Episode 59 - Nicola Forwood
2017-03-15
— open the full-size artworkShow artwork, February 2017HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
Roving reporterTony O'Connell
GuestNicola Forwood
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers map out exact directions for the landlubbers aspiring to join the Pirate Club (and no, X doesn't mark the spot). We head to the Northern Hemisphere for a chat with the parkrun Show podcast's own Nicola Forwood about her recent antipodean adventure. Ian Hay joins us for the first Facts in a Haystack of 2017, and roving reporter Tony O'Connell checks in from Bairnsdale (opens in a new tab) parkrun's anniversary.
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Enhanced transcript
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Read the transcriptGuest
Nicola Forwood
Her antipodean parkrun tour, two parkruns in New Zealand, St Peters (Sydney), Chelsea Bicentennial (Melbourne), Cairns and Noosa, plus East Coast Park in Singapore where her daughter Poppy ran her tenth; the personal circumstances behind the trip (her husband Ben's death shortly after The parkrun Show ended, a lost pregnancy); how she joined The parkrun Show with Danny, Tom Williams and Martin Yelling; junior parkrun; Woodhouse Moor parkrun's 500th event with a record 718 attendance; and her top three (Dalby Forest, Fountains Abbey, and jointly St Peters and Noosa), with a plug for a Bushy parkrun pilgrimage.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:07
Scott Trickett and Melissa Erbacher for episode 59; a short opening in which Scotty observes that parkrun has no off-season, so there is always something to talk about.
The Compass Club starts at 0:41new tourist club
Scott and Mel refine the listener-proposed Pirate Club that was floated in episode 58 ("your friend from the West"). Rules locked in after consulting the originator: seven "C" events (the seven seas) plus one "R" event, "You have to have done the seven C's and an R ... it's the letter that comes immediately after Q in the alphabet." The original 26-C proposal was judged unattainable. Ian Hay is later tasked with crunching the numbers ("Seven seas and one R ... I'll crunch those numbers") for a reveal next week.
Facts in a Haystack starts at 38:29
Ian Hay's first stats segment of 2017. January 2017 attendance ~130,000 across 205 events vs 119,000 in January 2016; February dipped to 123,000 across 210 events, a 7,000 new-year-resolution drop against 25,000 for the same period in 2016. Weekly numbers now 31,000-32,000. Event count 205 (end Jan 2017) vs 151 (end Jan 2016), now 210-211 vs 158. Also counts 26 Australian "C" events with 47,043 individual parkrunners having done one, as groundwork for the Pirate Club.
Statesmen update starts at 42:05
Within the Ian Hay segment, Mel asks "what the current state of play is with statesmen". Counts by state: ACT 241, Northern Territory 217, Tasmania 82, New South Wales 3, South Australia 8, Victoria 5, WA 8, Queensland 1, almost 500 all up. Mel notes Weipa has "broken many" aspiring statesmen. Ian adds that, excluding the three small territories/states, only one statesman has never volunteered.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 46:36
Tony O'Connell reports from Bairnsdale parkrun's first anniversary, interviewing founder Vee McShane beside the river in 16 degrees. She was inspired by her first parkrun at Strathclyde Park in Scotland and brought the idea home to Bairnsdale. Course records discussed: Charlotte McShane (her sister, pro triathlete, 3rd in the World Triathlon Series) 17:30, and Brendan Sexton (Charlotte's partner, Olympian) 16:08.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 49:25"Where is the cake?"
Second week running with zero launches across parkrun Australia, which Mel finds odd for March. Anniversaries: Yamba (2nd), Rockhampton QLD (1st), Maylands Peninsula (1st, ED Bronwyn), Campbelltown (3rd), Mount Barker (3rd, "our old mate PK"), and Albury Wodonga (3rd). Mel tallies launches by year: three years ago three events, two years ago one, one year ago two, "So 2017, you're letting the team down."
Social Adventurers starts at 51:48
Abbreviated this week, the full quarterly/yearly social wrap is deferred to episode 60. They pick Twitter only: a message from Morris (@MusicianTeacher), a listener from Scotland who has been listening since episode one and was pushing his in a running buggy for his 112th parkrun. Leads into Mel joking about how fast her husband Adam will rack up buggy parkruns after the baby arrives.
Sign-off starts at 54:32
Scott said 'that does it for episode 59' after asking clubs to get in touch for Club Corner, and the hosts turned to the milestone ahead: they looked up what a 60th anniversary gift is (diamond, after Mel guessed cashmere) and agreed they would have to do something special and shiny for the diamond episode. Mel thanked Scott for welcoming her at the top of the show and for staying with her, and they agreed to meet next week for the 60th.