Episode 32 - Lorraine Lawson
2016-08-17
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, July 2016HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
Roving reporterMonique Brennan
GuestsDes Rountree Lorraine Lawson Steve Rayner
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers enjoy the old, and discover some new fun in this year’s quadrennial sporting event. Cairns (opens in a new tab) parkrun Event Director Lorraine Lawson joins us for some giggles, and we experience a bunch of international parkrun adventures through the eyes of Aussie parkrunners Monique Brennan, Steve Rayner and Des Rountree.
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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
Lorraine Lawson
Bringing parkrun to Cairns, the Esplanade course and its crocodile mascot "Gary", emigrating from South Africa, and her ultrarunning and race-directing the Kuranda-to-Port Douglas 64km.
Steve Rayner
His European parkrun tour, Uditore in Palermo, Mandavit near Bordeaux, and his wife Anne's 100th parkrun in Paris, and how small, visitor-dependent and volunteer-short the young European events were.
Des Rountree
Ten weeks in the UK, three or four parkruns at Andover in Hampshire and one at Ormeau parkrun in his home city of Belfast, including Ormeau's two-line token-and-scanning system.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:12
Melissa Erbacher hosts episode 32 with Scotty, who greets her in Portuguese picked up from years at a multicultural broadcaster. Mel reports back on her Olympic homework (canoe slalom, and Australia's bronze), they marvel at women's marathon splits, and Scott says his one PB shot a year is Maribyrnong's anniversary in a couple of weeks. Scott ran Jells on a fine Melbourne weekend, numbers were up across the Sunshine Coast too, and Mel is already planning for the spring and summer crowds.
Meet the ED starts at 10:11
Scott crosses to Cairns to interview Cairns parkrun Event Director Lorraine Lawson: the Esplanade course (two loops with an out-and-back), Cairns heat and humidity, the resident crocodile the new-runner briefing calls "Gary", her move from South Africa via Perth 16 years ago, her ultrarunning and the Kuranda-to-Port Douglas 64km she both race-directs and runs, and how she brought parkrun to Cairns after hearing Tim Oberg speak in 2012 and being challenged by Bruce Fordyce. Cairns' third anniversary is a fortnight away and she thinks the city could support a second event out at the Beaches.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 29:53
Listener Monique Brennan of Wishart sends in audio recorded at Krakow parkrun in Poland, where she ran with her friend Alana from Chermside. She interviews three Polish parkrunners: Run Director Piotr (100 parkruns, 17-minute best), beginner Marcin Ortman (fifth or sixth parkrun), and Jan, who has 142 parkruns and 33 marathons including New York and 15 Krakow marathons.
Social Adventurers starts at 47:13
Facebook and Instagram round-up: Wendy Glynn's 100th at Westerfolds and the impromptu group photo everyone joined; Melissa Ellis touring Rhodes parkrun and meeting "Mr parkrun" Tim Oberg, alongside Run Joe Run's 43rd Australian course; City to Surf photos; MacGirl19 at Rhodes and another listener at St Peters; David D'Alessio's Dunlop KT26s prompting a tangent about running in Dunlops; Mama of Hope's selfie-photography day at Diamond Creek; underscore PK volunteering at Mount Barker; medals at Lalor; Hey TJ's thank-you to Mel for inspiring her half-marathon entry; the Run Beyond Project starting the Evans Run Club; and a tweet from Ross Pentland on ten consecutive different events finishing at Chelsea Bicentennial.
Strava Club update starts at 58:34
The parkrun adventurers Strava club is on 151 members and Scott notes recruitment has slowed. Brendan Davies tops the weekly leaderboard again with 130.3km, with John Pearson 0.2km behind on 130.1km, Mel notes John is training for the World 24-Hour Championships. Scott teases that a Strava competition will be announced next week and urges listeners to join the club first.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:00:41"Where is the cake?"
No launches this week; the only cake is in Tasmania, where an unnamed event celebrates its second anniversary. Lorraine also flags earlier in the episode that Cairns parkrun's third anniversary falls a fortnight later.
Sign-off starts at 1:00:48
Mel said the week's only cake was in Tasmania for a second anniversary and that they had come to the end again, and Scotty trailed next week: a new Strava competition and Mel's report from the Sunshine Coast Marathon, where she had entered the 2K starting at 11am and had not yet chosen a costume. She asked listeners to hashtag parkrunadventurers on Facebook or Instagram, or tweet, with costume suggestions, and Scotty closed by thanking her for the pod and saying he looked forward to hearing about her adventures next week.