Episode 139 - Running Challenges
2018-11-22
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett
GuestsAndy Taylor Laura Cowan
Show notes
The parkrun adventurers had a super weekend. We do a deep dive exploring the story behind the Running Challenges Chrome Extension with its creators Andy Taylor and Laura Cowan. And we give you all the results of the 2018 parkrun adventurers perlustration and announce the winner of the TomTom GPS watch!
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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
Andy Taylor
Deep dive on the Running Challenges Chrome extension: how it started from the UK parkrun tourist group's alphabet challenge, why they built it as a browser extension rather than a website (to avoid scraping and keep traffic on parkrun's own pages), the hand-drawn badges, the volunteer badges, install numbers (~6,000, 80% UK / 14% Australia / 6% South Africa), a full explanation of the P-index and the Wilson Index, the difference between the UK and Australian Compass Clubs and a possible per-country "navigator" badge, why badges and flags can be lost when new events launch, and their own parkrun stories at Winchester.
Laura Cowan
Same interview as above - Laura covers the tourist group origins of the challenge list, drawing the badges on her tablet, the wish to fold volunteering weeks into the obsessive badges, country filtering for region-specific badges, and her own parkrun story (started January 2015, touristing in North Carolina and Palermo, a year off running that turned her into a volunteer and Tail Walker).
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:17
Scotty Trickett with a sleepy Mel Erbacher, who has had late nights working on a secret Christmas gift for the adventurers that listeners will have to pay for, to be announced next week or mid-week on Facebook; coming up are the Running Challenges chat with Andy and Laura, the perlustration results, the TomTom challenge draw and a giveaway of six copies of A Scent of Fear. Mel broke her streak of parkrun misadventures, timekeeping at the finish line beside a nurse named Tracy at a third-anniversary superhero-themed event and going as Volunteer Girl in a purple and fluoro-orange cape, mask and home-made boot covers; Scotty was at home at Westerfolds, where Amanda Smith of Radio National's Life Matters came out with the Tail Walker to record a story on parkrun, and he needs a costume for a superhero-themed anniversary next week.
The Perlustration starts at 49:21annual listener survey
Full reveal of the 2018 parkrun adventurers perlustration (annual listener survey), third year running. Results covered: home state (Victoria 30%, NSW 24%, internationals 11.5%); over 50% of listeners have 100+ parkruns and 10% have the green 250 shirt, with nobody who has never done a parkrun; segment ratings (banter 94% "awesome", roving reports and guest interviews strong, the madness quiz 69.31%, the hotline 57.43% "which is why we let the hotline go"); which retired segments listeners want back (ED interviews 73% yes, the news 52%, Club Corner just below 50%, the Poem Zone only 11%), with the write-in answers overwhelmingly asking for Ian Hay and Facts in a Haystack to return - Scott says he has already reached out to Ian; questions on the Palm gathering and a proposed "Contiki Tour" (South Africa the listeners' pick); other parkrun podcasts listened to (With Me Now and Free Weekly Timed ~70%, Marathon Talk ~35%); apples vs mangoes (team Scotty 51% / team Mel 49%); and "who is funnier" - 49% too hard to call, Mel 26.09% beating Scott 25.22% by a single vote.
TomTom GPS watch giveaway — Emma Jackson starts at 1:04:26
Annual prize draw for a TomTom GPS watch among perlustration respondents, done live on a spinning wheel. Scott: "Okay, the winner is Emma Jackson." TomTom is noted as no longer a parkrun Australia partner but still a friend of the podcast.
Scent of Fear book giveaway starts at 1:05:06park dog selfie challenge
Listener competition to give away six advance copies of Tony Park's novel Scent of Fear (which mentions parkrun in chapter five). Mel devises the rules on air: send in a wacky and zany selfie taken with a "park dog" that isn't your own, this weekend only, tagged on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook or emailed in. Judged by the hosts rather than drawn at random; explicit warning that any photo where the dog looks distressed is disqualified. Winner not named in this episode.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:09:05"Where is the cake?"
No launches this week but "anniversaries galore": Cronulla, Forster and Kamay in New South Wales; Miles, Minnippi, North Harbour and Sandgate in Queensland; Sunbury in Victoria; Surfers Paradise in Queensland; and Yokine in Western Australia. The Beaches (NSW) is flagged as coming next year. Extended banter about how to pronounce Kamay, which Scott is attending that weekend.
Top Three starts at 1:10:12
Hosts each nominate their top three favourite Running Challenges extension stats. Scott: stopwatch bingo (needs 30 and 48), longest tourism streak (12), and his NENDY (Wilson Botanic, 36km away). Mel: tourist quotient, total distance travelled (short of 100,000km because of her cancelled Tasmanian event), and the newly added furthest travelled. Listeners invited to send in their own top three; a to-do list sent in by Bruce Purdy is held over to next week.
Sign-off starts at 1:17:02
Scott closed with "That's episode 139 of the parkrun adventurers" and told listeners to come back next week on a Wednesday for episode 140.