Episode 323 - Big Things

— open the full-size cover

HostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake

Roving reportersDavid Messenger Tracey Wood

GuestSarah Jefferson

Show notes

A ‘BIG’ episode this week with Sarah from the Westside dropping in to talk all things palm23. Tracey in a TuTu is horsing around at Centennial (opens in a new tab) parkrun and we hear from a new voice out at Garvey Park (opens in a new tab) parkrun. Dazza’s is coping with a ‘BIG’ crowd, Rachel returns, and Olly and Mel discuss the nominations for the ‘Adventurers at Large’ challenge. Plus … it’s going to be a BIG party weekend!

From the podcast feed. No Facebook post text is recorded for this episode.

Guest

Roving reports

1Centennial2Garvey Park

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Melissa Ellis with Chico on Wurundjeri Country and Ollie Spake on Dharawal Country, with Sarah Jefferson waiting to run through the palm23 events and Dazza and Rachel's Club Corner also on the bill. Mel's Sunday juniors alarm failed her, so Chris Fraser went to Parkville while she walked Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve on Bunurong Country with Brendan while Jodie scanned, alongside Errol Poole and Michelle Taylor, then brunch at Rosie's Kitchen Pantry. Ollie travelled with Bec and housemate Lance to Chipping Norton on the Georges River, met RD Nazreen and the Sandon Point ED, bought cider from a Picton parkrunner at the market next door, and discovered in the car home that he had miscounted and was already a pirate.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 9:56"Where is the cake?"

  Three events launched silently in Australia on parkrun Day: Maria Creek Reserve in South Australia (49 participants), Point Hut Pond in the ACT (275 participants, taking the ACT to nine events), and Australian Standing Stones at Glen Innes, NSW (74 participants) - with the hosts noting its unfortunate acronym. Later, upcoming milestones: Kawana parkrun's 500th event this coming Saturday, with Melissa Erbacher ("our very own original Mel, the OG Mel") as RD for her 200th volunteer stint and the 10th anniversary of her volunteering there, followed by a launch party for the parkrun Party song.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 11:50

  Two roving reports played back to back. Tracey Wood ("Tracey in a Tutu") from Centennial Park parkrun, Sydney, with Nicole - interviewing David the horse marshal (Centennial has equestrian centres nearby and parkrun must be stopped to let horses cross) and first-time Run Director Jeremy; course notes on the McKay Sports Ground start and the unusual 7am NSW start time. Then David Messenger's debut report from Garvey Park parkrun east of Perth, WA - course description, a bee sting at the 1km mark, and interviews with Matthias (50 parkruns after years out with a foot injury), Cale (husband of the RD) and Noel (45th tail walk of 77 volunteers).

• Dazza's starts at 33:07

  Latte day at Dazza's, and the segment is "at capacity" - so many posts the hosts had to cut it short. Contributions from Brett Bailey (Pegasus, NZ, Valentine's run), Yvette Turner (100th event attended at Gungahlin, event 444), Holly Pleasance (Toowoomba event 222), Natalie Soper (Balyang Sanctuary, finishing a 50-parkrun tourist streak), Joe McLean (RD at The Ponds for 592 parkrunners), Carmel Roll (Central Lakes event 333), Val Warwick (George Town), Bill Ellis (Shellharbour, hunting for Ollie who wasn't there), Karen Hurrell (Rendlesham Forest, UFO country), Chris Gore (Itchen Valley Country, completing the namely challenge) and Helen Davis (Weymouth, Dorset, with Christine Imbert).

• the Obi Award — Helen Davis starts at 43:16

  Ollie opens the envelope and awards a joint Obi to Helen Davis and Christine Imbert, for their Dazza's post about meeting up at Weymouth parkrun in Dorset on Helen's last day before flying home to Australia - Christine travelled much further than Helen to be there, and they had a great walk, chat, hot cooked breakfast and long park faff with the event team. The hosts joke about how the Obi "always" goes to the last post read out, insisting "this isn't rigged".

