Litter things make a big difference

Twenty two tip-top runner/volunteers took on Lewisham's challenging crossing system, to run the short distance to St.Stephen's Church, collecting around ten sacks of weeds, leaves and litter, before running with great determination up hill, to take on a high-energy HiiT session.

BREAKING NEWS! A layer was removed and everything was alright. Yes, the pink sky that rippled around Glass Mill this evening really was a delight, as the evening warmed up a few degrees and we were brave enough to take off gloves and winter layers. Just the one, mind!

This is Lewisham, after all, the home of the fearless.

We started our evening with a few congratulations, celebrations and lots of welcomes. A big round of applause for James, who ran hard at Hilly Fields parkrun on Saturday, bagging himself a superb PB! Impressed nods of approval in the direction of Lucy and Kim, who took themselves off to the running track on Friday, to smash some repeats and sprints (proud trainer here) and a warm welcome to absolute first-timers Sofia, Lisa and Emily. We also showed our Lewisham Love to Marta, Anna and Mariana, new to our gorgeous borough, but not new to GoodGym.

Our run this week was shorter than usual, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a bit of fun warming up. Out we went, to get to know each other's names and to play a game of Tree Touch, basically shuttle running back and forth between the trees and our warm-up zone. There was some speedy sprinting going on, with focused expressions and audible breathing. Spot on! To get to know each other a little bit better, we turned to the person next to us, introduced ourselves and played a quick and friendly game of shin-tag, always a good one to raise both the heart rate and the noise levels.

As the crow (or more likely pigeon?) flies, St.Stephen's is probably only about 500m from Glass Mill but, with the ever-confusing and ever-delaying new crossing system in place, we played a game of 'Leg it! Stop!' until we eventually found ourselves outside the front door and then in the entrance to the church. Father Philip had put out some tools, litter pickers and bags for us to get straight to work and directed us towards the garden at the side of the building.

We soon found that the side nearest Lewisham Police Station was, of course, very well lit. Those who worked around the other side of the building worked well in pairs and teams, sharing head-torches to try and pick out weeds and discarded litter, to fill the bags. At the rear of the church is a nursery, with a play area to one side, around here were lots of weeds and, as we soon found, snails (including a rather sweet little family) and an impressive leopard slug, which we think Eve might happily adopt as a pet. There was some very determined weed pulling going on which, at one point, was likened to the children's story about the giant turnip, with the whole of GoodGym Lewisham in a line, pulling and pulling. Eventually the weed was defeated and work could continue.

In addition to the various gastropods, Monica found a small metal implement. Was it a spaghetti scoop for very tiny people? Was it a fancy tea-bag squeezer? Answers on a postcard please!

Even with a short run and therefore lots of time to complete the task, the minutes ticked by incredibly quickly. A chance now to step back and survey all the hard work and count up the bags of accumulated detritus (we think at least ten!). Father Philip thanked everyone as we returned the tools to the vestry and gritted our teeth in anticipation of a hill.

I know, I know. Last week I promised no hills, but it seemed a shame not to pop up to Blackheath from here, to do our fitness session away from the busy road. Well done everyone on being such good sports and taking that hill in your stride, with strong legs, arms and hearts. It was slightly dark, but we still managed to draw some heckling from a passing car (who knows what he was hollering?!). On a mild and fresh evening, these wonderful people put all their last energy into a high-tempo, high-energy circuit of rotation squats (chuck that ball away!), knee-lifts, mountain climbers (sorry, it was wet!) and press-ups. Twice.

There's nothing like the promise of a downhill and home-made flapjacks to get you through!

A stretch, a nibble and some news about this Saturday's visit to Beckenham Place parkrun, a wader-tastic mission and some exciting new tasks coming up. If you like the sound of how we do Monday in Lewisham, why not sign up for next week too?