Episode 7 - Ashley Cowley
2016-02-16
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, 31 January 2016HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
GuestAshley Cowley
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers ponder podcasts and running with tunes, and roving Karen speaks to Golden Beach (opens in a new tab) parkrun regulars at the event’s 2nd Anniversary. Event Directors Maria and Andrew join us for a chat ahead of Wyndham Vale (opens in a new tab) parkrun’s launch, and we talk to ’50 Club in 50 Courses’ blogger and parkrun adventurer Ashley Cowley about his unique parkrun journey.
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Enhanced transcript
Speakers named, sound described and segments marked by the editing pass — not yet checked by a person.
Read the transcriptGuests
Maria
Launch preview for Wyndham Vale parkrun (Presidents Park, Victoria): Stockland / Tarneit Skies retirement village funding, wanting the event to be a flagship for walkers as well as runners, and how she and Andrew came to parkrun via their friend Chris Morgan and their first run at Point Cook in November 2014.
Andrew
Same Wyndham Vale launch-preview interview: the intimidation of the name "parkrun", the non-competitive culture, and running in Canadian winters.
Ashley Cowley
Reaching 50 parkruns at 50 different courses in just under three years, the unofficial "Hoffman Club" (named for Roderick Hoffman) and how it sits alongside the Cowell and Freyne Clubs; his first parkrun at St Peters in Sydney after registering in the UK and never running there; 21 of the 50 done in the UK including 20 different events back to back; his favourites (Main Beach, Shellharbour, Cairns, Sandon Point); and his plan to keep running only new courses, one per Australian state next.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:06
Melissa Erbacher and Scott Trickett, after listener judgment over Scott's indifference to The Princess Bride; both saw Zoolander 2 at the weekend, Mel dressed as Mugatu with her running club, Scott doing blue steel with Scotty Hawkins at Jells. Listeners including Watching As I Run, Danella Taylor and Tony O'Connell reported listening on their runs, prompting a debate on headphones at parkrun (Scott against, Mel on why she needed music when starting at Kawana). Mel timekept at Golden Beach's second anniversary, helping Rochelle and her team.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 11:32
Mel crosses to roving adventurer Karen at Golden Beach parkrun's second anniversary on the Sunshine Coast, where Mel herself was volunteering as Timekeeper. Karen interviews Paul, the event's newest 100 Club member, who was dragged to Kawana parkrun by his daughter after years away from running, and Keith, a 50-year athletics veteran who keeps coming back for the atmosphere. Scott closes it "great work Karen, loving the roving adventurer contributions that our listeners are giving us every week."
Meet the ED starts at 13:56
Studio interview with Maria and Andrew, the Event Directors of Wyndham Vale parkrun (Presidents Park, about 30km outside Melbourne), ahead of its launch that Saturday. They cover the funding, a $1,000 Wyndham Leader online grant plus $4,000 from Stockland after they pitched to about 50 residents of the Tarneit Skies retirement village eight minutes down the road, their hope that the event becomes "almost a flagship" for park-walking rather than running, their own first parkrun at Point Cook in November 2014 (34 minutes, run-walk), and their Canadian roots (Toronto and Halifax, Nova Scotia).
Launches and anniversaries starts at 33:46"Where is the cake?"
Scott: "Let's jump straight into what's happening this weekend. We have one launch that Maria and Andrew have told us all about out at Wyndham Vale. And where is the cake this week?" The cake is at Kirra parkrun in Queensland, celebrating its fourth anniversary with an 80s theme, which sends the hosts into 80s costume reminiscences (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Riverway, Ghostbusters at Noosa, Scott angling for Skeletor).
Social Adventurers starts at 36:06
Listener social-media round-up: "Running Guy Ryan" ran Ipswich parkrun's second birthday on a "tacky formal" theme in a pink suit, clocking 21:42; "Kuvera" and "Finding My Balance" posted happy photos from New Farm. Closes with the hashtag reminder "Don't forget hashtag parkrunadventures [parkrunadventurers]. That's how we can find you."
Sign-off starts at 37:26
Scott reminded listeners not to forget the hashtag parkrunadventurers and thanked Mel for another action-packed program; Mel trailed next week's Facts in a Haystack with Ian Hay returning, and Scott noted Ian had been refining his database in the background. They closed on banter about Scott eating fortune cookies as a meal, his last fortune reading "great success awaits you", and Mel thanked listeners and looked forward to chatting again next week.