Episode 385 - Ice Ice Baby

Episode 385 — open the full-size artworkShow artwork, January 2023

HostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell

Roving reporterCalum Burrell

Show notes

Who joins Mel on Level Two this week? Who ran round and round in circles for a very long time? Who enjoyed recent celebrations? Who did a nudie swim? Who interviewed Rory Marriot at Rendlesham Forest (opens in a new tab)? Who’s looking forward to Streaky September? Whose name is in the Obilope? Listen in for all the answers!

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

Roving reports

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Tony O'Connell on Boon Wurrung Country and Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country. TOC reports on his debut Wild Dog Backyard Ultra at Lardner Park near Warragul (12 hours, about 85 km, RD Kate Corner from SA hugging him on Janet's behalf, a WA woman winning at 45 hours) before backing up at Inverloch in a tutu for Tutu Day; Mel did the 5 a.m. drive to the new Great Southern Rail Trail, Korumburra for her 20th event number two, completing Helen Davis's pooper scooper challenge, and saw Bill Barry, Kate Luton and Vicky Thompson. Also congratulations to Eman and Chris Vergara on baby Argo and Eman's 250th at South Toowoomba, a Sportitude best-parkruns article (Shellharbour, Kate Reed, Nambour, no Mundy), and a Wagga story about the Ross-on-Wye tourist baton.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 24:51

  Mel hands over, "Time now for us to have a listen to some familiar voices", to two pre-recorded contributions: Calum Burrell's report and interview with Rory Marriott from Rendlesham Forest parkrun in Suffolk, and Pippa's UK check-in. TOC picks both up afterwards.

• Streaky September starts at 35:48

  Pippa's out-of-season check-in for the streakers: solstice reflections from the UK, and five blessings counted, a parkrun and a waffle, running in a tutu on the 22nd, being well enough to run, good friends, and still streaking. Ends with her parkrun barcode being scanned from a QR code on her t-shirt.

• Dazza's starts at 39:59

  World Rainforest Day prompt. Posts read out from Calum Burrell (Rendlesham Forest, celebrating Rory's V1000), Christine Imbert (Tail Walker at Zegerplas in the Netherlands, her fifth Z), Johan Duvenhage (Terra Nova parkrun near Trichardt, Mpumalanga, with Gillian Findlay's 250th southern African event), Andrea Booth (Jells parkrun's ninth birthday in tutus), Heather Mulgan (Durlston Country Park, Dorset), Sherry Brandtman and Abby (Goulburn), Mark Walls (Jeune Park), Franz Carroll (Edinburgh Oval) and Monty Slade (Y Promenâd, thumbs-ups arranged in the shape of a Y). About 150 comments in total. TOC also flags that a secret phrase, "lions and hippos in the zoo", had been snuck into the show notes.

• the Obi Award — Rory Marriott starts at 46:04

  Drawn from the week's Dazza's posts, out of "a proper envelope" this week rather than last week's post-it note. Awarded for his V1000 and the big thumbs up on his scooter.

• Emails starts at 46:59

  Two emails. Charles Gregory, a Hobart parkrunner, on his unbroken streak from 3 September 2022 to his 100th on 29 June 2024 at Montrose Foreshore, a Nullarbor trip taking in Port Augusta, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Claisebrook Cove, and Whitemark Wharf being the last event he needs for Tasmanian statesmanship, TOC answers his stats question with 22 Tasmanian statesmen and 30 people on T-1. Brett Bailey writes from New Zealand about sub-zero temperatures at Pegasus parkrun, teasing Simon's "cold at 14 degrees".

• the Birthday Boy starts at 52:49

  July 2024 anniversaries rundown: 37 events to choose from; Canada Day on 1 July as a Canadian parkrun special day; Coomera (QLD) turning 12 on the 27th; Aveley (WA) and Gatton (QLD) turning 11 on the 6th and 13th; Town Beach (WA) and Wes Mitchell Park (QLD) turning 1. Plus the usual reminders to check the local event pages and the cancellations page.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 57:31

  For Saturday 22 June 2024: of 652 members, 476 took part, in 11 countries across 255 locations. UK led with 52 events, Victoria 49, New South Wales 44, Queensland 40, WA and South Australia tied on 15, Tasmania 9, ACT 7, North Island 6, South Island 3, Northern Territory 2, six in South Africa and one each in the USA, Singapore, Canada, Japan, Italy, Netherlands and Poland. Largest international group at Cranleigh (Ian Thompson, Alexander Thompson, Brian Grieves); the Bushy pilgrimage went to Bec Bailey, park walking event 990.

• the Frond — Ball Park parkrun — a frond of seven starts at 1:00:42

  Largest frond of the week was seven at Ball Park parkrun: Billo, Carolyn McRae, Roberta Winters, Lila Butler, Sam and her Luke, and Jodie Maisie.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:00:58"Where is the cake?"

  No launches anywhere in the world this week, the second week in a row with none, which TOC notes has now happened both times he has been on, against Simon's seven and six.

• Sign-off starts at 1:01:47

  Neither host had plans settled: Mel said hers was still in the planning stage with a few options, so she would be mysterious; TOC said he was in the same boat, having not thought past his backyard ultra, and might volunteer locally or drop into Inverloch to collect gear before run directing a fortnight later, deciding Friday night or Saturday morning. They urged listeners to use the Friday post so people like Charles Gregory in Tasmania could catch up with adventurers. Mel then shared that her eldest daughter, Sarah, is having a baby and she will become a nana at the end of October, so she has blocked October and November out of her touring calendar. She thanked TOC for recording when he was not too broken after the ultra, then closed with the Facebook and email contacts and 'that's it for another week'.