Episode 283 - Eman Vergara
2022-05-05
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake
Roving reportersJohan Duvenhage Lyndell Murray Pippa White
GuestEman Vergara
Show notes
From the Facebook post
This week Mel & Olly recap the celebrations at Picton (opens in a new tab) parkrun and the big announcement of palm23.
Eman Vergara drops in with his stories from Boston and Jamaica Pond (opens in a new tab) parkrun, we have roving reports from
Lyndell at Bunyaville (opens in a new tab) parkrun,
Pippa at Hafan Pwllheli (opens in a new tab) parkrun and
Johan enjoys a bonus midweek parkrun at Hart & Bosch Village (opens in a new tab) parkrun.
The Informant returns to normal programming,
plus fines,
mail,
Obi's and
a special little cameo.
From the podcast feed
This week Mel & Olly recap the celebrations at Picton (opens in a new tab) parkrun and the big announcement of palm23. Eman Vergara drops in with his stories from Boston and Jamaica Pond (opens in a new tab) parkrun, we have roving reports from Lyndell at Bunyaville (opens in a new tab), Pippa at Hafan Pwllheli (opens in a new tab) and Johan enjoys a bonus midweek parkrun at Hart & Bosch Village (opens in a new tab) parkrun. The Informant returns to normal programming, plus fines, mail, Obi’s and a special little cameo.
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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
Eman Vergara
His first international parkrun at Jamaica Pond parkrun in Boston (taking his brother and cousins along, meeting UK tourists and a rare blue 500 shirt), then the Boston Marathon itself - qualifying after 13 years, his 2:54:19 PB, the parkrun flag planted at the 5km-to-go mark, the value of his Toowoomba Road Runners club training, and what's next (Berlin, pacing the Brisbane and Gold Coast marathons, City to Surf with the adventurers).
Roving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:23
Ollie Spake and Melissa Ellis, both tired after a big weekend. Mel travelled to Picton parkrun on Dharawal Country for Sam Schroder's triple celebration and Picton's fourth birthday with a frond of adventurers including Team Spake, Ollie taking all three daughters to a parkrun for the first time (gumboots came off before the turnaround) followed by a barbecue cooked by Luke Schroder. The announcement: PALM 2023 is heading to Western Australia; Singapore's West Coast Park, East Coast Park and Bishan reopen on 7 May; volunteer milestones for Tracey in a Tutu's V250 at Chermside and Jeff McMillan of Pegasus, the first V250 in New Zealand.
Fines starts at 9:56
Running tally of self-imposed fines for on-air offences: capitalising "parkrun", saying "Shell Harbour" as two words, saying "Meltown", and mispronouncing event names. Melissa says she will track the hosts' fines during editing but listeners will be on an honesty system. Suggested fines this week from Karen Hamilton (capitalising parkrun in Dazza's) and Chris Fraser (raise the reverse-parkrun-flag fine to $5). Sam is fined for being in Facebook jail, Michael Charlton gets double demerits for going to a launch, Melissa fines herself for mispronouncing Muswellbrook, and Tony Everington is fined $1 for capitalising parkrun in his Dazza's post.
Emails starts at 31:54
Mail segment opened with "let's take a break, Mel, because we've got mail". Bruce ("the ideas man") proposes an all-Australian-states-and-territories-plus-New-Zealand-islands club in the 5K app and asks whether it should be named the Oberg Club after Tim Oberg, sending a screenshot showing Tim on 99 locations with Cow Club pending. Johan writes in from South Africa about the first parkrun held on the new special event day, Freedom Day, at Hartenbos Village parkrun - 38 volunteers, meeting Volunteer Coordinator Ita and Niels and Estelle Rath.
Dazza's starts at 34:58
International Honesty Day theme. Posts read out from Maria Tams (met parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt at Bushy parkrun), Renee Jackson (most likes, Benalla Botanic Gardens after playing footy), Tim Robbins (Ginninderra's 10th birthday), Emniko (child's "emancipation" parkrun at 11), Paddy Shimo (first volunteer role at Picton, got lost as turnaround marshal), Leah Skye (milestone of the week - son Nathan's 25th parkrun and 25th volunteer), Peter Leroux from South Africa (Bapsfontein Hotel with his 18-month-old daughter), Tony Everington (Redland Bay), Steve Spike (cryptic tourism clue aimed at Ollie) and Graham Wilkinson from the UK (Bower Park, Aspatria).
the Obi Award — Maria Tams starts at 41:04
Ollie opens the envelope on his desk. The Obi goes to Maria Tams for her Dazza's post about meeting parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt while running Bushy parkrun in the UK, and getting the photo - "a bit of tourism, a bit of celebrity and managed to get a great photo of said celebrity".
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 42:33
Three roving reports back to back: Lyndell Murray at Bunyaville (Brisbane) interviewing Event Director Bruce Willis about the two-month flood hiatus and the repair effort; Pippa on the beach in Wales at Hafan Pwllheli with Run Director Louise; and Johan Duvenhage at Hartenbos Village parkrun in South Africa for the Freedom Day midweek event, with interviews of Niels and Estelle Rath, Event Director Roland Dix and Volunteer Coordinator Ita Janse van Rensburg.
the Informant starts at 58:30
Weekly unofficial stats: 445 events down under (up 7, a post-COVID record), 408 in Australia and 37 in New Zealand out of 1,721 worldwide; attendance down more than 9,000 to 38,186. Two launches, including Jindabyne Sport and Rec (NSW). 4,512 PBs and 1,591 first-timers, plus milestone counts. Bingo callers, New States people, Wilson Index movers (Joanne Dan up 15 to 38; Julie Reynolds up 10), and Adventure Challenge results. Notes Melissa Ellis debuting at equal 20th in the top-20 Aussie/NZ events list. The hosts remark afterwards that the report was "back to a very beige and very plain" delivery - the show notes call it "The Informant returns to normal programming".
Consolidated Club Report starts at 1:02:19
Of 178 club members, 149 took part on 30 April at 91 different locations - a drop in locations because so many adventurers were at the same event (Picton). 15 UK events, three in South Africa, two in the USA, and a state-by-state Australian breakdown plus New Zealand, which was back in full for the first time since 14 August 2021. Melissa announces she will now count New Zealand as "local", picking up Bruce's emailed club suggestion, and notes she manually amended the results to include Christine Imbert, who parkran in South Africa for Freedom Day.
Sign-off starts at 1:06:17
Mel said she had not yet decided where she would be on Saturday, and that Paul was heading to Frankston, having picked up two events in two weeks to peg back his statesmanship; Ollie said he would be somewhere predictable at his home event, wearing the jacket Peter had given him at Picton, on a weekend taking in Mother's Day, a daughter's and a mother's birthday and his wedding anniversary. They welcomed Singapore back and flagged Lower Hutt's 10th anniversary, which also marked 10 years of parkrun in New Zealand, thanking Alison for the tip. They wished each other and listeners a happy Mother's Day, gave the Facebook and email contacts and closed for another week.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:07:50"Where is the cake?"
Looking ahead: Singapore's parkruns reopen from Saturday 7 May 2022 (West Coast Park, East Coast Park and Bishan; Bedok Reservoir later), and Lower Hutt in New Zealand celebrates its 10th anniversary - which is also 10 years of parkrun in New Zealand. Thanks to Alison for the tip-offs. Earlier in the episode the hosts also recap Picton parkrun's fourth birthday.