Episode 365 - Tick Tocky

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HostsMelissa Ellis Simon Mackley

Roving reportersLyndell Murray Paul Kitching Tracey Wood

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Mel and Simon are back for 2024 with news of their holiday adventures from Copper Trail (opens in a new tab), Thorndon juniors (opens in a new tab), Port Broughton (opens in a new tab), Nuriootpa, Main Beach (opens in a new tab), New Farm (opens in a new tab), White Rock (opens in a new tab), Kelvin Grove (opens in a new tab) and Fodder Forest (opens in a new tab) parkruns.

The Channel 5 news crew are back with reports from West Beach (opens in a new tab), Bellevue Park juniors (opens in a new tab) and Paradise Point (opens in a new tab) parkrun. Plus Rachel trials a new format and the Birthday Boy brings reminders.

There's more – but you'll just need to tune in to find out.

From the podcast feed

Mel and Simon are back for 2024 with news of their holiday adventures from Copper Trail (opens in a new tab) parkrun, Thorndon juniors (opens in a new tab), Port Broughton (opens in a new tab), Nuriootpa, Main Beach (opens in a new tab), New Farm (opens in a new tab), White Rock (opens in a new tab), Kelvin Grove (opens in a new tab) and Fodder Forest (opens in a new tab). The Channel 5 news crew are back with reports from West Beach (opens in a new tab), Bellevue juniors and Paradise Point (opens in a new tab). Plus Rachel trials a new format and the Birthday Boy brings reminders. There’s more – but you’ll just need to tune in to find out.

Roving reports

1West Beach2·3Bellevue Park juniors and Paradise Point

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:24

  First episode of 2024, Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country and Simon Mackley on Quandamooka Country, cameras on for the first time. Mel's flat phone meant no alarm, but she still made Frog Hollow for a good time; Simon stayed home over summer doing Main Beach and New Farm with Sarah and Matt, a soaking White Rock on New Year's Day, Kelvin Grove and Fodder Forest with Sydney first-timers and his brother after Redland Bay cancelled. Mel did Toolern Creek on Christmas morning, then camped nine days in South Australia with Belinda: Copper Trail, volunteering at Thorndon juniors, Port Broughton on New Year's Day and Nuriootpa, joined by Andrew Johnston and Martine Barrot.

• parkrun news bulletin starts at 16:02

  News and discussion block: a new Australian attendance record on 6 January of 78,050 people (about 72,000 participants plus 5,500-odd volunteers), 19 Australian events breaking attendance records the following weekend and around 50 so far in January; a new women's parkrun world record of 15:13 by Ciara Mageean [Kiara McGeehan] in Belfast, taking 12 seconds off Izzy Batt-Doyle's Aldinga Beach mark, which remains the Australian record at 15:25; a thank-you to roving reporter Greta, who has stepped down as a South Australian regional ambassador after many years; and news that Prodirect is being replaced by Sports Shoes as the milestone shirt supplier in the UK.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 20:34

  Three roving reports played back to back after the summer break: PK from West Beach parkrun (SA), Tracey in a Tutu from Bellevue Park Junior parkrun (Gold Coast) and Lyndell from Paradise Point parkrun (Gold Coast). Mel and Simon wrap it with "great to hear from our Channel 5 News crew again" and a welcome back to Tracey.

• Dazza's starts at 38:57

  Dazza is "back in the kitchen ready to take your order" after the break, asking how listeners' parkrun mornings went. Read out: Lee at Wentworth Common's second birthday with Sally, Bianca and Alana; Andrea Booth's first time joining the Run Director team at Jells parkrun; Ryan Stoddart completing his final eight Queensland events (Old Thomson River Road, Cloncurry, Mount Isa, Emerald, Charters Towers Airport, Atherton, Cardwell and Palm Creek) to become a Queensland statesman after quitting his job and driving 6,800km in six weeks; Karina Campbell splashing through puddles at Lota; Sherry Brandtman at Mount Gambier's Blue Lake; Andrew Yeatman at Claisebrook Cove with the "old farts" and John Story's 500th; and Helen Rutter from the UK at Lindsay's milestone event at Pavilion Gardens, Buxton.

• the Obi Award — Ryan Stoddart starts at 44:47

  Mel realises they had forgotten to choose the Obi in the first week back, and Simon awards it to Ryan Stoddart for becoming a Queensland statesman by completing parkruns across a very wide range of Queensland events.

