Sofa so good for GRACE

Battling the wettest rain possibly seen this side of Catford, twenty talkative athletes took to the streets to cover a soggy 5k, shift a sofa, crush cardboard, form a chain to move bags, paint walls (and a big box) and fill those little bits between bricks, all before embarking on an intense core-busting fitness session!

There I was in the foyer, telling Kim that it wasn't going to rain, when in came a few others to put me right on my dodgy weather forecasting. Boo! How lovely to welcome Emma along to her first group run! I realise now that I didn't welcome her as a first-timer, because she had been along to our lovely starter session the other week, but first-timer she was, so welcome Emma! Also joining us for the first time was Tanya, who I recognised from parkrun - it's a small (running) world in Lewisham (as it should be!). It was also a pleasure to welcome back Silvia and Scott, who we haven't seen for a little while, didn't they choose the best day to return?! If you click on highlighted names in this run report, you can give these people a cheer, we all need a bit of virtual encouragement on a grey Tuesday morning!

We were very excited to be returning to GRACE's new space in the Leegate Shopping Centre. You might like to take a quick look at the run report from our last visit, especially the photos, to see just how much progress has been made in a short space of time. Those of us who visited a month ago were blown away by how much Claire has achieved - the donated clothing has been moved here from the storage space we visited in Eltham, shelves have been built, suitable boxes have been sourced, walls have been painted, so much has changed and the space feels like a fully functioning hive of positive activity!

After a quick warm-up outside Glass Mill, including a low-down on what we all favour as a post-run refuel (this ranged from peanut butter on a wholemeal bagel, to beans on toast, a bacon butty, salmon, steak to red wine and scotch. Bananas definitely won though, getting themselves three votes), we ran at pace (well done everyone, we seemed to pick it up a bit this week) to Lee, where we crowded in and listened to Claire working through her extensive list of jobs. Those who fancied a bit of DIY got on with painting and filling, those who wanted to do some crushing got on with breaking down boxes and those who were feeling particularly strong found themselves a big sofa to move. This might sound quite straightforward, but it seems the easiest way to do this - avoiding the narrow corridor - was to take the sofa outside and around the back. Good work team, some really great negotiation went on there, especially navigating the doorway and stairs! This sofa will be part of the community area upstairs, where Claire hopes to invite people to workshops and classes, or just to feel welcome in a quiet space.

The box crushing team were now moving on to a box shifting activity, forming a long chain, ending in Caireen, who created a stunning installation (or was it a massive game of Jenga?). This developed into a bag shifting chain, moving sacks of clothing from the back room to the front and time quickly passed, with Claire constantly ticking off the jobs on The Big List.At one point I popped my head around the corner, to see a whole line of people on the stairs, in another chain, marvellous. I did make the mistake of announcing that it was indeed chucking it down and, as 8pm approached, we would be heading out in it very soon. Sorry!

Time now for the all-important group photo and a determined pushing out of the chest, to defend our delicate souls from the gritty weather. You know, it wasn't that bad. Really. Well, it was quite horrible, running along Lee High Road, buses and lorries splashing gutter grime at us, but we were out there, making a difference! Our efforts were very much appreciated, when a group of people, huddling under a bus shelter, all broke into applause and cheers. It was as if we were running along The Mall, music from The Chariots of Fire blaring out, hands in the air. Shanice told me that this was the first time she had ever run in the rain! Brilliant! You certainly wouldn't choose to do that by yourself, see what running in a group does to you?!

As it was so miserable, I changed my planned fitness session, fearing our crowd of eager runners would end up slipping and sliding across the ground, so inside we went. Steaming. It seemed the whole of Lewisham was using the Glass Mill foyer to shelter, but this didn't stop our intrepid athletes from getting on down and planking. Two rounds of front and side planks and bridges. Bridges are like the runner's magic ingredient, something that will bring a bit of spice to your running. When you're fading on the hills, engage your glutes! When you're struggling to push to that sprint finish, engage those glutes! Maybe we should embark on a new fitness craze...Gluteruary, bridging every day in February to make those butts STRONG!

Don't forget to sign up to next week's group run and we also have a starter session as part of Student Volunteering Week, meeting at Goldsmith's University. This isn't just for students, feel free to sign up if you fancy some daytime goodness!

A very big thank you to James for this week's superb title pun!