Seven sturdy Goodgymmers gathered at the Phoenix for our group re-run to Shepherds Hill Gardens. It's a good long one, and to make it inclusive, we set up a walking group as well, with Patricia and Paul setting off early.

Yet we also gathered to celebrate yet another amazing milestone: Richard's 400th mission! Well, technically 402nd, as he'd been busy over the weekend helping at Ally Pally Park Run, but still, out came the hat, and we had our little ceremonial congratulations for the evening.

Subham joined us just in time for the warm up, and tonight's icebreaker was about pets, dissections and weird animals. Rachel shared a story about feeding crickets on the loose, and I recalled a fond memory of my tortoise, also called George. And, courtesy of Victoria, we learned schools in the US do a lot of weird dissection.

Then it was off for the long 2.7km run to Shepherds Hill, where Pat had already broken out the brooms and rake. There was a pile of dumped cement in one corner, which Subham gamely resolved, while Patricia tackled the grass areas, raking everything up. Everyone else was on path duties, catching all the early autumn leaves and carrying them in bags down to the leaf pile in the wood.

And before we knew it, it was time for our little tea break - some lovely fresh mint, guava juice and biscuits - so many biscuits, including a special vegan treat for me! We ate enough to earn the run back to the Phoenix, arriving about 20:30 for a warm down and a pat on our proverbial backs for treating ourselves to a night of fitness and helping the Friends of Shepherds Hill shepherd the hill.