Episode 383 - Big Kahunas

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HostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell

Roving reportersJohan Duvenhage Lyndell Murray Paul Kitching

Show notes

It’s a fast one this week as TOC joins Mel to discuss all things Speedweek at Sandgate (opens in a new tab) parkrun. We discuss parkrun’s global expansion plans, and, speaking of fast, Liam Adams gets a call up to Paris. Dazza hears from a lot of people, PK visits Nuriootpa (opens in a new tab), Lyndell is on the South Bank (opens in a new tab) and Johan checks in from Emerald Resort (opens in a new tab). Rachel logs in, and the UK reigns supreme again.

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

Roving reports

1Nuriootpa2South Bank3Emerald Resort

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:24

  Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country and Tony O'Connell on Bunurong Country, back after a skipped episode: the Cronulla trip left them drenched, TOC got an airport pat-down for his wet clothes, and Mel came home with COVID. They marvel at Sandgate's Speed Week (873 finishers, ten sub-15, one Timekeeper Sarah Haywood, 90 unknowns), note the Longest Weekend runs in Victoria with Sunshine Coast, WA, SA and Sydney to come, and TOC talks up his first backyard ultra in under two weeks and its food-fest training. Mel walked You Yangs with Belinda after getting lost on the dirt roads; TOC clowned up for JJ's 250th at Inverloch, ran with a young boy to a six-minute PB, and reads parkrun's call for Geneva volunteers.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 26:45

  TOC hands over to the roving block: three reports back to back, PK at Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley, Lyndell Murray at South Bank in Brisbane, and Johan Duvenhage at the newly launched Emerald Resort parkrun in South Africa. Mel closes the block thanking the roving reporters and noting two of the three had been held over a week because of the skipped episode.

• Dazza's starts at 53:05

  World Oceans Day edition, theme "Awaken New Depths", with the hosts reading listener Facebook posts: Tracy Leiper (Queensland), Catherine O'Connor at Frog Hollow's 10th birthday, Josh Button at Whalan Reserve, Claire and Jack Corkill at Katherine Hot Springs, Heather Morgan at Jubilee (Newcastle upon Tyne), Charles Gregory in Tasmania, Maria Wicks at Harrow, Helen Rudder at Fulwell Quarry, Sarah at Edinburgh Oval and Laura Amos at Zillmere. Nearly every post carries the ear emoji the hosts had challenged listeners to include the week before.

• the Obi Award — Catherine O'Connor starts at 1:02:33

  Mel calls for the Obi and TOC opens the envelope. The award goes to Catherine O'Connor from Frog Hollow parkrun, for her Dazza's post marking Frog Hollow's 10th birthday, the swamp/creek answer to World Oceans Day, with a photo in the selfie frame alongside the Froggy mascot.

• Club Corner starts at 1:03:20

  Rachel's segment on the what and why of parkrun clubs, this week the Common club (only three events: Wentworth Common, Bungendore Common and Westbury Town Common) and the People club (45 Australian events with a person's name in the event name), with a Pulp / William Shatner "Common People" aside. She reminds listeners that all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 1:05:59

  For Saturday 8 June 2024: of 647 members, 472 took part in nine countries across 243 locations. UK first with 49 events, then 10 in South Africa, two in the USA and one each in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland; in Australia 45 in Victoria, 41 in Queensland, 39 in NSW, 14 in Western Australia, 13 in South Australia, nine in Tasmania, seven in the ACT, six on the North Island, three in the Northern Territory and one on the South Island.

• the Frond starts at 1:07:10

  Largest international frond: 10 adventurers at Queen's, Belfast. Largest Australian frond: 17 at Shellharbour, where co-host Ollie Spake was the Run Director, on the event's 10th birthday. Runs into the related note that Darren and Lucille Pead became the fourth and fifth people in the world to complete six alphabets (the Cassiopeia club).

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:10:52"Where is the cake?"

  No 5K launches at all this week, TOC notes one junior event launched in Ireland but nothing in the 5K events. The week's anniversaries were covered earlier: 10th birthdays for Frog Hollow and Shellharbour.

• parkrun adventure challenge starts at 1:11:23listener challenge

  Following the previous week's ear-emoji challenge, the hosts set a new one: include the word "community" in your Dazza's Saturday Facebook post, and next week's read-outs will be chosen from those who do. They ask that it not be given away in the Friday night post.

• Sign-off starts at 1:12:09

  TOC said they were nearly wrapped up and asked where Mel was heading: after a week at home with COVID she was flying to Tasmania with her buddies Andrew and Martine, planning Risdon Brook, and asked Ryan Stoddart whether he would be in the general area so they might cross paths; TOC had not decided, calling it a mystery location he would settle later in the week. Mel allowed that it was only Monday night, and TOC closed with the Facebook and email contacts and 'that's it for another week'.