Episode 108 - parkrun Malaysia

2018-04-19

GuestHarneshpal Karamjit Singh ("Harry")

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Episode 108 of the parkrun adventurers podcast has landed! We head to warmer climes to speak with Harry Harnesh, Co-ED of Taman Pudu Ulu (opens in a new tab) parkrun, about the launch of this wonderful inaugural event in parkrun Malaysia.

And what exactly is a Kilopitre? Tune in to find out!

#jomparkrun

From the podcast feed

The parkrun adventurers explore new climes and have some overseas adventures! We welcome Taman Pudu Ulu (opens in a new tab) parkrun’s Co-Event Director Harneshpal Singh to the pod for a chat about parkrun Malaysia joining the global parkrun family. And Emma Nicholson files a roving report about some deadly runners and another prospective parkrun.

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Enhanced transcript

Speakers named, sound described and segments marked by the editing pass — not yet checked by a person.

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Guest

Harneshpal Karamjit Singh ("Harry")

Co-Event Director, Taman Pudu Ulu parkrun, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The launch of Taman Pudu Ulu parkrun, the first parkrun in Malaysia, how Amer and Kala Butterfield began the process two and a half years ago via Tom Williams and Tim Oberg, Harry joining in June/August 2017, negotiating with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) over an underutilised park refurbished for the 2017 SEA Games, seven trial runs of 17-20 people, then 129 participants and 14 volunteers on launch day (91 Malaysians, 74 first-timers) with international tourists from Australia, Poland, the UK and US. Also his own parkrun background (101 parkruns from Cardiff 2013 across six countries, heavy junior parkrun volunteering), coping with KL heat, and plans for future events at Putrajaya and Kuantan after Malaysia's 14th general election on 9 May.

Interviewed by Melissa Erbacher, Scott Trickett

starts at 11:26

Roving reports

Karawa Surf Club (as spoken — a meeting point, not a parkrun event; see notes)reported by Emma Nicholson · 34:09

In this episode

Welcome starts at 0:16
Melissa Erbacher and Scott Trickett; Scott is back home in Melbourne with a pulled back muscle and a fall on the Bright trails while running with Matt, but marathon training is on track, and he did Lakes Entrance parkrun with Kasia. Mel got her first international parkrun at Taman Pudu Ulu in Malaysia, where a Strava activity recorded on roaming data vanished and then reappeared once she was home; Scott sets her the task of bringing her GPS watch on the weekend so he can sync it before her US trip. Co-Event Director Harry is previewed as the guest.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 34:09
Emma Nicholson files a self-contained roving report from a surf club, interviewing Sergeant Mel Gilbert (in charge of Doomadgee PCYC) about the Deadly Runners program, over 30 kids have earned a singlet by attending six weeks, and the appeal to the parkrun family for donated pre-loved shoes, because kids running barefoot were getting injured. Gilbert took the runners to her home parkrun for their first-ever 5k and says she is "in talks with parkrun Australia" about a future parkrun at Doomadgee.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 37:39"Where is the cake?"
Weekly launch and anniversary rundown. Launches: Gainsborough Greens at Pimpama on the Gold Coast (the final launch of the Embracing 2018 Commonwealth Games legacy program of 20 events), Moana in South Australia and Wanneroo in WA, "three launch weekend this weekend". Anniversaries: Augustine Heights (Qld), Cottesloe (WA), Mackay (Qld) and Sale (Vic), with Scott doing a running joke about reciting them from "memory" while reading a list.
Sign-off starts at 41:57
Scott broke off the anniversaries list to ask whether they had wrapped up for the week, and Mel asked whether they had entered the time zone where only the hardcore listen to their blathering. Scott then filled it with a riff on supermarket breakfast bars being cookies marketed as healthy, tasking Mel with bringing back the next big American breakfast bar from the trip she was leaving on the following Wednesday, Anzac Day. They teased that Scott was coming to Queensland not for the Gainsborough Greens launch but for something on the Sunday - something new, something a bit short in stature as well as distance - before saying goodbye.