An energetic eight took to Crystal Palace Park to clear the litter along the path and to cover 2km of running and a TOUGH abs session.

Yes, it's STILL hot! Really hot. Water in hand, we made our way out of the Bridge House garden (it's oh, so tempting at this time of year to while away the 90 minutes with an ice cold drink in our hands, but our plastic bottles would have to do!). This week we were tasked with the challenge of clearing litter from the path near the train station, leading into the park. We now call this plogging (picking up litter whilst jogging), it sounds so much nicer than litter picking ;)

Joining us this week was uber tourist, Chi, who was completing his penultimate London GoodGym, with tomorrow's group run in Waltham Forest making up the full set (we think it's about 24). Well done Chi and welcome to GoodGym Bromley.Before setting off, we had to congratulate Tim on the success of his Oxford challenge, something he has been telling us about now for while. On Sunday, his nephew Harold, a super-fast marathon runner, took on the almost marathon distance, finishing with a swim across the river to a pub, which you can read all about here, in the Oxford Mail.

As usual, we enjoyed picking up our equipment from the container in the park, filling two wheelbarrows with litter-pickers, bags and hoops, hedge trimmers and gloves. With the barrow boys bringing up the rear, the rest of us ran up towards Crystal Palace Station, passing the little farm on the way (it's well worth a visit, with lots of cute animals to see). The heat was really quite stifling, making the hill hard work! At the station area, we gathered our tools and worked in twos and threes, chatting and picking (and finding treasure, oooh!) and making our way gradually along the path. It wasn't long before time was up and we were heading back to the container, with about six full bin bags. Great work!

It took a while for everyone to assemble, because some people just couldn't stop picking litter on the way back...it's a compelling activity.

Whilst on tour, Chi has become known for his abs. I say his abs, but what he is known for is working everyone else's abs in his 'Abs on Tour', which we were delighted to sample this evening. I say delighted, but it was really hard work, with some serious gurning going on, a fair bit of moaning and a shout from Emily that she had already done an abs session this morning - ouch! During the plank, I noticed all the ants around me and quite soon felt the effects of their stings - it's all very well rolling around on the grass, having fun, but the ants were not impressed! Thanks Chi for the awesome abs attack, I hope everyone feels happy to come back next week (you now know I take it easy on you!).

Next week we are heading to Forest Hill Station to do some watering, a nice 5k round-trip and we might even go and see that steeple on a hill that Tim keeps telling us about. Have a great week and see you soon :)

Enjoying the cooler evening air, eight eager athletes ran 4km (with a BIG hill) to help paint the railings at Baxter Field.

How lovely to be back with my GoodGym Bromley lovelies! While I was away, Louise did her 50th good deed, whilst visiting her coach. Well done Louise, only our second runner to hit this milestone, we really look forward to seeing you in your new black t-shirt very soon. Also happening this week were two first mission runs, with both Bradley and Tim heading out for the first time, to help an older person in their home, well done you two! We also welcomed a new-comer to Bromley tonight, hello to Emily, who ran with GoodGym Lewisham last week for the first time and decided to give us a go this week.

Did you know, GoodGym will be hitting the 100,000th good deed mark in the next few days, isn't that incredible?! I wonder if our eight good deeds this evening will tip us over this epic point...

It was so nice to run in slightly cooler temperatures this evening, which was a relief when we saw the hill that faced us! After a quick dynamic warm-up in Crystal Palace Park, we ran up towards Baxter Field, pushing up, up, up, driving our arms hard to reach the top. At the park, we met Ruth, who handed out cartons of juice and pointed us towards some sweet treats, oh, that hill was worth all the effort! Refuelled and recovered, we grabbed brushes and rollers, filled pots with thick, black paint and got stuck in to working our way along another stretch of railings.

Paint misbehavin'

It's great fun spreading the paint on, chatting, enjoying the evening and catching up on everyone's news. Tim was telling us about a special run he has been organising in Oxfordshire, which will be happening this weekend, Hannah was telling us about an upcoming trip and Louise and I talked about delicious Hocking's ice cream from Devon (it's served with a dollop of clotted cream on top...!). I talked with Emily about running clubs and racing, with our own GoodGym Race Team having a very varied and sociable series of races throughout the year, monthly long runs and the challenging, but fun, winter cross country races. You can find out all about the race team here and feel free to sign up and go along to races, even if you're not on the team - the support is incredible!

As time ticked away, we realised we would definitely make it to the entrance gate, reaching the point we had aimed for this week - smashing! With Tim and Emily on the other side, reaching the bits we hadn't managed from the path, we gave one last push and touched up any last little patches of metal. Some well-earned flapjacks were nibbled, a group photo (or two, or three!) were taken and we were off on our way, back down the hill, phew.

Returning to the park, we had a bit of fun, weaving in and out of the trees, embracing the down hill and paused at the bottom to tackle a quick - but intense - fitness session. Excellent work from everyone, it's not easy pushing yourself like that at the end of a session, but you held your form and looked strong.

Next week we will be painting again, but this time inside, at the Lakeside Cafe at South Norwood Lake, a run of around 5k in total, a chance to enjoy the park and plenty of chat along the way, sign up here to join in.

23 runners ran 7.5km to weed, clear undergrowth and shift woodchip at Wildcat Wildnerness

Lewisham News

• Long time Lewisham runner Kim Parker is about to clock up her 100th good deed, give her a cheer! AND Veronice Norcross just hit her 50! Amazing - cheer her here.

• At the weekend more than 70 GoodGymers went to Stratford-upon-Avon to run, talk about GoodGym and generally have an awesome time. Here's the report from the parkrun we descended upon to inspire you to come and join the Shindig next year!

• A big old hello and welcome to Emma, Larissa and Charles who joined us for the first time last night.

• Next week the group will be off to St Mary's to paint the railings - sign up here.

That's enough of the business...

With Adele away, it was my annual trip to cover her at Lewisham and boy have things changed... and that's not just the colour of the grass outside the centre! After a briefing we headed outside to warm up - trying out some hopping drills to get us thinking about reducing our contact time with the ground as we run - this helps make us more efficient runners and reduces the risk of injury. Hooray!

Off we set for the 3.5km to Wild Cat Wilderness which you can find out more about here. Wild Cat Wilderness is a community green space in Catford coordinated by the Rushey Green Time Bank, a local charity. It is a natural wilderness off Catford Hill where you can explore nature and the wildlife, play or relax in its peacefulness or learn new skills. On our way there we paused for some primal squatting, wall-sitting and to power over the loop-di-loop (the technical term...). Caireen met us there and Caz took us into the wilderness to get started. We split into two groups:

• Clearing undergrowth with machete-like things around the outdoor kitchen.
• Shifting woodchip from a pile and spreading it around trees

In the 30 minutes we moved the majority of the woodchip pile and cleared a huge amount of undergrowth. The kitchen will be used to teach children about raw natural cooking. It's an amazing space! We got loads done and Caz was thrilled.

On our way back we took advantage of a nice clear bit of park to stretch our legs a bit and get some speed in - a great feat in this weather!

A super duper evening, thank you so much for having me.

Keep running happy, Lucy