Episode 431 - Start Spreading the News

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HostsMelissa Ellis Tony O'Connell

Roving reportersAli Sheppard Calum Burrell Yvette Turner

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Cooo-eeee Adventurers! Roles were reversed this week with TOC heading west to the South and Mel in the West and then staying west. The office is looking cleaner, the Big Apple is ripe for the picking but a cancellation closer to home brings discussion. There are roving reports from Downsview (opens in a new tab) in Canada, Billericay (opens in a new tab) in the UK plus a magical report and celebration at Trentham Gardens (opens in a new tab) parkrun. Reginald champions Ireland and with that, the office door is locked up as the Victorians head north.

- Johann (and Levi!) keep warm at a cold and foggy Rooi Point Farm (opens in a new tab) parkrun in South Africa.

From the podcast feed

Cooo-eee Adventurers! Roles were reversed this week with TOC heading west to the South and Mel in the West and then staying west. The office is looking cleaner, the Big Apple is ripe for the picking but a cancellation closer to home brings discussion. There are roving reports from Downsview (opens in a new tab) in Canada, Billericay (opens in a new tab) in the UK plus a magical report and celebration from Trentham Gardens (opens in a new tab). Reginald champions Ireland and with that, the office door is locked up as the Victorians head North.

Roving reports

1Downsview2Trentham Gardens3Billericay

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:23

  Melissa Ellis recording on Wurundjeri Country and TOC on Boon Wurrung Country, after last week's black-screen scare turned out to have recorded fine; Mel is editing on a tight schedule before flying out Friday, and a mysterious night-time cleaner has tidied the office. TOC went to the South Australian ambassadors conference, doing Oaklands Estate Reserve with co-EDs Emma Steele and Kevin under blue sky while the Belair contingent got rained on, then Thorndon juniors, and this week Belvedere with nine Adventurers including Deb Jessop, Steve Amor and Anna, the Smiths and Bruce Purdy. Mel flew to WA for Quinns Rocks, her 249th different event, staying with Sarah and catching up with Chloe Bravos, then ran a local Peppertree, where peppercorn trees are being cleared along the Werribee River.

• parkrun news bulletin starts at 12:28

  Mel: 'let's discuss what's in the news in this last week'. Main Beach parkrun, Australia's number one event, cancelled for lack of volunteers, and a discussion of when an event should call it; New York's first parkrun coming at Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park, taking in the Brooklyn Bridge, the East River and the Statue of Liberty; and the Running Achievements app being down, with a plea to go easy on the volunteer who runs it.

• International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day starts at 21:47

  Mel: 'what we are next to discuss is Ugly Christmas in July Day'. Both hosts wore their gear - TOC one of two at Oaklands, Mel in a 'tinsel of three' at Quinns Rocks with Sarah Jefferson and Chloe Bravos - plus the international photos and the origin story of Christmas in July that Ali Sheppard had shared.

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 25:48

  TOC: 'How about we throw to somebody else?' Three reports back to back - Yvette Turner at Downsview parkrun in Toronto, Calum Burrell at Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire for Nicola Forward's 250th different parkrun, and Ali Sheppard at Billericay parkrun in Essex for its eighth birthday. Mel and TOC recap all three.

• Dazza's starts at 48:42

  TOC: 'I think we should move into Dazza's.' Five comments from each of the last two weeks. Week one (Ugly Christmas in July): Pippa White at Northala Fields, Helen Reeves and four generations at Traralgon, Ali Sheppard at Kingston, Johan Duvenhage at Rooi Point Farm in South Africa with his dog Levi, and Rex Gream at Armidale. Week two (International Clown Week): Cathy Crispin at Panania, Lee/Leigh Cabarita, 'Sandy the scrubber' filing her first parkrun, and Mark Hibbard at Broken Hill Racecourse. The hosts also pass on condolences to Johan for the loss of his dog Jack.

• the Obi Award — Johan Duvenhage starts at 1:01:40

  Mel opens the envelope: 'This week's Obi goes to... It goes to Johan.' For his photo with his dog Levi at Rooi Point Farm parkrun in South Africa, running in his fluffy ugly Christmas top in the cold and fog - 'Looking very cold and he was being festive... in his sadness', a reference to his recently lost dog Jack.

• Emails starts at 1:02:20

  One email this week, from Simon Nash of Queensland, suggesting 'Zoomy' as the adventurers' greeting to one another - 'Zoomy Mel, Zoomy TOC, Zoomy Adventurer'. The hosts run through the contenders so far (Ahoy, Ho Run, Zoomy, Cooee) and Mel adds 'wassail', a medieval toast to health and good fortune. No winner chosen; more suggestions invited.

• Club Corner starts at 1:04:51

  TOC: 'I think it's time for us to throw across and have a listen to Reginald.' Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III continues the country-by-country history of parkrun's 2012 expansion with Ireland - Malahide in November 2012 as the 10th parkrun country, now 110 events, the Department of Health funding, the Operation Transformation TV tie-in, junior parkrun adoption, Inch Beach as the third oldest all-beach parkrun, Knockanacree Woods in the BBC Countryfile hardest-parkruns list, and a run of castle-named Irish events. The hosts follow with fun facts about Ireland.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 1:10:24

  For Saturday 2 August 2025: 825 members, 542 taking part in 13 countries across 286 locations. Internationally 71 events in the UK, 10 in South Africa, 5 in the USA, 3 in Ireland, 2 each in Germany, Italy and Austria, and 1 each in Canada, Japan, Singapore and Sweden. Locally 49 in Queensland, 42 in the Greater State, 40 in NSW, 17 in WA, 13 in SA, 9 in Tasmania, 8 on the North Island, 6 in the ACT, 3 in the Northern Territory and 1 on the South Island.

• the Frond starts at 1:11:51

  International fronds: a frond of five on 26 July at Kingston (Danny Norman, Andy and Helen Rutter, Angharad Callaghan and Ali Sheppard) and a frond of seven on 2 August at Portrush (Debbie and Andy Airey, James Avery, Rhiannon Taylor, Ivan Storer, Christopher Miles and Ali Soper). Pilgrimage: Christopher Hartley's first visit to Bushy on 26 July, none the following week. Australian fronds: a frond of eight at Point Cook for Andrew Reynolds's 500th, and a frond of nine at Belvedere.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:14:24"Where is the cake?"

  TOC: 'we're going to talk launches now'. 26 July: Kewarra Beach parkrun north of Cairns, Queensland's second most northerly event (112 then 142 finishers, coffee van 'The Toasted Goat' on the finish line); Como Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota's fourth event, with week two cancelled for poor air quality from Canadian wildfire smoke; and East Holmes Field parkrun at Ilkley in the UK, whose 26 July launch was called off when horse-drawn campers set up on the start line overnight. 2 August: no launches anywhere in the world, which the hosts note is unusual for this year.

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

  Mel sets the challenge: come and see her at her parkrun (Sirromet, Queensland, for her 500th and her Freyne), or join in virtually by wearing a tutu to parkrun wherever you are - BYO tutu, and post it in Dazza's.

• Sign-off starts at 1:19:51

  After noting there were no launches globally that week, TOC turned to looking forward and said he would be at Sirromet parkrun this weekend, going for a walk in a winery, bringing Jackie, with Mel flying in and asking everyone to BYO tutu. Mel's listener challenge was to come to Sirromet and join her for coffee at the cafe afterwards, or to wear a tutu at your own parkrun instead. They signed off saying Sarah and Simon would host the next fortnight (Sarah having flitted off to Singapore), and TOC congratulated Mel ahead of her Freyne and her 500th parkrun.