Episode 55
2017-02-14
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, February 2017HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
Roving reportersRiley Murrell Tara Carpenter
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers get excited about sports. Shanon, aka The Plus Size parkrunner, joins us for a candid chat about her past and future adventures. Dave ‘Robbo’ Robertson stops by for a wrap up of a fantastic week of Nitro Athletics, and Roving Reporters Tara, Riley and Mitchell get the goss on the ground at the launch of Bundy parkrun.
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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
Shanon
Her parkrun story: finding parkrun via a council boot camp while on maternity leave; starting the Plus Size parkrunner Facebook page after asking Running Mums Australia for an accountability buddy and getting ~300 replies, growing to nearly 5,000 followers in six weeks; her 2017 goal of 40 different parkrun events and fitting a toddler's XXL dress by year's end; body image, active wear and the "she who shall not be named" shop post; the myth that you have to be fit before you turn up to parkrun; and her top three parkruns - Stones Corner, Sirromet Wines and Hervey Bay.
Dave 'Robbo' Robertson
Wrap-up of Nitro Athletics week in Melbourne and the Nitro parkrun at Lakeside Stadium: the 997-finisher Australian attendance record, Sebastian Coe doing his first ever parkrun (and being beaten by ~330 people), Athletics Australia president Mark Arbib and Tim Oberg on the pole vault mats; then the final night of Nitro - Ryan Gregson's elimination-mile win Riley Day winning the 150m, what worked and what fell flat (the javelin and the field events generally), his joke format ideas under the hashtag #newnitroevents, and his three-minute challenge for ordinary parkrunners.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:07
Scott Trickett with Mel Erbacher on the Sunshine Coast for episode 55, after a week's gap that had Mel's brother texting to ask where the podcast was; real-life jobs got in the way. Scott raced a 3k on an athletics track under lights, his first track race since Little Athletics 30 years ago, and came last but was chuffed to have tried something new. That leads into how each of them started running: Scott through Little Athletics and a lifelong active streak that lapsed before parkrun helped him reverse it, Mel as a self-described non-athletic kid who did some Irish dancing in Mount Isa and only took up running in her 30s, after her married-life eating caught up with her and she began walking, then running, with her dog.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 48:02
Crossover to a block of roving reports from the launch of Bundaberg ("good old Bundy") parkrun in Queensland, introduced by Mel: "we've got a whole bunch of roving reports from Tara, Mitchell and Riley who got a wrap-up from a lot of the participants on the day." Trainee roving reporters Tara Carpenter and Riley Murrell (both from Tannum Sands parkrun), plus a third reporter, do vox-pop interviews with Abby, Chris Whiting, Dana Perrin-Smith, Neil Schultz, Dwayne, Debbie Phillips and Michael Schultz. Scott closes: "Our first roving reports for this year, for 2017, and they got a lot. Thanks, guys."
Launches and anniversaries starts at 51:19"Where is the cake?"
Anniversaries just gone - Golden Beach and Ipswich turned three, Lake Mac turned four - with Mel reporting from Golden Beach ("I had two pieces of cake for breakfast", muesli and yoghurt instead of doughnuts, a volunteer wall of fame with about a dozen 25-volunteer parkrunners). Then the week ahead: cake at Kirra (QLD, fifth) and Wyndham Vale (VIC, first), plus launches at Darebin in Victoria and Dalby in Queensland - "the Twin Dees for the weekend". Rolls into the usual Victoria-vs-Queensland needle after the 997-strong Nitro parkrun attendance record.
Sign-off starts at 54:49
Mel said that was pretty much all they had time for and told Scott to go and buy spikes; he revealed he had bought a pair of Velcro spikes between the intro and the outro that were 'a complete rip-off', which turned out to be the dad joke of the week. He asked Mel to bring her own joke to go out with in episode 56, and they said goodbye until next week.
Dad joke starts at 56:19
Scott's closing pun: he has bought Velcro spikes between the intro and the outro and they were "very expensive... I'm just hopeful that they're not a complete rip-off". Mel: "I'm not even going to need to ask you for your dad joke this week, obviously", and Scott: "You had to be sharp to pick up on that one, ladies and gentlemen, but that was it." Mel is then set the task of supplying a joke of her own for episode 56.