Episode 430 - Cleaner Wanted!

— open the full-size cover

HostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell

Roving reportersAlison Fraser (King) Calum Burrell Lyndell Murray

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Office standards are questionable as Mel & TOC return to their comfy chairs. But, what isn't messy is the enjoyment Mel had at Belair National Park (opens in a new tab) parkrun recently, and TOC's tourism antics over the last month. We've got you covered with news from Te Awa (opens in a new tab) in NZ, Central Lakes (opens in a new tab) in Kingsland and Burnage (opens in a new tab) parkrun in the UK. Plus, Reginald brings us lots of country info from the USA. Now all that is required is a new Cleaner …

- The Viking Paul Whelan celebrated his 250th at Panania (opens in a new tab) parkrun and wanted a lovely picture to mark the occasion... Steven Cox, however, had other ideas...

From the podcast feed

Office standards are questionable as Mel & TOC return to their comfy chairs. But, what isn’t messy is the enjoyment Mel had at Belair National Park (opens in a new tab) parkrun recently, and TOC’s tourism antics over the last month. We’ve got you covered with news from Te Awa (opens in a new tab) in NZ, Central Lakes (opens in a new tab) in Kingsland and Burnage (opens in a new tab) parkrun in the UK. Plus, Reginald brings us lots of country info from the USA. Now all that is required is a new Cleaner …

Roving reports

1Te Awa2Central Lakes3Burnage

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:22

  Melissa Ellis on Wurundjeri Country and TOC on Bunurong Country; Mel wants an adventurers greeting after hearing Hamish and Andy's 'ahoy', and listeners are invited to suggest one after a recording dropout mid-discussion. TOC, now cleared to run laps of an oval, has been to Great Southern Rail Trail, Aintree Reserve and Inverloch, where friend Alicia marked her 250th after a 100-mile You Yangs race and tourist Steve Amor logged his 200th different event. Mel, still lining up her 250th different with her 500th, made three South Australian trips: Myponga Reservoir with Sam Schroder, then Belair National Park, where she recorded two girls' Acknowledgement of Country and co-ED Jason on the Man Walk group of blokes at the back.

• International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day starts at 29:11

  Mel flags the upcoming Ugly Christmas in July Day for Saturday 26 July 2025, "we expect most of our adventurer friends do own an Ugly Christmas Shirt and we'll rock up to parkrun looking extremely ugly next Saturday", and TOC adds that anyone without one should "put something ugly on and still take a photo anyway". Also flagged in this stretch: Mel's 500th parkrun locked in for 9 August at Sirromet in Queensland, and congratulations to Nicola Forward on her 250th unique event and on joining the adventurers.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 31:28

  TOC hands over, "Righto, Mel, I think it's time for us to listen to a couple of other people talk for a while. So let's go across and listen to some roving reports." Three reports run back to back: Alison Fraser at the Te Awa parkrun launch in New Zealand, Lyndell Murray at Central Lakes parkrun in Caboolture, and Calum Burrell at Burnage parkrun in the UK. Mel notes that the reports are from previous weeks because the show has gone fortnightly and has a backlog, and TOC jokes that the roving-report backlog is now growing faster than parkrun launches.

• Dazza's starts at 47:43

  Two weeks of Dazza's comments, five from each week. Week one's theme was "new conversations day": Belinda from NSW (Malt and Honey Cafe, Horseshoe Bay Reserve), Joe Trimby tail walking at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, Yvette Turner from Corner Brook Stream Trail in Newfoundland, Sarah at Capestone Lake celebrating her 500th, and Chris Gore at Yeldulknie Weir Trail in South Australia. Week two's theme was "stick out your tongue day": Ali Sheppard at Richmond parkrun in the UK, Stephen Cox at Panania for Paul "the Viking" Whelan's 250th, Andy Poole and Wendela's fifth parkrun alphabet at Ziegelwiese parkrun in Halle, Germany, Alison Fraser at Tauranga, and Melissa (497/248) at Patawalonga River.

• the Obi Award — Stephen Cox starts at 56:32

  TOC: "Now, Mel, we have to pick an Obi out of that." The envelope hunt turns into the episode's running gag about the state of the office, sticky notes gone viral, ripped envelopes everywhere, "we need an office cleaner", which is where the episode title comes from. Mel announces "This week's Obi winner is Stephen Cox", for his Dazza's post from Panania parkrun celebrating Paul "the Viking" Whelan's 250th, complete with the photobomber sticking his tongue out.

