Through thick and strim

As the sky darkened, eleven enduring athletes tackled 4km of running and about the same length of bindweed, over at Cator Park.

The rain jackets are coming out. I like to tough it out myself, with the red t-shirt always on show and my waterproof skin serving me well (I say all this, but I was freezing!). We gathered in the garden to the rear of the Bridge House, our super meeting point - I'm pretty sure we should have some special GoodGym achievement badge just for managing to leave the pub and run each week and not pull up a chair and grab a refreshing pint!

Joining us for the first time tonight were two brand new runners. Hello and welcome to Fleur and Katrina who, by the end of the evening, seemed like they'd always been with us - there's nothing like a chatty run and a fun task to get to know people and feel at home.

I think I might already have mentioned that it was a bit chillier than it has been recently, so we just went for it and ran towards Beckenham -thank you Stephen for being our back-marker. A hop and a skip away was the wonderful Pengeasaurus (no, I don't know if anyone actually calls him this, but it's what I think every time I pass by), a beautifully trimmed topiary dinosaur, so we just had to stop for a group photo - he is looking especially handsome right now, as a line of red berries emerge along his spine...

Pretty soon we were at Cator Park, where we were due to meet Penny but, as we were early, we took the opportunity to do a little strength work while it was still light enough to see each other and, just as we finished our planks, Penny strolled over, tools in hand. Some of tonight's runners knew this park, but some had never been here before, so it was great to be able to share a new green space and a potential new running route and what a lovely space! We gathered around a cluster of shrubs and pinpointed where all the bindweed and brambles were, quickly setting to, tugging and twisting to release the plants from their clutches.

As we worked, we talked about races, with the Petts Wood 10k coming up quite soon and our group visit to our local parkrun in Crystal Palace Park. I told the group about the GoodGym Race Team, a UK Athletics affiliated club, offering the chance to run together as a team at many races and to feel the support of your fellow GoodGym members. While we chatted, great big piles of brambles, weeds and bindweed rose around us. In an attempt to keep on top of them, we siphoned them into bags, ready for collection. We soon realised though, that there was too much and, instead, made a huge and impressive pile (there is photographic evidence above, but you might have to look very carefully...).

We often find treasure at our tasks and tonight was no exception, with TIm, who worked diligently in the centre of a large shrub, uncovering a strimmer and a thing that looked like a kind of rotivator. Yes, hidden in the bushes!

Just as we downed tools, down came the rain. Lots of rain. Lots of cold rain. This didn't stop us warming ourselves back up with some drills though and it certainly didn't dampen our spirits and enthusiasm for some HiiT. I did, however, draw the line at making everyone get down and do press-ups on the damp ground, instead halting the group on Penge High Street to make good use of a couple of benches, for a bit of impromptu dipping. Marvellous!

Next week will see us heading to yet another new task. We are very excited to be off to the Beckenham Baptist Church, to start two weeks of painting. Sign up and join us for a run of around 5k in total and a lovely indoor task. See you then!