Episode 458 - The Unicorn

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HostsLyndell Murray Tony O'Connell

Roving reportersCalum Burrell Eman Vergara Greg Moore

Show notes

From the Facebook post

Saddle up listeners, this one's a uniquely long one.

Lyndell and TOC discuss loads of launches and parkrun partnerships aplenty. We have roving reports from Sale (opens in a new tab) in Victoria, Mamquam Spawning Trail (opens in a new tab) in Canada, and Kingsway Park (opens in a new tab) parkrun, Urmston in the UK.

Reginald visits Lithuania and highlights the unicorn events of parkrun found in far flung UK territories. Pippa the Streakmeister keeps us on track for Streaky September, TOC checks up on notties, and we see who's stopped by at Dazzas.

They say you can't catch a unicorn, but you might just find one at parkrun…

From the podcast feed

Saddle up listeners, this one's a uniquely long one. Lyndell and TOC discuss loads of launches and parkrun partnerships aplenty. We have roving reports from Sale (opens in a new tab) in Victoria, Mamquam Spawning Trail (opens in a new tab) in Canada, and Kingsway Park, Urmston (opens in a new tab) in the UK. Reginald visits Lithuania and highlights the unicorn events of parkrun found in far flung UK territories. Pippa the Streakmeister keeps us on track for Streaky September, TOC checks up on notties, and we see who's stopped by at Dazzas. They say you can't catch a unicorn, but you might just find one at parkrun…

Roving reports

1Sale2Mamquam Spawning Trail3Kingsway Park, Urmston

In this episode

• Welcome starts at 0:19

  TOC on Bunurong Country and Lyndell Murray in Meanjin, Brisbane, on Turrbal and Yuggera Country. TOC and Jacqui flew to Hoblers Bridge Reserve in Launceston for an H with Curly and Grumpy, timekept at Rokeby Crossover Rail Trail, then drove to Heathcote for McIvor Creek Trail only to see it cancelled at 7:20 and made Kilmore Racecourse with a minute to spare, one Victorian event still to go. Lyndell went to the Office Lady's 60th at Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, climbed three buildings in four days at the Festival of Stairclimbing, volunteered at Ocean View and ran Maryborough, with audio to come in a future episode.

• Emails starts at 9:05

  Listener feedback on the last episode: Renata Koch (Facebook) on keeping the search-for-others'-barcodes feature in the app, with TOC's Inverloch RD stories in support; Cherie Martin listening while streaking laps of Centenary Park, Charters Towers; the With Me Now podcast thread about the cover photo of Danny's mum Lynn with Ali Sheppard, and a challenge to Calum and Ali to sign Lynn up as an adventurer. Rate-and-review plug and a merch update (last of the buffs sold).

• Streaky September starts at 13:48

  A week into Streaky September (recorded Monday 7 September): TOC is on day 2,929 of a streak begun on the first Streaky September, 1 September 2018; Lyndell is seven days in counting running, walking and gym. Week one bingo squares (merch, your age, how odd, parkrun adventure) and week two's (flowers, street art, somewhere new, friend). Pippa the Streakmeister's audio on why streaks matter on the bad days and the gift of 30 minutes a day. Hosts swap streak savers, Lyndell's bikeway tree, TOC's Wonthaggi shop-veranda loop and estate walk with wombats and echidnas.

• parkrun news bulletin starts at 22:55

  parkrun Global recruiting a head of international growth (Europe, Africa, America; APAC skipped) and where the hosts would like the next countries (TOC: Fiji; Lyndell: South-East Asia, India); Cayman Islands launched. Day for Daniel (Daniel Morcombe Foundation), parkrun Australia invites everyone to wear red on Saturday 31 October. Brisbane City Council's Move Well Brisbane partnership with five funded launches, HQ emailing for EDs; Australian Sports Foundation donation option. Taman Pudu Ulu (Malaysia) relaunched after a smog cancellation, 77 finishers/47 first-timers. Phil Gore's solo backyard-format week: 152 yards, 1,020 km over six days, nearly $300k for Telethon 7. The Office Lady (Sam) ran 91 km at the Light Horse Ultra 24-hour. Then attendance stats: NZ and Australia for 29 Aug and 5 Sep, attendance records at Invercargill, Pirrama, Wentworth Common, Macquarie University, Stones Corner and The Ponds; smallest Waterloo Plains (4) and Ball Park (3).

• Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew starts at 39:40

  Three reports: Greg at Sale parkrun (Victoria) with RD Trevor, event 520, the course around Lake Guyatt and Lake Guthridge, the RAAF base clientele, ten RDs under ED Kat, coffee at Wild Honey; Eman Vergara at Mamquam Spawning Trail parkrun's first anniversary in Squamish, Canada, with co-ED Ben (origins, salmon, black bears, a resident skunk, Okanagan and Ambleside recommendations) and RD Mel (ex-Whistler RD, the core team, attendance record beaten by one); Calum Burrell at Kingsway Park, Urmston (event 13) with Sunil Chamond completing his Explorer 100 / Cowell and Ruth Perkins completing a full Bailey, 250 different venues in her first 250 parkruns, the 19th person to do it. Afterwards the hosts issue a challenge to listeners to record their own roving reports, with practical tips (iPhone voice memos, start with the RD, a few good questions).