• Emails starts at 57:56

  Two emails. Andy Airey sends club stats: the Airey Airways top the combined-runs table on 269,780, ahead of the Vegan Runners, the Lonely Goat, the parkrun World Tourists and Team Vitality South Africa, with the adventurers sixth on 195,856 and Running Mums Australia tenth; he also posted a couple of alphabet flags to the hosts. The second, from Alistair, opens "Yo ho ho parkrun adventurers" (offered as a candidate for the show's new greeting) and describes touring Rex Jackson Oval parkrun at Helensburgh in the Wollongong LGA, Token Sorting in the wet, and taking Gramps for a run.

• Club Corner starts at 1:02:12

  Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III's country-by-country instalment, this time on the USA: Livonia, Michigan launched in June 2012 and has now hosted 600+ events; Clermont Waterfront in Florida and Durham NC followed within a year, an 1,800 km drive apart. The US now has 80-90 events, with Thanksgiving as the special day. Standouts covered are the now-closed Crissy Field in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, Coal Creek Trail in a canyon of Triassic and Jurassic red rock, and Tollgate Farm Park on Snoqualmie ancestral lands. TOC follows with the show's fun-fact rundown for the USA (currency, flight times, top tips), and the hosts trade where-would-you-go answers.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 1:10:04

  For Saturday 19 July 2025: of 823 Adventurers members, 580 took part across 13 countries and 284 locations. Internationally 63 in the UK, nine in South Africa, four each in Germany, Ireland and the USA, two in the Netherlands, one each in Canada, Italy, Norway, Singapore and Sweden. Domestically 46 in NSW, 45 in Queensland, 44 in Victoria, 18 in WA, 17 in SA, seven each in the ACT, Tasmania and the North Island, one each in the NT and the South Island. TOC notes the membership had hovered in the 790s for months before jumping to 823.

• the Frond starts at 1:11:38

  Biggest international frond on 12 July was at Bushy Park (four of the Williams family), a first, TOC notes. On 19 July the biggest was a frond of seven at Unisee in Germany: Jason and Lisa Patterson, Christopher Miles, Andy and Debbie Airey, Ellie Soper and Ivan Storer, with a special mention for three at Trentham Gardens in the UK (Calum Burrell, Steve Mild and Nicola Ford). The pilgrimage on 12 July was George, Rihanna, Rosie and Leo Williams, visiting from WA. Biggest Aussie frond on 12 July was 13 at Belvedere in Victoria; on 19 July, nine at Shellharbour and eight at Panania (Michelle Fyfe, Andrew Blanda, Stephen Cox, Cathy Crispin, Jan Yates, Paris Lawrence, Catherine Pirotta and Paul "the Viking" Whelan).

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:13:58"Where is the cake?"

  Mel: "Now, launches, Tony." On 12 July the only global 5K launch was West End Community Park in Gainesville, Florida (120 finishers week one, 61 week two, on a former golf course). On 19 July: Mamquam Spawning Trail in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada's sixth launch of 2025, 86 finishers with over a third first-timers; Saigawa ryokuchi koen in northern Japan, 44 volunteers supporting 145 finishers of whom 92 were first-timers; and Fordingbridge Recreation Ground in Hampshire, a four-lapper along the River Avon, 40 volunteers and 310 participants.

• Watching the numbers starts at 1:17:19

  Mel announces the segment is going on hiatus: "we are going to put our segment watching the numbers on hiatus for a little while until we come up with another event that we fancy to track ... We haven't got anything on the radar." TOC appeals for more Australian launches to give them something to track.

• parkrun adventure challenge starts at 1:19:49listener challenge

  Mel realises she skipped it, "Anyway, I skipped the listener challenge. That was remiss." TOC sets it: for Saturday the 26th, Ugly Christmas Shirt in July Day, get a photo in an ugly top, "it doesn't have to be one of the OG original tops ... post it in Dazza's so we can get a real collection of ugliness going." Separately, the hosts open a standing challenge to listeners to invent an adventurers greeting after Mel's "Ahoy" discussion at the top of the show.

• Sign-off starts at 1:21:33

  TOC turned from the launches to what he was looking forward to, catching up with Mel in person at Sirromet on 9 August, and Mel said that next parkrun day she was headed west to WA to see Sarah and the lovely Matt, with the event still undecided and to be picked by spinning a wheel, and that she was looking forward to her first cuddles with Hadley. The listener challenge was to get a photo in an ugly top for Ugly Christmas Shirt in July Day and post it in Dazza's. TOC said he was going to South Australia next week for an event ambassador conference, the official run is Belair but he planned to skip across to Oaklands Estate Reserve to chase another letter O, then volunteering at Thornton Juniors on the Sunday, with the pair back together in a fortnight.