Episode 252 - Jenny Blow
2021-09-15
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake
GuestJenny Blow
Show notes
From the Facebook post
While Olly and Mel celebrate Trolls and Zombies, we check in with quarantining paralympian Jenny Blow about her recent adventure at Tokyo with the Aussie Belles .
We celebrate Maori Language week, all the fun at Dazza's plus The Informant brings all the stats to the yard.
credit - Paralympics Australia
From the podcast feed
While Olly and Mel celebrate Trolls and Zombies, we check in with quarantining paralympian Jenny Blow about her recent adventure at Tokyo with the Aussie Belles. We celebrate Maori Language week, all the fun at Dazza's plus The Informant brings all the stats to the yard.
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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
Jenny Blow
Goalball and the Tokyo Paralympics. Jenny explains goalball ("like reverse dodgeball, but everyone's wearing a blindfold", a 1.25kg ball with a bell, three players defending a nine-metre goal), how she fell into the sport by chance at university while training as a teacher, and her three Games: London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020/21. Australia beat world champions Russia to reach the quarterfinals, the best result in the history of Australian women's goalball, before losing 10-6 to eventual gold medallists Turkey, the best score any team managed against them. She talks about the team's minimal funding (players pay their own way), the Channel 7 coverage, training alone in Melbourne as the only Aussie Belle in the state, taking goalball into schools, and her role with Blind Sports Australia. On parkrun: she became a "COVID runner", was introduced to parkrun through the Achilles Melbourne running group (Monica Wong took her to her first one at Albert Park in late 2019), has done 10 parkruns at six locations including Parkville, Studley and Fingal Bay, and ran a half marathon with Achilles runners. Asked what parkrun could do better for vision impaired runners, she suggests events promote more visibly that people can contact them for a guide or support. She was recorded from hotel quarantine after returning from Tokyo.
In this episode
Māori Language Week starts at 0:00
The episode opens with a pre-intro mihi delivered entirely in Te Reo Māori by an unnamed speaker, welcoming listeners to Māori Language Week and greeting the members and whānau of parkrun ("Oma Pāka"). The hosts then explain it-: Te Reo Māori has been an official language of Aotearoa since 1987, the week promotes the indigenous language and culture, and they wanted to "support our friends across the ditch with a little bit of Maori flavour".
Emails starts at 9:23
"You've got mail", Melissa Ellis reads an email from Andrew Turner of Maribyrnong parkrun, who suggests Paralympian Jenny Blow (goalball, Achilles Club member, 10 parkruns) as a guest while she is in hotel quarantine. The hosts acted on it, which is how this week's interview came about; they thank Andrew again.
Streaky September starts at 32:08
Halfway-mark check-in on the September streaking challenge. Both hosts are still streaking; Melissa Ellis is also working through the Bingoe card and spelling challenge and has entered a virtual ultra marathon ("streaking till Christmas", 5.6km a day). A long magpie/swooping digression follows. At they announce this week's level-up addition to the Bingoe card: "kinder things", find or perform an act of kindness (free lemons out the front, chalk art, positive affirmations on the pavement).
Dazza's starts at 38:03
Listener check-ins read out by both hosts. Contributors this week: Ingrid Botha, walking the dog, Peter Pohlman ("completed our suburb name in street signs", one photo, of Waratah Street), Janet Reid (from the mothership Lochiel; Jeff's first parkrun back after surgery, under 45 minutes), Tracy Wood (guiding a VI athlete with one hand and signing to a deaf friend with the other, at Kedron), Bernadette Bennett (a "not wedding" series of not parkruns after four postponements), Nadine Crawford (best time in four years at Rosebud, plus not parkrun tourism at Wallaby Track), Richard (Downsview parkrun, Toronto), Sam Schroder (Picton, later made it to Inverloch), Tanya Bailey and Brett Bailey (Woodend Beach, NZ), Rebecca Bailey (Banksia Avenue, met the Troll), Val Warwick (twice, Devonport tokens, and the Melbourne Football Club scanner blanket), Claire Statchbury (event 97 at Central Lakes), Jack Corkill (0001 token), Linda Coombes and Bella Dog (Warwick), Chris Hood (Forest Lake), Pippa White (200th day volunteering and 250th volunteer role at Riverside Juniors). Ollie confesses he has not yet ticked "coffee at Dazza's" off the Bingoe card.
the Informant starts at 47:21
Weekly unofficial stats, delivered in character. The spreadsheet "has burst its seams" and needs a migration project. Global events hit a post-COVID record of 1,292 including the return of Ireland and seven launches (Denmark 1, Germany 1, Ireland 2, Poland 1, UK 2). 254 events in Australia (up 45), New Zealand still on a break. AU/NZ attendance up 3,000 to 21,282 of 164,627 worldwide. 2,566 PBs down under, 721 first-timers. Milestones: 51 junior 10s, 101 fifties, 68 hundreds, 12 two-fifties. Nine people called bingo, Greg Edwards quickest on 158 events, Eric Velvick slowest on 356. Two new statespeople, Will Rolfe and Mick Cruz (NT). No movement in the top-20 most-events list; biggest overall mover Elaine Rogers, up 18 to 222. 46 increased their Wilson Index, biggest "Windex" mover Alan Raven, up 27 to 62. Special listener-requested report on the Alphabeteers: 264 in Australia, 9 in New Zealand, Queensland 140, Victoria 54, NSW 53, SA 7, ACT 5, WA 3, NT 2, Tasmania none.
Consolidated Club Report starts at 50:52
Adventurers Club update from Melissa Ellis. Johan Duvenhage from South Africa alerted the show that the Adventurers Club was not open to international parkrunners to join; after emails back and forth with parkrun support it was fixed, so international listeners can now join. Membership is up to 42, with 16 members appearing on the consolidated club report. Mel could not retrieve last week's not parkrun tally because the week had ticked over, Ollie suggests asking the Informant.
Not parkrun results starts at 52:00
Weekly rundown of theparkrun leaderboard. Inverloch took line honours with 90 (short of the 100 they wanted) on the weekend of their seventh anniversary and their return from the pause; Wyndham Vale second with 75; Port Macquarie third; Shellharbour eighth; Westerfolds ninth with 28; Toolern Creek 20th with 10, including a visit from Ollie. Mel reports visiting The Beaches and "probably podiumed because there was only three".
National Week of Deaf People starts at 54:38
Ollie previews the National Week of Deaf People, beginning 20 September, a week-long Australian celebration of deaf individuals and the deaf community, incorporating the International Week of Deaf People and the International Day of Sign Languages, both initiatives of the World Federation of the Deaf (founded 23 September 1951). Deaf Australia has adopted the WFD theme, "celebrating thriving deaf communities". Mel hints that "one of our very own Channel 5 News crew in training might have more to say about this very soon".
Sign-off starts at 56:25
Mel asked Ollie his plans for the coming week; he had no grand plans but needed to get to Dazza's and to find a flightless bird, and would work both into hisparkrun. Mel expected to run around her block waving across at Toolern Creek parkrun with no theme decided, perhaps something about New Zealand or learning sign language, and Ollie said the podcast family had given them plenty to work with. Mel then gave the Facebook and parkrunadventures@gmail.com contacts and signed off with "that's it for another week".