Thirteen awesome athletes ran between two and four kilometers, to help out at Living Well.

It hadn't looked promising this afternoon, with thunder rumbling all round, lightning flashing and rain pouring down. I was reassured though, that our task was indoors and would encourage everyone to come regardless. Not only did our regulars come, but we also welcomed two newcomers, with Marie joining us after attending GoodGym Southwark previously and Kim coming along for her first ever GoodGym group run, welcome to both of you! We also had Monica visiting us for the first time, wearing her lovely new wings t-shirt (you receive this when you complete 100 good deeds!). Nice.

First up, well done to those who were able to fit in some extra goodness over the weekend, delivering flyers for the Crystal Palace Festival, which is happening from the 11th-17th of June, right on our doorstep. The flyers were to encourage people to join in and volunteer, which you can find out about here if you fancy helping out. With it being the end of the month, I thought we should celebrate the Heroes of May.

• Most good deeds: Louise, with 8

• Greatest distance run: Tim, with 61.9km

• Most cheers received: Tim, with 121

• Most cheers given: Hannah, with 130

My, haven't we improved on last month?! I'm very pleased to see everyone getting stuck in and supporting each other :)

Get me to the church on time!

Off we went, after a brief warm-up amongst the commuters, towards Holy Trinity Church, where Living Well is based. We had heard that the stocks at the food bank are currently running low, so we all ran with various tins and packets in hand, to add to the boxes on arrival. Tonight's task was to pull everything out of the store cupboard, clean the shelves, sort through the boxes, organise the contents and return everything to the correct place. Easy! The space outside the store cupboard was very quickly covered in tins, boxes and bags of pasta, a whirlwind of red shirts buzzing around.

Elsewhere in the space, Hannah and Stuart were cleaning the smaller kitchen, then a fridge, before joining in with the Big Sort. At one point, I really did wonder how we would get all of this back into the cupboard (there had been a donation of food delivered in the meantime, increasing the contents of the boxes). There were a few puzzled expressions, as we tried to work out where certain items went, trying hard to find a home for two rogue jars of jam. Time ticked away and the boxes went back in, the order of which was helped considerably by Emma having taken a photo of the shelves before everything was pulled out. Genius.

Saying goodbye, we took advantage of the little park just a short jog away. To warm back up, we played a quick game of what I think of as 'Cone-Over'. I do enjoy watching these competitive games unfold, with people's true personalities coming through...In one spot were Hannah and Paul, crouched down, head-to-head, in a very serious game of flip-the-cone. We then did a running circuit, before some technique-focussed drills, which we carried over into our next run, to see how we could work on our form to run strong. Really great pacing from everyone, spot on!

Back at base, we stretched and heard about the GoodGym Olympic Games (the deadline to sign up is this coming Sunday!), the Dino Dash Relay and next week's group run, which will take us back to Forest Hill Station. See you then!

A lovely eleven ran 4km to Baxters Field, where we painted the railings along the edge of the park.

As is usual about this time, we found ourselves saying 'Well done!' to Bradley, who this weekend ran two 10k races, yes two (well, it was a long weekend, so why not?)! He's got it bad. In fact, he and Conroy came to our session via the running track...in that heat! Well done to the rest of us for making it out, water bottles in hand, taking it slowly, like sensible people ;) We had a little chat about last week's social, which was great, how lovely to see each other over a drink and all looking so clean and well-presented! I've noticed a surge in cheers since then, following our conversation about how rubbish the cheering levels are in Bromley.

This weekend, our very own Stuart is off to Bucharest with the GoodGym Race Team, to run a half-marathon. We talked a little about the team and the benefits of joining in, which include support from fellow members, fun races, a fancy vest and guaranteed #RedThunder. You don't have to be part of the Race Team to join in though, everyone is welcome to go along to races and supporters are just as welcome as runners. Good luck Stuart, we look forward to hearing all about it!

Going back to the cheers...this week we were joined by Rachael, who was here for her very first group run, having been recruited by Louise (good work Louise!). You will, of course, want to show Rachael some love by clicking on her name and giving her a right old cheer, welcome!

To the task. Up hill.

This week we were off to a brand new task, thanks to Tim putting us in touch in with the task owner. Baxters Field is a lovely little park, hidden away off Kirkdale and is largely taken care of by a group of 'friends', people who use the park and decided it needed some regular TLC. They have worked hard to plant saplings, to lay paths, install a picnic bench and now, with a bit of help from us, paint the railings that run along the edge of the park. Getting here was a challenge in itself, with the road rising up and up, until we all cheered, hands in the air, as we turned off to enter the green space.

