Covering 5km of running, 28 superheroes took to the streets of Lewisham to help out at Crofton Books.

Did you see GoodGym on the BBC news last week? Have a look at the clip here, all about reducing isolation by bringing people together once a week, for a chat. A few of our runners have been visiting their 'coach' this week and others have been on 'missions' to help someone in their home. Nykolette and Monica even did a mission parkrun mash-up, they're unstoppable!

In other news, Bradley got another PB. Yes, another. We will be naming this weekly feature, Bradley Corner, where we can come and admire his rapidly growing collection of medals. This time he surprised even himself, by going sub-40 for 10k, wowsers! Over in beautiful Pembrokeshire, Eleanor ran a hilly trail race, running herself right onto the podium as third female! Well done both of you!

There's only one Conroy Barnett

Back in January 2015, at our first ever GoodGym Lewisham group run, I remember a smiley person in a woolly bobble hat bouncing into the foyer. When we took our group photo he lay down at the front, making himself at home and there he has stayed (not on the floor, he's got up and run a fair bit since). Tonight, our very own Conroy did his 100th good deed! Since he joined us on that first run, he has done missions, coach running, helped to support his fellow runners (even cycling alongside them on long training runs whilst injured himself), he has paced at parkrun, encouraged his friends to do hill sessions and has become a run leader, to help me out. Well done Conroy, what a loyal and supportive member of the group you are!

Joining us for their very first GoodGym group run tonight were Paul, Valentina and Ines and visiting from Wandsworth (dragged along by our Stephen) was Morag. A big sprinkling of Lewisham Love to you all!

And there was a task too!

Yes, amongst all this we had a task to do! Tonight's recipient of our goodness was Crofton Books, the wonderful second hand and vintage bookshop at Crofton Park Library. Here, we met Jason, who quickly reeled off a list of tasks, with smaller groups of people breaking off to get on with them. The building was a-glow with red t-shirts tackling a variety of jobs:

• Collecting up, bagging and binning the rubbish at the side of the building

• Sorting/organising/alphabetising/colourising(?) books in the various sections, including politics, health, gardening, art and architecture and philosophy

• Carrying some heavy bags outside

• Writing down ideas about how the different sections could be organised

• Painting upstairs (and getting to wear awesome forensic kit - see photos)

As always, time here just slips away and I found myself jogging between the different areas, announcing how much (or little) time we had left. All stray books were quickly found a place, paint brushes and trays were put away and forensic gear peeled off, before Jason thanked us all and we were on our way.

Run for the hills!

It's been a while since we were over here and in the daylight too, so what better way to celebrate than with a few hill repeats?! Yessss! We all know (but sometimes forget) that hill training is really good for you (it's like the running equivalent of eating your greens), encouraging good form, building strength, improving overall fitness; it's magic! We often concentrate on the uphill, but tonight we looked at our downhill technique, concentrating on 'letting go', allowing gravity to do its thing and going 'weeeeeeee!' as we went.

Hilly Fields Sunset

All this effort - well done everyone - was rewarded with the most stunning sunset, which we admired as we got our breath back. Back at our start point, we talked about the GoodGym Monthly Social, which is happening this Thursday in the gorgeous Bromley. Have a look at the details here and join us at the Bridge House (and no, you don't have to run! You can even wear your 'nice' clothes). Next week we will be off to Wildcat Wilderness, to see the brand new polytunnel and get stuck in to some lovely outdoor tasks. Thank you to Nykolette, who brought along some lovely sweet treats to celebrate Conroy's milestone, yum!

See you soon!

On the vernal equinox, ten athletes ran with a spring in their step, covering around 3km and preparing the Penge Congregational Church for painting on our next visit.

A very big thank you to Conroy, who greeted, then led the group to the task, as I had a meeting that overlapped ever so slightly. He had been very organised and had checked out where everyone was up to with their good deeds, discovering there was plenty to celebrate this week. We had Ian reaching his 20th, Hannah and Louise reaching their 25th and Stuart and Louise reaching their 26th! It's great to see what a fantastic core team we now have, all running and doing good consistently. We also marvelled at Louise's achievement in completing the Vertical Rush last week, 42 floors and 932 steps of running in just over ten minutes! Well done!

