Episode 220 - parkrun fun
2021-02-04
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake
Roving reportersAlison Fraser (King) Cameron Drake Mark Scarborough Melissa Ellis Paul Kitching
Show notes
From the Facebook post
How do YOU bring extra fun to parkrun? Mel likes to take solo drives (to Meningie (opens in a new tab) parkrun) and Olly enjoys volunteering. Listen in this week as 'Controversial' Cam surveys the parkrunners at Canning River (opens in a new tab), WA.
We also here from Mark, comparing trolls at Varsity Lakes (opens in a new tab) , PK pops in at Lochiel (opens in a new tab) with some familiar and not so familiar friends and Alison joins us from across the ditch at the University of Waikato (opens in a new tab).
Oh, and The Informant is getting some attitude!
From the podcast feed
How do YOU bring extra fun to parkrun? Mel likes to take solo drives (to Meningie (opens in a new tab) parkrun) and Olly enjoys volunteering. Listen in this week as 'Controversial' Cam surveys the parkrunners at Canning River (opens in a new tab), WA. We also hear from Mark, comparing trolls at Varsity Lakes (opens in a new tab), PK pops in at Lochiel (opens in a new tab) with some familiar and not so familiar friends and Alison joins us from across the ditch at the University of Waikato (opens in a new tab). Oh, and The Informant is getting some attitude!
Listen
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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 transcriptRoving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:24
Melissa Ellis hosting with Ollie Spake. Ollie barcode scanned at Shellharbour while a new Run Director took the reins, and cheered a regular, Liz, who hit 100 with a milestone PB of 37:49. Mel drove 577 km solo to Meningie with the Wicked soundtrack, finished fourth (second female) in a field of nine, breakfasted at the bakery with locals and Naracoorte visitors, and missed two Victorian launches so is no longer a statesman; she also wonders why Australia says launch where England says inaugural.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 8:02
An unusually large roving block, five reports back to back, which the hosts themselves call out as "a massive episode with Roving Reports". Ollie crosses over ("we were fortunate enough to hear from a multitude of different roving reports across Australia and New Zealand... let's start with yours"). In order: Melissa Ellis from Meningie parkrun, SA (interviewing RD Jenny); Alison Fraser from University of Waikato parkrun, Hamilton NZ (Jason McCarthy, Gail Sharp, Linda Brainer, RD Lex Chalmers); Mark Scarborough from Varsity Lakes parkrun, QLD (Sharon, Rhiannon, RD Andrew); Paul Kitching from Lochiel parkrun, SA (Louise, Penny, Vicky, Nick, Michael, Sputnik, Paula and dog Leo, RD Janet); Cameron Drake from Canning River parkrun, WA (Sharon, Richard, Mary, Penny, Bob, Owen, Peter, Michael, RD Andrew). The hosts debrief all five to.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 21:10
Mark Scarborough opens his Varsity Lakes report with "this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew", he has crossed the border into Queensland while travelling, chasing his V for the alphabet challenge. Ollie also files Cam's Canning River report under the same banner: "we absolutely love a bit of Channel 5 News team parochialism, but you did a fantastic job in also capturing the fun at Canning River."
the Informant starts at 48:31
The Informant's weekly unofficial stats rundown, in the usual formula ("These are unofficial stats... with a 100% chance of an error from time to time", signing off "my spreadsheet is bigger than yours"). Three launches worldwide (two in Victoria, one in NZ's North Island), 440 events worldwide and 407 in Australia and New Zealand, 54,298 finishers, 6,845 PBs, 2,952 first-timers, and milestone counts. The bulk of it this week is a rebuttal to Cameron Drake's on-air challenge from Canning River: the Informant computes the total return distance needed to become a statesperson in each state as the bird of that state "flies", WA 13,157km, Victoria 19,474km, NSW 37,508km, Queensland 61,135km, SA 5,942km, Tasmania 4,532km, ACT 179km, NT 50km, and concludes "Time for loyal listener to go back and play in the sand." Mel's verdict: "the informant is getting some attitude, Ollie", which the show notes echo.
Statesmen update starts at 49:55
Read out inside the Informant's report. New statespeople in the ACT: Ashley Slomka, Brendan and Noah Codrington, Greg Lloyd, Jack Daniel, Elliot and Jared Webb, Alex McConnachie, Yvette Turner and Steven Jolliffe. Northern Territory: Ellen Lawson, who ran Nightcliff. Tasmania: Laurie and Neville Snook. Followed by the "Most Aussie New Zealand Events" mover list, Kevin Rogers 204 to 198, Kerry Holder and Araya Udungchai both 196 to 190. Melissa Ellis also notes that two Victorian launches have knocked her out of statesman status: "I am no longer a statesman."
Sign-off starts at 59:25
The hosts invited listeners to get in touch - with roving reports, to say hi, or to poke fun and take exception - and gave out the podcast email address, parkrunadventurers at gmail.com, for what Mel thought was the first time, with Ollie asking for adventuring suggestions that were just a little bit achievable for when he finally flies the coop. Mel asked if they were done for another episode; Ollie said it had been a massive one for roving reports and they needed to give the listeners a break, so Mel signed off until next week.