Episode 67
2017-05-11
HostMelissa Erbacher
GuestsAmelia Griffith Cassie Hughes Chris Timms John Laurie Mark Connolly Sonja Pohlman Steve Rayner Tony O'Connell
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers try some Wings for Life on for size and discuss Breaking2. We get a taste for running in the Sahara Desert with Coburg parkrunner Amelia Griffith. And we bring you an EPIC State of the Nation as eight of parkrun Australia’s Territory Directors check in with all the latest and upcoming news for their State or Territory.
Enhanced transcript
Checked transcript — speakers named, sound described, segments marked.
Read the transcriptGuests
Amelia Griffith
Running the Marathon des Sables across the Sahara — the six-day, 240km self-sufficient multi-stage format, the 88km long stage with a 35-hour cut-off, carrying 10-12kg packs, heat and sleep deprivation, training in the St Kilda sand with a pack, guiding vision-impaired runners with the Achilles group, her favourite parkruns (Durban North Beach, St Peters, Lilydale) and what's next (Trails Plus 50K, Sydney Marathon, the Ned Kelly Chase 100K).
Denise
State of the Nation — ACT: the Queanbeyan launch (226 parkrunners, new ED Vanessa Palmer), prospects at Molonglo, Woden, Mount Majura, Fadden and Dunlop, Burley Griffin's first birthday, and Canberra region growth to 998 parkrunners a week across five events.
Gary
State of the Nation — ACT, delivered jointly with Denise: the strategic plan for new Canberra region parkruns, sponsorship talks, registration and attendance growth figures, and an aside on Canberra's suburb naming conventions.
Sonja Pohlman
State of the Nation — NSW: 58 parkruns as of 6 May 2017 (a quarter of Australia's events), Ballina Coast and Coffs Harbour launching, trial events, prospects at Cessnock, Broken Hill and Lake Albert, May birthdays, and her wish-list item — a mandatory tail runner at every event.
Mark Connolly
State of the Nation — NT: Palmerston added as Darwin's second event, attendance figures, why enquiries from Katherine and Alice Springs never convert, and the effect of a transient/defence population on retaining run directors.
Steve Rayner
State of the Nation — QLD: Mansfield and Redland Bay launching in June (resetting statesman status), 20+ events on the prospects list, the Breakfast Creek naming problem, a vision-impaired runners group at Southbank, the relocated Kedron course, and a wish for timing technology beyond stopwatches and tokens.
John Laurie
State of the Nation — SA: expanding to three territory directors, a state government grant funding 10 new parkruns, a busy run of July anniversaries, and prospects at Barossa Valley, Gawler, Mawson Lakes, Goolwa, Kangaroo Island, Semaphore and Edithburgh — including South Australia's first full trail parkrun.
Chris Timms
State of the Nation — TAS: the George Town launch taking the state to four events (and voiding everyone's Tasmanian statesman status), prospects at Railton, Burnie, Windsor, Queen's Domain and Deloraine, Devonport's second birthday, a state attendance record of 759, and a pitch for a Zeehan parkrun for alphabet tourists.
Tony O'Connell
State of the Nation — VIC: roughly 100% growth a year for five years, 47 events with two more launching before the end of May and speculation about which will be number 50, ~1,100 people a week across Gippsland, a long prospects list, the Victorian alphabet challenge (19 letters covered), and his view that parkrun's real value is the coffee and community afterwards.
Cassie Hughes
State of the Nation — WA: the Applecross launch (268 attendees, 15:52 first finisher), Kalia's first ten weeks, Rockingham's fourth-anniversary pyjama party, tiny Moora, course changes at Canning River and Aveley, Geographe Bay's Ironman cancellation, 23 events statewide, and a wish list of Geraldton, Esperance, Broome, Port Hedland and Exmouth. Melissa also fishes for intel on the Compass Club's westernmost point moving.
In this episode
State of the Nation
A round-Australia check-in with all eight parkrun Australia Territory Directors, each given a strict three-minute slot timed by Scott. Set up at [00:30:11] "Mel, it's time to check the pulse of the nation, the state of the nation. I thought it would be a great idea to go around this big country of ours and get an update of what's happening in every state or territory" and [00:30:30] "because there's a lot of states, we're putting all our TDs on a time limit. They've got three minutes." Runs alphabetically: ACT (Denise and Gary — Queanbeyan launch, Molonglo/Woden/Mount Majura prospects), NSW (Sonja Pohlman — 58 events, Ballina Coast and Coffs Harbour launching), NT (Mark Connolly — Palmerston added as Darwin's second event), QLD (Steve Rayner — Mansfield and Redland Bay coming, Kedron course relocated, VI runners at Southbank), SA (John Laurie — state grant to start 10 new parkruns), TAS (Chris Timms — George Town launch, state attendance record of 759), VIC (Tony O'Connell — 47 events heading for 50), WA (Cassie Hughes — Applecross launch with 268). Each TD is also asked for a wish-list item: one thing they would change about parkrun. Closed at [01:06:47] "So how good was this whole state of the nation thing?"
Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")
Abbreviated this week because the Territory Director round-up already covered launches — [00:59:56] "So we don't need to update you on launches this week because we've already heard." Scott still flags Timboon launching in Victoria ([01:07:02], with a running joke about the name and David Boon the cricketer), then Mel calls for a quick anniversary rundown: Altona Beach (VIC) turning two, Curl Curl (NSW) four, The Entrance (NSW) one, and Yarrabilba (QLD) three — noting they cover birthdays one through four on the same weekend, "That's a lot of cake."