parkrun adventure challengelistener challenge

Appears in 56 episodes, first in episode 1.

Recipients

Every appearance

• Episode 431 - Start Spreading the News

  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.

• Episode 430 - Cleaner Wanted!

  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.

• Episode 428 - Evolution

  The adventurer Listener Challenge for the fortnight was to incorporate something for International Bath Day. Melissa notes the response was light; entries are read out inside the Dazza's segment.

• Episode 427 - Onions Have Layers

  Next Saturday is International Bath Day, so TOC asks listeners to get creative with emojis - 'think Jemima Puddle Duck', bubbles and rubber ducks. (The challenge being reported on this week, set previously, was to incorporate a butterfly into your parkrun.)

• Episode 426 - Lost Property

  Simon sets the week's listener challenge: with 7 June being Butterfly Education and Awareness Day, add a butterfly to your post. Melissa wonders how many adventurers have butterfly tattoos and offers to run in her butterfly wings instead.

• Episode 425 - Tracky Dacky Doo Dah Day

  Last week's challenge, name your parkrun in emojis at the end of your comment, is worked through during Dazza's. The new challenge, announced here by Tony O'Connell, is National Tracky Dacks Day on Saturday 31 May, for listeners to interpret as they will; Melissa Ellis explains tracky-dacks for the international audience and both hosts promise a photo of themselves in theirs.

• Episode 424 - Reaching a Rec-Ord

  Sarah sets the week's challenge: name your parkrun in emojis at the end of your Dazza's comment. She works Perry Lakes through as an example (pear, the letter E, a lake, a tree, a running figure). Simon asks people to post the photo too so the answer can be checked; the pair joke about copying Val's accidental blurry-photo-then-real-photo trick.

• Episode 422 - Potato, Potarto

  Mel had not thought of one, so Danny set it: post #Dorb (capital D, lowercase o-r, capital B), Dolly or Bev, his cat and his landlady, to prove you listened between release and Dazza's going up.

• Episode 421 - There's No Place Like Home

  TOC's challenge this week is to post a photo in your buff, "loud and proud", off the back of another promotion for the adventurers buffs at $12 plus postage while stock lasts. The previous week's challenge, set by Sarah and Simon, was to incorporate something representing the Anzac spirit, and ran through this week's Dazza's posts.

• Episode 420 - No Indeed. Indeed, No

  For Anzac Day (a national public holiday in Australia that Friday), listeners are asked to incorporate something representing the Anzac spirit, an Anzac biscuit, a photo with friends, wearing a medal, or a photo with an Australian, New Zealand or Indigenous flag. Simon corrects the framing to include New Zealand, and Sarah restates the acronym (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) for overseas listeners.

• Episode 417 - Baby Brain is Real

  Following the discussion of parkruns whose names contain numerals, listeners are challenged to include an actual numeral, not the spelled-out word, in their Dazza's comment this week.

• Episode 416 - Falicitating Fun

  Melissa Ellis "Now, a listener challenge. I think that's next on our agenda. Tony, you've made a suggestion." TOC asks listeners to put a wind emoji in their comment next week in support of the cyclone-affected communities in Queensland and northern New South Wales. This week's challenge, wearing a buff, runs through the Dazza's posts.

• Episode 415 - Pow Wow to PALM

  Melissa: "our listener challenge this week is to run in the buff", cryptically linked to the possible merch release teased on the Facebook page moments earlier.

• Episode 414 - Wombling Free

  Improvised on air- ("You know what we didn't do, Toc? We didn't discuss this before about a listener challenge"). Listeners are asked to post into the Facebook Dazza's thread an emoji for every different way they have travelled to a parkrun, a plane if they flew, a car if they drove, all of them if all of the above.

• Episode 413 - Transport & Tryouts

  Picking up Reginald's transport theme, the hosts set a listener challenge: in your Dazza's post next week, tell us how you got to parkrun, and try safely getting there a way you don't normally, public transport, a carpool, Shanks' pony.

• Episode 412 - Another One Bites the Dust

  Tied to the newly announced palm25 dress-up theme of Queens, the challenge is to give your Dazza's post a royal twist.

• Episode 411 - GPS fails

  Mel: "Now, Simon, a listener challenge." Listeners are asked to work a fly emoji into their [Dazza's] post this week, prompted by the steamy weather and the flies that come with it, and to be clever about it, using the word "fly" in any sense they like; the best will be read out next week.

• Episode 410 - Aussie Aussie Aussie

  This week's challenge, taken from Stephen Cox's Dazza's post: photobomb a fellow adventurer's photo-frame picture and submit it, with bonus points if they had no idea at the time.

• Episode 409 - Give us a hug

  Melissa sets next week's challenge: listeners should jump onto their podcast apps, leave a review and a five-star rating, and help spread the word about the podcast. Last week's challenge - hug a volunteer - ran through Dazza's this week and gives the episode its title.

