Episode 273 - Falling for You

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HostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake

Roving reportersPaul Kitching Tracy in a Tutu

GuestTony O'Connell

Show notes

The parkrun adventurers reflect on some frond-ly

parkrundays as they both adventure once again. We hear Roving Reports from PK, checking in at the new Oaklands Estate Reserve (opens in a new tab) parkrun, and Tracey in a Tutu at Bargara (opens in a new tab) parkrun, calling for monickers for their new loggerhead turtle

adventurer. We savour all the lurve

from Dazza's and hear who was right (or right-est

) in The Informant's stats question.

And don't miss our special guest – Party Planner TOC

himself – joining us later in the episode with the full preview of the The parkrun adventurers podcast listener meetup at Bellerive (opens in a new tab) parkrun aka palm22!

Reminder: check out the facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/parkrunadventurerspodcastlistenermeetup/) for all the details and make sure you've clicked going to any events you are planning on.

Podbean carried no description for this episode. These notes are from the Facebook post.

Guest

Roving reports

1Bargara2Oaklands Estate Reserve

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:24

  Ollie Spake on Dharawal Country and Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country. Ollie hit 32 tourist events after a big adventurer frond to hilly Menai parkrun, where he came fourth and finally met Ingrid and Paris in person; Mel marked her eighth parkrun birthday at event four of Lewis Park Reserve with Brendan, Jodie, Lynn, Sally and other adventurers, brunched at Vermont General Store, then had 29 kids at Eynesbury Heritage Trail juniors. They congratulate Abby on a milestone, recap Ercan's popular interview, give the Informant's answer to the Cow Club challenge (137, with the New Zealand count to be confirmed), relay Adventurer Faye's question about rail trails used for parkrun, and invite listener questions before roving reports from Tracey at Bargara and PK at Oaklands Estate Reserve.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 10:35

  Double roving report. Tracy in a Tutu checks in from Bargara parkrun (Bundaberg, QLD) with Carla and the team, unveiling a new loggerhead turtle mascot that is yet to be named, the event is polling its Facebook followers for a name and the turtle will "go on adventures" like the show's other characters. Tracy also offers a Palm costume tip: a tutu worn under a skirt becomes a petticoat, which starts with P. PK then files from the brand-new Oaklands Estate Reserve parkrun in South Australia at its third event, recording part of it from the toilets because of the easy-listening music, and interviewing core team member Jen (it is the first "O" parkrun in SA), "silent Event Director" Denise (original ED at Aldinga Beach, who set this one up near her mum and made it a deliberately environmentally friendly, bike-friendly event) and Rebecca (Torrens and Christies Beach regular, now local).

• Emails starts at 20:16

  Two emails, and neither from regular correspondent Eman. Leanne (A467161, "Leigh Cabarita" on Facebook) writes as a long-time listener from Parramatta, praising last week's interview with local superstar Erkan and lamenting that a rescheduled event means she'll miss Palm. Johan Duvenhage writes from Bloemfontein, South Africa, where he is RD the next day, to say the South African parkrun Pronunciation Challenge is doing the rounds on WhatsApp, and to commend the Running Achievements app for being receptive to regional and country-specific challenges, prompting a discussion about leaving positive reviews for app developers who usually only hear from people when something breaks.

• Dazza's starts at 27:02

  "Dazza's love shack" Valentine's Day edition. Posts read out from: Steve's Bike, the mystery adventurer, dropping a third round of cryptic clues (with the sting "if you look for a Steve, you are heading up the wrong path"); Ingrid Botha (most likes) meeting the Wagga Bridge Troll at Menai; Greta Wilkinson on a Mount Barker district athletics takeover day; tourist Helen Davis at Sale; Bec Bailey on organising the Menai frond and tail-walking with Sam; Alison in New Zealand, out of hospital and timekeeping under red settings; Christine Imbert cold and windy at Land's End; Janet Reid celebrating Lochiel's 300th event and first pacer event as RD, with 46 new PBs and no voice left; Phil Olson completing Stopwatch Bingo at Beckenham Place in 260 runs; and Sonja Pohlman's retro Valentine's post.

• the Obi Award — Sonja Pohlman starts at 35:58

  Awarded for a retro Valentine's Day post, a photo series from her husband Peter's 100th run at their Warwick parkrun Valentine's Day event, in which the pair tripped each other in their 100 capes and ended up on the ground laughing in a tangled pile. Ollie: "I would say it's probably our longest awaited Obi, given it was from six years ago." Mel: "a nice Valentine's weekend tip of the hat to a couple falling for each other on a Valentine's Day parkrun", the source of the episode title, "Falling for You".

• the Informant starts at 37:23

  In-character stats rundown "live from Level 2 with a view", opening with a complaint about being told off by Mel for being unprofessional. Junior numbers (five events, 307 juniors, wristband milestones), then 422 runs down under out of 1,731 worldwide; three launches, Hamilton Park, NZ, Grace Point (South Africa) and Forfar Loch (Scotland); 5,534 PBs; milestone and statespeople counts; bingo callers; movements in the most-events and Windex rankings; and a cheeky aside to Mel about driving to the Northern Territory. Announces the answer to last week's Cow Club quiz (137 in Australia and New Zealand) with Wendy Glen the winner on 147, and sets a new question: how many parkies have completed the Peel Club by running an event in each Australian state. Signs off "my spreadsheet is even bigger than before."

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 43:09

  Adventurers Club membership up to 113, with 104 members appearing on the report. International representation: 11 UK events (Hull, Southampton, Beckenham Place, Rushmore, Ellesmere Port, Whitney, Clapham Common, Land's End, Peel, the Cinder Track and Marine Parade), none in New Zealand, Homestead Lake in South Africa, and Cheryl Smit at Bear Creek in Greenbelt, USA. Mel then breaks the numbers down by Australian state, two events each in WA, Tasmania and South Australia, ten in Queensland, and a dead heat on 14 events apiece between New South Wales and Victoria, settling (for now) the running Queensland-vs-Victoria-vs-New South Wales rivalry Ollie raised in the intro.

• the Frond — Oliver Spake starts at 45:30

  The weekly palm frond competition between the two hosts, decided on how many adventurers gathered at each of their parkruns. Nine adventurers appeared on the Consolidated Club Report at Menai (Ollie's "little posse") against only seven at Lewis Park Reserve (Mel's), so the award goes to Ollie, who deflects the credit to Bec Bailey for organising the outing. Mel adds a mock complaint about the number of Westerfoldians at Lewis Park Reserve who are not on the club report.

• Sign-off starts at 56:23

  After TOC finished running through the Palm weekend itinerary, Mel thanked him - addressing him as Tony - for joining them, for staying up late to record and for everything he had done to help; he said he was looking forward to a great parkrun weekend full of like-minded people. Ollie said he was so excited he would not sleep this week either, Mel joked about his dark circles by the time they got to Palm, and she signed off with the Facebook and parkrunadventures@gmail.com contacts and "that's it for another week".