Epsiode 259 - Hailing TOC

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HostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake

Roving reporterTracey Wood

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Join us this week as Septoper culminates in a Zzzzzz party at Zillmere (opens in a new tab) parkrun. We have Tracey reporting in from Highfields (opens in a new tab) parkrun , all the ZZZZZZ’s at Dazza’s, The Informant

plus Mel & Olly dream

of parkrunning again soon

.

here

From the podcast feed

Join us this week as Septoper culminates in a Z party at Zillmere (opens in a new tab) parkrun. We have Tracey reporting in from Highfields (opens in a new tab) parkrun, all the ZZZZZZ’s at Dazza’s, the Informant, plus Mel & Olly dream of parkrunning again soon.

Roving reports

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Melissa Ellis welcomes listeners to episode 259; the opening is a single line before the first segment.

• Septober starts at 0:29

  The episode is built around the culmination of the listener "Septober" alphabet-naughty challenge, which ended with a Z day - everyone logging their final not parkrun for Zillmere parkrun on the same Saturday. Melissa did a ZZ Top dress-up at "[Ellis] Palace" with her son Jake and his partner Leah; Ollie got to Zillmere with naughties donated by listeners (Pippa for Queen Elizabeth, Alison for University of Waikato, Sarah for Trentham Memorial) and thanks the community. Nadine and Bruce, credited as the drivers of Septober, write in with a slate of follow-on November challenge ideas (the Avenues, Old McDonald, the Pirates, the Islands, the Mounts, the Norths).

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 11:57

  Tracy Wood reports from Highfields parkrun, about 20 minutes north of Toowoomba, Queensland, noting it is one of the seven points of the Southern Cross Circuit (Gatton, Highfields, Pittsworth, South Toowoomba, Stanthorpe, Toowoomba and Warwick). She interviews Graeme (marshal), Di (Volunteer Coordinator, ~140 volunteer credits, says Timekeeper is the hardest role to fill), Kim (Tail Walker, "Tail Walkers and talkers", 50-odd volunteer credits and just over 100 runs, mentions the event's sixth birthday the previous week), and Steve (Run Director, on the mixed path/grass/track course and the attendance of 45 that day). Signs off "this was Tracy in a tutu".

• Emails starts at 20:21

  Two pieces of listener correspondence. First from Gaillyn Cooper - revealed by Melissa to be Ollie's mother - writing from the South Coast dairy country that she is looking forward to her home parkrun at Shellharbour reopening, has "identified some cows as parkrunners", and is coming to the PALM meetup. Second from Nadine, with the November challenge ideas list and a nudge at Melissa's "we need a new challenge" post on the Streak to New Year's Day page.

• Dazza's starts at 25:55

  The Z-themed edition of the cafe check-in. Dazza's own prompt strings together ZZ Top, Ziggy Stardust, Zoolander and Xanadu references, which Melissa decodes for Ollie. Check-ins from Jenny Reidman (23rd at Zillmere as a first timer), Val Warwick (Railton's fourth birthday, twice), Greg Garner (Railway Park's fifth event), Tracy Wood (Highfields), Janet (Lochiel), Chris Fraser, Ingrid Botha, Alison King (locked down in New Zealand, naughty for Wanaka, three to go), Richard (Pioneer Dairy), Peter Pohlman (Lambton and/or Edith), Peter LaRue (a real parkrun in South Africa after 18 months), Rebecca Bailey, Tanya Bailey, Simon Mackley (a marathon to "Manhattan"), Tony O'Connell, Joe Richards, Chantal Hosking, Sam Schroder, Pippa, Bernadette Bennett (finishing her naughty alphabet at Woolgoolga), Bruce Purdy and Nadine. Donna is credited for the Nadine/Bruce gif.

• the Informant starts at 39:30

  Weekly unofficial stats in character. 214 events in Australia (up 3) out of 1,404 worldwide across 18 countries; 4 launches (Austria, Germany, 2 UK); Aussie attendance up 408 to 21,266 of 152,507 worldwide; 2,184 PBs and 686 first-timers; milestone counts; nine people called bingo (Tammy Taylor quickest on 164 events, Sean Mountie slowest on 255). Five new statespeople - Christopher and Nizza Doering, Naomi Hermawan, Neil White and Denise Brent in the NT, Mark Finlay in SA. Kevin Muller up one to equal 15th on most events; Steve Bennett, Tanya Bennett and Lou Streets up 10 places to 161; Wilson Index biggest mover Nick Smith (0 to 37), then Bridget Hewittson-Bevis (124 to 152, and into first place on the Queensland rankings). Signs off with the blog plug and "my spreadsheet is bigger than yours".

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 43:00

  The show's own stats block. Adventurers Club still at 57 members, with the previously unexplained extra member identified as Val Warwick from Tasmania. Consolidated Club Report 21, Notties 23. Not parkrun leaderboard topped by Wyndham Vale on 38, followed by "Cooney" and Zillmere on 34 - a record for Zillmere, which Melissa notes had never previously logged more than four. Shellharbour 15; Toolern Creek zero, prompting Melissa's mock complaint "I've got a bone to pick with the adventurer listeners". New Zealand read by Ollie: Hamilton Lake 54, Whangarei 40, Anderson 30.

• Sign-off starts at 54:27

  Ollie asked Mel whether she had settled on her November challenge; she was leaning towards Bec's idea of doing all the Australian parkruns starting with N and would log her first Nparkrun on 1 November, which was her daughter Olivia's birthday - both wished Liv a happy birthday. Ollie said he might take inspiration from that or the brains trust, had a new 5K course to try, and promised to keep catching up his Septober naughties, before giving the Facebook and parkrunadventures@gmail.com contacts and signing off with "that is it for another week".