It was pointed out to me later on this evening, that today was the one year anniversary of GoodGym Bromley but, as I only took on the group (at a new start point) in July, which is also when most people started, we will probably wait until then and celebrate our Pengiversary.

Action stations!

When I arrived at the task, everyone was already busy, with high volume sanding to be heard as I entered the church. Some people were up ladders sponging down the walls and others were using masking tape to cover switches, skirting and the edges of the lovely coat hooks - Tim wondered here how it might have looked in Victorian times, with all the hats lined up...Chris, who had met us here, had prepared everything very carefully, with a platform in the space, to allow us to reach the very high ceilings, ladders, bowls of soapy water and plenty of equipment to keep everyone occupied. Before long, we could see that the space was ready for painting, so we will step back, let the walls dry and return next week to get busy with the brushes and rollers.

Sent from Heaven

Before we left, Chris asked if we would like some coffee and cake. This is rather special and quite unusual at a task, so of course we called out a resounding 'yes'! Chris had baked the cakes himself, beautiful little fairy cakes (or butterfly cakes?), which were absolutely delicious! Thank you. This break gave us a chance to talk a little about the various activities that happen in the church and hear about how the minister's daughter will be getting married here in the summer, hence the need for a fresh and clean entrance :) Saying goodbye for now, we headed down to Royston Field, a new park to us, which had perfectly spaced lamp posts for the fitness session I had planned. Taking a different move between each one, we had runners squatting, frog-leaping (like leap-frogging but without the obstacle), high-kneeing and plank-walking (or crab walking?). This was all rounded off with a nice long wall-sit. Good work, hopefully the cake gave you wings.

On our return leg, we noticed the clear sky, stars all around, looked forward to the clocks going forward at the weekend and talked about our return to Penge Congregational Church next week. You can sign up here - we need all hands on deck to get the painting done.

See you soon!

This week 16 wonderful GG-ers ran 4.5km (ish) delivering booklets for our fabulous hosts, The Phoenix. Most were kitted in their Santa hats / outfits, with Graham even riding a reindeer. Paul came armed with extra outfits, including a Santa dress – which Hazel wore with pride.

We were joined by GG newbie tonight, Heather – who moved to London to marry Shawn! Give them both a cheer!

After a quick warm up by the side, we ran off up the hill. After about 1.5km of running, we split into teams and began the leap frog flyering. Damian took one team, while I took the other. We had four bags full of the booklets – and as ever, made quick work of the lot!

Then it was time for a quick fitness session, starting with squats, burpees and lunges; and finishing with a race to 100 step ups on the curb. Graham was the speediest, very quickly followed by Sarah.

Damian then lead us back to base, while Freya and Rupesh took charge of the back-marking.

We then did all the stretches before heading upstairs at the Phoenix for our Christmas celebrations. There were many snacks, some even homemade, and a surprise appearance from Eleanor.

Tonight was Danica's last GG Barnet run before she leaves the country forever (or for ages) to go traveling. Give her all of the cheers and the virtual hugs

Thank you all for a wonderful year of GG Barnet-ing. Next week will be our final run - but I won't be able to make it. You'll be guest lead by the wonderful Camden Paul. See you all in the NEW YEAR!

Week 49! With one week until our birthday, 15 GG-ers gathered at the Phoenix to run 6km for Stephen's House and Gardens.

We were joined by GG newbie Ray – give him a cheer!

This week's task was organised by Paul, who volunteers with Stephen's House and Gardens. He lead us to the task, for which we flyered along the way, and collected the tools ready for us to use.

It was a real speedy run tonight, with the front group running around a 5 min/km and the back group running 5.30 min/km.

We were quick to work to, pulling all the weeds from around the tree – and litter picking the area – all in 20 minutes. Leaving plenty of time for Paul to take us on a quick tour of the grounds. We're very lucky in Barnet with all the lush green spaces we get to run through. Not seen anything like it in any of the other boroughs I've run in!

We had a quick play on some of the equipment, which we incorporated into a circuit, before the park closed. Paul then lead us home, with Freya my trusty back-marker.

Next week is our birthday. Tell your friends, bring biscuits, sign up here. Let's try and get as many people along as possible!

Props to Paul for this week's pun.