• Episode 408 - Back to the Office

  Melissa sets the first listener challenge of the year: "with consent, we would like you to hug a volunteer and take a selfie", asking permission first. TOC, Run Director at Inverloch that week, offers himself up for hugs. He adds a second challenge of his own: how many adventurers can you get onto your event's volunteer roster, after recruiting seven or eight for Inverloch's estate takeover day.

• Episode 407 - Highlights and Hopes

  Mel and TOC debate whether to set a challenge over the five-week break and decide to, but without asking anyone to report back in Dazza's: the challenge is simply to thank a volunteer. The previous week's challenge, reported in Dazza's, had been to work the word "ugly" into your post.

• Episode 405 - B4s Return

  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.

• Episode 403 - In the Poo

  Next week's listener challenge is set: in honour of Abdul's costume, find creative ways to work the poo/turd emoji politely into a Dazza's post. This week's challenge, judged in Dazza's, had been Melbourne Cup horse names.

• Episode 402 - With Mispronunciations Now

  New challenge set after the previous body-letter challenge drew no entries: work the name of a previous Melbourne Cup winning horse into your Dazza's post. The hosts note there is a parkrun named after a Melbourne Cup winner among Simon's own local events, and that it is often mispronounced.

• Episode 401 - Adventurers Shine

  The listener challenge is to form a letter with your body, with a friend, through the parkrun selfie frame. Entries read out: Rex Gream with Clancy and Samantha Skinner forming a capital H at Horseshoe Bay Reserve; Lockie Miners at Fodder Forest with Simon Mackley, photo by Lachie's wife Nicola; Chloe and Dave Bravos forming a capital A at Aveley; Carolyn McRae with Jan Maines at Euroa; Yvette Turner with seven recruits at Mount Ainslie; Ali from a parkrun in Poland; Chris Horowitz at Montrose Foreshore, his 96th different event; Adrian Luscombe at a very wet Battersea with 1,116 finishers; Heather Patzel first-timing as a volunteer at Mount Gambier. Simon confirms the same challenge carries over to next week.

• Episode 400 - Thank you for the Music

  Mel's challenge for the coming week: lie on the ground and form the first letter of the name of the parkrun you are at with your body - and to level it up, have a friend hold the selfie frame so the letter appears inside the cutout.

• Episode 399 - Das Ist Gut

  The hosts review last week's low take-up of the birthday-emoji challenge (hard to score, because people were posting cake emojis for parkrun's 20th anyway) and set this week's: post a salute - 'I am talking more of a military salute', explicitly not a one-fingered one.

• Episode 398 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

  The listener challenge returns after being rested for Streaky September. This week listeners are asked to slip a birthday-related emoji, balloon, cake, present, into their messages on the Facebook page, in Dazza's or anywhere else, tying in with parkrun's 20th birthday.

• Episode 392 - Bolting towards Septmeber

  Following last week's "bolt" challenge, this week's is to add a bird emoji to your post, tied to "swoopy September", magpie swooping season in the southern states.

• Episode 391 - The Rookie

  In the spirit of the Olympics, adventurers are asked to strike a pose in their parkrun photo this week, 'do a bolt', the Usain Bolt archer pose, hands up and pointing off at an angle.

• Episode 389 - What's a Melidex?

  A challenge aimed partly at regular Dazza's posters who don't listen to the pod: suggested by one of the Level 2 with a View office staff, post in your Dazza's comment an emoji that represents an Olympic sport, ahead of the Paris opening ceremony. TOC and Mel float curling, swimming, basketball, soccer and equestrian.

• Episode 387 - Founders and Fashion

  This week's listener challenge, set by TOC and inspired by UK adventurer Helen Patricia's balancing photos: get a picture balancing on top of the selfie frame - or, since the frames are only corflute and not every event brings one, get a photo of yourself above the selfie frame or a pop-up, "open to interpretation". Last week's currency-pun challenge is judged along the way, with Simon and Eric Banner/Andrew both cited for cramming references in.

• Episode 386 - Fly High

  Melissa Ellis proposes a new deliberately international club for parkrun courses whose route crosses a bridge, inspired by Lyndell's Dazza's photo at the red bridge at Logan River parkrun. Her starting list is Logan River (the red bridge), Studley (Cairns Bridge), Wimmera River, Horsham (the Anzac Centenary Bridge), East End in New Zealand (Te Rewa Rewa Bridge) and the Severn Bridge in the UK; she rules that you must actually run on the bridge and that it has to be a "special" bridge, and appoints herself adjudicator. Listeners are invited to send bridges in.

• Episode 383 - Big Kahunas

  Following the previous week's ear-emoji challenge, the hosts set a new one: include the word "community" in your Dazza's Saturday Facebook post, and next week's read-outs will be chosen from those who do. They ask that it not be given away in the Friday night post.

