Episode 170 - Linda Coombes

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HostsMelissa Erbacher Scott Trickett

Roving reporterDavid Moss

GuestLinda Coombes

Show notes

The parkrun adventurers have BIG news. Scotty gets his green monster on as we interview Warwick (opens in a new tab) parkrun’s Event Director Linda Coombes about the event’s new bridge. Plus Channel 5 News Crew member Dave reports in from Denmark, after he scans his barcode in at Fælledparken (opens in a new tab) parkrun.

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Guest

Roving reports

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:20

  Scott Trickett is back with Melissa Erbacher after a couple of weeks away, teasing Mel about the rumours she spread in his absence. He flags a big episode with Linda Coombes coming on and promises to open with news about where he has been.

• Scott Trickett's final episode as co-host starts at 2:15farewell

  Scott announces at the top of the show that episode 170 is his last as co-host after four years: "This is going to be my last episode as co-host of this wonderful creation that I've created with you, Mel." He says he told Mel only a couple of hours before recording so she could compose herself, walks through his highlights (the two PALM listener meet-ups, the first at Shellharbour; Madness; Streaky September; the interviews with "parkrun people"; the Channel 5 News Crew), and explains why, parkrun has become 24/7 through his job and he needs balance, plus pressure on him because of his parkrun role. He hands the show to Mel as "the real star of the show". Both are audibly emotional. The outro (from ~00:47:55) returns to it: Mel says she will ask the Channel 5 News Crew to co-host in a caretaker period, "Lyndell and Gary have both done stellar jobs", until a new co-host is found, and confirms the podcast continues at episode 171. Scott says he is not leaving parkrun and will attend PALM 2020 as an audience member.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 37:41

  Dave 'Mossy' Moss reports in from Copenhagen, Denmark, having run Fælledparken parkrun. He interviews Jonathan Sydenham, who started parkrun in Denmark: Sydenham ran parkruns in England, knew Paul (Sinton-Hewitt) and Roger, missed it after moving to Denmark, and was encouraged by Paul to start more than one event. Denmark now has eight events (nine historically, the Hillerød course north of Copenhagen closed when he moved away); Fælledparken had just held its 409th running, the first Copenhagen event turned 10 this year, and Danish parkruns pride themselves on never cancelling for weather. He flags Amager Fælled and the beach course at Amager Strandpark as the most unusual, and says tourists are "the guests of honour". Scott and Mel top and tail it with envy about Denmark.

• Nonsense starts at 44:07unscripted outro

  Scott names the show's closing chat on air for the first time: "the last time we do the outro together that we call nonsense on our run sheet because we have no plan. It's just you and me talking." This week's nonsense includes Mel's pre-recorded clip from Kawana parkrun with Jack Taylor and Milkshake the cat (Milkshake's third parkrun, previously Brightwater and Mudjimba, Mel calls her "the first known parkrunning cat"), a tangent about chickens in a pet pram at Sandgate parkrun, the future of the podcast, and Scott's thanks to Mel, to listeners and to his family.

• Sign-off starts at 53:18

  In his last episode as co-host Scott said that for one final time he would not see Mel next week but would speak to her, and would be listening to the podcast to hear about her parkrun day. He thanked her from the bottom of his heart for saying yes immediately and never wavering, calling her the best co-host he could have imagined; thanked everyone who had ever come up to say hi at parkrun over the four years and urged listeners to do the same with Mel; and thanked Ivona and Kasia for putting up with him disappearing into the study. Mel said she felt gypped that listeners had not been given the chance to throw him a going-away party; Scott said he did not want one, that he was not going anywhere except out of the co-host seat, and that he would be at Palm 2020 sitting in the audience watching them record.