Wildflower thing, you make my heart sing!

Twenty determined waterproof runners brought a stream of light and colour to the streets of Lewisham tonight, running 5k, raking wheelbarrows worth of leaves, digging some serious sods of soil, picking lots of litter and quenching the thirst of The Albany's lush tomatoes.

It wasn't looking that promising at about 6pm: rain poured down, the sky turned grey and people ran into the foyer of Glass Mill to shelter and shake off like soggy dogs. Some looked out of the window and wondered if a group run even takes place in such weather, of course it does! By the time we were mingling and signing in, the rain had stopped and we felt ready to tackle the run ahead. How lovely to welcome two first-timers, George and Alys and to open our Lewisham arms to some Greenwich tourists, Alex and Steve (I know Alex, having met him whilst covering over in Greenwich, so was slightly thrown when his identical twin, Steve, wandered in, wearing his red GoodGym t-shirt. These boys know how to keep a trainer on her toes!).

Tonight, we were joined by Mike Bushell from BBC Breakfast, so our head-count and warm-up game of Beat the Ball (actually it wasn't a ball, but a thingie fashioned from a buff) also involved leaping over the camera operator, adding a whole new dimension to the game. It's a fun game and certainly challenges everyone, with some very concentrated thingie passing going on (though this descended into chucking after a while, in an attempt to get the person out!). Well done to Kim for going for it with the squats in the middle of the circle! A slightly rowdy game of shin-tag ensued, with lots of slipping and sliding on the still damp grass. I like this time of year, when you can see when everyone is good and warm, with breath hanging above us in the cold air.

Off to Deptford we went, regrouping at crossings, not wanting to lose anyone along the main road. The chatter was loud, as we weaved in and out of homeward-bound commuters, slightly bemused by this bubbling crowd surging towards them. We were very quickly rounding the corner towards The Albany, where we took a quick group photo (of course) before heading inside to meet Caz, who looks after the garden here, organising and leading various groups who benefit from the really impressive facilities (that many people don't even notice when visiting the theatre, it truly is a hidden gem in the heart of bustling Deptford).

We gathered round, Caz talking us through the various tasks to be worked on tonight: watering the poly tunnel and greenhouse, picking up litter, raking and gathering leaves and digging a path for wildflowers. This all called for lots of tools and lots of skill, so people selected the task that took their fancy, grabbed the appropriate tool and got into action. The light here was pretty poor, with just a few little pools making their way out from the building and the odd wash from a street light, so we shared out head-torches and bike lights, trying to even out the light source to make working easier.

It's great stepping back to take photos and seeing everyone chatting away, deep in concentration, working hard and getting stuff done. Every so often, out of the darkness would emerge the squeaky wheelbarrow, laden with damp leaves, making their way to the composting area. Heavy breathing could be heard from the diggers, putting their backs into what proved to be a very intense workout. Around the edges of this large space, litter pickers could be seen reaching and dipping, finding wrappers and coffee cups clinging to the bottom of railings and resting in tree roots.

Throughout our task, runners were interviewed by Mike, telling him all about GoodGym, what we do, where we go and what it is that makes us want to come along each week. Earlier in the day, he had interviewed one of our runners, Jacqueline, along with her coach - the older person she visits once a week for a chat and a catch up.

As time ticked on, we realised we needed to round up all the tools and make sure nothing was left out in the dark. Our team of diggers had removed a layer of grass, raked the soil underneath and it was now time to line up and pass along a trug of seed mix. Each runner took a few handfuls, scattering them over the soil - we really must come back next year to see the results of our labour when it comes into flower.

It's funny, when we're asked about our group runs, people are often amazed that we run to a task, work hard and then run back - 'You run AND do gardening?!' Yes! And that's not all, we push ourselves even harder on the way back!

Tonight, as we had stayed a little longer at The Albany to make sure the task was complete, our fitness session was cut a little bit shorter, so just one round of Killer Drills, that's shuttle runs, out and back three times at varying distances, whilst your partner does burpees (or jumping jacks). I'm pretty sure, if we'd had more time, people would have wanted to do the next two rounds as well (with squats and mountain climbers), next time, eh?

A short run back to Lewisham and time to stretch, to hear about next week's task at the Deptford Mission and some chat about a possible Santa run in December, oh, go on then!