DPR August Newsletter
Holiday Season! Those who are off on their jollies have fun run-exploring new cities, parkruns or beach routes, and if you’re staying in SE London, never fear – we have a bumper month of activities ahead! First off – after our regular Sunday 930 run tomorrow – on Tuesday 5th with Storm Floris over and the sun due to shine again we are having a post-Dash picnic – we’ll be at the end of the Dash in the park (between the Court Lane entrance and Fireman’s Alley) from around 1945, bring some nibbles and relax!
On 10th August in Battersea Park we will find out if we can beat our record attendance at the Regents’ Park event (pic above) at the final Summer League event of the season. And as it’s also our 10k Club Championship we should be confident that we can! We are currently 4th in the table with our secret weapon being amazing kids’ performances in the tenderfoot race – so bring any that you’ve got! It all kicks off with the 10k race at 1030 – meet in the grass area at the western end of Central Avenue in the park. And then if you fancy a bit of teams sports we are playing Rounders on 15th August at 7pm, meet in the field on the right as you come through the Court Lane entrance.
Sunday runs continue throughout August – we always meet at 930 in at the Dulwich Park Cafe and our runs are a super relaxed way to get some miles in, suitable for runners of all speeds, fitness and abilities. We have a rota of 8k – 10k route suggestions, and whatever route we choose each week, shorter or longer versions are also always available – nobody runs on their own. And on Sunday August 17th we have our next Sunday Social member-led slot, with Nicole Teszke designing and leading a 10k route down towards Beckenham Place Park, ending with a coffee overlooking their gorgeous gardens. More details on WhatsApp nearer the time, so do ensure you’re added to the group!
We’re starting an exciting new competition around parkrun with Crystal Palace Fun Runners – a ‘ Parkrun mob match’, where whichever club can get the most participants at a parkrun will win! We are hoping it will become a biannual event, and will be starting ‘away from home’ at Crystal Palace parkrun on Saturday 30 August. Everyone who runs will count towards our score, so it would be great to have a strong turnout – hope to see you there!
And as it’s only just into the new month will also mention here that September’s Dash will be on the 9th September, with the 2nd September the date of our mid-year Club Forum where, after a slightly earlier Tuesday social run, we meet at the Crown and Greyhound and check in with everyone to see how we can continue to make sure DPR is the best running club in the world.
As well as all that Thursday evening Improvers continues throughout August – we’ll be working on technique, and how to improve yours! There’ll be some self assessment, group assessment, exercises and games to improve and strengthen. And some running to practice! The sessions are free to members and open to anyone who has consistently run over 10 miles a week for the last few months. If you have any questions or would like to join us, please email Susan at coach@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk
Recent Race Achievements and Runs
We had a super fun evening at the Crystal Palace Dinodash on Wednesday 2nd July – pic above. We had 7 teams of three taking part, running approximately 3.5kms around Crystal Palace Park and the dinosaur lake starting and finishing on the athletics track. Congratulations to Derek Arnold, Kate Gardiner and James Hewlett who came 2nd in the mixed team category and 9th overall. Full results can be found here
https://crystalpalacefunrunners.co.uk/new/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DDR_2025_FINAL.pdf
A huge well done to Faheem who gave the Snowdonia Trail Marathon his best shot on a blistering hot 12th July. Sadly the race was cancelled part way through because of the conditions but he still completed 20 miles and had a great day out by the sounds of things. One of our newer members, Natasha Hulse, ran the Saucony 10k on 13th July – congratulations to her.
And also wanted to include some pics – below – from Lucy Ross’s led Sunday run along a part of the route of the Crystal Palace High Level Railway, a line that was built to take visitors to The Crystal Palace. The route also explored a little around the site of the old Crystal Palace, and Lucy was full of fabulous facts and brilliant history along the way. Big thanks Lucy for an extremely engaging run!
If all that has got you yearning to enter a race, we’ve got good news! The club’s budget for this year included a generous race subsidy budget. While some of this has been used for relay events, we’re now opening up an opportunity for all members to make use of this for any race they have planned for the remainder of this year. We hope that this will encourage everyone to participate in some exciting events, as well as enabling members to benefit from the club’s healthy financial position.
The subsidy will be £20 or the race entry fee less £5 (whichever is lower). Each member may take advantage of the budget once (though you can still do so if you’ve benefited from subsidy for races earlier in the year). You can apply for any race that is mainly a running race taking place between 1 August 2025 and 31 December 2025. If you’d like to take advantage, then you just need to email a copy of your entry fee invoice/receipt and bank details to DPR chair@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk, races@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk and treasurer@dulwichparkrunners.co.uk . The club will organise subsidy repayments on a monthly basis.
Other Upcoming Races
We have 25 people entered for the now-full Big Half on 7th September with Community entry places. There is a whatsapp group in the DPR WhatsApp community if anyone else has a place and would like to join
https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gg8B3EcISJlBsuVz6cAcsZ
We’ll be having a post-race meet up at a local Greenwich pub on the day and a pizza social to celebrate our Big Half runners at the Clubhouse following the belated Dulwich Dash on Tuesday 9th September.
On Sunday 5th October we have one of our the most important events of our calendar, our publicly open DPR 5 mile race which we organise for the local community and other running clubs, around the park and surrounding streets. The race will start at 930 and cost £5 to enter (with proceeds going to the Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers) on an officially measured course. We will also have a free 1-mile race for under 18s. Please get the date in your calendar and encourage your friends to enter too – entries open here from next week! The race will also be our club championship but if you can’t run for any reason, please chat to David Mullany who would love your help on the day!
