Episode 404 - Boomerang

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HostsSarah Jefferson Simon Mackley

Roving reportersJohan Duvenhage Lyndell Murray Ruth Perkins

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Sarah & Simon are back to recap their Birthday parkruns at South Beach Recreation Reserve (opens in a new tab) parkrun and Calamvale. We hear from Lyndell at Meadowbrook (opens in a new tab), Ruth at Harrogate (opens in a new tab) and Johan at Big Bay (opens in a new tab). There's talk of a boomerang doing what they do best and a world of launches. We challenge you to listen.

Janet Llewellyn Reid (and family, including a little one who just finished her first full parkrun!) at Lochiel (opens in a new tab) parkrun .

From the podcast feed

Sarah & Simon are back to recap their Birthday parkruns at South Beach Recreation Reserve (opens in a new tab) and Calamvale. We hear from Lyndell at Meadowbrook (opens in a new tab), Ruth at Harrogate (opens in a new tab) and Johan at Big Bay (opens in a new tab). There’s talk of a boomerang doing what they do best and a world of launches. We challenge you to listen.

Roving reports

1Meadowbrook2Harrogate3Big Bay

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Sarah Jefferson on Noongar Country for her November episode and Simon Mackley on Quandamooka Country. Sarah, now in her third trimester, is enjoying WA's warming weather and pre-work swims; Simon recaps his leg of the Bondi to Manly relay from Rose Bay to Kirribilli (teammate Paul finished leg one a bit injured) and Calamvale's white-themed 10th birthday with 229 participants, ED Mike in a white suit. Sarah walked South Beach Recreation Reserve's under-the-sea third birthday with colleagues including Brenton Pullman and Matt, a record 194 participants, then swam and hit the garage sale trail.

• Budgie update starts at 8:26

  Simon: "Well, I believe we have a Budgie update." Budgie, the travelling adventurers' mascot, went to Panania parkrun with Jane Yates after a planned ACT trip fell through; Sarah is next in line to collect Budgie and take him back to Western Australia, and discusses the onward plan for the ACT and Northern Territory.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 14:31

  Sarah hands over: "So we might head over and check out some of the roving reports." Three reports follow, Lyndell Murray at Meadowbrook (interviewing Dan the Motivator), Ruth Perkins at Harrogate's 600th event (interviewing ED Ted Welton), and Johan Duvenhage at Big Bay, Cape Town, on parkrun South Africa's one millionth participant (interviewing Vitality Centurions Brian and Donald Scott). Simon and Sarah recap all three.

• Dazza's starts at 34:40

  Theme is "dear Santa letter week". Posts read out: Ingrid Botha (50th birthday celebrated at Dolls Point), Andy Airey (ninth alphabet completed with a Y in Wales at Y Promenâd), Helen Davis (200th different event at Emerald Lake), Dave Bravos (Lake Joondalup with Lucy), Janet Reid (aboard the mothership Lochiel with her grandchildren), Johan Duvenhage (Big Bay, one million participants), Vicky Smith (Ginninderra), Neil Clayton (first parkrun for two silkie chickens at Sandgate), Alison Fraser (King) (Southern Path launch in Auckland) and Bernadette Bennett (Launceston).

• the Obi Award — Neil Clayton starts at 42:10

  Simon hands over: "Now, Sarah, do you have the Obilope?" The Obi goes to Neil Clayton, for taking his two silkie chickens, Chloe and Chelsea, to their first parkrun at Sandgate, Sarah: "Well done, Neil. I love that you've got all of your pets involved. That's something different."

• Emails starts at 42:41

  Simon: "We had no emails this week. None at all. What's happening, guys?" The slot is opened and closed with no listener email to read.

• Club Corner starts at 42:45

  Simon throws to Reginald. Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III walks through two volunteer roles: Warm-up Leader (a junior parkrun role, with the standard parkrun warm-up routine listed, and the note that warm-ups are not permitted at 5K events except by official parkrun partners) and Run Director (overall responsibility for event safety, the pre-event brief, the authority to cancel, postpone or alter the course, and the rule that the RD must not participate or double up on another role). Sarah and Simon then discuss Reginald's claim that the role suits extroverts, both saying they are not extroverts and that run directing built their confidence.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 47:40

  Compiled by Belinda, thanked for turning it around an hour before recording. For Saturday 16 November 2024: of 714 members, 534 took part in nine countries across 257 locations. UK 41 events, South Africa 7, USA 4, Netherlands and Canada 2 each, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Lithuania 1 each; NSW 51, Queensland 47, Victoria 42, WA 20, SA and Tasmania 11 each, ACT 7, North Island 6, South Island 3, and nobody in the Northern Territory.

• the Frond starts at 49:04

  Largest international frond: seven adventurers at Y Promenâd, Abermaw, Stuart Henderson, George Clark, James Avery, Mark Perkins, Debbie and Andy Airey and Nikki Orway. Nobody on the pilgrimage to Bushy. Largest Australian frond: a frond of seven at three events (Emerald Lake, Inverloch and Rex Jackson); Emerald Lake was picked out, with John Graham, Daryl Smith, Vincent Heng, Cindy Robins, Stephen and Helen Davis and Chantelle Hosking.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 49:53"Where is the cake?"

  Three launches this week and none in Australia: Clougha Pike parkrun in the UK (a closed event, 11 participants and 6 volunteers); Nowy Park Solankowy in Inowrocław, Poland (150 participants including 38 first timers, 20 volunteers, three laps on cobblestones); and Southern Path parkrun in Takanini, Auckland, New Zealand (261 participants, 51 first timers, 32 volunteers, two out-and-back sections from Conifer Grove Reserve).

• Sign-off starts at 52:37

  Sarah asked where Simon would be headed: he was in two minds between Harris Avenue, which he has not done, and Minnippi to increase his re-index, and would decide on Friday night. Sarah was returning to South Beach Recreation Reserve parkrun to welcome home the first of the ten boomerangs, the fourth boomerang, which left that event on 21 June, was delivered to Victoria Dock in London and has visited 21 parkruns since, expecting a big crowd and possibly another attendance record. Simon trailed "the potty-mouthed Victorians", Mel and TOC, for next week, gave the Facebook and email contacts and thanked Sarah.