DPR May Newsletter
Hurrah for the month of only 2 working Mondays, and more time for running! It was so inspiring to see our amazing 13 London marathon finishers, as well as everyone else who has recently done the big 26.2 miles whether in Brighton, Lake Garda or somewhere else! It was fab to celebrate them, and our 30 wonderful marshals, on Tuesday with medals and pizza galore. Read on for both ideas on how to up your runs, and also how to get more involved in our club events that we put on for the running and local community! Pics of our wonderful marathoners and marshals below.
May Frolics
If you’re quick you can still make 9am and the last opportunity to have friendly chats with the Beginners as they run their first ever 5 miles. It’s your chance to gain the satisfaction of giving back and helping people into running, as well as a free cooked breakfast! Get down there quick to claim your voucher and thank you so much to everyone who has helped throughout the course.
Next Saturday 9th May we have our next Club Championship – the 5km at Dulwich Parkrun. Please make sure you are registered with parkrun and have named DPR as your Club. Meet at the parkrun start for a 9am start. This is not a chip timed run so if you are looking for a competitive time do start nearer to the front of the field. Please remember to wear Club Kit!
The 9th is also the return of our Parkrun Ladder, a friendly competition open to everyone and which anyone can win irrespective of pace. Everyone wins points every time they take part! It is a gentle way (or not so gentle way if you prefer) to commit yourself to regular Saturday runs. It will run for 10 weeks until 18th July (but with no Ladder on the 11th of July). Your best 8 weeks will count towards the Ladder with the winner announced in September. Every Wednesday look out for more information/instructions/fun on What’s App from Gillian, our Parkrun Taskmaster.
Our second Club Championship of the month is Tuesday 19th May – 1 mile in Dulwich Park in place of the normal Club Run. The evening will also include a children’s 1 mile Club Championship at 7pm and we will meet where parkrun starts.
Juniors
As well as the children’s 1 mile race on the 19th we have loads going on for Juniors at the moment, so if you’ve got kids who are keen to start running do get involved. Our coaches are holding a training sessions for parents, to which their children are invited, tomorrow Sunday 3rd May at 1pm. The main target is the Summer League races and relays (we get extra points for younger members!), and junior parkruns, but there’s also the kids race that we are organising at Dulwich Festival on May 10th – for which we need volunteers – talk to James H if you can help! Any questions on the junior coaching offer on the Junior What’s App channel or by email to coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
June means Summer League
June marks the beginning of Summer League – four FREE 5 mile or 10km races in parks across London over the summer with picnics afterwards! Nine running clubs including DPR compete and there are also fun runs for children and relays. The last two years we came 4th overall (in large part due to our younger and older members getting us extra points!) up from 6th in 2023. The dates to have in your diary are 14th June – Headstone Manor (5m), 28th June – Perivale (5m), the BIG ONE 12th July – Dulwich (5m) where we need volunteers especially to run the water station and finally 26th July – Regents Park (10k) which is also our Club Championship.
Since the last newsletter.....
As well as our London marathon runners brilliantly running and raising money in hot conditions – AJ, James Hewlett, Ronnie (with a PB!), Kate G, Clare, Lucy, Alex B, Nicole, Susie, Darren, Amanda, James Hickson and Dominic – we also saw Helen, Gin and Lucy (AGAIN!!) tackling the hills of the Maverick Brighton Trail Marathon (pic above, big kudos to Gin who had never done a trail run before) and Debbie, Martha, Jenny W and Zach all doing great times at the main Brighton Marathon. Amanda, Susie, Matt D and Mark were in Italy for the Lake Garda Half with Will B and Sharin doing super times in the Marathon (pic of some Garda peeps below).
Jamie Gibbs did two Half Marathons in Victoria Park and Dulwich Park, and further afield Alex B was in Germany for the interestingly named Berlin Bunny Chase Half Marathon while David W was clubbing it at the Ibiza Half Marathon. Ila and Sarah McP both did the Crystal Palace 10k and Gillian guided a visually impaired runner to a PB at the Battersea Chase the Sun 10k.
