Episode 11 - Freedom
2016-03-15
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, 31 January 2016HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
Roving reportersMatt Fullerton Melissa Ellis Oliver Spake
GuestTony O'Connell
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers are in the same studio for the first time and we celebrate by taking the podcast out for a Freedom Run! Responding to our call for adventurers, our first squad of intrepid challengers report to base with the results of a Top Secret mission. We speak to Inverloch Event Director and Gippsland Territory Director TOC, and Roving Reporter Matt is back with news from the field at Albury Wodonga (opens in a new tab) parkrun.
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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 transcriptGuest
Tony O'Connell
TOC's parkrun journey from a Christmas holiday discovery at Merimbula to founding Inverloch parkrun; the Inverloch course along Anderson Inlet; the Gippsland events he has helped launch including Bairnsdale's launch that week; his transformation into a runner; his favourite and wish-list parkruns; and what is next for his territory.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:09
Melissa Erbacher has flown from Queensland to Melbourne and is in the studio with Scott Trickett for the first time, so the episode is admittedly Victoria-centric. Mel volunteered at the three-week-old Studley parkrun, with new Run Director Oliver on his first week, and survived the wobbly bridge; Scott was there too, walking with Kasia, and both met the bush doof that keeps popping up on the course. Scott then gave Mel a private freedom run of Westerfolds, the event she had really wanted to do.
Freedom Run starts at 4:07
The episode's headline feature and the source of its title. Scott explains what a freedom run is, parkrun courses exist all day every day, you can run them any time and log them via the "Freedom" link on your parkrun profile, though they don't count towards points or milestones, and notes the exceptions, such as Sirromet parkrun in Queensland which is on private property. From the two hosts play a recording of the freedom run they did together the previous afternoon at Westerfolds parkrun, Scott's founding event, complete with the hill, the "murder house", the power-line "energy lab" stretch and a detour to the rapids lookout.
parkrun adventure challenge starts at 16:06listener challenge
The "top secret mission" the hosts set on Facebook during the week: run a parkrun course you have never run before and record your impressions. Eight adventurers reported back with self-recorded clips, played in a block, Ollie at Main Beach (QLD), Bree at Studley (VIC), Nicole at Launceston (TAS), Melissa at Jells Park (VIC), Chris at Port Macquarie (NSW), Caro at Maylands Peninsula (WA), Karen at Frog Hollow (VIC) and Kelly at Salisbury, East London, Scott recapping all eight. Mel promises more "super secret, top secret" missions announced via the Facebook page.
Meet the ED starts at 28:29
Studio interview with TOC (Tony O'Connell), Event Director at Inverloch parkrun and Territory Director for Gippsland. He describes discovering parkrun on a Christmas holiday at Merimbula, coming home and founding Inverloch with a man he had gone to primary school with 35-40 years earlier; the out-and-back course along Anderson Inlet; the Gippsland events he has helped launch (Phillip Island, Warragul, Traralgon, Sale, Churchill, and Bairnsdale which launched that week with 165 finishers); going from not being able to run half a kilometre two and a half years ago to loving it; his top parkruns (Merimbula, Mount Gambier, and a third he refuses to pick); his wish list (Nambour, WA, somewhere inland like Dubbo or Warwick); and what is next for his territory, another Latrobe Valley event and one on the Mornington Peninsula.
Social Adventurers starts at 39:05
Round-up of the week's Facebook activity: a grandson's first official parkrun at Campbelltown with granddaughter Indy also going down the finishing funnel; Jet completing his first official parkrun; Jeanette Campbell reaching the 50 Club at Mitchelton, the last of three Campbells to do so; a 5am two-hour drive to The Terrace parkrun; and Coburg parkrun thanking Amanda of Westerfolds for volunteering and congratulating her on joining the 25 Club.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 40:24
Matt Fullerton reports from Albury Wodonga parkrun's second anniversary and interviews Event Director Sarah: the "bright, tight and tutus" theme, a photo booth supplied by event team members who manage a party hire business, the out-and-back course along the Murray River that starts in Albury NSW and crosses into Wodonga VIC (which she believes makes it the first parkrun to run in two states), 325 finishers on the day against a record 330 the weekend before, and how she and Curtis started the event after a single visit to Newy parkrun in Newcastle.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 44:26"Where is the cake?"
Mel's "Where's the cake this week?" prompt. Anniversaries at Campbelltown (NSW) and Yamba (northern NSW), and one launch: Rockhampton parkrun in Queensland, which Mel is flying up to attend, Craig having done the work behind the scenes to get it off the ground, running at least partly through the Botanic Gardens, with a full report promised for next week's episode.
Sign-off starts at 45:44
Scott called it for what he termed the Melbourne edition, corrected by Mel to the Victorian edition with a strong Melbourne flavour, and said it had been awesome having her in the studio; Mel said she had been very happy to be there. Scott pointed listeners to Instagram for photos taken while recording and of their Freedom Run, and the two agreed to arrange a Queensland studio for a future episode, Mel offering somewhere on a beach with a laptop.