Episode 46
2016-11-23
HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
GuestsDavina Harvey Mark Arbib Raelene Joyce
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers talk Nitro Athletics and partnerships with Athletics Australia President Mark Arbib. Event Director Davina Harvey joins us for a chat about Surfers Paradise parkrun ahead of their 1st anniversary, and Club Corner sees Raelene Joyce stopping by to discuss the ‘Pink Army’ AKA Raring2Run.
Enhanced transcript
Checked transcript — speakers named, sound described, segments marked.
Read the transcriptGuests
Mark Arbib
Nitro Athletics — the new fast-format, teams-based athletics concept (six teams, three nights, Usain Bolt All-Stars, three-minute run, elimination mile, mixed relays), why athletics needs TV exposure and commercial revenue, his answer to critics calling it a gimmick, and the new Athletics Australia / parkrun partnership, which he frames as "the recreational gateway to the sport of athletics" and wants government to fund.
Davina Harvey
Surfers Paradise parkrun's first anniversary (cake, a fluoro theme, three 50th runs and a 100th on the day), why a Gold Coast event averages only 30-35 runners with three parkruns close together, the pros and cons of its three-lap shaded riverside course, and her own parkrun story — first run in 2012 at Main Beach, moving to Coomera, then being talked into starting her own event.
Raelene Joyce
Club Corner interview: how Raring2Run started in September 2014 from Raelene's own weight-loss and running transformation, the all-pink women-only identity, growing to 118 members, recruiting TO parkrun rather than from it, using parkrun as a mid-campaign tempo run with "pre-parky" and "post-parky" add-ons, a finish-lines-not-finish-times ethos, and inspirational members including an MS nurse whose patients now run.
In this episode
parkrun news bulletin
Scott and Mel alternate reading news items: minus 31C parkrunning in Russia (Shebelinsk) against a "tropical" 2.5C in Moscow; the inaugural IAU 24-hour Asia and Oceania Championship in Kaohsiung with John Pearson (Noosa), Nikki Wind (Berwick Springs) and Sharon Schultz (Wangaratta) taking podium honours; City to Sea in Melbourne; and parkrun events worldwide taking on the Mannequin Challenge.
Social Adventurers
Social media round-up after a few weeks off. Twitter love from Paul Kitching on the Lavinia Petrie interview; Scotty Watkins on getting Usain Bolt to Albert Park parkrun (spawning a new #BoltToParkRun hashtag); Lyndell Murray correcting Scott on pink cricket balls for day-night tests; Mildred Labuschagne's hashtags; Instagram from Running Guy Ryan at Nambour parkrun's first anniversary in a monkey onesie; Facebook posts from Tim Baldwin (Lismore ED Belinda Smith chasing runners down with a 50th-run photo card), Heather Hunter, Tim McKinley and Sheridan Law.
Strava Club update
Mel asks "How are we doing on Strava, Scotty?" — the club is at 259 members with lots of running, boosted by members doing ultras; they wonder whether triathlon-season cycling and swimming will show on the leaderboard.
Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")
Two launches this week, both in New South Wales — Kiama and Forster. Cake at Surfers Paradise (Qld, 1st), Cronulla (NSW, 1st), The Beaches (NSW, 2nd), Minnippi (Qld, 3rd) and Sandgate (Qld, 4th). Nothing at all for Victoria this weekend — "not even donuts".
Club Corner
This week's Club Corner comes from Victoria: Raelene Joyce on Raring2Run, the women-only "Pink Army", founded September 2014 out of Berwick Springs parkrun after her own weight-loss and running transformation. Now 118 members with roughly 50 half-marathoners, about 20 full-marathoners, two ultrarunners and a stateswoman (Michaela Curtin). They recruit TO parkrun rather than from it, use parkrun as a mid-campaign tempo run with "pre-parky" and "post-parky" add-ons, and hand out club business cards — a first for the segment per Mel at [01:00:03].