Wildcat Thing, You Make My Heart Sing...

On the hottest day of the year, 12 glowing runners took to the streets (and trails) of Catford to smash 7.5km and a fair few brambles at Wildcat Wilderness

Where did you spend your Monday evening? In an air conditioned office? Outside a pub, refreshing drink in hand? Down the Forest Hill Hole (yes, we have our very own 50' deep sinkhole in the borough of Lewisham, so there!)? Well, these amazing people put on their coolest running gear, filled a bottle with water, stepped lively and met at Glass Mill Leisure Centre at 6:45. Respect to this week's first-timers, who chose possibly the most energy-sapping session so far, to give GoodGym a go! High-fives to Cecilia, Dan, Emilie and Anna, all of whom have been running regularly, but hadn't put the running and doing good thing together until now - get fit, do good, that's the way to spend your Monday evening in London's best borough.

Our warm-up was short but swe(a)et(y), with not much warming needing doing tonight. We challenged our brains instead, with a little game to check we'd paid attention during our head-count and name-check (yes, we were pretty hot on the name-remembering thing actually). A few little drills to warm our feet and ankles up and it was time to go - our run was a little further this week and we wanted plenty of time at the task to really get stuck in to whatever Maria had lined up for us.

What a gorgeous evening to be passing through Ladywell Fields, skirting the river and enjoying the delicious evening smells. A few pauses to make sure we didn't get split up (thank you Caireen for taking on the role of back-marker tonight and to Scott for hanging back on any twisty bits to make sure we kept together) and we were at the gate to the Wildcat Wilderness, where Maria met us and gave instructions on where to go to pick up some gloves, ready to get on with the task in hand. The array of tools here always prompts a collective gasp and there is a moment where we watch, open-mouthed, as we are shown just how to attack those bramble paths with a 'blunt machete' (the trick is to swing one way and then the other, so as not to strain one muscle over the other, creating a balanced soreness tomorrow morning ;) ).

Maria quickly explained the roles and split people into groups, a few pairs working on the paths, clearing the way so the little ones who sometimes use this space can actually see where they are going. In the community garden, there was a whole load of watering that needed doing and a fair bit of digging. The water tanks were made accessible again, as brambles were pruned back and snails were very gently relocated to a more suitable setting. Thank you Jacqueline.

...when you're having fun

Every time. We find a task, get engrossed in the physical joy of throwing ourselves into a job and, before we know it, the clock is saying there are just fifteen minutes left, ten minutes, five...If only we could stay longer! There are in fact a couple of opportunities to spend a bit more time enjoying this space, with a Big Lunch Picnic this Sunday and the Monthly Volunteer Afternoon at the end of the month. For now though, we had to step back, admire the progress that was made in this half-hour session (look at the photos, you can see that whole paths were cleared!) and carefully place all the tools and gloves back at the shed until next time.

Maria thanked all the volunteers for their hard work and we trotted back along the path, weaving through allotments, to make our way back out into the 'real world', it does feel as if you're far, far away from London life in here! Our return leg, which often features drills, shuttles, hill repeats and other such hardcore endeavours was made up of a longer run this week, so a little additional loop (with hill, obviously) was offered up for those who wished to really go for it - go you! With the heat draining us with every step, it was a relief to reach the grassy area outside Glass Mill, to enjoy the gentle breeze and stretch some well-worked muscles. Stretching seems like the perfect time to talk about eating and drinking and we finalised our plans for this week's social - Lewisham's much-talked-about (and loved) Model Market, this Friday night, 6:30pm. Bring a friend/house-mate/partner if you wish, the more the merrier and catch up whilst not out of breath (lycra optional).

Next week's session will be taken by Pritesh, in Adele's absence, so please give him a warm SE welcome!