• Club Corner starts at 44:23

  Rachel on "the one club we don't want to join, and can never plan for" - the We Were Here club, open to anyone who has attended a parkrun event that has since closed. More than 430 non-custodial events are active in Australia and 14 others have closed their books. Membership is triggered when parkrun HQ changes an event page from active to closed; "on hold" doesn't count, and if an event reopens you lose the qualification. Afterwards the hosts compare their own entries - Ollie has just one (Barrel), Mel has five (Ballarat, Merimbula, Lawn Beach, Fair Park Reserve and Puckapunyal).

• Emails starts at 46:39

  "We've got mail" - correspondence arriving by several routes, mostly on the episode's big-things theme. Brett Bailey on Gore in New Zealand's lower South Island, home of Hamilton Park parkrun and the brown trout capital, with the Big Trout 2km away. Claire Corkill sent a long list via Messenger. Sue Keen added the Big Oyster near Taree in the comments on episode 322.

• parkrun adventure challenge starts at 47:40listener challenge

  The "big things" challenge - called the 'Adventurers at Large' challenge in the show notes - in which listeners nominate Australian and NZ big things near parkruns, with Mel measuring the distances. Roughly 21 nominations this week including the Big Prawn (Ballina, 4.7km), Big Merino (Goulburn, 5.7km), Big Cow (Highfields), Big Pineapple (Nambour), Big Apple (Stanthorpe), Big Melon (Charleys Creek), the giant easel Sunflower Painting (Emerald), Big Banana (Coffs Harbour), Big Orange (Gayndah River Walk), Big Mango (Bowen), Big Golden Guitar (Tamworth), Big Rocking Horse (Charleston), Big Strawberry (Cobram), Big Potato (Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens), Big Bench (Broken Hill), Big Sphinx (Geelong), Big Lobster (Maria Creek Reserve), Big Gold Panner (Bathurst), Big Koala (Phillip Island), Big Sundial (Singleton, reported by the Pohlmans) and Hannibal's Bucket. Mel plans to shortlist "the best of the best" and the hosts float a World Cup-style vote, while ruling out a poll ("polls are problematic, we know this").

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 55:19

  Consolidated Club Report for Saturday 11 February 2023: 390 members (approaching 400), 318 took part at 164 locations. Adventurers at 20 UK locations, two in South Africa and one each in the USA and Singapore; domestically 39 events in Victoria, 34 in NSW, 32 in Queensland, 8 each in WA and SA, 6 each in Tasmania and the North Island, 5 in the ACT and 2 on the South Island. No bowling strike - the Northern Territory streak has ended.

• the Frond — San Remo parkrun - the eight adventurers (Gustav and Louise Garbers, Michelle Fyfe, Frederick Dexter, Susan Roddick, Susan Mitchell, Sally Gutierrez) starts at 56:25

  The biggest frond of the week went to San Remo, with eight adventurers out: Gustav and Louise Garbers, Michelle Fyfe, Frederick Dexter and Susan Roddick, and Susan Mitchell and Sally Gutierrez - Ollie apologising for mangling Sally's surname. Congratulations also to Sally on her 25th volunteer.

• Sign-off starts at 56:57

  Ollie asked what was coming up this parkrun day: Mel reported Kawana parkrun's 500th event on the Saturday, with the podcast's original host Mel Erbacher run directing her 200th volunteer stint there on the tenth anniversary of her volunteering at the event, to be followed by a launch party for the parkrun Party song. Ollie added that the Office Lady had sweet-talked the supplier into a 48-hour extension on the adventurers top orders, to midnight Sunday 19 February, open to anyone, with the hope of wearing them at UWA parkrun at Palm on 15 April. Mel then asked about his parkrun day and he said he would be run directing a Pride Week parkrun at Shellharbour, hoping to add colour to his black and white vest and bring the girls along. He gave the Facebook and email contacts and said that was it for another week.