Sunday 19th October is the Cabbage Patch 10, with entries now full – if you want to enter the Club Championship just run any other officially measured 10 Mile race before 19th October.
And a heads up that our 5k Club Championship will be Saturday 1st November at Dulwich parkrun and our Half Marathon in 2026 will be Paddock Wood Half Marathon, on Sunday 8th March. This is a well-timed race for those doing Spring Marathons and was well received by many members this year. Entry is £28 with your EA membership until the end of this year with a slight raise after that so no reason not to get your entries in sooner rather than later. This race did sell out this year. While it does not qualify for this year’s race subsidy budget, the Club does expect to provide a subsidy for the 2026 calendar year.
September Beginners Courses
Our next Beginners and 5k-5 miles courses start on Saturday 6th September. Posters will be shared in the usual places, so please distribute them to your friends, family, neighbours, work colleagues etc. Application is via our website https://www.dulwichparkrunners.co.uk/beginners-course/
We really need and appreciate the help of our club members to run as companions on these courses. Meet time is 8am and 9am for Beginners (8 weeks), 10am for 5k-5miles (5 weeks), on Saturday mornings. Meet just inside Queen Mary Gate, Dulwich Park. Free breakfast at a local cafe on the final Saturday for all helpers!! You don’t need to let us know, but if you want to email in advance or have any questions please contact beginners@dulwichparkrunners.com or speak to Susan or Di.
Attendance Award
One of the many DPR awards that can be won each year is the Attendance Award, a prize for simply turning up to our key events during the calendar year – XC and Club Championship Races, participating in the Dash and volunteering at the Beginners Courses or any of our other races. The winners of this award are announced at the Annual Dinner in early 2026 and importantly, if you are wanting to enter the Club Ballot for 2026 London Marathon places you will need a minimum of 2 points. Currently for this year our top attenders are Di Suter on 9 points, Darren Cheek on 11 points and in the lead with 12 points is Susan Smith. Full details of the award can be found here Attendance Award 2025
Safeguarding and Welfare
DPR remains fully committed to ensuring the safeguarding and welfare of all members alongside family members who help out from time to time. We may ask members who are supporting under 18s at the club to complete an electronic consent form to ensure we are fully compliant with safeguarding requirements. If you have any safeguarding or welfare concerns you can raise them directly welfare@dulwichparkrunners.org.uk or to Rachel Wylie – lead Welfare Officer. For more information on the club’s code of conduct and safeguarding and welfare visit our website.
Meet Two Members
Famous Sporting Duos; Torvill and Dean, Redgrave and Pinsent, Shearer and Sheringham. And DPR’s very own Ronnie and Nat.
What do you love most about DPR?
Ronnie: I joined DPR in 2021 as a new runner. I was attracted to DPR because of its huge diversity in different running abilities. As a self-trained runner during the pandemic, I felt nervous about joining a running group, but with DPR, it was easier knowing that there were so many members with varying abilities and a fountain of knowledge to help me improve. My dad was also a member in the 90s, so I felt it would be great to continue his legacy and provide him with a link to some of the older members who are still running!
Nat: It’s an incredibly social club. I’m rarely able to make Tuesday runs since moving in September, but I come back for races and events, and it’s like I’ve never been gone. We have people like Ronnie who can push you if you want to start running quicker.
What is your next running goal?
Ronnie: My next running goal is to enter a marathon and strive toward that elusive sub-3-hour goal!
Nat: Currently, not much. I was able to sort out my half marathon PB over Spring and my 5K PB a month ago to reasonable times. Now, I’m starting to look at my 10K PB and 10 Mile PB. I also really would like to do another marathon, but I don’t think I want to do the training!
What is your favourite running song?
Ronnie: My favourite running song depends on the type of run, but my race day ultimate tune is “Running Wild” by Airbourne. It’s the one track guaranteed to boost adrenaline and get you over that wall.
Nat: Mostly up-tempo music, which normally means noughties and 10s pop music. (Thank you, Spotify…) I think my favourite pre-race song is now “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.
What do you most admire in each other?
Ronnie: I admire Nat’s ability to overcome setbacks such as injury and return to the running track stronger than ever. I also admire his ability to run using a Fitbit and get about 1,000 miles of mileage out of his shoes before looking at new options!
Nat: Wait I have to be polite about Ronnie! That’s not possible! No, seriously, the amount of training Ronnie does and his ability to run fast in races is incredible.
What are the things that most annoy you about each other?
Ronnie: Nat does not seem to like the concept of running at “tempo” pace on race day. He is an “either go hard or go home” kind of guy and always antagonises me to race him even when I don’t feel like it! Let’s just say the last three races we’ve gone head-to-head, I’ve realised that I have a higher maximum heart rate than I thought! That said, I’m pretty sure I PB’d each time!
Nat: Many, many things. Mostly his ability to turn it on and beat me in a race every single time. I take great delight when I suddenly beat him. To Ronnie’s comment on racing, a race is a race. You go full out and then immediately regret it 2K in.
Do you keep a tally of your races?
Nat: I don’t think I’ve ever beaten him in an actual race…
Ronnie: You beat me in the 1 mile champs 2024 and 2022!
Nat: Did I? I don’t think I did.
Ronnie: But I was COVID positive!
Nat: Oh, I don’t remember that!
Ronnie: You wouldn’t, you were 600m ahead.
If you’d like to be a part or a whole of Meet a Member get in touch!