This week's Barnet Biscuit was some kind of chocolate creme filled chocolate sandwhich

LOADS of excellent runners tackled THREE tasks across Lambeth and did loads of good whilst they were at it

First up, hooray to Dee and Jim who finally got their black t-shirts after weeks of waiting. Another big hooray to Steve for hitting his 100th run and getting his wings t-shirt (on time and everything). BIG CHEERS for the excellent running all of you!

We had a nice big crowd along for some running and supporting community projects and we had a lot to do. After a nice warm up led by John we headed off to three brilliant tasks:

Group 1 was led by Sarah. They went back to the Moorlands Estate allotment and finished digging and woodchipping the path. We've been there a few times over the summer and this visit saw the path finally complete. Great stuff!

Group 2 was led by Katie. This saw another return to the BAGS OF SOIL at Loughborough Farm. They need to move some massive planters full of soil literally about 2 feet. Soil is heavy. Very very heavy. So we need to dig it from one bag to another. Rose was part of the group who made headway a few weeks ago and this time she was back for revenge! She totally smashed it in a neat little team of three, entirely emptying one bag into another before heading off to do some weeding. Katie, Beth, Nelly, Jim and John took on the fearsome task of a massive, super compacted bag. After a seemingly endless dig and shovel, they had still not transferred all of the soil. HOW IS THERE SO MUCH SOIL? Still, a top effort and a job well done by all.

Group 3 was led by James and John. They headed 2.5km down to Kennington Park and the lovely Bee Urban project led by Barnaby. There were three teams, one on watering, one on weeding and one turning compost. Dee also got handy with a saw DANGER KLAXON John did some fitness with them and everyone got tired.

And with that we all returned home and went to the pub, where we valiantly stayed outside because it's August even though we were all freezing. That's the GoodGym spirit!

This week 16 GoodGym-ers ran 5.5km to help the Barnet Furniture Centre with a flyer drop around Muswell Hill.

We were treated to a guest appearance from GG Barnet oldie Mark this week – give him a cheer!

Lots of hills for us to run up – with even more stairs for us to climb. Damian lead us to a residential part of Muswell Hill while Heather was our trusty back-marker. We split into teams to cover as much ground as possible.

We regrouped under the bridge, where Freya lead us up the stairs to a secret pathway up above London with the most beautiful view. Danica donned her badger face for the photo op before we ran back down to continue the flyering.

My team ran up a giant hill to flyer houses all a million steps away. GG Barnet is building legs of steel. Prima said flyering with the GG crew made running up hills a whole lot better – which everyone agreed with. Running up is always better with company.

The two teams then came together to split up for a final flyer push, before putting the remaining stacks back into our bags and heading towards Cherry Tree Woods for some games and burpees.

After all the running, I figured I'd be nice and let everyone sit down. So we played Duck, duck, goose. After several rounds, we played a game of Bulldog before finishing with the Barnet Burpees. Shawn and Paul were pretty speedy with the burpees and Heather requested we do the worm instead. Turns out none of us can do the worm. Something to work on.

We then ran back to base for this week's Barnet Biscuit: Flapjacks, courtesy of Damian

Well done, team!

Anyone looking to do a Parkrun with Freya this Saturday, sign up to Ally Pally here. More hills, beautiful views at the top.

12 runners ran 4.5km to strip paint for Kingsgate Community Centre

High knees, hill sprints, 'n helping. Climbing was a big theme of this Monday's GoodGym Brent where 12 runners ran 4.5k to help out Kingsgate Community Centre.

Starting from a brisk warmup outside the Queensbury, we jogged gently for 2k before arriving at Kingsgate Community Centre. Kudos to the Brent regulars who prevented me from going the wrong way!

At the Centre we were first told they weren't expecting us - argh! But not to fear! Our lovely contact Louise soon explained to the caretaker that we were there to help out and we got cracking on brushing the paint off the railings to set the groundwork for repainting. This should help Kingsgate when they come to repaint, so a worthy cause! Particularly inspiring to see some extra-pro scraping techniques being practiced including backwards scrubbing (courtesy Joe) and musical scraping tools (courtesy Tabitha). Definitely a visible difference and a good chunk of paint off by the end of the evening!

