Episode 375 - Outback parkruns
2024-04-03
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell
Roving reportersLyndell Murray Sarah Jefferson Tracey Wood
Show notes
From the Facebook post
Join Mel underground at Coober Pedy Oval (opens in a new tab) and TOC on the tree stump as we celebrate Nicki Clark in a yellow 1000 volunteer shirt, Shultzy stars on the radio and there are April Fools' Day pranks.
Lyndall joins us from Harris Avenue (opens in a new tab), Sarah visits Centennial Park (opens in a new tab), Tracey goes north to Mackay (opens in a new tab) and the Local Weather Expert explains spinny-roundy things to us.
Bec checks in from the remote Cobar (opens in a new tab) parkrun and we chat through all things PALM24 and Longest Run.
Our Obi this week is a bloke who walks on water!
From the podcast feed
Join Mel underground at Coober Pedy and TOC on the tree stump as we celebrate Nicki Clark in a yellow 1000 volunteer shirt, Shultzy stars on the radio and there are April Fools Day pranks. Lyndall joins us from Harris Avenue (opens in a new tab), Sarah visits Centennial Park (opens in a new tab), Tracey goes north to Mackay (opens in a new tab) and the Local Weather Expert explains spinny-roundy things to us. Bec checks in from the remote Cobar (opens in a new tab) parkrun and we chat through all things PALM24 and Longest Run. Our Obi this week is a bloke who walks on water!
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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 transcriptRoving reports
In this episode
Welcome starts at 0:23
Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country and Tony O'Connell on Bunurong Country, back after a week off and with another break coming before the Palm live recording. TOC went to Ball Park at Corowa where Jackie stepped in as visiting RD, then RD'd Inverloch's Easter event with 325 finishers and a pop-up visit from Jack and Claire Corkill; Mel travelled with Martine and Andrew to Coober Pedy Oval on Kokatha and Arabana Country, meeting Matt and Sarah, touring the Umoona opal mine and seeing her first speedway. Also Nicki Clark's 1,000th volunteer at Riddlesdown and the new yellow shirt, TOC's 200th volunteer, April Fool's pranks including Queenstown's 'Kingstown', Shultzy on Brisbane radio, and a record 84,000 Easter weekend participants across Australia.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 18:06
TOC hands over to a longer-than-usual run of crossovers because the show skipped a week: Lyndell Murray at Harris Avenue, Sarah Jefferson at Centennial Park in Dunsborough, and Tracey Wood at Mackay, followed by the Local Weather Expert.
Local Weather Expert starts at 34:07
A listener contributor in character as "your local weather expert" corrects the previous episode's discussion between Mel and Simon about the Benguela current, gyres and the Coriolis effect, Coriolis matters at ocean and weather-system scale but not in a draining bathtub, and El Nino / La Nina are ocean temperature states rather than moving weather patterns, then signs off with a forecast: "May your parkrun day be fine with the chance of a PB."
Dazza's starts at 36:32
153 listener posts this week on the Easter long weekend theme. Read out: Amanda Murray-Hoyne (UK), Mark Hibbard at Point Hut Pond in the ACT, Sarah Jefferson at Coober Pedy Oval, Val Warwick at Zeehan Golf Club (Tasmania), Sam Schroder and Luke marshalling at Shellharbour, Jackie Hancock RD in New Zealand, Ian Thompson at Five Arches (Radstock, Somerset), Wendy Glen at the new Trebeck Reserve, Alison King at Rotorua, and Johan Duvenhage delivering his own entry as audio from Mogol parkrun, Lephalale, South Africa.
the Obi Award — Mark Hibbard starts at 43:55
This week's Obi goes to Mark Hibbard for his Dazza's photo from Point Hut Pond parkrun, in which he appears at first glance to be standing on the water in his adventurers shirt, TOC: "I scrolled past, I thought, he's standing in a puddle... then I realised he's standing on a bit of a deck, but it looks like he's out walking across the lake." It was also his first run in the adventurers top, and his return to "capitalist" status.
Emails starts at 44:57
Melissa Ellis reads an email from Bec Bailey, a long-time listener writing for the first time, about driving nine hours inland from Shellharbour to Cobar in central New South Wales over Easter: event 230, 20 finishers, mostly visitors, the closest neighbouring event Bourke Racecourse 155 km away, and ED Trudy, who took over in 2021 when numbers fell below ten and saved the event, RDing, scanning and running the Gum Nut Cafe as well.
Club Corner starts at 51:20
Rachel explains the Southern Cross Circuit and the quest to become a "stargazer": eight events now forming the crucifix across the Darling and Southern Downs of Queensland (Toowoomba, South Toowoomba, Picnic Point Parklands, Highfields, Pittsworth, Gatton, Warwick, Stanthorpe) plus bonus "pointer stars" at Charleys Creek in Chinchilla, Dalby, Goondiwindi, Miles, Oakey and Roma. She credits Linda Coombes, Sonja Pohlman and Peter Pohlman with naming the club in late 2015 or early 2016, and reminds listeners that all non-milestone clubs are unofficial.
the Birthday Boy starts at 54:14
April 2024 rundown: four parkrun days (6th, 13th, 20th, 27th), South Africa's Freedom Day falling on the 27th, Main Beach turning 13 and Ginninderra 12, first anniversaries at Tallangatta Station and Yackandandah Rail Trail, and Palm-week options at Birdsland Reserve (5), Chaffey Park (2), Fingal Bay (11), George Town (7), Myponga Reservoir (2) and Warragul (9), with eleven events turning six including South Toowoomba.
Consolidated Club Report starts at 58:17
For Saturday 30 March 2024: of 608 members, 493 took part in nine countries across 249 locations, 48 UK events, five South Africa, three USA, two Netherlands, one each Canada, Germany and Japan; locally 58 New South Wales, 45 Victoria, 37 Queensland, 17 South Australia, 10 Western Australia, seven North Island, six Tasmania, five ACT, two South Island and one Northern Territory. The UK takes silver.
the Frond starts at 59:52
Biggest international frond was three members at Tapijn in the Netherlands (William Boughton, Deb and Andy Airey). Locally, 12 at Shellharbour, eight at Inverloch and seven at Gungahlin in the ACT, Mark Weber, Eva Webber, Diana Marshall, Amy Kent, Sue Bannister, Kathleen Hicks and Katie Guthrie.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:00:52"Where is the cake?"
No launch this week; TOC catches up on the one missed during the break, Tubbercurry Trail in Ireland, launched 23 March with 181 finishers, 39 first-timers and 31 volunteers, a figure-of-eight course through open bogs and woodland, roughly halfway between Dublin and Belfast towards the west coast.
Sign-off starts at 1:08:05
The hosts said where they would be that parkrun day: Mel staying in Victoria to catch up on the recent launch at Trebeck Reserve in Winchelsea, about an hour and 20 minutes from Melton, expecting familiar faces and hinting at a significant event on the day; Tony said he was not committed, either staying local to chase a p-index number or making an early three-and-a-half-hour drive to Trebeck. He then gave the Facebook and email contacts and signed off with 'that's it for another week, plus a little more as we lead into Palm', pointing listeners to palm24 in Toowoomba.