Episode 48
2016-12-07
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, November 2016HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
GuestsPamela Rackow Simon Mackley
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers get into the festive spirit and challenge you to a slightly unusual adventure. We head to the Northern Hemisphere to speak to Pamela Rackow from the University of Aberdeen about running with friends. Mosman (opens in a new tab) parkrun Co-Event Director Simon Mackley pulls up a couch for a chat, and Rob of Secret Rocky Runners Club fame joins us for Club Corner.
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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
Pamela Rackow
Her randomised study on whether taking up exercise with a new sports companion increases how much people exercise, 83 in the intervention group and 72 in the control group, an eight-week buddy task, and the finding that emotional social support (encouragement) was the active ingredient while instrumental support worked through self-efficacy. Mel relates it to her own go-to exercise buddy, and Scott closes by saying parkrun turns strangers into friends.
Simon Mackley
Meet the ED interview about Mosman parkrun: the three-lap waterside course above Middle Harbour and its thrice-run hill, the aborted launch at Balmoral where council said they lacked approvals and were "effectively a menace to the community", the five-month fight and relocation to Spit West, why their anniversary keeps sliding a week, festive-season plans to tour Rhodes and Parramatta, the community around them, and visits from Bruce Fordyce, Pat Farmer, Marty Dent and Hannah Oldroyd.
Rob
Club Corner interview on how a UK expat who could not find a local running club in Perth's south built one out of people met through Rockingham parkrun, Wednesday intervals, incorporation without WA Athletics affiliation, the Facebook group and two-tier membership, the birthday mile, the orange club colours, and success stories from an 11-team Perth Marathon relay entry to a first-time 5K finisher and members holding up a collapsed finish gantry at the Bunbury Three Waters.
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:12
Scott Trickett hosting with Melissa Erbacher, in the run-up to Christmas. They reckon they started the news segment about ten weeks ago, not long after some terrible feedback led them to restructure the podcast, which has made a big difference to downloads.
parkrun news bulletin starts at 0:57
Scott hands over "It's time for the news." The two hosts alternate items: festive-period Christmas Day / New Year's Day event counts by country (Australia 39/66, Ireland one on Christmas Day at Clonakilty 9.30am and five on New Year's Day, New Zealand 7/7, South Africa 6/12, UK 151/196, USA with only Fletcher's Cove declaring and declining, Russia extra events but no compendium page); parkrun de Fontainebleau in France welcoming refugees from the newly established Fontainebleau refugee centre via the local Red Cross; the parkrun Australia AGM of Saturday 3 December, where Gareth Candy stood down as President and Scott Watkins was named the new Chair, Craig Curtis and Renee Gimbert continuing as Treasurer and Secretary, Stephen Jackson remaining a Representative, and Silpa Palmer, Dale Murray and Matt Fullerton joining; and Bunyaville parkrun's third-anniversary attendance record of 270, beating 231, plus more than 2,200 photos.
parkrun adventure challenge starts at 7:20listener challenge
Grows out of Mel's story of winning a local Christmas-lights competition in the environmental category (a papier-mache roof scene, early LEDs, solar lights; prize was six miniature fruit trees, a worm farm and a lighting voucher) and Scott's admission that he wrapped cheap Kmart lights around a pole to make "the parkrun tree". At Scott sets the week's adventure: "send us your photo. Christmas lights, parkrun style." Mel frames it as a parkrun tree LED light competition.
Meet the ED starts at 22:29
Simon Mackley, Co-Event Director of Mosman parkrun in Sydney, billed by Mel as "officially my favourite guest, E.D., on the show ever" because he answered yes to having listened to the podcast. Covers the three-lap course beside the water above Middle Harbour with its dreaded hill run three times; the rocky start at Balmoral, where after a 102-runner first event the council said they lacked approvals and were "effectively a menace to the community", and the five-month, two-council-meeting move to Spit West; the anniversary that keeps being pushed back a week; festive plans to visit Rhodes and Parramatta instead of the usual Curl Curl and St Peters; the volunteer Robin who marshals the top of the hill about 45 weeks a year; the injured runner who volunteered every week for eight months; and celebrity visits from Bruce Fordyce, Pat Farmer, Marty Dent and Hannah Oldroyd.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 32:06"Where is the cake?"
Opens with the hosts' running joke about mispronouncing parkrun place names, they got Cohuna wrong last week and still cannot agree how to say it. One launch this week at Rooty Hill ("the boy in me giggles"), plus anniversaries: Central Lakes celebrating their first, and Menai (NSW), Stanthorpe and Stockton (NSW) all celebrating their second, "three two-year-olds and a". Scott notes there are no launches or anniversaries in Western Australia, which is his cue to cross there for Club Corner.
Club Corner starts at 33:53
Scott crosses to Western Australia for Club Corner with the Secret Rocky Runners, a Rockingham-based club founded by Rob, a UK expat who could not find a local running club and "so you build your own", starting from about 20 people met through Rockingham parkrun. Covers the Wednesday interval sessions that draw 15-30 runners; incorporation with a president, vice president, treasurer and secretary but a deliberate decision not to align with WA Athletics on cost grounds; the Facebook-group-plus-membership two-tier structure; the annual "birthday mile" on a hired WA Athletics track with kids' races; the orange club colours chosen by a vote after Rob wanted yellow and Claudia blue; 11 relay teams and around 20 marathoners at the Perth Marathon with a mixed team third overall; Katherine Reid going from walking parkrun to running her first 5K; and members holding up a failed finish gantry at the Bunbury Three Waters half marathon so late finishers had a finish line to cross.
Sign-off starts at 45:09
Mel asked how excited Scotty was that only two podcasts remained before Christmas, and they used it to warn listeners they would take a break over Christmas and New Year after episode 50, suggesting anyone with free time work back through the catalogue from episode one. They praised their guest Simon and talked up Mossman parkrun, and Mel confirmed she would be back for episode 49 and for 50, closing with "until next week".