DPR April Newsletter
Breaking News: We have new Kit! The Committee have decided to ditch the white and green! Keep reading for news on where to get yours!*
Happy April 1st! Hurrah for more light to run in and wonderful colours everywhere. Immediate things to get in your diary for April are a run organised by David M this Friday – message him quick to register your interest! Then it’s the Dash followed by our next Coaching Surgery at the Crown and Greyhound on 7th April – there’s a sign up sheet on What’s App. And on 11th April we are taking over as pacers at Dulwich Parkrun – but we need more! You don’t need to have done it before and any pace up to 40 minutes is welcome – it’s a lovely way to start a Saturday morning, everyone is always grateful and a fantastic way to give back to Parkrun which has helped so many of us on our running journeys! Please contact Ib at chair@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk to volunteer or find out more!
The 8am and 9am Beginners Courses also continue throughout April with the 5k-5miles Course at 10am finishing on the 11th. For all sessions we continue to need members to be run buddies – you don’t need to commit to more than a week and all you need to do is have friendly chats with the Beginners as they run, for the usual rewards of the satisfaction of giving back and helping people into running, and the cooked breakfast at a local café after the final session! For those who can’t stay for breakfast there’s an alternative offer of coffee on 18th April at the same cafe. Get your voucher on the day. To run with Beginners just turn up in good time for the job spec and route plan. You can ask questions by emailing beginners@dulwichparkrunners.com, or talk with Susan or Di.
As with any good party, all the photos that emerged from the Annual Dinner were blurred and dingy so above is the survivors’ run from the morning after. Needless to say there were some excellent dance moves on show, and we had a great night celebrating successes from the year! Drum roll please for the award winners: Parkrun Ladder: 1st – Nina Kenton, 2nd – Jo Fox, 3rd – Ilaria. Joint 4th – Emily W and Gillian. Dash 2025: 1st – Beth S, 2nd – Andrea, 3rd – Martha. Overall Attendance: 1st Susan 2nd Oghene 3rd Di 4th Darren 5th Zach. Summer League Attendance: Andrew, Ben, Darren, David M, Di, Lucy, Nat and Susan. XC Attendance: Adrian, Alan, Alison, Paul C, Chris I, Jess, Linda G, Lucy and Zach. And the Special Achievement Award was deservedly won by Katia for her amazing Iron Man achievement in the World Championships in Hawaii which proved her outstanding tenacity, mental strength, dedication, ability and courage to train for months, often solo for hours at a time, but also for everything she brings to the club as a coach and member leading runs and supporting others.
To help us make next year’s annual dinner even more memorable, we would love to hear from you – whether you were there celebrating with us or weren’t able to make it this time. Your feedback is so important in helping us design an annual dinner that reflects the interests of everyone in our club. Please take a moment to share your thoughts here. Thank you for your support!
Achievements in March
Sunday 8th March saw our first Club Championship of 2026 with the Paddock Wood Half Marathon. 35 of us took part in the race with 4 people undertaking their first half marathon, at least 13 PBs, some fantastic results and a lot of very happy people. Congratulations to Peggy, Jo S, James A and Raj who were all running their first half marathons, to Rachel G, Alex B, Dan H, Will B, Midge, Debbie, Zach, Tim M, Chris K, Darren, Melissa, Andrea and Jess H who all achieved PBs and Zach, Di, Alicky, Amanda L and Midge who were all in the top 30 of their age categories. Zach smashed his own Club Record by over a minute and a half! Full results can be found on the website here and the updated Club Records are here. Club medals will be presented at the post-London Marathon celebrations at the Clubhouse on the evening of Tuesday 28th April.
On the same weekend Gillian, Alison M and Lucy ran the Lisbon Half and Ib ran the Cambridge Half with both Alison and Ib achieving impressive PBs. Charlotte D ran a super PB in the Bath Half and Ruth Wise was in Liverpool for a super speedy time in only her second half marathon. Marathon training is akimbo with Clare D, Martha, James H, AJ and Susie all running the Thames Riverside 20 and Darren and Alex B running the MK Twin Lakes 20, with Mark doing the 10.
