DPR October Newsletter

Run Leaders
We’re always thinking about how we can improve our Tuesday evening club nights. One thing we would like to do is to start a cohort of ‘run leaders’, who can help guide the different running groups on the Tuesday evening runs, with the aim to reduce the risk of members of a group separating or becoming detached mid-run. 

2023 Club Championships
A small reshuffle in the line-up for the remaining club championships, with the 5k club championship now taking place on Saturday 4 November at Dulwich parkrun.

As above, this year’s cross country club championship will be our Surrey League fixture on Saturday 11 November.

The 10k championship will be on the Runthrough 10k at Greenwich Park on Sunday 17 December, with a 10am start. But don’t enter the race yet – we’re hoping to have access to a discount code.

We’ve also already started planning for 2024, and can announce that the half marathon club championship for 2024 will be the Kew Gardens Half Marathon on 31 March 2024.

Club mid-year forum feedback
Thank you to everyone who came along to club’s mid-year forum on 19 September – the discussion and ideas are very useful. We’ve listed the items written onto post-it notes here – if you’d like to give further feedback, you can do that by emailing comms@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk by 15 October. The committee will then be discussing next steps. 

Beginners
The Autumn beginners course is halfway through, marked with parkrun at the end of September. The 5k-5 mile group have just finished their course. It’s a small group by comparison to previous courses, but some have already committed to or have run 10k races! As usual we will welcome your support as running buddies on Saturdays – if you can help please respond to Facebook posts, or email beginners@dulwichparkrunners.com marking your email ‘running buddy’. Remember there’s a cooked breakfast at a local cafe as a big ‘thank you’ at the end of the course for all helpers.

Thursday October Sessions
The Thursday improvers group are still on the Dulwich College Track for October working on speed over longer distance. These speed sessions are not progressive, so you can plan to run the October sessions without joining us in September. Nights are drawing in so you’ll need to have eaten your carrots, and be wearing light coloured kit. This is the last opportunity for track running this year as we’ll likely move onto hills next ready for cross country!

As usual you need to have been regularly running 10+ miles/16k a week to take part in the Thursday sessions. If you are keen to join or would like to know more, or if you’re not quite there and would like to chat about a plan to progress your running so you can be ready for future sessions, or to prepare for a race, please get in touch with Susan.

September Races and Results
A truly bumper month of running activity in September and early October – so forgive me if I go on a bit!

Let’s start with the Big Half on 3 September – we had a superb turnout of 33 runners – well done to Adam, Alex, Amanda, Anna, Becky, Beth, Catherine, Chris, Ciaran, Clare S, David, Dominic, Eva, Fiona, Fran, Gary, Hannah, IB, Jackie Y, Jess, Jules, Linda T, Mark, Martha, Mohsen, Nat, Ollie, Rob, Ronnie, Shannan, Sonia, Steve L, Surya, Tim, Will and Zach (phew!). There were some fantastic times in steamy conditions, with Zach and Amanda as fastest male and female finishers. Full results are here. 

The following weekend the weather was even hotter, but our members still got out and about. Gareth was in Oxfordshire participating in the White Horse Ultra and scoring an impressive 2nd place male finisher, while Jill and and Maggie were up in the North East joining Mo Farah in completing the Great North Run.

Our club 5 mile championships took place on 17 September, with Ronnie and Alicky our fastest finishers. Well done to everyone who took part! Full results are here.