Episode 398 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

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HostsMelissa Ellis Oliver Spake

Roving reportersRuth Perkins Sarah Jefferson

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Olly returns for a bumper pod of mayhem and laughter, as Mel tries to keep him on script. We hear of Mel's travels to Pirrama (opens in a new tab) parkrun and Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan (opens in a new tab) parkrun as we farewell Streaky September. There are roving reports from Sonsbeek (opens in a new tab) parkrun in The Netherlands, Sarah in Invercargill (opens in a new tab) parkrun and the Warwicks catch up with Ryan as he farwells Tasmania.

Happy International parkrun day!!

Sarah and Matt headed across the country and across the ditch to Invercargill (opens in a new tab) parkrun!

From the podcast feed

Olly returns for a bumper pod of mayhem and laughter, as Mel tries to keep him on script. We hear of Mels travels to Pirrama and Mount Annan parkruns as we farewell Streaky September. There are roving reports from Sonsbeek (opens in a new tab) in The Netherlands, Sarah in Invercargill (opens in a new tab) and the Warwicks catch up with Ryan as he farwells Tasmania. Happy International parkrun day!!

Roving reports

1Sonsbeek2Invercargill

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Melissa Ellis back on Wurundjeri Country and Ollie Spake, returning after a long gap, on Dharawal Country. Mel answers last week's Victoria ribbing, PALM 2025 in Queenstown is confirmed, and she reports on Pirrama parkrun on Gadigal land (event nine, 320 attendees) with the Pohlmans, Jan Yates and Andrew Blanda, including on-course audio with three early-arriving tourists and Jan, plus a snap train strike; Ollie has been volunteering at home on Wadi Wadi land and is heading to the Panorama Punish via Lithgow with his mum and Bec Bailey. Mel then describes Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan event 14, walked with Sam Schroder over the AFL Grand Final long weekend.

• parkrun news bulletin starts at 20:40

  News and discussion block: parkrun UK bringing back the apricot thermal/drying robes (Ollie reads the product copy and jokes about sounding like an infomercial; Mel notes Peter and Sonja Pohlman have them and that they post to Australia and New Zealand); Lorna Jane's Active Nation Day on Saturday 28 September, with parkrun Australia's published total of 68,095 participants and Lorna Jane donating $1 each to Women's Community Shelters toward a $100,000 goal; and a late message from Jodie Vandermeer whose Redlands Plodders group completed the alphabet at Queen Elizabeth parkrun, Casino, in matching shirts.

• Streaky September starts at 24:54

  Wrap of the 2024 streak month on its final day (recorded 30 September). Mel hands to Pippa, "the streak master herself", for a parting piece: she asks whether listeners broke the streak on 1 October or will keep going to New Year, reports that the month reset her relationship with running, that she is still appalling at Strava Art, that she streaked with borrowed dogs, and that she never managed to add anyone to the parkrun adventurers group. Ollie admits to no streak; Mel describes her own year-long pre-7am Garmin half-hour streak.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 28:55

  Three roving reports played back to back: Ruth Perkins from Sonsbeek parkrun in Arnhem, the Netherlands (Run Director Hans, plus tourists Harry and Dave Mitchell); Val and Steve Warwick with Ryan Stoddart on his last night in Tasmania after running all 22 Tasmanian events; and Sarah Jefferson from Invercargill parkrun in New Zealand with Event Director Liz and her verse run briefing. Ollie flags that there are more in the bank than will fit, and Mel says the rest will run next week.

• Dazza's starts at 49:43

  Friendship-month edition. Posts read out from David O'Brien at Zeehan Golf Club parkrun, Tasmania (event 33; ran into TOC and Jackie on a bush path the day before, took the win ahead of TOC and Steve Warwick, regained his Tassie statesmanship); Mark Prowse on a friendship formed volunteering, at Darebin parkrun, Victoria; Ellie Shepherd parkwalking a friend's 50th at Salcey Forest, Northamptonshire; Belinda Cafe at Futakotamagawa parkrun, Japan, walked to the start by ED Tim; Johan Duvenhage's 150th Southern African event at Bredasdorp, South Africa, with Levi; Sarah Jefferson on reaching Invercargill after a missed flight and a diversion; Martine Barrot at Port Lincoln for a friend's Frond during Save the Koala Month; and Claire Vinicic completing a double A-Z in the UK.