Whilst one group brushed and scrubbed to get the paint off, another group practiced hill sprints. We learned how to work the arms, technique for landing properly and driving the legs forward, and maintaining good form running uphill, before putting that into practice with either three hill sprints, or a continuous 5 minutes on the hills.

Everybody's form really improved even over just a few minutes, which was really encouraging to see!

But were the GoodGym Brent regulars satisfied with one fitness session? Oh no. We had some serious fitness fans in the mix tonight. Post-task we jogged over to Kilburn Grange park to do an exercise set and some core work with everyone contributing 2 of their favourite exercises. Some particular highlights were: squat jumps, burpees, riding your bicycle on the floor, and 10 seconds of mindfulness. Obligatory sit-ups and press-ups included.

Two fitness sessions down, we ran the rest of the way back before cooling down with a few stretches. Top running and good-deeding from all involved, and a lovely start to the week. Thanks for making my first visit to Brent such a great evening :)

OMG, is it true? Your damn right it is..... We hit 22! Not just that.... Now hold onto your hat Four Boys did come for some Goodgym fun!!

On a beautifully sunny Monday, we hosted Brent's largest ever familia affair, with a whopping 22 runners, rolling deep to represent the west wing of Goodgym! YIPPEEE And yes you did read that correctly we had not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR marvellous males, holding down the fort for the Brent Brigade. This is a big dealio y'all, because up until now, we've been a largely female populated crew, so to welcome these guys, filled us with delight!

Also in the mix this eve were four fabulous newbie faces: Dinesh, Zara, Simon and Audrey who to their credit threw themselves straight into the old familia faces of the beloved Brent crew, with all the smiles and enthusiasm under the setting the sun!

So after welcomes and housekeeping, we set to stepping the 2 mile dash down to the task for the eve, a Granville day out gardening jobey for our great friends - The Granville Community Kitchens in south kilburn. As we set off it was clear to see, with such great numbers there would be some diversity. Some were fast, some were slightly slower, but everyone running hard to get to the lawnmower!

With Debs and Joe taking on leader of the fast pack roles, there was no stopping the speedy twosome, as they pushed pace and got the front pack to the task in swift time. I led from the back and enjoyed every last chat with my gang of girlies; Mouse, Amy and the fabulous familia clique the Anandas, who as well, to my delight, had brought mum back!! Hurrah!!! Ready to rock the roads and give back for Goodgym looking fresh to death in her floral enemble. Go on Mum!!!

So with crew 2 arriving with me in 30mins flat, we were delighted to enter into an already busy scene. The weeds were being wacked, the plants watered, the holes for compost being dug and the awesome foursome of guys on deck, putting themselves to good use by shifting some Shhhhhhhhhhhshould we move on..... It definitely needed some expert MANoeuvring that MANure!!

While the gang worked their magic, Leslie our host served up some delicious treats! Fresh watermelon and some lovely cold H20 Water way to be treated hey!!!

With 30minutes of hard graft under our belts, the gang didn't stop there. Next up they got to stepping with some fitness drills to finish off the session. Three rounds of plank holds, with various arrangements: Low holds, high holds, hip dips, high to low changes and press up practice thrown in for good measure! Core blimey they were working hard and putting in the real-deal efforts..... I expect nothing less from this team of legends

Last whistle blow and it was sadly time to go. One last pose, because as we all know, I do love a snap of my Goodgym pack.

Last shutterbug of the night achieved and we were off once more, into the eve which was still gloriously light. The speed demons head off like bullets and leading the back-packers once more, we cruised it home with all the good vibes in the west! Snapping selfie pics with pink elephants all the way home.

Back at base and it was stretch and last banter, with The Ananda's mamma telling us of her secrets to youthful looks..... wait for it...... A full bowl of spicy curry before every run!!! Yikes But you should see this woman, like Benjamin Button, getting younger every step she took!! Think I may try that one out, but perhaps a Korma, no warmer?!?!?

BOY OH BOY, What a night, to welcome our blokes in with the female folks. We focussed our run, towards a wonderful cause in Kilburn. Ran four hefty miles all with big smiles. The weather couldn't have been hotter, but no group could be better, than GG Brent, from Goodgym, heaven sent.

See you next time fitness familia!!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE