Embracing all that the Thames Path has to offer, thirty determined runners tackled over 10km, shifted wheelbarrows of woodchip, swept pens, picked up apples, weeded paths and maybe petted some animals along the way.

Thank you Caireen for this week's title pun!

Once again, we were delighted to welcome some new faces into the fold. This week's Lewisham Love is being extended to Hannah, Jamie and Sophie, all brand new GoodGym runners and Eleanor, Mark, Vojtech, who have joined in before, but not here in Lewisham. That's a lot of new names to remember!

We were in a hurry to get going this evening, but there was so much to say and to celebrate! Well done to Eva and Chris, who ran a half-marathon on Saturday - it was Eva's first and Chris grabbed a PB! Congratulations also to Frances (though I forgot to mention this at the time) on running her 50th parkrun at the weekend, during GoodGym pacer week at Tooting Bec parkrun. Big noise though went to Stephen today, for reaching his own milestone and his 50th good deed, well done Steve, it's been wonderful seeing you progress and grow as a runner over the past year.

Our warm-up was ridiculously brief today, but we had goats to get to. Our run was much longer, with over 10k to cover in the course of the evening, so we picked up the pace, with the wonderful Eva and Caireen keeping us together at the back - nobody gets left behind here! It's been a while since we ran in this direction, so what a rare treat to breathe in the smells of the tail end of Deptford Market...We were soon sweeping around and onto Evelyn Street and towards the Thames Path. Not the most scenic route we could take, but direct and quick.

Before we knew it, we were then breathing in the scent of the country, right here in urban London. Meeting us down on the farm were Gemma, the farm manager and Mridula, who was so eager, she got here before us! Good going Mridula ;) So that made us thirty, yes thirty! So many people to take on the many tasks that keep a farm running smoothly. Gemma quickly handed out tools and jobs, with the main focus being around the yard. We had:

• apple bobbers, gathering, scooping and boxing the fallen apples in the densely fruiting orchard
• weeders, clearing the path edges of nettles, brambles and random greenery
• woodchip chippers, shovelling piles of hot 'n' steamy woodchip into barrows then swiftly wheeling it to the community garden area
• goatherders, immersing themselves in all things goat, whilst pretending to sweep up poop (they really were sweeping, but there was a lot of petting going on)

This joyous existence could easily be slipped into, as if it were our everyday life, with talk of jam-making and cider-brewing, a donkey braying in the distance, sheep chewing idly whilst looking across the field and a cheeky little fox cub taking liberties in the the pig pen. Sadly, time was against us and we had to gather our tools and make our way back to Lewisham. Life is good in Rotherhithe. As this was a long run, I gave the option of catching the train back but, get this, everyone apart from one (who had to get back quickly) took the running option. Yessss, go GoodGym Lewisham!

It was definitely the right decision too, with a riverside run, a pause to pose and some more opportunity to natter en route. Well done everyone, it was possibly the longest run in a while for some and a great way to spend Monday evening. Thank you to Stephen for sharing some sweet/some healthy treats, just what we fancied on our return.

Next week we are heading over to Seniors to get those benches sorted once and for all! Sign up and join in, all hands (and feet) on deck!