• Adventurer shirts pre-order starts at 45:40

  "Late breaking news": the ordering portal reopens for adventurers singlets and shirts carrying the Zoomie logo and the motto "business at the front, party at the back", in the stretchy honeycomb fabric used for the Christmas uglies. Singlets $52.50 and shirts $57 plus postage, sizes to 3XL and 5XL respectively, login code palm23, orders close midnight 11 February with delivery about five weeks later. Mel thanks the Office Lady, Sam, for organising the run of shirts.

• Club Corner starts at 48:16

  Rachel delivers a deliberately "short and sharp" Club Corner for 2024, parkrun is a 5K run, jog or walk every Saturday at a regular time, there are well over 450 active Australian events plus more worldwide, you can volunteer, and junior parkrun is 2K on a Sunday. Mel and Simon note afterwards that she has "gone all TikTok-y", which ties to the episode title "Tick Tocky".

• the Birthday Boy starts at 49:25

  The Birthday Boy's monthly anniversary rundown for January 2024: five parkrun days including the worldwide special day on 1 January; a junior anniversary for the Heritage Trail junior parkrun in Victoria turning three on Sunday 21 January; two events turning one, Calembeen (Victoria) and Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Blackbutt (Queensland); and nine events turning six, San Remo, Brighton, Bargara, Zillmere, Queens Domain, Gardiners Creek, Edithburgh, Huskisson and Margaret River. He plugs the special event compendium and the parkrun cancellations page.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 53:25

  For Saturday 13 January: 545 club members, 440 taking part in seven countries across 218 locations, 27 UK events, five South Africa, two USA, one each Germany and Japan; locally 50 in New South Wales (a first), 42 Victoria, 36 Queensland, 14 Western Australia, 13 South Australia, eight North Island, seven each Tasmania and ACT, four South Island and one Northern Territory. PBs from Morglin Smith (Southampton, 35:10), Julie Jackson (Sandon Point, 57:50) and James Thomas (Woy Woy, 46:15). Milestones: Channel 5 News crew member David Moss's 500th at Kawana (alongside Graham Rose and Pat O'Connor), Cathy Mudge's 250th at The Terrace and Sarah Wickham's 100th at Mount Helena.

• the Frond — Pavilion Gardens parkrun, UK — the group of eight adventurers celebrating Lindsay Burrell's 100th different volunteering location starts at 54:44

  The first Frond of the year came from the UK: eight adventurers at Pavilion Gardens parkrun, Phil Corker, Pippa White, Cameron Storey, Helen and Andy Rudder, Christine Imbert, Amanda Murray-Hind (AMH) and Calum Burrell, gathered for Lindsay Burrell's 100th different volunteering location, said to be the biggest ever count at a single UK event. Locally there was a frond of eight in Australia across three events: Dolls Point, Shellharbour and Toowoomba, the Toowoomba group being Eman, Christine, Lockie Miners, Roger and Barbara Luther, Denise Orton and Ian and Catherine Greenstreet.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 58:38"Where is the cake?"

  Events that launched last weekend: Ehrenbreitstein in Koblenz, Germany (44 finishers, 10 first-timers, taking Germany to 57 events); Zuiderpark, Hoogeveen in the Netherlands (64 finishers, 35 first-timers, two laps of park and dike, the name translating as South Park, and the country's third Z); and Brunswick Park in Wednesbury, UK (226 finishers, seven first-timers, three undulating loops, no toilets). Plus a relaunch: Odendaal Stadium in South Africa, running again for the first time since COVID with 12 finishers.

• Sign-off starts at 1:01:25

  Mel said she had another week at home and would head back up to Pucca for their first week back after the Christmas and New Year break, and invited the whole adventurer community to the birthday of the junior parkrun at Eynesbury on the Sunday, where she was run directing and still had volunteer spaces to fill; Simon said he was undecided between three events he had not done - North Lakes, Kedron or Chermside - after the one he had aimed for looked rained out again, and they discussed flood risk with Brisbane already saturated. Mel thanked Simon for joining her and for hearing about his Christmas and New Year, Simon thanked her for having him for the third Monday of the month and said he would be back in a month, then gave the Facebook and email contacts and closed for another week.