Episode 392 - Bolting towards Septmeber

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HostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell

Roving reportersCalum Burrell Janet Reid

Show notes

From the Facebook post

The Olympics are over but that hasn't meant the end of the excitement. Mel and TOC marvel at Carolyn's effort at The Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra, while Mel finally ventured to The Ponds (opens in a new tab) parkrun for some City2Surf fronding. TOC enjoyed inland adventures at McLean Beach (opens in a new tab) parkrun, Janet brought us a Singapore double at Bishan (opens in a new tab) parkrun & East Coast Park (opens in a new tab) parkrun, and Calum celebrated at Lancaster (opens in a new tab) parkrun with the 'TV'.

Also, all the bolts in Dazza's, Club Corner, Streaky Septmeber discussion and a little announcement on PALM!

From the podcast feed

The Olympics are over but that hasn’t meant the end of the excitement. Mel and TOC marvel at Carolyn’s effort at The Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra, while Mel finally ventured to The Ponds (opens in a new tab) for some City2Surf fronding. TOC enjoyed inland adventures at McLeans Beach, Janet brought us a Singapore double at Bishan (opens in a new tab) & East Coast Park (opens in a new tab) Parkrun, and Calum celebrated at Lancaster (opens in a new tab) with the ‘TV’. Also, all the bolts in Dazza’s, Club Corner, Streaky Septmeber discussion and a little announcement on PALM.

Roving reports

1·2Bishan and East Coast Park3Lancaster

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:24

  TOC on Boon Wurrung Country and Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country, congratulating Simon on eight and a bit laps (55k) at the Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra with Carolyn crewing, while TOC and Carolyn eye a 60k trail and 42k road double in November. Mel tallies Australia's K-named parkruns by state after last week's 5Ks challenge, and Budgie the travelling baton is now in the wild with a photo album to track it, next expected with Eman at a Penrith event. TOC ran McLean Beach in Deniliquin (30 finishers, steaming river gums, a ute on a pole); Mel did The Ponds event 418 on Darug Country with Jo McLean and the Ponds Adventurers before her ninth City to Surf and its 90,000 runners, then Singapore's special day at Bishan with nine adventurers, a hot air balloon landing near Coombs parkrun, and Alison's note on Hayden Wilde.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 20:39

  Melissa Ellis crosses to four field pieces: Janet's Singapore double (Bill and Yvette Turner at Bishan, the Bishan co-Run Directors, and Carrie-Anne at East Coast Park) and Calum Burrell at Lancaster with Harriet White, "the TV". Tony O'Connell recaps all four.

• Dazza's starts at 45:29

  The Saturday social post, themed on "the bolt". Dazza's prompt ties in National Science Week. Posts read out from Johan Duvenhage at Kambaku Golf Club parkrun, Komatipoort (South Africa); Calum Burrell at Lancaster with Pippa White, Kit Kat White and Lindsay Burrell; Rex at Central Burnaby (Canada); Helen Patricia at Donaupark, Vienna; Tanya Bailey at Pegasus (NZ); Cathy Mudge at Yamba; Heather Hunter at Maitland; Jan Yates with Mark Hibbard at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan; Andrew Yeatman at Dawesville; and Eric Banner at East Coast Park, Singapore.

• the Obi Award — Calum Burrell starts at 51:27

  Melissa Ellis asks "do you have the Obilope?" and Tony O'Connell opens the envelope: the winner is Calum Burrell, for his Lancaster post and photo marking Harriet White's last event there before finishing university. Tony adds "Huge congratulations once again to Harriet for finishing her university work at Lancaster and enjoy moving back up with Pip."

• Club Corner starts at 52:06

  Rachel on altitude clubs: "Top of the Pops" (events 600m or more above sea level by declared address, 23 of them, led by Australian Standing Stones at 1140m, Walcha 1050m, Armidale 984m, Lithgow 949m, Orange 918m, Jindabyne 910m) and "How Low Can You Go" (1.5m or less, 17 events, with The Beaches, Yamba and Panboola Wetlands at zero). Closes with two height jokes and the standing reminder that all non-milestone clubs are unofficial.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 55:48

  For Saturday 10 August 2024: of 671 members, 511 took part in 15 countries across 274 locations. UK 53 events; Queensland 52; the Greater State (Victoria) 45; New South Wales 43; Western Australia 18; South Australia 14; Tasmania 8; North Island 7; ACT 6; Northern Territory and South Island 2 each. Includes Lyndell Murray's Bushy Park pilgrimage on the way home from officiating as chief referee for the triathlon at the Paris Olympics.

• the Frond — East Coast Park parkrun, Singapore (largest international frond, 5 adventurers); The Ponds parkrun (largest Australian frond, 19 adventurers) starts at 56:55

  Largest international frond was East Coast Park in Singapore with five adventurers (Andrew Johnston, Billo, Martine, Janet and Geoff Reid). Largest frond in Australia was The Ponds with 19 adventurers, including Eman Vergara and Jack Corkill first and second, plus RD of the day Dennis Peden and marshal Charles Burns, taking the total present to 21.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 59:21"Where is the cake?"

  Two launches: Skinadin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland (98 finishers, 38 of them first-time parkrunners, 12 volunteers, an undulating out-and-back on forest tracks); and Woodthorpe in the UK, a closed facility with 12 finishers and 12 volunteers about which no further detail could be found.

• Streaky September starts at 1:01:07

  Preview of the coming month's streak challenge, with the traditional Bingoe card due before 1 September. Melissa Ellis explains the origin for newer listeners: it began with the original co-hosts using September to get back into activity; a streak is a minimum two-kilometre activity of any kind. Also explains the "Septmeber"/"Sep Meeba" running joke, she misspelt September when renaming the group in her first year as co-host and had to leave it for the month.

• parkrun adventure challenge starts at 1:06:00listener challenge

  Following last week's "bolt" challenge, this week's is to add a bird emoji to your post, tied to "swoopy September", magpie swooping season in the southern states.

• Sign-off starts at 1:07:15

  TOC said parkrun day was only a few days away and asked where Mel was headed: she had not decided, having just got back from Sydney, and said there would be no new events or touristing, so she would pick a local parkrun and might check the Friday post to see where her friends were going. TOC was in the same boat, with a function in Melbourne on Saturday, so he would be somewhere in the Melbourne area and would probably find out which direction Dano was headed and piggyback along, posting it in the Friday night post. Mel said Simon and Sarah from the West Side would be on the following week while she took a break, thanked TOC for joining her, and after some ribbing about her Collingwood jumper and whether the club song should be the outro, closed with the Facebook and email contacts and 'that's it for another week'.