A hotbed of activity

Seventeen pairs of super speedy-legs ran through the drizzle to cover 7km, dig manure, pull up weeds and sand tables and benches at Seniors'.

It's April/nearly May! Come on The Weather, give us some warmth! Of course, we're made of tough stuff in Lewisham and a bit of drizzle won't put us off and yes, we do keep going in the rain (and on Bank Holidays!). The Lewisham Love was definitely in the air tonight, as I said a VERY BIG thank you to everyone who came out to support me and all the other GoodGym runners who ran the London Marathon on Sunday. Have a look at the photos, see that beautiful banner? Lucy made it! You wouldn't believe the lift you feel when you see a crowd of smiling faces, all cheering and willing you on to finish. Super stars, all of you.

We also congratulated Conroy, who ran his 50th parkrun on Saturday, a really great achievement (and a fair few of those have been spent pacing other runners to a PB). We welcomed Chloe to her first ever GoodGym group run and it was great to see Sean back after having a recent battle with a broken bone.

We checked our names (always good to have a reminder), played a variation on Shark Attack and did a few little dynamic drills to warm up those muscles before our long(er) run. Chloe has recently completed the Couch-to-5k programme, so it was great to have her along, feeling all fired up and ready to go! This week, feeling a little tired and possibly a tiny bit sore, I brought up the rear and up front were a few regular runners, who knew the way and had been fully briefed on the not-too-hilly run. Running through Ladywell Fields felt like a real treat after the rain, all the trees have sprung to life and the smell of damp foliage was lush. Our new task led us up and around Blythe Hill, so another new running route for many, with plenty of gentle undulation to challenge the glutes.

Respect here to Emma, who had run from work, hitting ten miles in total! Excellent effort Emma!

Our destination for the evening was the really rather special Seniors', which many of us hadn't even noticed before, snuggled amongst trees along the busy Stanstead Road, between Catford and Forest Hill. Look out next time you go this way, it's a lovely building. We were met by Cathy, who had sadly lost her voice, so handed over to Norma, who told us all about what happens here, such as craft activities, dancing, music, knitting, snooker, parties...There is also a cafe, which is open to the public and often uses ingredients from the garden.

The garden...

Just look at the vast garden! Here there are raised beds, a poly-tunnel, tables to sit at and lots of benches for visitors to enjoy some quiet time in this lovely, tranquil space. Tonight our runner/volunteers were eager to get stuck in, with some grabbing spades and forks to create hotbeds in the poly-tunnel (mixing manure into the soil), some tackling the weeds and overgrown plants in the raised beds and others picking up sandpaper and preparing the benches for our next visit, where we will be oiling them. That's a lot of work to complete in half-an-hour!

There was, of course, lots of talk about marathons and whether people would run one. Fired up by their experience of spectating, a few people admitted they'll be putting their name in the ballot. We'd better keep Lucy's banner handy for next year then!

Time whizzed by and last minute tidying was done. A wheelbarrow was filled with discarded twigs, tools were replaced and now-smooth sandpaper was deposited in the bin. We will be back here in two weeks, when hopefully it will be dry enough to oil the furniture and keep on top of any weeds that have appeared in our absence.

Running up that hill, with no problem

For our return run, Conroy suggested going up, up, up, with the promise of a downhill on the other side. As you can see, it was definitely worth it for the stunning sunset and the view of London from the top of Blythe Hill. Stopping to take it all in is definitely allowed when you've pushed hard. When we reached our start point, we had just enough time to stretch, congratulate everyone on a great run, enjoy some left-over jelly babies/beans and look forward to next Monday, when we will run back to Ewart Road Clubhouse to do some more painting. See you then!