Episode 22 - Anita Afonso

2016-06-01

In this episode

• Weekly adventures catch-up (segment not named on air)

  Standing opening slot where the two hosts swap what they got up to at parkrun that weekend. Cued at [00:01:31] "did you get up to any adventures this week, Mel?" Mel reports a trip north to Noosa parkrun timed with the Noosa Sports Festival; Scott reports Highlands parkrun's third anniversary, where the event team named a course feature the "Trickett Trestle Bridge" after him. Rolls into a riff about naming sections of parkrun courses after people, with a listener call-out for suggestions.

• parkrun Adventurers Strava Club round-up

  Scott and Mel plug the show's Strava club and run through its weekly leaderboard: "this week on Strava is that Matt Archer loves running... 150k he ran last week", Scott "ranked in 43rd", and Mel is absent from the board because she doesn't sync her watch (Strava handle "Rebel Rouser"). They note the club's location was wrongly set to Missouri and has been fixed, and tease unspecified features "not too far away". Strava recurs later in the episode as a thread through the Facebook round-up.

• Guest interview — Anita Afonso, parkrun France Country Manager

  Long-form interview block (00:08:42-00:24:07) with Anita Afonso ahead of parkrun France's first anniversary. Covers the fifth French event launching at Pierre-de-Bresse, her start as parkrun's second-ever employee in the UK in 2009 growing the UK from ~10-15 events to ~400, her personal parkrun tally (~20 as a runner, 100+ as a volunteer) and favourites (Portrush, Wormwood Scrubs), the five French events including Bois de Boulogne in Paris, the challenge of explaining parkrun in a non-English-speaking country, parkrun tourism into France, and anniversary plans (barbecue and pétanque).

• Tim Oberg monthly Q&A (segment not given a name on air)

  Listener-question Q&A with parkrun Australia GM Tim Oberg, back after an eight-week absence and ribbed for not listening to the show. Questions answered: Tim Baldwin's sew-on event patches idea ("a definite maybe", alongside the shelved parkrun passport concept); Mel's own question on the global no-cash-handling policy and donating via the Australian Sports Foundation parkrun page; Miss Katie/Kasia of Research, Victoria on the minimum age to volunteer alone (11, same as participating); the Athletics Australia partnership and resulting perks at the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival; and the announcement of Renee (ex-Coomera ED) as parkrun Australia's second full-time employee, National Operations Manager. Scott jokes about a future "Ask Renee".

• Social Adventurers

  Social-media wrap in two halves. Instagram first: a challenge to post midweek pics of how you listen to the podcast under #parkrunadventurers, then shout-outs to Will B at the Lake Burley Griffin trial, Run Joe Run, Ray Macy at the Green Heart Fair, Dr Scott Watkins with the Seoul Flyers, Adam Erbacher's Main Beach freedom run, and Phil Ackland at Portland — with the hosts joking about a missing jingle. Facebook half: responses to "who had an adventure this weekend", covering Jo McCarthy, Danella Taylor's cancer stair climb, Paul Curtin, Chris Fraser pacing at Shellharbour, Mark from Chermside, Brendan Peel at Highlands, Abdul Rauf Mohamed Issa's 50th, Jeff Hansen, Kelly Underwood's WA statesperson club, Jo Bennett, and Tracy's lost GPS data.

• Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")

  Closing calendar slot. Three launches this weekend: Narrabri (NSW), West Beach (SA) and Bowen (far north QLD). Scott hands over with the catchphrase "where's the cake", and Mel runs the anniversaries: Ballarat (VIC) first, Barenbar/QLD second with a head-to-toe-single-colour theme, Canning River third with a cops-and-robbers theme, and Sandy Point third with a leather theme (leather being the traditional third-anniversary gift), which generates an extended run of innuendo and a "keep it clean, it's a family event" caveat. Closes with a Strava social note from Dave Robbo.