Episode 25 - parkrun Singapore
2016-06-22
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, 22 June 2016HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
Roving reportersAllan Hoskins Donella Taylor
GuestDominic Watkins
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers chat about Victoria’s first ever Longest Run and roving adventurer Donella Taylor checks in from Town of Seaside (opens in a new tab)’s anniversary. East Coast Park (opens in a new tab) parkrun Event Director and Singapore Country Manager Dominic Watkins gives us the lowdown on parkrun in Asia, and roving adventurer Allan Hoskins presents interviews from the Portland (opens in a new tab) Winter Solstice Fun Run.
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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
Dominic Watkins
parkrun in Singapore and Asia, the only event on the continent, its second anniversary, the struggle to reach local Singaporeans rather than expats, tourists planning holidays around it, the two course records held by Finnish runners, plans for a Kuala Lumpur event and a second Singapore venue, the volunteer bottleneck, and his own recent visits to Horsham and Hallam parkruns in the UK.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:12
Melissa Erbacher hosts with Scott Trickett for episode 25, the aubergine edition with another logo change coming. The Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Sydney Longest Runs were postponed by torrential weather to 31 July (Sydney) and 7 August (Queensland), and Mel dares adventurers to do more than one in a year. Scott recounts Victoria's first Longest Run in perfect weather: a headlamp-blinded start in the dark at Jells, the day's biggest field of about 70 at Westerfolds where his wife Ivona and daughter Kasia joined via shortcuts, autumn leaves at Coburg, Maribyrnong where Lorraine ran an extra 3K, Parkville through the Trails Plus finish chute, a hot jam doughnut at Studley and on to Albert, with runners having done all seven still being counted.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 22:01
Melissa Erbacher hands over to Donella Taylor, who filed audio from Town of Seaside parkrun's first anniversary: interviews with volunteer Katie Johnston (27 volunteer credits with her husband Neil), first male points winner Rob Fleming, and first female points winner Megan Hewitt. Mel had been at the event herself as stand-in volunteer photographer, dressed as a unicorn and minding an 11-week-old mini dachshund called Schnitzel.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 42:21
Allan Hoskins, Event Director of Portland parkrun (Victoria), reports from the Portland Winter Solstice Fun Run with six vox-pops: Chris and Beryl King, Jody May, Mel from Hamilton parkrun, volunteer photographer Courtney, Kerry (a Run Director at Mount Gambier, there with 38 Mount Gambier runners), Kari from Portland parkrun, and an unnamed Hamilton parkrunner who took third in the 15K. Running gag about the missing whale in the bay.
Social Adventurers starts at 50:05
Instagram and Facebook round-up of listeners' weekend adventures: Dave D'Alessio at St Peters, Jez Savage at Woodbridge Riverside (WA), Macalicious21 at Parkville before a 24-hour 160 km race, Running Optimistic at North Lakes, Dirty Cheetahs at Mossman (with a life vest, and a mention of "Smackley"), Wilby1981 marshalling the Burley Griffin launch (435 parkrunners, a new ACT record), Mama of Hope on tour at Westerfolds, Stuart Marshall Training, Beaker Design's birthday infographic, Caro Vos at Carine Glades' second birthday, Dan Baldwin's four brothers at Bendigo, Melissa Ellis volunteering at Berwick Springs, Mark Caldicott's parkrun rap, TOC's Longest Run photos, and Wendy Glen.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 56:02"Where is the cake?"
No launches this week. Anniversaries: Gladstone QLD's third (Mel attending), Jells' first with a crazy socks theme (Scott attending), Logan River's third with a circus theme, Mornington Peninsula's second with an 80s rock theme, and East Coast Park parkrun in Singapore's second, included, the hosts explain, because it sat on the Australian events list for its first year and a half.
Sign-off starts at 58:22
Scott said they had come to the end of another episode and that they had saved the best for last, dissecting Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but Mel had missed it entirely, asking which sport it was, whether Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal were still playing, and offering as her hot take that the team in the long white shirts would win. Scott said the game was over and that it had been one of the great series in NBA history, admitted they were still struggling with a way to end the show, thanked Mel for joining him and said they would see listeners next week.