We also saw two new Club Records in the monthly Dash. In March Katy Billington ran a super fast 12:51 and in April Dave H ran a brilliant 18:56. Congratulations to both. The updated Club Records can be seen on the Website here
https://www.dulwichparkrunners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Club-Records-April-2026.pdf
The month of May will see our members take on more marathons including Milton Keynes, Belfast, Liege, Edinburgh, Stockholm and Cape Town. Anyone else? Let Lucy Ross know. Anyone running a marathon is automatically entered into our Club Championship!
Finally a big welcome to our new members in April – Ian Frost, Evie Richards, Andrea Richards, Kath Bower, Alex Callaghan, Jamie Walpington and Jamie Gibbs.
Thursdays and Sundays
Remember that as well as our social Tuesday runs at 1830 and 1930, we also have sessions on Thursdays and Sundays! Our coaches run free Thursday Improvers Sessions if you’ve been running more than 10 miles per week over the last couple of months. For May and June we are on the track, working on shorter distance speed. There will be sessions at a mix of miles and speed – those on a lower weekly mileage will be increasing distance and those on a higher weekly mileage will be working on their pace. All the sessions are good for anyone looking for increased speed over any distance, and for encouraging an extra run in a week. Think of them as preparation for the Summer League races and relays! If you have any questions, would like to join us, or would like general coaching advice from any of the Coaches or Run Leaders, please email Susan, Tom, Katia or Zach at coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
Our Sunday Social runs are a great 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!
With thank you to Jenny Kalogera for April’s members led and designed run – which led us on an adventurous route to, from and around Crystal Palace Park, where we even got to meet a few of the recently restored dinos – pic above!
On Sunday May 24 David Mullany will lead our next member designed and led run. He writes: “Join us for a rural trail run – in London! Treat yourself to an exploration of the Petts Wood area, with two country parks, a variety of routes suitable for all abilities / speeds etc, and some real surprises. Very beautiful countryside – all within easy distance, and with a not too early train from Victoria Station at 9.40am. And of course, as ever, coffee and cake for those in need afterwards!” More details about logistics and timings for this run, and all Sunday runs, are published each week on What’s App – so check you’re added to the DPR Sunday Social Run group!
Meet Two Members
Completely counter-intuitively as the sun is shining and we look forward to Summer League, today we meet our cross-country captains, simply the best, the A team – Alan and Alison!
1. Why did you join DPR and what do you most love about the club?
Alan: I joined about 10 years ago as I was looking for something to fill my time as I’d given up 11-a-side football. I recall running a couple of marathons before then, and some fun runs, but in a very undisciplined way, no structure at all really. The club has been a great place to continue my unstructured, undisciplined approach to running despite being surrounded by an abundance of coaching talent in the club. What I like about running with the club is getting to the finish line, followed by the coffee, chat and the “occasional” beer.
Alison: Like so many members my DPR story began in 2022 when I joined the beginners course. The 5k to 5 miles was perfect for me as I had taken up running over lock down. After months of running the Tooting Common park run I wanted to challenge myself to go further! I love DPR quite simply because everyone is soooooo kind! It really is the nicest bunch of people and I’m so grateful I get to run with them!
2. Running Tunes – whether before, during, after?
Alan: Whilst running I like to either chat or listen to my own heavy breathing. If I put on a tune to get me going, it would be the drop in Faithless’ Insomnia.
Alison: Running tunes totally depend on my mood and the kind of run…but Chemical Brothers is my ‘go to’ before every race.
3. Why do you love cross-country? (pic below to show how much Alison loves cross country)
Alan: It’s better than running on concrete or pavements, you feel at one with nature, and sometimes come out looking as if you are something from nature. And of course the finish line followed by chat, coffee, cakes and beer.
Alison: If DPR is the kindest running club around…X/C Ladies are the kindest team! It’s a brilliant combination of competition, scenery and cake… and for me personally when struggling with the monotony of marathon training…it was a really helpful change!
Only 5 months to go til we get to wallow again!