Episode 69
2017-05-25
HostScott Trickett
GuestsFiona Edmonds Jeremy Savage Liv Coop Michael Milton Paul Rainbow Rowan - Longest Run Melbourne north-east organiser (surname not given) Tony O'Connell
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers are excited! We speak to Paralympic legend and world record holder Michael Milton, fresh from his exploits at Ultra-Trail Australia. We visit Qld, WA, Victoria and NSW to get the full program of Longest Runs planned for the Nation in June. A Roving Report from parkrun AU Board President Scott Watkins comes in all the way from the U S of A, and Club Corner is back as we chat to Margot and Steve Manning from InTraining.
Enhanced transcript
Checked transcript — speakers named, sound described, segments marked.
Read the transcriptGuests
Michael Milton
Completing the 50km Ultra-Trail Australia on crutches (a 12-hour run after a late course change and 10am start), how running on crutches works mechanically and the equipment he adapts, his career across skiing, track cycling and triathlon, skiing at 213 km/h, two bouts of cancer, parkrun with his eight-year-old son in Canberra, and an entry in the Cairns Half Ironman less than three weeks away.
Liv Coop
The Brisbane leg of the 2017 Longest Run - opening with the trial run of the not-yet-launched Mansfield parkrun, then Wishart, Minnippi, Wynnum, Capalaba, Cleveland and Redland Bay - and shortening the per-event allowance to encourage walkers.
Fiona Edmonds
The Logan leg of the Longest Run - Yarrabilba, Underwood Park, Meadowbrook, Logan River, meeting the Brisbane group at Cleveland and finishing at Redland Bay - and the scheduling spreadsheet inherited from "The Prof".
Jeremy Savage
WA's two Longest Runs (northern and southern suburbs) meeting at Claisebrook Cove, a group cycling between the southern events, lunch put on by the Champion Lakes event team, why WA skipped the Longest Run in 2016, and why swimming at Claisebrook Cove is a bad idea (jellyfish and bull sharks).
Rowan
The north-east Melbourne Longest Run leg - Coburg, Darebin, a sneak-preview run at the not-yet-open Mernda course (developed with a local runner, Amanda), Westerfolds, Mullum Mullum, Jells and Frog Hollow - plus a course description of Mernda.
Tony O'Connell
The new Gippsland Longest Run leg - a 6:30am headlamp start at Traralgon, then Churchill, Newborough, Warragul, Pakenham, Berwick Springs, finishing with the Melbourne crew at Frog Hollow - why they chose 11 June (long weekend), and Churchill being the hilliest of the Gippsland courses.
Paul Rainbow
Sydney's single Longest Run leg, reshuffled to run west to east from Penrith Lakes, Nepean River, Rouse Hill, The Ponds and Parramatta through to two events that have not launched yet, finishing at Willoughby; the difficulty of council permissions and of picking seven doable events.
Steve Manning
Club Corner: the history of intraining from 1994 training groups to a 700-member club, its recreational (not elite) focus, helping establish parkrun at New Farm Park, how parkrun fits their weekly program as the Saturday tempo session, the monthly predictor race, and how to join.
Margot Manning
Club Corner: interviewed jointly with Steve Manning about intraining's history, coaching structure, parkrun involvement and club culture.
In this episode
Longest Run national preview (state-by-state wrap-around)
The episode's spine: a state-by-state preview of the 2017 Longest Run, all legs on Sunday 11 June (deliberately moved a week ahead of the winter solstice to avoid clashes with other running events). Sunshine Coast (Melissa Erbacher) is running the usual seven backwards, Noosa first and Central Lakes last. Brisbane (Liv Coop) starts at the not-yet-launched Mansfield, then Wishart, Minnippi, Wynnum, Capalaba, Cleveland, Redland Bay; the Logan leg (Fiona Edmonds) starts at Yarrabilba then Underwood Park, Meadowbrook, Logan River, meeting at Cleveland. WA (Jeremy Savage) has two loops, northern and southern, meeting at Claisebrook Cove, with a group cycling between the southern events. Victoria has two: Rowan's north-east Melbourne leg (Coburg, Darebin, a sneak preview of Mernda, Westerfolds, Mullum Mullum, Jells, Frog Hollow) and Tony O'Connell's Gippsland leg (Traralgon, Churchill, Newborough, Warragul, Pakenham, Berwick Springs), both finishing together at Frog Hollow. Sydney (Paul Rainbow) is running one leg west to east from Penrith Lakes. Eight Longest Runs nationally; the hosts repeatedly stress these are freedom runs, not official parkruns.
Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)
Scott Watkins - parkrun Australia Board President, explicitly distinguished from host Scott Trickett ("this is President Scott, not Scotty") - files the show's first ever roving report from the United States, from Roosevelt Island parkrun in Washington DC. He describes the out-and-back boardwalk course on the island between Virginia and DC, notes roughly half the field were tourists, and interviews local parkrunner Joyce, UK military parkrunner Paul, and Darrell Stanaford, parkrun's US country manager (nine US events with three more opening within five weeks; permits the main obstacle). Watkins also mentions having run the Pyongyang marathon in North Korea five weeks earlier.
Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")
Mel asks "where's the cake this week?" and the hosts discover the parkrun Australia newsletter has stopped publishing anniversaries. Rather than ring around every event, they announce a format change on air: from now on "Where is the cake?" will cover FIRST anniversaries only, because the old list was getting too long and "that's the exciting one - that's when there's always cake." No first anniversaries this week. Three launches: Mawson Lakes (SA), Ballina Coast (NSW) and Mount Beauty (VIC) - Scott is heading to Mount Beauty, comparing it to Timboon as one of the smallest towns per capita to have a parkrun.
Club Corner
Explicitly announced as returning: "But now, Club Corner! Club Corner is back." Scott and Mel talk to Steve and Margot Manning from intraining, described as the third largest parkrun club in the country. The club was formed in 1994 out of training groups that had outgrown a single coach, registered with Athletics Australia and Triathlon Australia, and focused on recreational rather than elite runners - unusual at the time. They helped get parkrun off the ground at New Farm Park in Brisbane, have around 700 members and 15-20 active coaches, build a Saturday parkrun tempo run into their core weekly program, run a monthly watch-covered predictor race, and publish every member's parkrun result in a weekly newsletter. Their distinctive red-striped singlet gets a mention as a "guaranteed cheer".
Post-show ramble (unnamed off-air chat)
Scott formally signs off the show ("if you've had enough, people, thanks for tuning in") and then keeps recording for an informal chat: Mel has eight days of work left before maternity leave, the pair discuss whether the weekly podcast can continue with Scott out of the country and Mel about to have a baby, and joke about interviewing the newborn. Ends with "Episode 70, next week's going to be fun."