Brushing up on our DIY skills in Catford

A blustery but mild evening saw 16 of us swept along Lewisham High Street and up into Catford, to spruce up a property for Action for Refugees in Lewisham.

We gathered in the foyer of Glass Mill Leisure Centre, all commenting on how much milder it was than last week's launch run (Adele had reduced her layers to just two!). It was great to see some familiar faces from last week and to welcome some newcomers, some of whom were absolute first-timers - yay! After an introduction to all things GoodGym, outlining how runners can be paired with an isolated older person in our borough (and maybe mentioning the upcoming social on Thursday), we were guided through a warm-up to ready ourselves for the wind that swirled around the entrance.

To the task

On our outward run, Adele led the way and Jacqueline made sure nobody was left behind – thank you Jacqueline! We hollered slightly to make ourselves heard above the booming traffic on a rush-hour High Street. Inspired by tonight's task, we aimed to make up a name for a brand new GoodGym Lewisham paint (you know the kind of thing, 'Mouse's Back' – really – 'Elephant's Breath'...). Overheard along the way were: 'Glorious Grey' (nice GG thing there), 'Bemusing Beige' and 'Lewisham Lemon' – good to link in our fabulous local markets ;) Not entirely sure Farrow and Ball will be calling on us for our creative input though!

A swift stride up the hill and we were at our task. Iolande from Action for Refugees in Lewisham unpacked the tools and we set to, trying to get the paint on as many surfaces in the three rooms as possible. Everyone got stuck in and did fantastically with what we had – some covering swathes of wall with a slightly limited supply of rollers, others getting into corners, with the help of tiny brushes and some getting busy with the masking tape, making sure we could do a neat job. A bit of furniture moving and removal took place and we all stood back to admire Darren in his rather forensic-looking attire.

It wasn't long before the countdown began and trays and brushes were wrapped neatly for our return on Friday, where we will aim to complete the task and do a bit of garden-tidying as well. Iolande said thank you and waved us off down the street, as we headed over to Ladywell Fields to do some serious hill-training.

When we arrived at the park, people were given the option of adding in a slightly longer loop and we all converged at the cafe area to set to with the next part of the session. It was great looking across the grass, to see quite a large group taking the longer route, with David's glowing light guiding the way. Here, Adele talked about the importance of hill training in our running week and, after a few dynamics to get us really warm, everyone powered up the hill, using a strong backward arm-drive, then jogged a bit and then sprinted back around to the start. All that could be heard at this point was the deep panting of some really hard-working runners. It was decided that there was enough energy left to repeat this hill sprint before we jogged back towards Glass Mill.

It's funny how quickly time goes while you're chatting away and we were surprised to find ourselves at Cornmill Gardens, ready to sprint our way back in. After all that effort, we stretched well and recapped on what we had achieved, how far we had run and who might be off to the social on Thursday.

Don't forget our Starter Session this Friday at 6.45, we look forward to seeing you soon!