Episode 231 - The one with the bird
2021-04-21
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake
GuestMelissa Taylor
Show notes
From the Facebook post
The parkrun adventurers enjoy another fantastic listener meet up at Nambour (opens in a new tab) parkrun, Queensland
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From the podcast feed
The parkrun adventurers enjoy another fantastic listener meet up at Nambour (opens in a new tab) parkrun, Queensland. Listen in to hear the live recording, and find out if The Informant made the trip!
Listen
Open on Podbean (opens in a new tab) Press any timestamp below to play from that moment.
Enhanced transcript
Speakers named, sound described and segments marked by the editing pass — not yet checked by a person.
Read the transcriptGuests
Melissa Taylor
Hosting palm 2021 at Nambour: the 5.30am course-marking crew, the flour arrows, why the plan A creek crossing became plan B, "the Twins" hill, volunteer numbers post-COVID, her January touristing with her father, and whether Nambour is still Australia's toughest parkrun.
John
Keeping the stats on Australia's 250 Club and every 80-plus parkrun run since 2012 (5 in 2012, 5,000 in 2019), the 2019 octogenarian gathering at Cleveland, being jokingly nominated as a candidate for the Informant's secret identity, and his Kawana parkrun that morning.
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:23
Ollie Spake and Melissa Ellis recording in front of a live audience at Palm 2021 in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, after the group's morning at Nambour parkrun (others had been to Kawana, Ocean View, Brightwater, Golden Beach and S.S. Koopa Trail). They thank Mel and Scotty for trusting them with the pod, their families, Chris Fraser for the episode art, the Channel 5 News crew including new addition Alison from New Zealand, the informant, TOC for organising the weekend, Deb from Berry Lane for the recording venue and the Nambour team. Highlights were finally meeting Fluffy, getting to run the Plan A course across the creek, RD David's brief and Trevor's first-timers briefing, before they grab a mic to chat with Melissa and others.
palm quiz — Brendan Peel starts at 23:58
Live quiz at the palm 2021 listener meet-up, hosted by Lyndell Murray as quizmaster with Ollie as scorer/adjudicator. Contestants Brendan Peel, Janet, Chris and Melissa (Taylor) answer parkrun-themed questions, a "where am I?" resolving to Nhill, a "who am I?" resolving to a Channel 5 News Crew member in the room, and multiple choice on parkrunners surnamed Sunshine and Coast. Brendan Peel wins on 5, taking pineapple chocolate and a "Ferrari"; a tiebreaker for second (guess Mel and Ollie's combined parkrun total, 468) is also run.
International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day starts at 43:17
Announcement rather than a standalone segment: Mel reveals that come July there will be a special release of another item of ugly apparel, not a shirt or a singlet, likely 24 July, framed as "Ugly Christmas in July". Several listeners in the Social Adventurers read-back are also reported wearing Ugly Christmas Singlets on the day.
the Informant starts at 50:08
Weekly stats report delivered in character, "This is the informant. These are artificial stats.", with the Intern interrupting throughout (an argument about who was told to post the blog, and about whether being on 1 on the Wilson Index means she is winning). Reports 425 events in Australia and New Zealand out of 512 worldwide, 47,886 participants, 7,451 PBs, 2,026 first-timers, milestone counts, eight new Territorians, and one launch at Weyland [Whalan?] Reserve, NSW. Answers the episode's running question, the Informant was not at palm.
Social Adventurers starts at 55:49
Ollie and Mel read back listener comments from the week's Facebook post (Fluffy's food truck post), including Val Warwick, Cameron Drake, Penny Simpson, Tony O'Connell ("went to parkrun, met a new bird", the episode's title), Rebecca Bailey, Irene Heather, Ingrid Botha, Mark Scarborough, Chantelle Hosking, Alison King, Chris Fraser, Vicky Thompson, Mandy Oliver, Tracy Wood, Pippa White, Claire Stutchbury and Bernadette Bennett. Recorded after the live palm session, "we've just popped back in".
Sign-off starts at 1:02:03
After finishing the read-through of listeners' parkrun day comments, Mel raised the contact details they keep forgetting, inviting listeners to email parkrunadventurers at gmail.com or send a Facebook message, and the pair joked that a good whiteboarding session was in store now that questions about dates were coming. Mel said it was probably time to say goodbye for another week after a very big week, told Ollie to make sure he listened all the way to the end of the pod so he did not miss anything, and signed off saying she would chat again next week.