Episode 405 - B4s Return
2024-11-28
— open the full-size coverHostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell
Roving reportersAlison Fraser (King) Sarah Jefferson Tracey Wood
Show notes
From the Facebook post
Join Mel & TOC as they navigate the weekly parkrun news, rightly or wrongly, from across the globe. Sarah takes one small step towards South Beach Recreation Reserve (opens in a new tab), Alison follows a Southern Path (opens in a new tab) and Tracey choo choo choo's off to Old Esk Railway Station (opens in a new tab) parkrun . Listen in, B4 it's old news…
- Sarah Jefferson heralding the return of the boomerang to South Beach Recreation Reserve (opens in a new tab) parkrun.
From the podcast feed
Join Mel & TOC as they navigate the weekly parkrun news, rightly or wrongly, from across the globe. Sarah takes one small step towards South Beach Recreation Reserve (opens in a new tab), Alison follows a Southern Path (opens in a new tab) and Tracey choo choo choo’s off to Old Esk Railway Station (opens in a new tab) parkrun. Listen in, B4 it’s old news…
Listen
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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 0:24
Tony O'Connell on Bunurong Country and Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country, recording on a Sunday evening. Feedback from last week: South Beach had 145 finishers as B4 the boomerang returned home, with a Sarah roving report to come; Mel found that Richmond's number-one AFL draft pick Sam Lalor from Bacchus Marsh has done a Peppertree parkrun, and TOC recalls St Kilda training at Inverloch. TOC hosted Alison from New Zealand at a 34-degree Inverloch with 157 finishers and a swim, then Phillip Island; Mel and Dave set up Peppertree early platypus hunting along the Lerderderg Trail, she ran under 34 minutes in a Christine Imbert tribute, saw Wicked at Gold Class, and on Sunday RD'd Eynesbury Heritage Trail juniors for Ezra's last-ever junior event after 78 across Westerfolds, Eynesbury and Thorndon juniors.
Budgie update starts at 7:33
Mel tracks the travelling mascot Budgie: he was with Jan Yates, who took him to Zeehan Golf Club parkrun in Tasmania, and has been passed to Sherry Brandtman, who will bring him to Whitemark Wharf the following Saturday. Mel reads Sherry's Dazza's post about three adventurers completing the alphabet at Zeehan and about Christine Imbert being remembered on the memorial run.
parkrun news bulletin starts at 9:21
Week's global parkrun news: Paul Sinton-Hewitt's memoir "One Small Step" going on pre-sale via the parkrun shop with signed copies and an apricot page edge; parkrun Australia's controversial "500th active event" shirt (TOC argues 514 events have launched and closed events are being written out of history); the UK apricot sale with no apricot in it; Storm Bert causing 391 UK cancellations, 51 in Ireland, 19 in Australia and 504 globally; and a launch tally of 34 new global 5k events since early September.
Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 19:54
Mel hands over to three roving reports: Alison Fraser (King) from the Southern Path parkrun launch in south Auckland with ED/RD Joyce; Tracey Wood from Old Esk Railway Station parkrun in Queensland with first-time RD Catherine Wilkes and adventurer Janice Whittle; and Sarah Jefferson from South Beach Recreation Reserve parkrun in WA with Ali O'Rourke as boomerang B4 comes home. TOC recaps all three.
Dazza's starts at 42:34
This week's Dazza's theme was National Espresso Day with a listener challenge to work in the poo emoji. Posts read out from Nick Grady (North Wollongong, 150th), Janet (aboard the mothership Lochiel, koala photo), Alison King (Inverloch with TOC and Jackie), Yvette Turner (ACT), Calum Burrell (Manchester, meeting Stephen Walsh), Mark Hibbard (Ovens River Trail), Monty Slade (Hereford), Catherine O'Connor (The Beaches 10th birthday, 60 parkwalkers), Gareth Arnold (son Austin's 10th volunteer at Kadina Trail) and Carolyn McRae (Eastern Gardens). Special mention for Catherine and Ian Greenstreet completing the 14,000km Run Down Under.
Club Corner starts at 53:02
Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III continues his review of volunteer roles from Arrernte Country, covering the Timekeeper (using the Virtual Volunteer app), the retired Backup Timekeeper role, and the VI Guide, formerly Guide Runner. Closes with his standing line that all non-milestone clubs are unofficial and unsupported by parkrun. TOC and Mel then discuss whether there should be a club for people who held discontinued roles.
the Obi Award — Yvette Turner starts at 56:24
TOC realises they forgot the Obi and backtracks to open the Obilope. The winner is Yvette Turner from the ACT, for another great Dazza's post, "not beaten by the poop this week", and for recruiting for the podcast.
Consolidated Club Report starts at 57:24
For Saturday 23 November 2024: of 713 members, 500 took part in 11 countries across 245 locations. UK numbers down to 33 events because of Storm Bert; 8 in South Africa, 3 in the USA, one each in Austria, Canada, Ireland and Lithuania. NSW and Victoria tied on 49, Queensland 44, WA 18, SA 14, Tasmania 9, ACT 7, North Island 5, South Island 5, NT 1. No adventurers at Bushy, which had exactly 1,000 finishes. Largest local fronds were 10, at Inverloch, Shellharbour and The Beaches; TOC identifies the Lithuanian frond of nine at Vingis as an Andy Airey trip.
Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:00:16"Where is the cake?"
Two launches covered: Neale Park parkrun in Nelson, at the top of the South Island, 286 finishes including 133 first-timers ever, 22 volunteers, on a T-shaped double out-and-back along the Trafalgar cycleway, filling one of the last New Zealand cities without a parkrun; and Galup Reserve parkrun in Perth near Herdsman Lake, a one-lapper around Galup (Lake Monger) that drew 180 finishers in week one.
parkrun adventure challenge starts at 1:02:37listener challenge
With the last weekend of Movember coming up, Mel challenges adventurers to do their own version of Movember, imitate a moustache in a parkrun photo by balancing something on the top lip (a feather, a pen, a banana), to raise awareness of men's mental health, suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer.
Sign-off starts at 1:04:37
Asked what he was looking forward to, TOC said Perth plans were on hold for the weekend's group trip to Flinders Island, a chartered plane, the pub booked out and Whitemark Wharf parkrun, the last Tasmanian event some of the group need, and Mel said she was looking forward to hanging out with 18 fellow adventurers, "like school camp", noting how hard Whitemark Wharf is to reach without a charter flight or the barge. Mel confirmed neither needed to be asked where they would be next parkrun day as both would be at Whitemark Wharf, running the Xanthorrhoea Trail, with a forecast around 20 degrees and a 70 per cent chance of rain. She announced the Christmas break, the last episode of the year to be recorded on 9 December, returning 13 January, trailed Mel and Simon for next week, and closed with the contacts.