Episode 386 - Fly High
2024-07-03
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Simon Mackley
Roving reportersAlison Fraser (King) Calum Burrell Lyndell Murray Sarah Jefferson
Show notes
This week the Adventurer community is sad to bid farewell to Michael ‘Schultzy’ Schultz. A special Adventurer from Kedron (opens in a new tab) parkrun. We also pay tribute to Graeme from Umbagong parkrun and Simon brings us his adventures from Redcliffe. There are roving reports from Rendlesham Forest (opens in a new tab), West Coast Park (opens in a new tab), Petrie (opens in a new tab) and Jubliee, plus Mel has an idea for a new challenge!
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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
Simon Mackley on Quandamooka Country and Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country, rain finally at level two. Sad news first: Kedron's Michael 'Schultzy' Schultz died on 25 June (562 parkruns at 206 events, at five Palms), and Umbagong farewelled founding volunteer Graeme; then Kangaroo Island's volunteers turned out in rain to no participants, Danny Norman clarified the Ross-on-Wye baton, and Mel floated sending an adventurers item to Danny and Nicola. Mel was first female on her 10th visit to Puckapunyal; Simon ran Redcliffe, a flat coastal course that measured exactly 5 km, with pod listeners Lockie Miners and Tony Everingham.
Tribute starts at 0:58
Two deaths, announced together and held back a week so they could be given proper time. Michael "Schultzy" Schultz (A145711) of Kedron parkrun, Brisbane, died on 25 June 2024 after illness: at New Farm event one in 2011 and Kedron's inaugural event in 2016, every parkrun in Queensland including Cloncurry, Longreach and Weipa, 562 parkruns at 206 locations and 110 volunteer credits, his last a park walk with friends on 18 May 2024 and a junior parkrun volunteer stint the next day; Kedron held a celebration of his life on 20 July. Mel and Simon then recall him at five PALMs. And Graeme Fitster of Umbagong District parkrun, part of the team who established the event and interviewed by Ingrid in September 2022.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 13:58
Four roving reports played back to back: Calum Burrell at Rendlesham Forest parkrun in Suffolk (held-over audio, with Gold Coast tourist Vicky); Sarah Jefferson at West Coast Park parkrun in Singapore with Run Director Charlotte; Lyndell Murray at Petrie parkrun north of Brisbane with Run Director Brad and fundraiser Rhys; and Alison Fraser at Jubilee parkrun in Spennymoor, County Durham with Run Director Jack, collecting the J to finish her second alphabet. The hosts debrief all four.
parkrun adventure challenge starts at 40:06listener challenge
Melissa Ellis proposes a new deliberately international club for parkrun courses whose route crosses a bridge, inspired by Lyndell's Dazza's photo at the red bridge at Logan River parkrun. Her starting list is Logan River (the red bridge), Studley (Cairns Bridge), Wimmera River, Horsham (the Anzac Centenary Bridge), East End in New Zealand (Te Rewa Rewa Bridge) and the Severn Bridge in the UK; she rules that you must actually run on the bridge and that it has to be a "special" bridge, and appoints herself adjudicator. Listeners are invited to send bridges in.
Dazza's starts at 43:44
National Camera Day prompt, "Were you snapped on a run, walk or volunteer this morning?" Posts read out from Peter Thomson (Mount Ainslie, ACT, photographed with Australian of the Year Richard Scolyer), Ian Thompson (Brooklands, UK), Chloe Bravos (Woodbridge Riverside, WA, daughter Lucy's first parkrun), Jason Andrew (Frog Hollow, meeting Tony O'Connell), Heather Hunter (Dhunggaarr Reserve, NSW), Greg Garner (Ipswich QLD), Charles Gregory (Montrose Foreshore, Tasmania), Pauline Taylor (North Harbour) and Maria Wicks (Southall, UK). The secret challenge was to slip in an ice-cube or frozen-face emoji; next week's word is a currency, dollar, pound, euro or rand, to mark the new Australian financial year.
the Obi Award — Michael Schultz starts at 50:21
The Obi Post-it is awarded posthumously to Michael 'Schultzy' Schultz of Kedron parkrun, the Brisbane adventurer whose death the episode opens by announcing, 562 parkruns at 206 different locations, every parkrun in Queensland, 110 volunteer occasions.
Club Corner starts at 51:01
Rachel returns to milestones, revisiting Club Corner number one from January 2023 and confirming canary yellow as the 1000 colour. She profiles the updated Australian club that collects the events matching the milestone shirt numbers: Balyang Sanctuary (Vic) was Australia's 10th event, Rockingham (WA) the 25th, Bunbury (WA) the 50th, Calamvale (Qld) the 100th, Railton (Tas) the 250th and Jeune Park (Qld) the 500th, 13 years and 25 days from launch to 500, of which 486 remain open. Simon then compares counts with Mel (he has two, she has three).
Consolidated Club Report starts at 54:09
For Saturday 29 June 2024: of 653 club members, 479 took part across 10 countries and 251 locations. 52 events in the UK, six in South Africa, four in the USA, three in Singapore, two each in Canada, Germany and Italy, one in Denmark; 50 in Queensland, 45 in NSW, 39 in Victoria, 15 in WA, 11 in South Australia, seven in the ACT, five on the North Island, four in Tasmania, two in the Northern Territory and one on the South Island. Sunil Chummond made the pilgrimage to Bushy.
the Frond — Wyndham Vale parkrun (frond of 10) starts at 55:27
Largest frond was 10 adventurers at Wyndham Vale (Bill Ludwig Jr., Chris Fraser, Daryl Smith, Sal Tourie, Donna Markwick, James Reynolds, Andrew Reynolds, Renee Jackson, John Smith and Vicky Smith), with fronds of eight at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan and Shellharbour and six at The Ponds and Warringal Parklands. Largest international frond was four at West Coast Park in Singapore, Matthew Stevens, Andrew Johnston, Sarah Jefferson and Martine Barrot.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 57:44"Where is the cake?"
Three Australian launches, no international ones. Lightning Ridge parkrun (NSW, Yuwaalaraay Country) launched 22 June with eight participants, three volunteers and two first-timers, growing to 31 the following week, two laps of the Lightning Ridge Golf Club. Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan (Dharawal Country) launched with 266 participants and 17 volunteers, an out-and-back undulating trail with no dogs permitted. Binda Park in Queensland launched with 60 participants, 10 volunteers and 29 first-timers (48%), a two-lap course with 57 m of elevation and a tunnel under a main road, six years in the making, with the previous and current mayors attending; ambassador Ian Dunbar drove an 899 km round trip to help.
Sign-off starts at 1:03:37
Mel asked where Simon was going: he was planning his 100th different event, having kept quiet that Redcliffe the week before was his 99th, with a digression about failing to find an ice cream to mark it. Mel would not divulge her plans, saying she was not really sure and was keeping tight-lipped, but assured listeners she was not going to a launch. She thanked Simon for joining her, noted she would be in New Zealand in two weeks so Sarah from the West Side would record with him again while Mel edited, and closed with the Facebook and email contacts and 'that's it for another week'.