Ten tree-mendous runners made fir-ly tree-sy work of clearing the streets of discarded Christmas trees.

A big welcome to Nick who was joining the Bromley group for the first time, and welcome back to Raven.

Our planned task was postponed so the Christmas tree hunt was brought forward a week. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I recall the trees being rather spiky last year, having had a little longer to dry out before being whisked away by our marvelous runners for chipping.

We headed to the park for a warm-up using the trusty stress pig to throw around the group, with the recipient choosing the warm-up exercise. After a round of star jumps, squats, high knees and leg swings, we switched our tree radars on and headed out on our hunt. Sam had spotted a tree on the way into the park, which was the first of many trees gathered.

My initial concerns about finding enough trees were unfounded as shouts of 'tree!' came thick and fast and we were soon laden down. We certainly raised a few eyebrows as our chain of trees made their way over the bridge at Penge East station. The next tree to be collected had tinsel and a bauble still on it, the owner evidently not doing a very thorough job when taking their decorations down! Our ingenious runners had decided to form a chain to carry as many trees as possible, with no fewer than 6 runners and 5 trees forming one long line along the pavement at one point. By the time we had reached the drop-off point at Mayow Park, we had gathered an impressive 9 trees, with some rather sizeable specimens amongst them. The gates to the park were locked so we heaved them over the railings, before splitting into small groups and heading off to search the roads around the park. Each of the groups returned with more trees, with special mention going to Reece and Ian who managed to find not one, not two but FIVE more trees, taking the groups final count to 19, a tree-rific effort.

As the task had worked our upper bodies so hard, I thought it only right to balance things out and give our legs a work-out. After a run back towards our start-point, we diverted to a local park where the speaker came out of my bag, prompting groans from those who knew what it meant.. Moby's 'Bring Sally Up', aka the squat song. I promise not to be so mean next week.

Talking of next week, we can hopefully reschedule our visit to Forest Hill, keep an eye on the task page here for an update and to sign up.

It was a triple whammy for GoodGym Bromley, with a 1, 10 and 101 to celebrate.

Our fabulous eleven met in the garden of the Bridge House for surely what must be one of the last times before darkness forces us inside. As well as the big 10th birthday, we celebrated Ian's massive 101 good deeds, well done Ian! If that wasn't enough, it was Darryl's 1st GG anniversary, big cheers all round.

// I see a little silhouette of a man (and woman)

Armed with our fabulous new flag, we headed to Crystal Palace Park for a warm-up photo shoot, trying to take in as many local landmarks as possible. We were spoilt for choice, with Guy the Gorilla, the prehistoric stags, the transmitter and the dinosaur bones in the children's playground all getting the flag treatment. Photos taken, we headed off to Melvin Hall, with Darryl bringing up the rear.

Once we had snuck past the choir practice in the hall to find Kathy, our host for the task, we split into 3 groups to tackle what must be one of the stranger tasks we have done in a while. Nykolette, Olga and Tim set to work cleaning the tiles in the kitchen, whilst the others gathered buckets, brooms and mops to clean the outer window sills and frames in the fast-fading light. Who knew mops could be used to clean windows? The garden at Melvin Hall was looking fabulous and the colour-changing solar lights provided a splash of colour whilst we worked. Tiles gleaming and window frames cleaned, we headed back towards our start point. The temptation of another local landmark photo opportunity proved too strong and we unfurled our flag in front of the fun topiary dinosaur which, despite living close-by, Raven had never noticed before.

We nipped into the edge of a local park for some tricep dips against a handily positioned wall, before challenging our thighs with everyone's favourite Moby song. Legs suitably wobbly, we headed gingerly back to find Adele, our much missed trainer, who was waiting for us in the pub. We discovered that the flag made a perfect table cloth for our drinks and snacks, which included hummous a la drawing pin. Ian had made some delicious chocolate rice crispie squares, which were the perfect end to a great evening.

This weekend is filled with missions to celebrate our 10th birthday, Sam is impressively planning to do 2 on the same day, excellent work Sam! Next week we are off to Cator Park, sign up here for one of the last outdoor tasks of the season.

What a wonderful evening of doing good in Bromley!

I mixed things up a bit this week (this might happen every week) and we all did a short run up to Crystal Palace Park to hear all about the news in Bromley. We warmed up with a quick game of Everybody’s It with squats when you got tagged, I got some strange looks at first when I tried to describe the game but everyone soon got into it and some people unfortunately seemed to continuously be doing squats!

We made our way over to St John’s Meadow and there were various tasks to be completed:

• removing all the very tall thistles
• removing any spikey plants whilst avoiding the saplings planted around that area
• filling the raised beds from the huge bags of compost

Everyone got stuck into the tasks and we were determined to get everything done before it was time for us to leave! Amazing teamwork and we succeeded - well done everyone!!

We made our way back to Crystal Palace Park (after checking Adele would run through the park in the dark, wouldn’t want to do anything Adele wouldn’t!), we headed back through the park for a quick fitness session.

It doesn’t have a name (that I know) but one half of the group held a plank for 1 minute whilst the other half did star jumps, then we had a 30 second break and switched over - all whilst I was shouting encouragement!

Quick stretch and a recap of all the upcoming events in the area from community missions to parkrun birthdays and parkrun takeovers.

The light faded fast on our thirteen fabulous runners, is summer really over already?

A big Bromley welcome to Ollie and Raven who came on their first GoodGym run, and congratulations to Tim who did his 100th parkrun at Bromley on Saturday. In true Tim style, he celebrated with gherkins, and cake of course.

After a quick warm-up, we headed off to a brand new task, helping Sustrans clear the path alongside Lower Sydenham Station. Thanks to Ian for back marking, tonight was his 98th good deed, so very close to gaining his wings.

A pleasant run through Cator Park and down Waterlink Way brought us to the station, where Roxane and Ellenie were waiting for us, along with Sam who had made his own way to the task. The main job for the evening was clearing the jumble of brambles that was encroaching onto the footpath, and everyone soon got stuck in. Brambles were chopped and pulled, overhanging branches were cut and nettles were annihilated. We worked to the sounds of a local band practicing on the other side of the tracks, interspersed with the trains and a particularly vocal flock of birds in the trees above us.

As the light faded, our runners shone brightly whilst they worked. Witness the magical glow on the photos, proof indeed that reflector strips work.

When the time came to finish up, it was clear just what a difference we had made along the whole length of the path. Roxane and Ellenie were delighted with our efforts and told us about Sustrans plans to install some children's play equipment in the area. There was just time for a group photo, complete with Sustrans cycle network banner, before we headed back along the thankfully lit Waterlink Way. We had come prepared with head torches and we certainly attracted attention as we made our way through Penge.

We just had time to stretch before a quick reminder about this Thursday's GoodGym social, and next week's task at St Johns Meadow. Sign up here. To celebrate GoodGym's 10th birthday, we'll be stopping for a few drinks and something to eat at the Bridge House after the task on Tuesday 17th September. Come and join us!