Episode 218 - Alison King
2021-01-22
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake
Roving reporterMark Scarborough
GuestAlison Fraser (King)
Show notes
From the Facebook post
Mel is still floating this week, after a huge and exciting weekend.
We hear about her visit to Dandenong and the launch of Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun.
Plus, Marvellous Mark reports in from Fingal Bay (opens in a new tab) and Olly has a chat with Puarenga (opens in a new tab) parkrun ED Alison King about blogs, books and New Zealand's need for snazzy terminology.
From the podcast feed
Mel is still floating this week, after a huge and exciting weekend. We hear about her visit to Dandenong and the launch of Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun. Plus, Marvellous Mark reports in from Fingal Bay (opens in a new tab) and Olly has a chat with Paurenga parkrun ED Alison King about blogs, books and New Zealand's need for snazzy terminology.
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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 transcriptGuest
Alison Fraser (King)
Return guest, last on in episode 26 with Scott Trickett and Melissa Erbacher when Puarenga was newly launched. Covers Puarenga parkrun, the world's only parkrun through an active geothermal area, its fifth birthday and post-lockdown numbers; co-ED Jason Chapman and his UK parkrun history; New Zealand's Adopt-a-Country relaunch, in which Puarenga adopted Germany; her blog and forthcoming guidebook to New Zealand's parkruns, born of wanting to write a book while working as a journalist; her tally of 59 events across four countries including Stratford-upon-Avon, Bushy the day before the London Marathon, and Main Beach, Broadbeach Waters and Centennial in Australia; and New Zealand's lack of a "snazzy" term for having run every event in the country.
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:23
Melissa Ellis and Ollie Spake. Ollie finally ran (rather than volunteered at) his home Shellharbour parkrun, 270-odd runners on a summer's day, confessing he is a spitter and doing as many Zoom Zooms for the photographer as he could. Mel was at Dandenong (event four) for Victoria's return: a wet field of 20, chihuahua Chico smuggled along with Paul and Zoe, Mel briefly leading as first female and finishing second, Joanne Blackburn in the Ugly Christmas Shirt, and husband Paul reaching his 100th unique event (Cowell Club). Over 50,000 parkrunners worldwide for the first time since the restart; Marvellous Mark's roving report from Fingal Bay is next.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 12:43
Roving report from Fingal Bay parkrun (Port Stephens, NSW), event 370, filed by Mark while touring in his caravan and collecting an "F" for the alphabet challenge. He gives the event's stats (116 average finishers, 31:16 average time) then interviews volunteers Sue and Kevin, prolific local Kevin with Nerida (and Kevin's mother Colleen, on 255-odd parkruns), and Event Director Tammy, who reveals Fingal Bay parkrun has been nominated for the Port Stephens Medal in the Australia Day awards, to be decided on 26 January.
the Informant starts at 48:57
Anonymous unofficial weekly stats rundown. Events down under up to 432 with the launches of Lake Boga Foreshore (Vic) and SS Cooper Trail (Qld), plus the Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun launch; 393 events run in Australia and New Zealand, up from 257; 52,076 runners at an average of 132 per event; Victorian-only figures for the first weekend back compared against 14 March 2020; national milestone counts; and the statespeople movements. Signs off "my spreadsheet is bigger than yours."
Statesmen update starts at 50:52
Delivered inside the Informant's rundown: all six Victorian statespeople lost their status due to the Lake Boga Foreshore launch; Jessie Delaney, Kayla Fuller, Ash Pei and Kim Thompson joined the Northern Territory list; Flynn Kelly, Kay Salara, Jennifer Eddy, Jared Spence and Paul Hospins joined the ACT list; Amanda Hardy and Emma Zammett rejoined the NSW list and became the only two Triple Statespeople, having completed all of NSW, the Northern Territory and the ACT. Mel notes that she will regain her own statesmanship at Lake Boga next Saturday.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 51:42"Where is the cake?"
Melissa Ellis reveals she is the Event Director of the new Eynesbury Heritage Trail junior parkrun, launched on the Sunday in the Eynesbury Forest south of Melton, Melbourne's second junior parkrun. Twenty-seven junior parkrunners at a soft launch; a core team of experienced Run Directors drawn from surrounding 5k events; the event had been days from its original trial when the 2020 pause hit and its 12-month landowner permission expired before it could launch, forcing a fresh round of approvals. Also noted: Westerfolds junior parkrun back with 76 kids in its first week after the pause.
Sign-off starts at 58:33
Mel asked where Ollie was off to next week and he said Shell Harbour again, giving more of the new regular volunteers a chance to trial run directing and other roles, which would probably mean failing his homework again, though he would try to look out for a freedom run. Mel said she was going to Lake Boga, which had launched that Saturday, to regain her statesmanship, with accommodation there pretty booked out by fellow Victorians. Ollie said it had been an enjoyable time, thanked her, reflected on the big weekend she and so many other Victorians had had getting a home barcode scanned, congratulated her again on the launch and said he looked forward to doing it again next week.