Venturing out into our wonderful borough, 24 runners covered 4k and helped the 999 Club

Thank you once again to our chief punner, Oli, for this week's thumping title pun and others through this report.

It would be impossible not to have seen or heard anything about yesterday's London Marathon and, for us, it was a big focus of our weekend (and year!). Not only did we have a massive group of volunteers on the baggage trucks in Greenwich Park (one of whom - Vic - had already run 20 miles of the course in the opposite direction, really!), but we also had huge numbers out on the course to cheer on the many GoodGym members who were taking on 26.2miles of our city. A very special mention goes to our marathon heroes, Jacqueline and Nykolette, who both ran the marathon, after months of dedicated training. Well done both of you and, from what we can tell, you both get extra kudos for smiling all the way! We're very proud of what you have achieved.

EXTRA GOODNESS ALERT!

Are you free on Saturday morning? We have a great post-parkrun (or -lie-in!) community mission lined up. Last year we painted the railings at St Mary's Church (the oldest church in the borough) and now it's warmer we will finish what we started. Check the details and sign up here, it'll be fun!

I was very excited this week, to be taking our group over to the 999 Club. I have tried to link up with this amazing charity for a long time now, so how wonderful to be able to help out at last! Some of our runners have volunteered independently, something that the charity are always looking to support. You can find out more about how the 999 Club are helping homeless people in our area and to see how you can get involved, here.

What a marvellous week for two new people to join us! A very big welcome to Martin, who has run previously with GoodGym Westminster and to Mary, who was with us for her first ever group run. Lewisham Love to you both!

We had a bit of fun out on the grass, 'It was dark last time I was here!' said Darryl, yes, we celebrate this lightness every week right now! After a quick game chasing each other around, Kim very kindly led the way to Deptford (thank you Kim!) and our marathon marvel Nykolette kept everyone together at the back. At the 999 Club we met Zisca, who works here and was happy to tell us all about the work they do. We were also greeted by Chi, who runs with GoodGym Haringey, but had chosen to join us this evening to take some photos (he took some gorgeous portraits at the marathon yesterday, so we hope he's managed to make us all look airbrushed and dewy instead of sweaty and red nosed!).

No chain, no gain!

Zisca explained how we were going to tackle moving all the stuff out of the basement. Outside the building was a van and we were to carry up as much stuff as we could to fill the van, we would then transport as much as we could onto ground level, so the movers could load up again in the morning (our timing created a slight challenge, since the dump isn't open in the evening!). Of course, we were all champing at the bit and eager to form a human chain, so before long there was a steady stream of random objects appearing in the doorway (I'm probably the only one old enough to remember the Generation Game and the bit with the conveyor belt of random whatsits...). Here are some of the items that were pulled out of the basement:

• Miniature ship models
• A giant drum
• Mirrors, lots of mirrors
• A faux barbell (modelled by Oli)
• A hobby horse (adopted by Clare for the children at school)
• A spacehopper (nice moves Darryl)
• Christmas decorations
• A clock
• A picture of a vintage plane

A mirror for the (trainer) sole

It turns out there used to a nursery on this site, which explains some of the toys and furniture that we saw and some items had been left by previous residents, which all made for a fascinating and entertaining evening. When our time ran out, the basement was looking a lot more spacious, the van was fit to burst and the little courtyard was scattered with boxes, bags and books. We said our goodbyes and went on our merry way (with Clare astride her pony and Emma and Olivia carrying mirrors under their arms). We hope to return to the 999 Club in the future but, for now, we have made a big dent on that challenging task.

Many hands make light (and toaster and shredder) work!

On our return to Glass Mill, those who had enough energy really pushed hard in our fitness session, looking at pacing and teamwork - excellent effort everyone! As we stretched, we looked ahead to Pacer Day at Hilly Fields parkrun on Saturday, our community mission at St Mary's Church and next week's group run, over to Luxmore Garden (yes, it's a Bank Holiday, but we absolutely still run!

See you then.