Congratulations to Zach who ran an excellent time at the Last Friday of the Month 5k in Hyde Park, to Nat who ran his 4th Superhalf in Prague on Saturday and to Gillian who ran her 2nd Superhalf in Berlin. Nearer home Susie took on her first Fell race up on the North Yorkshire Moors and Alicky ran a smashing time at the White Horse Half in Oxfordshire – pic below. Gin, Claire S, Sally and Ellen all ran the Kew Half – Claire and Sally running their first ever half marathons and Gin getting a PB. One of our newer members, James Gibbs, ran the Richmond Half. To top it all off Amanda only went and broke another Club Record by well over 5 minutes for the 20 mile distance at the Lydd 20 down in Kent – amazing!
Welcome to Henrik Ahi and Maria Koulopoulou who joined us and finally a massive congrats to Nino Harvey-Jones for becoming a Visually Impaired Running Guide – a fantastic thing to do!
This month we will have members running marathons in Brighton (both trail and road), Milan and Lake Garda and of course London on the 26th where our trusty team of marshals will also be out on the course. Look out for WhatsApp messages nearer the time with details of participants and how to track them.
Upcoming Races
Saturday 9th May – 5k Club Championship at Dulwich Parkrun. Please make sure you are registered with parkrun and have named DPR as your Club.
Tuesday 19th May – 1 mile Club Championship in Dulwich Park in place of the normal Club Run. The coaches have 6 week training plans available for anyone who wants one – email to get your copy and for any other coaching advice coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk. The evening will also include a children’s 1 mile Club Championship prior to the adults race – details to follow.
Sunday 26th July – 10k Club Championships at Regents Park Summer League hosted by Mornington Chasers
Sunday 4th October – The 5 mile Club Championship will be the DPR 5 mile open race in Dulwich Park
The 10 mile Club Championship will be the Cabbage Patch 10 on Sunday 18th October. Places will likely be available from 18th April. Places sold out extremely fast last year so we will be keeping an eye out for any announcement and letting you know asap.
The Cross Country Club Championship will be one of the Autumn XC events. For the Marathon Club Championship you can take part in any marathon in the calendar year – please let Lucy Ross know!
Summer League (all Sundays at 9.30am). A series of friendly running events between 9 London running clubs. The events all include a 5 mile or 10k adults race, a fun-run aimed at children under 6, a ‘tenderfoot’ race aimed at 6-14 year olds and a 300-400m relay. All events also include a picnic provided by the host club. The last two years we were 4th overall, up from 6th in 2023. 14th June – Headstone Manor (5m) 28th June – Perivale (5m) 12th July – Dulwich (5m) 26th July – Regents Park (10k).
Upcoming Socials
If the Annual Dinner got you yearning to hang out more with your favourite people, we have a fantastic line-up of socials and celebrations coming up. Mark your calendars – it would be great to see as many of you there as possible!
Sat 18 Apr @ 3:00 PM | Football ⚽ Come cheer on Dulwich Hamlet FC as they take on Burgess Hill Town! 👉 Book your Dulwich Hamlet ticket:
https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Tickets/SelectType?fixtureId=17160
Tue 28 Apr | Post-Run Pizza Night 🍕 Join us after the Tuesday run to celebrate our incredible marathon runners! We’ll have FREE pizza and drinks – this is always a popular night, so don’t miss out!
Tue 19 May & Tue 16 June | Club Pub Drinks 🍻 Join us for drinks at the pub immediately following our Tuesday club runs.
