You can keep your gloves on

Thirteen of Penge's finest took on 4km of running (up some very steep hills) and tackled a whole load of weeds at Westow Park.

This week we welcomed new runner Helen, who was joining us for her very first group run, welcome to the group Helen!

There was a lot to celebrate this week, with our wandering half-marathoners Stuart and Nykolette back from the great big GoodGym Race Team trip to Bucharest, well done both of you on completing this distance in the heat! Well done also to Hannah, who ran her 100th parkrun (and a PB!) on Saturday, at Norman Park and a very big congratulations to Ian, who took on the half-marathon distance in Plymouth, bagging himself a smashing time and a rather lovely medal and t-shirt (which he proudly wore this evening).

Up and away!

We were off to another brand new task this week, up and over the hill to Crystal Palace and the lovely Westow Park. We haven't really been up this way on a group run before (though we did touch on it slightly when we did our plogging session back on a dark winter evening), but know full well that there is no avoiding a hill, however you approach it. So, in true GoodGym Bromley style, we gritted our teeth and ran through the park and up, up, up to the crossroads at the top. It was here that we paused to take a group photo, the one where everyone looks slightly bemused, pointing in different directions, the reason being it's where the five boroughs of Bromley, Lewisham, Southwark, Croydon and Lambeth meet (hence our occasional crossing of boroughs to tasks...).

At the park we were met by Cathy from the Friends of Westow Park, who very quickly split the group into three and directed everyone towards the various tasks. One group went up to the petanque pitch with another of the friends, Don, who showed them how to rid the gravel space of weeds and generally make the surface better for playing on. Alongside the path, we had a group working on the edges of the flower beds, neatening the grass and pulling up weeds as they went. Further into the park, we had a crack team of thistle thrashers pulling up the pesky weeds from the bed in the children's playground, not a great feature for the little ones to encounter!

All of this activity was spread across the vast space, so I found myself jogging between them, taking photos, keeping everyone updated on time and admiring the lovely grey cat that was being taken for a walk on a lead (really). By the time eight o'clock rolled around all of the tasks had been well and truly smashed and everyone was able to step back and feel a great sense of achievement. I think we will have to come back and help some more (and this time have a little play on the fantastic playground...). There is an opportunity to help out at an upcoming sports event for children, on June 14th, as part of the Crystal Palace Festival - please let Cathy know if you can volunteer you time.

Choosing to stroll back up the incredibly steep hill, we waved our goodbyes and got ready to embrace our downhill return - weeeeeeeeeee! Back through Crystal Palace Park we went, Stuart noting a hill that might be good for repeats. Oh, how disappointed he was when I said 'Carry on!' This area of the park has lots and lots of steps, so where better to tackle our fitness session, with the views out to Kent in one direction and the transmitter in the other? Once we had step-climbed, squatted and planked, we were off down the hill to our final stretch.

Next week we will return to a favourite task of ours, Living Well, at Holy Trinity Church. Expect a shorter run and lots of heavy lifting and sorting at the food bank. We talked also about a fun relay race that's coming up on June 13th, the Dino Dash. A chance to race the 3k laps as a team of three and experience some real teamwork in action. Have a look here to find out more.

See you soon for more goodness!