• the Obi Award — Sarah Jefferson starts at 57:35

  Ollie opens the "Obilope", which reads only "don't go west", awarded cryptically to Sarah from the West Side for travelling from Western Australia to the deep south of New Zealand's South Island, via a missed flight and a diversion to a different airport, to reach Invercargill parkrun.

• Emails starts at 58:32

  One email, from Leanne (signing off as Lee Caparito), planning a rough lap of the map after next year's Queenstown gathering. She asks whether a central Queenstown hotel has been recommended or chosen yet, and whether anyone has done a parkrun-focused lap of the map she could compare notes with. The hosts have no hotel answer, suggest re-establishing a group chat for it, and point her to Ryan for Tasmania, "Marvellous Mark" for the west coast, the Warwicks, the Schroders and "Kevin the Caravan".

• Club Corner starts at 1:01:46

  Rachel fills in gaps requested by a listener. The Double Barrel club, events whose names repeat a word, currently has three members: Curl Curl, Mullum Mullum and Woy Woy. The Alliteration club runs to 31 events, flexible on whether "parkrun" itself counts, with bonus double-initial entries (Australian Standing Stones, Benalla Botanical Gardens, Bendigo Botanic Gardens, Cyril Curtain Reserve, South Beach Recreation Reserve) and "magical" ones in Paradise Point and Picnic Point Parklands. She closes with the standing reminder that all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 1:04:44

  For Saturday 28 September 2024: of 690 members, 513 took part in 13 countries across 281 locations. Internationally, adventurers were at 51 UK events, seven in South Africa, two each in the USA and Italy, and one each in Austria, Finland, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Poland and Singapore. Domestically: 51 events in New South Wales, 49 in Victoria, 47 in Queensland, 19 in Western Australia, 17 in South Australia, eight in Tasmania, six in the ACT, five on the North Island, three on the South Island and one in the Northern Territory.

• the Frond — Pokkinen parkrun, Finland (international); The Ponds parkrun (Australia) starts at 1:06:18

  Largest international Frond at Pokkinen parkrun in Finland, Rachel Dorsey, Laura Davenport, Heather Morgan, Andy Poole, Andy and Debbie Airey, Rhiannon Taylor, Penelope Thessen and Linda Boskic, with Andy Airey's report that around 130 of them took the overnight sleeper from Helsinki to Oulu for the world's most northerly parkrun, breaking the attendance record with 173 finishers and a record 59 volunteers. Largest Australian Frond was eight at The Ponds, with Mel highlighting the Frond of seven at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan (herself and Dave, Sam Schroder, Ingrid Botha, Bec Bailey, Richard Folchon and Michael Gentle).

• Pilgrimage starts at 1:07:40

  Four adventurers at Bushy parkrun this week, Laura, Caleb, Tabitha and Timothy Amos. Laura's Dazza's post says they were thrilled to complete the pilgrimage, that daughter Tabitha did her 25th parkrun and was congratulated personally and in the run briefing, and that they spotted deer and made friends with the Tail Walker and a parkwalker.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:09:12"Where is the cake?"

  Two new events, both of which the hosts struggle to pronounce: Bygholm parkrun in Horsens, Denmark, about 200km from Copenhagen, a flat two-lap fine-gravel course, event one drawing 180 participants and 14 volunteers; and Judarskogen parkrun in Judarskogen Nature Reserve, Bromma, western Stockholm, two loops on gravel, event one with 129 participants and 20 volunteers. Followed by parkrun's 20th birthday on 5 October, with the request that people celebrate at their own home event rather than overwhelming Bushy.

• parkrun adventure challenge starts at 1:11:52listener challenge

  The listener challenge returns after being rested for Streaky September. This week listeners are asked to slip a birthday-related emoji, balloon, cake, present, into their messages on the Facebook page, in Dazza's or anywhere else, tying in with parkrun's 20th birthday.

• Sign-off starts at 1:13:41

  Ollie, having let slip that he was going somewhere predictable for parkrun's 20th anniversary, asked Mel where she was going: she said it was apt, given she had just said people should spend parkrun Day somewhere special, that she would be at Puckapunyal parkrun, which is somewhere special for her, and would make sure everyone there knew it was a special day. Ollie hoped everyone enjoyed a special day whether at home or adventuring, Mel thanked him for coming back and joining her, he apologised for sounding scratchy, they noted Simon would be back the following week, and he closed with the Facebook and email contacts - joking they also take complaints about his pronunciation and hosting - and 'that is it for another week'.