Weekly Club Runs
The club offers 3 weekly running opportunities. Tuesday evening is offered on a relaxed ‘drop-in’ basis. Thursday evenings we offer a more focused series of coaching sessions. And Sunday mornings we offer another relaxed ‘drop-in’ social run, often with the opportunity for coffee after. More details below…
Tuesday Nights
Tuesday night is the principal club night. Run with others for safety and support!
Do come along! Each week we offer groups to run with at a suitable pace and distance. You should be able to run/jog 5 miles and hold a conversation. (If this is a little too far we run a fantastic ‘beginners’ course for those new to running or who wish to increase their distance). Back to Tuesday nights: we usually begin with club notices, followed by a quick warm up, after which we break into different groups of suitable paces and lengths for runs that usually last up to an hour. Each week we rotate through a number of pre-arranged routes of varying distance. You can obviously use the routes at any time.
Our tailored Tuesday night runs provide a friendly, relaxed and supportive space to help you improve your fitness, and because we run together in groups, you get to know other members of the club.
Preferably let us know you’re coming but you can just drop in if you prefer. We’ll see you there!
We meet at the Trevor Bailey Sports Ground on the South Circular.
Thursday Nights-Coached Sessions
So you want to get faster, stronger and develop your stamina? Club member, Susan Smith, offers on Thursday evenings free coached sessions for those members of the club who are running 10 miles per week or more. Lasting about an hour, the sessions take place either on the track at Dulwich College, or on suitable local hills or street circuits. Participants work on a series of repeats at different speeds and distances.
Sessions focus on endurance, stamina or speed and running technique. The sessions suit different levels of ability and experience. Susan asks that you let her know in advance that you wish to come along: coach@dulwichparkrunners.com
There’s a link here to information about our coaches
https://www.dulwichparkrunners.co.uk/club-nights/#Our_Coaches
Sunday Mornings and other Club Runs
Our Sunday runs provide an informal, social space to help you improve your fitness (and are often followed by a coffee!).
Members meet at the Clock Cafe in Dulwich Park for a social run on Sunday mornings at 9.30am
Runs also finish at the Dulwich Clock Café.
As with Tuesday evenings, runners break into different groups of suitable paces and lengths for runs.
Each week we select from a number of pre-arranged routes of varying distance. Routes are posted in the DPR Sunday Runs WhatsApp group chat.
If you like the sound of our events, why not pop along and come for a run with us on a Tuesday or Sunday and see what you think. Just let us know you’re coming and we’ll see you there!
The Dulwich Dash
The first Tuesday of each month has slightly different flavour from other weeks and features the long-standing Dulwich Dash!
The Dulwich Dash is a fun opportunity to challenge yourself and test your stamina and speed, in a pre-planned 2-mile ‘chase-race’ around the streets of Dulwich or around Dulwich Park.
But you don’t have to race and you don’t have to be chased!
How does The Dulwich Dash Work?
The Dash is a fun event. Runners start at different times, with quicker runners starting last – so everyone is in with the chance of winning each month’s race!
Points are awarded each month based on your finishing position and these then count towards an annual trophy. Over the course of the year seemingly insurmountable leads can disappear as starting times are adjusted accordingly for each event.
And there are a few fun surprise prizes along the way too!
Once we’ve recovered our breath we then decamp to a nearby hostelry in Dulwich Village or Lordship Lane for some well-earned refuelling.
And for those wanting a longer run you can of course supplement it with a run to and from the evening, or arrange to run before or after The Dash with other club members too.
Our Coaches
Details of our coaches below. For advice on various themes relating to running see our Development and Coaching page
Susan joined DPR as a new runner in 1986, completing London, her first marathon, the following year. Since then she has run three more all under 4 hours with a pb at F50 of 3:26:51, and worked her way through the club records board over all distances from 1 mile upwards. Besides holding various roles on DPR’s committee, Susan has joint led the Beginner Courses since 1993, and informally coached for DPR whilst gaining her Diploma in Sport Psychology (2003) and Fit2Run Advanced Btec First Certificate in Sport with grade distinction (2006), followed by the England Athletics’ ‘Leadership in Running Fitness’ and ‘Coach in Running Fitness’ courses. The latter was in November 2014 followed up by various development, movement skills and safeguarding courses. Outside running Susan likes trips to the seaside, chatting with cats, and eating cake, not necessarily in that order.
Zach joined DPR in September 2021 and shortly afterwards ran his first cross-country race for 35 years. He enjoyed his first DPR cross-country season so much that he took England Athletics’ Leadership in Running Fitness course in spring 2022 and has been helping with our Beginners courses and Cross-Country introductions ever since. He has progressed through road racing distances, ticking off 10k, half-marathon and finally the marathon distance in Edinburgh in 2024. He hopes to achieve a childhood ambition in 2025 and run the London Marathon. He holds a number of the club’s age category records including M40 5k and M50 10 miles and marathon distances. Before taking up running Zach was a keen cyclist, taking part in continental sportives as well as racing in the UK. When not eating or sleeping after a long run Zach might be found at the theatre or watching Arsenal.
Katia started her career in competitive team sports in Germany, playing volleyball and handball. She moved to the UK in 1995 and ended up winning both the British Cup and League in handball on several occasions with the Ruislip Eagles. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury forced her to hang up her handball boots, but this led her to join the Dulwich Park Runners in 2003. She has held various DPR committee posts over the years and helped to organise running trips abroad. In 2009 she completed a Master’s Degree in Design and Research for Disabilities and ran the London Marathon fundraising for the Joy of Sound, a charity that facilitates music sessions for people with severe physical and mental challenges. She took up Triathlon in 2014 and has since completed over 10 middle distance triathlons and five Ironman races: two ‘regular’ and three ‘extreme’. In 2024 she qualified for the Ironman world championships in Hawaii in 2025. Social inclusion, movement and endurance sports are close to her heart. Whilst training as a Pilates teacher in 2019 she offered free Pilates classes to DPR members, some of whom are still attending. In 2022 she took England Athletics’ Leadership in Running and Fitness course. When she’s not swimming, cycling or teaching Pilates she can often be found helping out with the DPR beginners’ course or leading the occasional club run.