We were met by Philippa, who herself ran the London Marathon a couple of weeks ago. We were shown the railings, the pots of thick black paint and were handed paint brushes by Conroy, who was clearly eager to make a start! We each took a section and got going, chatting as we worked. As always, lots of talk of running, coach visits, missions and, this week, Bank Holiday activities (the beach, London Zoo, B&Q...). Time flew, but so did our brushes and, stepping back, we could see just how much had been achieved in such a short space of time - excellent work! Thank you Philippa for making us feel so welcome, with cold drinks and sweet treats to keep us happy (and give us a little boost for the return run). There is plenty more for us to do, so I'm sure we will be back soon.

Race to the cones

Finding a space on the grass, we did a very quick fitness session, involving cones and cores (sorry it was brief, we were too busy snacking!). What a treat to enjoy the reward of a downhill return run, a sweep around to our start point and a nice deep stretch. Next week we will visit another new task, this time at Forest Hill Station, where we will tend to the planters, sign up here to join in.

Happy running and see you soon!

Full report coming... probably.

Embracing everything that is wonderful about our recently lighter evenings, eight eager athletes ran 4km to clear the way towards the fruit trees at St John's Meadow.

Thanks this week go to Louise and Louise for our title pun, arrived at in an instant as they popped on some lovely, brand new gardening gloves (see photo)!

We have a really great core group of regulars now and were joined this week by Nate, who was visiting GG Bromley for the first time (having already done lots of coach visits and missions), welcome Nate! Before we set off on our run, I told everyone a couple of exciting bits of news. First up, the entries are now open for the excellent (if a bit muddy and possibly hilly) Petts Wood 10k, which has been well-attended in the past couple of years by GoodGym runners (if only for the post-run banana and samosa!). I'm also a bit (lot) excited that the GoodGym Monthly Social is coming to our very own start point at the Bridge House on May 3rd. Sign up here, bring a friend if you wish and catch up without getting sweaty. Ahem.

After a little warm-up, where we entertained the passing drivers, scooped up commuters with our arm swings and generally caused mild amusement, we ran up and over to St John the Evangelist. I say up and over, it felt like up and up and up a bit more (I don't remember it being that hilly!). Here, we were met by Clare, who welcomed us and showed us a delightful array of tools and new gardening gloves (it's quite a special feeling to slip on a pair of newly opened gloves, unlike the manky things I dish out from my grubby cloth bag!). We were shown our area of work for the evening, a rather overgrown patch that was preventing anyone getting near the row of fruit trees. Before I had time to take a 'before' picture, everyone started lifting bits of wood, bricks and hacking back brambles to create an opening. A convoy of wheelbarrows went back and forth, adding to the pile, while near the wall, Tim tried mightily hard to shift a hefty tree trunk that was determined not to budge (maybe next time).

As we worked and chatted, Bradley suggested that it might be nice if we plant something at each of the places we visit (what a wonderful idea!). I had just pulled up a couple of stray raspberry canes, so what better than to start this new tradition than something in GoodGym red?! Bradley did the honours, finding also some beautiful red leaves to mark these two out from the rest (see photos). We will need to think carefully about this legacy, finding appropriate gifts for each task.

It was at this point that Louise C-W asked if I was making a list. I realised I hadn't made one for a few weeks, so it was about time we revived this run report feature. In keeping with the evening's proceedings, I found out everyone's favourite fruit:

• Louise C-W - raspberry
• Kiri - (she had trouble choosing...) banana, raspberry, strawberry (and then pineapple, she's a fruit fiend)
• Tim - mango
• Louise C - fig (at which Tim informed us his tree produced 200+ last year!! Sorted)
• Nate - lemon (in gin)
• Stuart - mango (popular)
• Bradley - watermelon
• Clare - orange
• me - blackberry (I found this very difficult, I love 'em all. Apart from apples)

As we wrapped up and admired our handiwork, the evening took a turn for the absurd, as Tim asked, 'Did I ever tell you Adele, what my first job was after I graduated?' 'No Tim, I don't think you did'. 'I was a scarecrow'. Yes, that's right, a scarecrow! Tim Gummidge. It turns out he had to scare the birds on a cherry farm, using various methods, including bashing a sheet of corrugated metal with a stick and firing an air rifle, all for the princely sum of £1 an hour. Those were the days.

Continuing our conversations on the run, we ducked back into Crystal Palace Park, still light enough for some chain running, circling the dino lake and rounding up by the avenue of trees. A few squats, press-ups and tri-dips later and we were ready to stretch. Next week we will return to finish the painting at Penge Congregational Church, sign up here to join us. We wish Bradley good luck in his first 10k race on Sunday, in CP Park (nice medal) and Louise good luck on her new coach run tomorrow.

See you all soon!