Meet the Member - Roma Denetto

This month, we're joined by the recipient of the club’s 2025 London Marathon Place, club secretary and all-around volunteer, Roma Denetto. Before we get into all of the marathon stuff. Let's start with who you are when you're not running. 

When I'm not running, I work for an older people's charity; Age UK Camden. But I'm actually about to start a new job as a Communications officer at Camden Council. I’ve really enjoyed working in the local area and I think that's also why I've got more involved in volunteering in the club as well, because I just love being in this North London community.

I'm also into baking, but honestly, I just don't have a lot of time to do that at the moment with marathon training. But when I can, I like the peace and tranquillity that it can bring. I'm also trying to get into sewing my own clothes more, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I find I put that off a bit longer than I should. 

Your red and white macarons that you brought to a Chiltern League meet are still talked about! 

So how long have you been a member of this community called Queens Park Harriers?

I’ve been a member for just over two years now. I've been running on and off for about seven years, but I really started taking it seriously when I joined the club. 

And what first brought you to the club?

It was actually Luke. Matt Duckett had told him about a running club that was not too far from where we lived. At the time, I was just feeling like I wanted to make more friends in our area, as not many of my friends lived near us. So when Luke started going to track and said that everyone was nice, I thought maybe this is how I can meet more people in the area. So that’s what first got me along to a track session. I didn’t think I was the sort of person who ‘belonged’ at a track - but boy have I been proved wrong! 

This year, you’ve been awarded the club's London Marathon spot. What made you want to run London? 

For years I’ve put my name in the ballot hoping my name would get pulled out. So far that’s proved rather unsuccessful, so naturally I jumped at the chance of running for the club. Since joining QPH I’ve found community in a city that can feel quite lonely at times. As an asthmatic kid who wasn’t allowed to do PE, training with the club has given me the confidence to do things that I wouldn’t have been able to imagine a few years ago. Having supported Hoopsters from the sidelines of the marathon, I’ve been able to get a feeling of how special this race is, so I was always going to jump at the chance to run it myself one day.

With less than a week to go, how are you feeling? 

I'm honestly just really excited. I don't really know how else to describe how I'm feeling other than just pure excitement. I've been entering the ballot like so many people for years. I never really thought it would be my turn. So the fact that I get to run London, but I also get to run it in a spot for Queens Park Harriers has completely changed my life. It just feels like a real honour and a privilege to be able to do that; I'm just really excited for the atmosphere. Everyone has been saying “I'm gonna be at mile seven”, “I'll be at mile 20”, knowing that so many people are going to be out there cheering me on from the side of the road… it's going to be an absolute party and I just can't wait.

And how has your training been? 

Training has been relatively uneventful, which I feel quite grateful for. I had a bit of a knee niggle towards the end of the training block, but I think I've managed that quite well. I just cut down some of the longer runs where I needed to. Training through January and February was tough but as the flowers have started to come out and the weather's got a bit nicer, it’s been a lot more fun. And I think training for a spring marathon in particular has been really nice because so many other people are training for marathons too.

It’s great that thanks to England Athletics, as a club we have a place to give away for the London Marathon. But to be eligible, you had to have volunteered at the club. How have you got involved in the club in your time so far? 

I started on the newsletter team, which I still do (I’m actually putting together the newsletter this week!). I started on that team just over a year ago as I wanted to give back. I was seeing all of the hard work that so many other people do to keep the club running and I just thought I have a bit of spare time, I really love the club, so why not? 

I joined the newsletter because it leaned into my skill set. And then from there I got involved with helping Sam manage the social media. I quite enjoy doing stuff like that and I’ve been doing it for years at work. So, I just thought that's quite an easy way for me to give back my time. 

I ended up joining the committee in October of last year. As the secretary I take the minutes at the committee meetings, distribute the agendas, and support with anything else that pops up where it's needed. If someone wants to set up something new for the club I’m there to support. I’ve enjoyed being part of that bigger picture thinking of the future of the club and new initiatives.

Having left quite a mark on the club in your short amount of time, what's one piece of advice you'd give to people that are new to the club or new to running? 

If you're new to the club I think the best bit of advice is to get involved, go and say hi to people and go out of your way to do that. It can initially be quite hard to make friends at track because everyone's working really hard and there isn’t a huge amount of time to talk while catching your breath in between the reps.

If you have a particular skill and you have some time, get involved with the club, you know, even if it's blowing a whistle. There are so many different ways you can get involved. And I think it’s great to lean into the community that we have here. There are so many people who are knowledgeable, experienced runners (I'd love to know how many years combined we've all been running) so tap into that knowledge. If you have something you're not sure about, ask someone or one of the coaches, everyone's always really happy to help. 

Thank you so much for taking time out of your taper to talk to the newsletter. We hope you have the most amazing race on Sunday!