DPR January 2025 Newsletter
Happy New Year! Time to think about your running year ahead with a bumper round-up of ideas and inspiration to follow!
Whilst it’s the first Tuesday of January, and therefore the first Dash of the Year, why not make one of your resolutions a Dash related one?! For those of you who are newer to the club or not participated before, the Dash is held on the first Tuesday of the month and is a 2 mile race with a staggered start, so faster runners start towards the end, and slower runners start first. This means everyone is in with the chance of winning the race! One of the great things about the Dash is you’re mainly in competition with yourself to see if you can beat your last month’s time. There’s also prizes galore, and a pub trip afterwards for drinks and chips. Meet at the Roseberry Gate of Dulwich Park (or at the clubhouse if you’re not sure where that is) just before 730pm tonight!
Some of our members have already made big achievements! Huge congratulations to one of our newer members, Harris Leung, who completed the Saturn Running Marathon, his first ever marathon, on New Year’s Day with a gruelling 6 lap mixed terrain course in the wind and rain. What a fantastic achievement for the New Year.
And at the weekend, some of us braved rain, wind and freezing, muddy lakes at the Tadworth 10. A huge shout-out to Meg Lyons, one of our beginners’ graduates, who then went to our December Coaches Surgery and chose the Tadworth course and the wintery date to run her first ever 10k! Every race from now on will be easier! Pic of Meg below, smiling despite a mud-related fall in the first km.
If talk of slippy mud, and waterlogged courses is making you yearn for cross-country, you’re in luck! This Saturday 11th January is our next event, an easy train ride to Oxshott, a lovely course and a picnic afterwards. And it’s free! Men’s race is at midday, women’s at 2pm. Get in touch with Alan Brown or one of the committee if you’re interested. The next run after that is at Lloyd Park on 8th February so keep the date free, we are also helping to organise that one so will want a great turn-out.
Meg got support on her running goals through one of our trained coaches. Perhaps Ronnie, our Pharmacist Sports Supplement Expert might be able to help you to greater things in 2025? With a few years of experience on the track, but even more in the lab (and wards) Ronnie will share evidence-based strategies to boost your performance, speed up recovery, and reduce injury risk through smart nutritional supplementation. Come along for a talk, q and a, and chips after our usual Tuesday Social Run at the Crown and Greyhound on 21st January, starting from around 8.30pm.
Also in January we are continuing our informal and relaxed DPR Sunday Social runs. We meet at Dulwich Park Café each Sunday at 9.30am, 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 always available. All speeds and levels of fitness are welcome – nobody runs on their own! Picture below of post-run coffee after one of our December runs.
New for 2025 is our monthly DPR Sunday Social member-led slot, where a member of DPR, designs and leads their choice of run. Gillian…. will design and lead our third DPR Sunday run of the year, on Sunday 19 Jan.
And in other Sunday news we are currently planning some ‘out of town’ Sunday trail style routes, with the first pencilled for Sunday 2nd March. More details to follow soon, so do ensure you are on the DPR Sunday Social Runs WhatsApp group, and do also let us know if you would like to design and lead a DPR Sunday Social run.
Club Championships
We already have a fabulous 43 members entered for the Paddock Wood Half Marathon on Sunday 9th March. The race is a lovely undulating course mostly on country lanes with a 10am start and is accessible by car and public transport. Do come and join us if you can. Entries are available here and join the what’s app group! And if you’ve signed up but haven’t started your training yet and need help get you round, please contact Susan,
coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk. A reminder that our 1 mile championships will be on the 20th May in Dulwich Park. Further distances and dates to follow!
Some other races you might want to consider are 26th January – Canterbury 10 Mile Road Race, 2nd February – Mornington Chasers Regent’s Park 10k (also 2nd March) and 9th February – Dash for the Splash – a fabulous all-terrain race on Wimbledon Common with a sticky toffee pudding for all finishers – just £20 if you sign up before 13th January 2025.
Attendance Award
The competition for the 2024 Attendance Award has now finished. The worthy winner will be announced at the Annual Dinner on 15th March along with the winner of the Dash competition and the Winter parkrun Ladder. The 2025 Attendance award competition is now underway with points for various event attendance – the first being the Dash and this year’s first Cross Country event this coming Saturday 11th January. Full rules here
Improvers are back on the track for Thursdays in January and February working on endurance speedwork, useful for anyone training for Paddock Wood or a spring Marathon as well as those looking to improve their pace generally. You need to have been running at least 10 miles a week over the last few months, and be willing to commit to the training in order to get the most of the sessions. But it’s free to club members! If you are interested, or would like help with your training generally and missed out on our Coaches Surgery in December, please get in touch with
our coaches Susan and Tom and run leaders Katia and Zach at coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
Please have a look a the new ‘Partnerships’ section on the DPR website for info on West Norwood Therapies who are offering January deals on their treatments, including sports massage, and on-going discount for DPR members. Our prime contact is Tessa Glover who took part in our autumn Beginners Course. To book an appointment visit https://www.westnorwoodtherapies.com/
Our 2025 Charity
One of the ways DPR seeks to build ties with the local community is by supporting a chosen club charity. As you may know, the current club charity is the Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers – a big thank you to everyone who has fundraised for them over the past few years or made food bank donations.
Periodically we invite members to either confirm the current club charity or select a new one. Our next opportunity to decide will be ahead of the AGM on 25th February – more below.
Therefore, nominations are now open! If you know of, work with or support a charity that is close to your heart, we want to hear from you. Send us your nomination to welfare@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk with a brief description of the charity/cause and why it is important to you, the club and/or local community. The nomination window closes on 31st January, after which everyone will have a chance to vote. (To note, SDCAS will automatically get a nomination so there’s nothing preventing them from continuing as our club charity). We’ll reveal the winner at the AGM.
Your Club Needs You!
Here are the details for our very important AGM on the 25th February at 8pm after our usual social run. Put it in your diaries now!
The AGM will confirm committee membership for 2025. Please consider putting yourself forward for one of the roles. The club particularly needs a new Chair, Treasurer and Social Secretary but competition for all positions is welcome. The club is in a very healthy state and has an exciting future. Membership of the committee puts you at the heart of the club and provides a satisfying way to contribute further.
Committee posts:
Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Social Secretary, Club Captain, Membership Officer, Club Kit Officer, Welfare Officer, Communications Officer.
We also have a number of non-committee roles which members help out with, so if you have special skills or interests in any of these areas, please let us know, as even those which aren’t vacant could always do with more support! Cross country captains, Social Media Officer, Summer League organisers, Dulwich Dash Organiser, parkrun ladder organiser, Website Manager, IT adviser, beginners course organisers/helpers, club coaches.
And finally your regular reminder to check out the website for events – including the Annual Dinner on 15th March and a theatre trip to see the wonderful Darren on 26th Feb, and our merch page to get some new 2025 threads!