Sturdy as an Honor Oak

Six awesome women dragged themselves away from the lure of the Bank Holiday Monday sofa, to run a total of 6km, shift a massive pile of heavy wood AND power themselves up and down a serious hill. What an impressive group run!

It was touch-and-go, as 6:45 approached and a rather deserted Bank Holiday leisure centre held just one eager red t-shirt-wearer (the trainer). But never fear, a new face appeared! A big welcome was given to Gaby, who joined us for the first time - why not show Gaby some support for being the first to turn up, putting the regulars to shame! We were very quickly joined by a couple more runners, who listened in to the pre-run briefing, before we all gathered on the grass to warm ourselves up (yes, some of us had reverted to long sleeves...in almost June). During our warm-up, two more runners appeared, as if by magic and we re-ran our name-check, just to be certain.

There was a lot to talk about in this week's run, Imogen told us all about how much fun she had had at the Night of the 10,000 PBs, we heard about Volunteers' Week and the various special group runs and missions that are taking place (in Lewisham we have the biggest Saturday yet, with a starter session in the morning and a super-mission in the afternoon, come and join us!).

Lifting and a -shifting

This week we returned to the Honor Oak Adventure Playground, where Linda had a really good upper body workout lined up for us. Inside the communal area, where visitors can sit and enjoy a barbecue, there were piles of heavy wood. This wood needed shifting to the other end of the playground. It looked pretty daunting at first, but the team of intrepid GoodGymmers set to, working out the best way to organise the task and utilise their muscle. In no time at all, there was a steady trail of planks being lifted and shifted, with Linda showing off her own strength by lifting some pretty dense timber over the fence and getting stuck in with us. Gradually, amongst the brambles and the ferns, a neat pile of wood was forming, ready to be used for repairs on the playground structure and, if showing signs of decay, to fuel the barbecue for a community feast. One last push saw the final planks being laid upon the stack and a quick tidy up and sweep completed today's task.

Done and dusted

We said our goodbyes and looked forward to our return on Saturday, to blitz the undergrowth and add a splash of colour to the woodwork. We gathered together and jogged over the railway bridge we had discovered last week, off towards Hilly Fields. Over the months we have been running in Lewisham, a few of our regulars have started having a go at our local parkrun in Hilly Fields so, at this point, they usually get a bit of added kudos for tackling the challenging course - high-fives tonight to Helen and Imogen, who have both been along for some 5k fun. It would be churlish not to do a few hill repeats when passing by the park, so hill repeats we did. After a few dynamic stretches to warm back up and ready our bodies for some hard work (on top of the wood-lifting session remember), our runners took a deep breath and ran hard up Montague Avenue, with a gentle jog down to recover. This was repeated six times, each time running a slightly shorter distance, using the adjacent trees as a measure.

Everyone ran hard, pushing themselves each time, powering their arms, with a strong backward drive and lifting their legs to reach the top.

Once the breathing steadied and shoulders relaxed, it was time to take to the hill again, to reach the well-earned reward of a downward slope to home. We skirted the edge of the fields, commenting on the cricket square, that is now in use, after being so carefully tended all year round; it's great to see the park being used by so many people for so many different things. We flew down the hill, nearing our finish, a steady pace taking us back to Glass Mill and our stretch. Muscles were tight after such an intense hill session, so thighs, glutes and calf muscles were targeted, as were our shoulders, triceps and necks.

A round of applause for a job well done and a chorus of 'see you soon'. Really well done, everyone!