton Park Library next week and made a decision to follow our run with a great big mountain of delicious food at Meze Mangal on Lewisham Way and all this with a mouthful of Bara Brith, in celebration of St David's Day on March 1st. Top refuelling.