Sat 27 June @ 8:00 PM | 70s & 80s Disco Night 🕺 You asked for another dance night, so back by popular demand… is a night at the Rivoli Ballroom! These nights are legendary and sell out incredibly fast, so grab your ticket now to make sure you’re on the dance floor with us. 👉 Book your Rivoli ticket here
Juniors and Improvers
Our coaches are planning to hold a couple of training sessions for parents, to which their children are invited, in late April or early May. The main target is the Summer League races and relays (lots of points!!), and junior parkruns, but there’s also the kids race that we are organising at Dulwich Festival on May 10th, and the junior One Mile champs on 19th May. Please email to let us know your preferred dates and times and we will accommodate as many of you as possible. Sessions will be in Dulwich Park and last about 45 minutes. They are aimed at any child who can walk un-aided and can take direction. Parents need to be there, so obviously that applies to them too! No upper age limit. That applies to all parties too. Questions by email please to Susan, Tom, Katia or Zach at coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
And also remember there are free Thursday Improvers Sessions, if you’ve been running more than 10 miles per week over the last couple of months. For April we are still on the track! There are 4 sets of sessions running alongside each other all working on increasing your pace over distance; two with a mix of miles and speed for those on lower mileage to encourage a weekly increase, and two for those on higher mileage looking to work on their pace. All these sessions are good for anyone looking for increased speed over any distance, and for encouraging a 3rd run a week. Think of them as preparation for the spring 5 miles or 10k races, and for longer races such as 10 miles and half marathon. If you have any questions, would like to join us, or would like general coaching advice, please email coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
Sunday Runs
Thanks to James Hewlett for organising ‘Everyday I’m wafflin’ – our March DPR Sunday Social Members designed and led route! (pics above) On April 19 Jenny Kalogera will be leading us around Crystal Palace. Jenny writes: “…you’re warmly invited to join a gentle, designed and led run around the gorgeous Crystal Palace Park. We’ll take in the park’s beautiful scenery, enjoy good company, and finish with coffee in the park! Come along for fresh air, light movement, and a welcoming community atmosphere. Just bring comfortable trainers and a smile—I’d love to have you join us for this enjoyable, pressure-free run.”
And a reminder that our Sunday Social runs are a super relaxed way to get some miles in and to meet and run with other members of the club. We meet each week at 9.30am at Dulwich Park Café with an invitation for coffee after. We have a rota of 8k – 10k route suggestions, and whatever route we choose each week, shorter or longer versions are also available. All speeds & levels of fitness are catered for & equally welcome – we always have at a least a couple of people who will very happily run / jog / trot as gently as required – nobody runs on their own! Details about Sunday runs are published each week on WhatsApp – so check you’re added to the DPR Sunday Social Run group!
Meet a Member
After winning the Special Achievement Award we thought it was about time to hear from the incredible and inspiring Katia Hadaschik.
Tell us about your reasons for joining the club and some highlights for you whilst you’ve been a member!
I had to hang up my handball boots in 2005 due to a shoulder injury. I always liked the running and fitness aspect of this very dynamic and fast sport, it was a natural transition. I ran my first half marathon in Amsterdam in 2006 on a club abroad trip which was great fun. In fact, all of the club trips whether abroad or in the country are absolute highlights. For a few years the club organised trails runs in the grounds of Knole park followed by a picnic. They were fantastic days out. I also love all the social events such as the quiz night and the annual dinner.
What is your one favourite thing about DPR?
Its inclusivity. This is very important to me. I’ve made life long friends in DPR who mean the world to me. I’ve shared some of my dearest memories with them and hope there will be many more to come.
If you could only listen to one song before a race what would it be?
At the moment this would be ‘Hypnotized’ by John Summit featuring Ellie Goulding.
What’s your favourite thing to do after a race?
In order: drinking tea, lots of it, food, a hot shower, then lying down on the floor, closing my eyes and switch off. The hard surface grounds me and I feel my joints somehow re-set themselves. It’s hard to explain.
Any tips to stay motivated when training for races?
a) A training plan helps. It takes the thinking out of the whole process and you always know what you need to do each week.
b) Experimenting with different strategies keep it fresh as well, i.e. for the extreme ironman races I conducted a sweat test in order to adjust my hydration which offered itself to trying out new fuelling products, in itself an interesting project.
c) Teaming up with other people who are doing the same race or training for something similar. That way you work together towards the same goal.
d) Obviously a new bike or new trainers would give a massive boost but those motivators are expensive.
Favourite Pilates pose? (Katia is a qualified instructor, who led many members in sessions over lockdown!)
There are many 🙂 I like to lie on the floor facing up with a Pilates ball under my upper spine. I have a tendency to slightly curl forward from my shoulders so this opens everything up and is quite relaxing at the same time.
*I really like this kit, but I’m afraid it was an April Fools…