Has Good Gym gone lazy? Fear not, dear reader, the title of this report simply reflects another evening of hard work by Greenwich’s runners.

3 GoodGymers convened at one of our favourite places, the archives of the National Maritime Museum in Kidbrooke after a short run in changeable weather, we were met by the wonderful Khursheed and directed to our task for the evening, namely weeding and turning the soil over in two raised beds to make them ready for planting. Marta got straight to work on the weeds whilst Kerry and Julian got down to work turning the rock-hard soil to prepare if for growing, taking care not to cut any worms in two. After 45 minutes, the task having been completed it was revealed what was going into the beds and the archives are certainly being ambitious, with one bed containing exotic melons and the other ingredients for herbal teas: healthy peppermint and calming camomile that will put you to sleep even quicker than reading this run report.

After a poo in the carpet situation making me late this week, we shared our best house disasters. Top marks go to Julian for managing to hospitalise a friend with an orange. We'll be sure to steer clear of fruit for all future socials just to be safe.

*A big congratulations to Brin to making it to 100 good deeds last week - a great achievement! *

In deviation from our usual routine we ran from Charlton House for a long run for us of 4km with a hill at the end which the view somewhat makes up for. We were cleaning at Shrewsbury House and clean we did, getting quite a lot of grime off the window frames, floors and all the surfaces we could get our sweaty little hands on. We discussed many things, including a Wassailing social we were invited to by the Westcombe Woodlands friends this weekend. Alas, I had to have it explained to me what wassailing is to my great British shame. 

Thanks everyone for a lovely evening - until next time!

On a cloudy and blustery Sunday morning, 5 GGers joined the Friends of Westcombe Woodlands volunteer group for our regular monthly clean up/chop down of the nature area. This being the first visit to this beautiful woodlands for Kerry and Sander, they were treated to a personal tour by Julian, who knows the pathway like the back of his hand. Meanwhile, I stayed behind to help bringing out and laying down all the tools that we would need.

Tour completed and tools in hand, we made our way up the path to the area that was most in need of clearing: a patch of land between 2 paths that was covered in ivy that needed to be cut back to allow the rest of the plants to grow and thrive. We all took to the task with gusto, making use of secateurs, loppers and even an axe!

Almost 2 hours later, the fruits of our labour were visible in the form of a much clearer patch and a huge pile of ivy debris! Time to bring the tools back down, have a cuppa and the obligatory biscuit (always generously provided by the volunteer group), and make our way back home, hoping we wouldn't be blown away by the increasing gale-force wind!

And so another year begins with a bang with the January Challenge! This week the Charlton contingent ran together to Woolwich to start our group run, where we warmed up with someone passing by joining in before catching her train - always nice to bring the community feel on our Woolwich starts!

We set off for Glydon to freshen the paint in the back room. A little tlc goes a long way here and many a painting job has been completed by our merry bunch. Lovely way to start the year and always worth coming out on a drizzly evening for GoodGym - friends, a little exercise and doing some good always make January much better.

Nice one folks, see you next week!