DPR March Newsletter
Doesn’t it feel good running in sunshine again?! It’s the final call for the Beginners Courses which begin next Saturday 14th (before the Annual Dinner!) so get recruiting friends, colleagues, neighbours so you can enjoy spring jaunts together. For all sessions we 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! Just turn up in good time for the job spec and route plan.
Applications are open here – and please spread the word using the leaflet. You can ask questions by emailing beginners@dulwichparkrunners.com, or talk with Susan or Di. And remember the courses are free to DPR members!
Looking forward to seeing many of you after the first Beginners Session at the Annual Dinner (in your glad rags please!) for a night of medals, yummy food and dancing. One of the awards we will be giving on the night is the Special Achievement Award for the Year. Our nominees – who cannot be DPR Committee members – are Zsuzsanna Barkanyi, Darren Cheek, Peggy Cosgrove, Anna Gregorowski, Katia Hadaschik, Chris Ince, Amanda Larrington, Sarah McPoland, Tim Murray and Susan Smith. Find out reasons for the nominations and our winner on the night – and of course in next month’s newsletter!
February Achievements
Massive kudos to Harris Leung who ran 5k every hour from 8pm to 8am overnight clocking up a stonking 37.54 miles! Several members braved the cold and rain to take part in the London Winter 10k – Kate G, Alex M, Nina K, Sandra, Rachel W, Jill G, Nino and Jane H. Congratulations to Rachel on her PB and Alex on her first 10k race! Huge congratulations to Carlisle who wowed us with his sub 3 hr time at the Seville Marathon, and to Ila who got a fancy medal in a Maltese 5k. Ronnie, Ben, Adam W, Alison M, Amanda L, Mark and Conor ran the Wokingham Half with Conor and Mark (expertly paced by Adam) getting PBs.
We are entering Marathon season evidenced by the huge mileage that many of our members are clocking up in preparation. We were lucky enough to be spoiled on Shrove Tuesday as James, AJ, Ronnie and Kate served up pancakes and waffles to raise money for their London Marathon charities.
And welcome to our new members for February, John Paterson, Alex Green, John Caitlin and Henrik Ahi – we hope you feel very welcome!
Upcoming Races
Tomorrow sees our first Club Championship of the year, the Paddock Wood Half Marathon. There is a whatsapp group here for those running the race – useful for journey planning etc. Good luck to everyone running! Please post your medal selfies and look forward to hearing all about it!
11th April – we are taking over Dulwich Parkrun providing pacers and hoping for a sea of white and green! We will be looking for volunteers nearer the time so diarise please.
9th May – 5k Club Championships at Dulwich Parkrun
19th May – 1 mile Club Championships in Dulwich Park in place of the normal Club Run. The evening will also include a children’s 1 mile Club Championship – details to follow.
14th June – Summer League at Headstone Manor
28th June – Summer League at Perivale
12th July – our brilliant Summer League event at Dulwich – get this one in your diary now, and anyone who you can rope into helping us run the event on the day!
26th July – 10k Club Championship at Regents Park Summer League hosted by Mornington Chasers
6th September – Big Half – 30 of us are running with all the community places we were allocated now claimed!
4th October – The 5 mile Club Championship will be the DPR 5 mile open race in Dulwich Park – another one where we will need volunteers as well as runners!
The 10 mile Club Championship will be the Cabbage Patch 10 in October. The date is yet to be confirmed but is likely to be Sunday 18th October. Places should become available in early April and we will be keeping an eye out for any announcement and let you know asap. They sold out in record time last year so this year we will be on it! The Cross Country Club Championship will be one of the Autumn XC events.
And the Marathon Club Championship is open to anyone running any marathon in the calendar year. Please let Lucy Ross know if that’s you!
To get you ready for those races, remember our trusty coaches are always around to support members who would like general help with their running, to increase their weekly mileage, or specific race training plans. Our next Coaching Surgery is Tuesday 7th April after the Dash. In the meantime for coaching advice of any kind please contact Susan, Tom, Katia or Zach at coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
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!
On Sunday March 29 we have our next DPR member designed and led run, with Club Co-Chairman James Hewlett. James describes this simply as “…a very magical mystery tour!” Hopefully this will prove a lot less wet and muddy than our recent Sunday ‘accidental’ comedy trail through Belair Park – pic above!
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 March we are back 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. 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
Our New Committee Members
After our exciting AGM last month we welcomed two new members to the Committee – Ib as Co-Chair (alongside David W) and Blanche as Secretary – pics of them below so you can say hello! Massive thanks to James and Emma who have stepped down after years of long service! Alongside David, Ib and Blanche we continue to have Andrea as Treasurer, Mark on Kit, Lucy R as Club Captain, Rachel W as Welfare Officer, Lynne and Alex on Socials, Jess on Comms and David M on Membership. Also a massive thank you to those who are helping out in specific non-committee roles – Rachel J who will be our second Welfare Officer, Colin and Nat who are arranging Summer League, Gillian who is organising the Parkrun Ladder and Lucy W for continuing to lead us in the Dash!
Meet our Co-Chairs
Here’s a reminder of what David W looks like! Him and Ib are our DPR co-chairs for the year! We find out a bit more about them here….
What do you most love about DPR? David: The thing I love the most is that there is always a running or social event to get involved in – you can fill your calendar with DPR happenings if you want! To be a bit serious for a second, when I joined the club I was having a difficult time and “keeping busy” with wonderful DPR folk really helped. Ib: I am going to steal something another member said to me once and I do think is very true (I lived it when I travelled for work). The person wisely said: The great thing with DPR is you can be as involved as much or as little as your life needs at any time. They are warmly consistently there.
What do you most admire about your co-chair? David: I think Ib is pretty adventurous. Since I’ve been in the club, Ib has lived abroad and posted runs in Spain, France, Norway…all over! Ib: I don’t actually know David that well but looking forward to getting to know him better over the next year as we work together. This might be interpreted as me saying I have not seen much to admire yet… That is not my intention! An act of kindness in Tromso has put him in the good egg category at the moment…
Tell us a bit about your running journey. David: One of my best friends trained for a marathon during COVID and then got me back into running, starting with the Bath Half in 2022. Me, him and another friend go away for two Half Marathon weekends a year. Our first international trip is next month – to Ibiza! Ib: My running started with wine over 20 years ago. A work friend, who was always into running, got us pissed and persuaded us we wanted to enter a 10k. I still remember my first run of St James park where I failed to complete the lap (under 2k). To our credit we did all finish that 10k and so began a cycle where I would run a bit. Get injured and then stop for years. That work friend became a friend friend. I was in my non running phase and she decided for her 40th birthday she wanted us to run a 10k. My bike had just been stolen so I thought why not. That 10k led to Elkie. Elkie led to DPR… Last year was a running goal heavy year. So this year trying to be a bit more relaxed about the running while I sort out my non-running life…
And a couple of bonuses from David (we’ll get Ib’s next time!):
What do you listen to on a run? Absolutely nothing! But I do make exceptions for very long training runs with a podcast or sport on the radio.
Favourite song to get you on the dancefloor: Like a Prayer – Madonna (Ed: someone get that to the Annual Dinner DJ please…)
Here’s to a brilliant year ahead!