Episode 338 - Hitch ’em up

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HostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake

Roving reportersJohan Duvenhage Sarah Jefferson

Show notes

How did the leopard get its spots? What’s better than coffee after juniors? What is the world’s toughest parkrun? Where are you taking me, and why do I need my passport? What do Rod, Gail and Neil have in common? What’s bigger, Mel’s P index or her V index? Why is Kilmore RWT parkrun another parkrun to add to your list? Who let the dogs out? The answer to all these questions, and more, is waiting for you in this episode of the parkrun Adventurers podcast. Spoiler alert – a roving report from Bishan (opens in a new tab) parkrun is just one of those answers!

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

Roving reports

1Bishan2Mundy Regional

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country and Ollie Spake on Dharawal Country, recording on the King's Birthday public holiday. Ollie didn't RD Shellharbour's ninth, cat-themed birthday as Karen and Kayleigh stepped up, so he ran in his wife's leopard print top and ill-fitting tights, saw the Cat Empire that night, and did a Freedom Run of the original course with Patrick and Richard; Mel took house guests Eman, Christine and Juno to event three of Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track parkrun (Taungurung Country), gave a history of the town and its sculpture trail, brunched with co-EDs Ben and Nick, then joined Melbourne West's longest run for five of seven events, singling out Coburg. Feedback on rogaining from Matt Miller (UK) and Andrew Johnston.

• Dazza's starts at 19:44

  Melissa Ellis's second run at the weekly Dazza's shout-out recap, reading roughly 60 listener posts from parkrun day, Australia (Parramatta, Casula Parklands, Wentworth Common, Coombs, Westerfolds, Airlie Beach, Edinburgh Oval, BVRT, Shellharbour's ninth birthday, Mudgee, Marriott Waters, Picnic Point Parklands, Woy Woy, Cairns, Redcliffe, Yarrabilba, Penrith Lakes, Campbelltown, Narooma Wetlands, Picton, Mildura Weir, Forster, Wagga, Newy, Woodlands Historic Park, Churchill, Henry Kendall Reserve, Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track, Southern Highlands, Dawesville, Dixon Field, East Richmond, Sunbury, Stockton, Nightcliff, Surfers Paradise, Bishan), New Zealand (Pegasus, Puarenga) and further afield (East Coast, Durban Point, Durham, Hafan Pwllheli, Burnage, Zandvlei, Świnoujście, Thousand Hills, Ekebergsletta), closing with the week's volunteers.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 23:48

  Ollie hands over to the roving reporters for two reports back to back: Sarah Jefferson from Bishan parkrun in Singapore (with four interviews), and Johan Duvenhage from South Africa weighing Mundy Regional against Sterkfontein and Thousand Hills for the title of world's most difficult parkrun. The hosts pick both up again with "What a top stellar pair of roving reports they were."

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 24:15

  Sarah Jefferson signs on for the crew, "It's Sarah here from the West Side checking in for the Channel 5 News crew", before her Bishan report. The crew branding appears only as this sign-on this week; no other reporter uses it.

• Emails starts at 39:01

  Two pieces of listener mail. The quiz master sends a note about Sweden's National Day, praising a different Johan and the team at Växjösjön parkrun, whose attendance jumped from a record 56 to 727 and still ran like clockwork. Then an email from Rolf, the vision-impaired co-Run Director PK interviewed at Oaklands Estate Reserve in the previous episode, who has become a listener; the hosts welcome him and point him at the Adventurers Club.

• Club Corner starts at 42:04

  Rachel returns after a break to explain two non-Wilson indexes: the P-index (P parkruns run at least P times each, the world leaders sit on 15) and the V-index (V volunteer roles performed at least V times, created by "the other Mel" in episode 158), then reads the full list of current parkrun volunteer roles. Afterwards the hosts compare their own, Melissa P7/V9, Ollie P3/V10, and Melissa correctly guesses Ollie's three P-index events as Shellharbour, Huskisson and Batemans Bay.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 47:17

  The adventurers Consolidated Club Report for Saturday 10 June 2023: of 433 members, 350 took part at 177 locations, 25 events in the UK, four in South Africa, two each in Italy and Singapore, one each in the USA, Finland, Norway and Poland; locally 37 in Victoria, 39 in New South Wales, 29 in Queensland, 11 in WA, six in South Australia, five each in the ACT and Tasmania and North Island, six in South Island and one in the Northern Territory. Ollie catches a mis-read on the South Island figure and Melissa corrects it live.

• the Frond — Shellharbour parkrun (largest frond, 12 adventurers at its ninth birthday) starts at 48:43

  Largest frond of the week went to Shellharbour's ninth birthday with 12 adventurers, Hannah Newton, James Thomas, Julie and Gordon Turner, Delvene McKenzie, Gaillyn Cooper, Jason Green, Louise Aitkin, Kristen McKenzie, David Foster, Julie Wells and Ollie himself. Fronds of seven at two events: Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track (Eman and Kristine Vergara, Melissa Ellis, Lisa Cuso, Amanda O'Reilly, Matthew Billington and Mel Fletcher) and The Ponds (Charles Burns, Louise and Gustav Garbers, Jorina Giron, Penny Prosser, Manish Bindroo and Lisa Spencer).

• Sign-off starts at 51:01

  Mel said there was not much else for the outro section and asked Ollie first: he was run directing at home at Shellharbour with a couple of guests, welcoming back Shellharbour parkrunners who had been away, one of whom he had not seen since the run at the edge of the desert; Mel was overdue a long car trip and driving west to South Australia for Narooma Wetlands parkrun. Ollie then raised the City to Surf, with Mel confirming she had bought her entry in the Global Running Day promotion and reminding listeners the team to look for is adventurers Pod, and they joked about costumes before signing off with the socials and email.