• Dazza's starts at 1:08:13

  Two weeks of Dazza's posts. 29 August (International Cosplay Day): Heather Hunter timekeeping at Foster in an inflatable unicorn; Calum Burrell in a party hat and lei for Alderford Lake's 7th birthday; Adrian Luscombe at Worcester Pitchcroft; Tanya Bailey and Brett as Smurfette and Papa Smurf and Jackie Hancock in a Starry Night dress at Pegasus's 500th; Ria Eris's WWE 'The Demon' cosplay. 5 September (International Bacon Day): Lucille Pead at Claisebrook Cove with Michael and Annika Little; Greg Garner and Brendan Peel at Wes Mitchell Park; Peter Pohlman retrieving a surfboard at The Beaches; Johan Duvenhage's zoomies at Dorothy Nyembe (South Africa), signing up Susan Conradery; Joanne Holt and David Hodjo at Redcliffe; Cheryl Bickle's country number 10 at Vingis, Lithuania. Dazza asks for landscape-orientation photos.

• the Obi Award — Heather Hunter starts at 1:15:10

  Awarded to Heather Hunter, "our favourite unicorn at Foster parkrun", her photo timekeeping in an inflatable unicorn costume (the episode's title). Hosts ask her to write in and confirm whether she wore it again for the most recent timekeeping.

• Club Corner starts at 1:15:53

  Reginald Yardley Pomphrey III continues the countries grab bag: Lithuania (Vingis from September 2024, its own special day on Independence Restoration Day 11 March, new events Didžioji Dailidė and Dainai), Gibraltar Botanical Gardens, February 2026, a British overseas territory, and the newest 'unicorn' events Plantation Forest on St Helena and Festival Green in the Caymans, both now in the top three of the geographically remotest events table behind Cape Pembroke Lighthouse. Teases that parkrun now hosts renamed non-milestone clubs in its app. Hosts riff on the Life of Brian-style list of Lithuanian national days.

• Consolidated Club Report starts at 1:20:50

  Weeks of 29 August and 5 September: adventurers at 57 and 59 events in the leading state (Queensland led the second week); all states and territories plus both NZ islands represented; 14 then 16 countries internationally, the UK with the most, and eight countries with a single adventurer (Italy both weeks, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Lithuania). Hosts ask listeners whether they prefer percentages or raw numbers, summaries or a straight read-through, as Sarah and Lyndell experiment with the format. Adventurers Club is 31 short of 1,000 members; TOC bets it will be there by his next recording on 5 October.

• the Frond starts at 1:22:34

  Largest international fronds: Jeskyns Community Woodland (UK), four, Alexander and Lucy Kington, Cass Castleton, Gail Banghart; Rothamsted Park (UK), five, Debbie Airey, John and Louise Garrett, Ellie Soper, Christopher Miles. Pilgrimages: Clancy and Samantha Skinner (Armidale) on 29 August, Alexander Kington at Bushy on 5 September. Largest Aussie fronds: eight at Parkville (Victoria) including Melissa Ellis; nine at Rockingham (WA) including Chloe Bravos, Sarah Jefferson, and Sam and Luke Schroder.

• Watching the numbers starts at 1:25:09

  Plantation Forest parkrun, St Helena Island, nine weeks in: 32 finishers/8 volunteers/9 first-timers on 29 August, 20 finishers/9 volunteers/1 first-timer on 5 September. Lyndell notes a handful of different Run Directors sharing the load, which TOC calls encouraging for a new event.

• Notties check-in starts at 1:26:59

  Follow-up to last episode'sparkrun call-out: the baseline was 87 notties in Australia and 901 worldwide; on 30 August Australia rose to 94 while the rest of the world dipped to 899. Sherry Brandtman has started logging notties; Pippa White is up to 2,047 (over 10,000 km). Lyndell hasn't logged one herself but got Alison Fraser to, TOC awards her half a point.

• Launches and anniversaries starts at 1:29:01"Where is the cake?"

  Fourteen launches over two weeks, each in a different country. 29 August: Moose Beach (Orillia, Canada, 148), Kiellinie (Kiel, Germany's most northerly, 114), Kålgården (Falun, Sweden, 55), Festival Green (Cayman Islands, 251 with 58 first-timers), Sirenhello (near Lecce, Italy, 11, a possible boutique event beside Salento), Theisendammen (Trondheim, Norway, 70), Storms River (Tsitsikamma, South Africa, 48), Upper Las Virgenes Canyon (Los Angeles, USA, 72). Also the Taman Pudu Ulu relaunch. 5 September: Hiroshima Stadium Park (Japan, 65 with 45 first-timers), Schloss Rheydt (Germany, 127), Valkeinen (Kuopio, Finland, 61, 'White parkrun'), Val du Charron (Paarl, South Africa, 355 through vineyards and an olive grove), Ulnes Walton (UK, likely a closed prison event), Zuiderpark, Rotterdam (Netherlands, 156, the third Zuiderpark). TOC notes the unusually high share of first-time-ever parkrunners at the remoter launches.

• Sign-off starts at 1:39:00

  Looking ahead: Lyndell, prompted by costume talk at Dazza's, notes Talk Like a Pirate Day on 19 September as an excuse for adventurers to dress up; TOC, after the weekend's misadventure at McIvor Creek, is looking forward to going back in a couple of weeks to complete it and fill that dot on his Voronoi map in Victoria. Next parkrun day: Lyndell hopes to join a frond locally at New Farm Park; TOC is staying local after last week's travel but hasn't decided where. Lyndell thanks the Office Lady, the editor, Reginald and the team; contact via parkrun adventurers on Facebook or parkrunadventurers@gmail.com, and roving reports are welcome. Next time listeners will hear from Sarah and Simon. Followed by the parkrun Party outro song.