Hello everyone! Welcome to your November club newsletter. Looking forward to seeing lots of you at the 5k championships on Saturday as we push into winter running season!
5k club championships – tomorrow!
A last minute reminder that our 5k club championships are taking place tomorrow morning at 9am at Dulwich parkrun – best to aim to get there 10 minutes early. If you’ve not done Dulwich parkrun before, the start is just inside the park by the Queen Mary Gate. If you’ve not done parkrun before, you’ll need to register on the parkrun website. Don’t forget to bring your barcode and (ideally) wear club kit!
We’ll go for coffee after the run at Rocca in Dulwich Village.
The 5k club championships also mark the first week of the club winter parkrun ladder. The concept is simple – do a parkrun each week of the ladder to earn points, including precious bonus points if you meet each week’s bonus point criteria (usually publicised via Facebook in the week before). Earn enough points to climb to the top of the ladder and you could claim the parkrun ladder shield at the end of the competition!
Cross Country
We’re doubling up on cross country in November. On Saturday 11 November we have our next Surrey League fixture at Oxted. The men are racing at 1pm, and the women’s squad at 2.30pm. It is also this year’s club cross country championships, so you can bag yourself a shiny medal!
The venue is very accessible by public transport – train from East Croydon to Hurst Green (approx. 20 mins every 20 mins), from where it is a 10 minute walk to Holland Sports Club House (RH8 9 DG); look out for more comms from your cross country captains. We had a great start to the season (more below), so would be great to maintain our momentum with a strong showing at Oxted.
The second of our cross country double-header is the London Cross Country Championships on 18 November at Parliament Hill. You should have already told David if you’re planning to participate in this due to the deadline for entries. The women’s race (6k) will start at 1.15pm, and the men’s race (10k) will start at 2pm. More details on travel will follow nearer the time.
Quiz night
This year’s quiz night is here on Saturday 2 December! We’re looking forward to a fantastic evening. The evening will start at 7pm, and the venue is the Clubhouse (Trevor Bailey Sports Club).
Tickets include fish and chips with mushy peas/curry sauce, or a delicious Indian vegetarian option. Jay Rayner says these fish ‘n’ chips are the best in London!
A bottle of wine and soft drink will be provided to each team but it is a ‘bring your own drink’ event.
Family and friends are welcome. You can either come as a team or make/join a team on the night.
10k Club Championships date
Our last club championship this year is the Runthrough Greenwich 10k on Saturday 17 December at 10am – a nice Christmassy run! More details are at the link here, but we do not advise entering yet as we are again expecting to obtain a discount code.
Dulwich Dash – Tuesday
The Dash returns on Tuesday – one of your last chances to climb that leaderboard. As usual, we’ll meet at 7.30pm at the Rosebery Gate for the 2 mile run. Congratulations to Fiona who claimed the Dash title in October – full results below.
Thursday Coached Sessions
November and December see us off the track and into the hills of Dulwich and surrounds. A different venue every week! All good preparation for cross country, and general strength and mental endurance training. The first two weeks are all technical, so if you’d like to join us, please ensure to attend at least one of these. And of course regular training is the best way to see improvement.
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, please get in touch with Susan.
If any club member would like personalised race schedules or coaching tips for general running please ask Susan.
Beginners
Thank you so much to everyone who took a turn at being a running buddy for our Beginners and 5k-5milers – and welcome to those who completed the course and have now joined the club! Some of the graduates have already been to the club for their first visit, and we would ask for your support in welcoming them to the club, and perhaps occasionally running with them at a more gentle pace than usual until they are settled in.
October Running Results
A lot of running highlights from October! We start with the Royal Parks half marathon – well done to Alex, Catherine, Hayley, Helen, Linda T and Maurice who all participated in unseasonally hot conditions. A further shout-out to Shannan, who completed the Petts Wood 10k on the same weekend.
The following weekend (October 14/15) saw DPR members on a smorgasbord of running! We started with our first Cross Country fixture at Epsom Downs. The women kicked us off, with 11 finishers seeing us to a very competitive 15th and 22nd in the new Division 2. The men also had a full squad of 10 runners out, and came 7th in Division 4. Well done to all who competed, and particularly Amanda and Nat as our first finishers. Full women’s and men’s results here.
The same weekend also saw the Cabbage Patch – a great turnout of 22 DPR members, and some super times – full results here.
We also had DPR runners out at the Oxford Half Marathon (strong PBs for Alicky and Ronnie) and the Titsey Trail Run – well done to everyone who participated.
Our most recent run out and about was the Suffolk Maverick Trail Run as part of our weekend in Suffolk last weekend. We had a fantastic turnout of 20+ runners across the three distances. Full results are here, but special mention must go to Nicole as the first overall female finisher over 17k, and Rosemary as third overall female finisher at the 9k. Of course it wasn’t all about the results – we enjoyed some beautiful countryside, exploring Aldeburgh and good food too. Thank you to everyone who helped organise and came along.
Strava
A reminder that the club has a virtual component on Strava, where you can see what other members have been up to, and find yourself on that week’s distance leaderboard. You can join here.
Joke
Your ‘reward’ for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter is the second iteration of the Newsletter Joke:
Did you hear about the farmer who won an award? He was outstanding in his own field.
Feedback on the quality of the joke will once again be carefully disregarded!