• Episode 343 - Favourite Things

  Follow-up to Pippa's email of the previous week about the "name number challenge" (attend four four-letter parkruns, then five five-letter parkruns, and so on). Mel traces it back to the Informant's answer in episode 269 (January 2022) to "how many four-letter parkruns are there in Australia?", noting he got it wrong by including Kirra, which has five letters; the correct answer is five: Bega, Lota, Newy, Roma and Sale. A challenge had been put to Peter Pohlman at the time to name the challenge and nothing was ever settled, so with Pippa's input the hosts propose the name "the adventurer's Pyramid". Pip is already at 13-letter parkruns, so Mel jokes she is building her pyramid upside down.

• Episode 324 - Radio prA

  Continued development of the proposed "Adventurers at Large" Big Things challenge, taking listener nominations for oversized roadside attractions near parkrun events. Jonathan Morgan nominated the Big Galah; Johan nominated the big red post box near Acre Nature Reserve; Karen Gore sent a family photo at the big trout near Gore parkrun. Runs as a thread through the whole episode, picked up again in Dazza's (Caro Vos at the big sundial, Singleton; Lynne Ann on the big strawberry at Koonoomoo near Cobram) and in the email segment (Calum Burrell's three UK nominations). Lyndell closes her roving report by confirming Proston has no big thing.

• Episode 323 - Big Things

  The "big things" challenge - called the 'Adventurers at Large' challenge in the show notes - in which listeners nominate Australian and NZ big things near parkruns, with Mel measuring the distances. Roughly 21 nominations this week including the Big Prawn (Ballina, 4.7km), Big Merino (Goulburn, 5.7km), Big Cow (Highfields), Big Pineapple (Nambour), Big Apple (Stanthorpe), Big Melon (Charleys Creek), the giant easel Sunflower Painting (Emerald), Big Banana (Coffs Harbour), Big Orange (Gayndah River Walk), Big Mango (Bowen), Big Golden Guitar (Tamworth), Big Rocking Horse (Charleston), Big Strawberry (Cobram), Big Potato (Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens), Big Bench (Broken Hill), Big Sphinx (Geelong), Big Lobster (Maria Creek Reserve), Big Gold Panner (Bathurst), Big Koala (Phillip Island), Big Sundial (Singleton, reported by the Pohlmans) and Hannibal's Bucket. Mel plans to shortlist "the best of the best" and the hosts float a World Cup-style vote, while ruling out a poll ("polls are problematic, we know this").

• Episode 308 - Top 3

  Erbacher sets the listener challenge: at parkrun this weekend, spot someone across the crowd you have never spoken to and go and have a chat with them, rather than gravitating to the people you already know. Framed around the wider idea the hosts want to revive, that an adventure can happen at your home event, not only at a new one. Scott declines to add his own challenge ("don't go up to the Event Director and tell them everything that's wrong with their course") and endorses hers. Responses to parkrunadventurers@gmail.com or Facebook.

• Episode 195 - Deri Thomas

  Mel revives the listener challenge after a long absence: "I think it's been a long time between adventures, as in challenges that we've thrown out to our adventurers. Perhaps this could be an appropriate time to bring it back and we should challenge everyone to organise, even if it's just one this year, organise a takeover at an event someplace with a group of other adventurers and tell them we sent you." Prompted by Mark describing a Gungahlin/[Wagyu] Bridge takeover of Braidwood parkrun's volunteer roster so the Braidwood core team can run their own event.

• Episode 179 - Eliud Kiprobbo

  Prompted by the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Mel sets herself and the listeners a challenge: pick Kipchoge's or Kosgei's average kilometre pace (2 minutes 50 seconds, or 3 minutes 18 seconds) and see how much of anything you can do in that window. Having ruled out running and cycling, she settles on hot-glue-gunning pom-poms to felt, and invites adventurers to share their own attempts, "It doesn't matter if it's bizarre, crazy. In fact, the more insane, the better", to the Facebook page, with Gary suggesting it could run as a streak-to-New-Year's-Day challenge.

• Episode 166 - Social Prescribing

  Prompted by their neglected Instagram account, Scott sets a listener challenge to "flood Instagram with parkrun adventurers love" and tag the show, noting Instagram has just hidden public like counts. This becomes a Mel-versus-Scott side bet: each will post one photo on Saturday and see who gets more likes.

• Episode 124 - parkrun and not single

  August "Freedom Run month", the hosts' challenge to do one freedom run a week during August, referred back to from a previous episode. Listeners are asked to record audio while out on their freedom runs; Melissa Ellis's dispatch from Toolern Creek is the first submission played. Mel admits she recorded her own freedom run audio for the With Me Now podcast instead.

• Episode 123 - Penny Redhead

  The August Freedom Run Challenge kicks off, one freedom run a week for the month of August, pitched as a lead-in to Streaky September. Scott has already done one at Diamond Creek; Mel, who had refused, relents and plans one in Melbourne. Listeners are asked to share on Strava/Instagram (#parkrunadventurers) and to email audio reviews of their freedom runs to parkrunadventurers@gmail.com.

• Episode 121 - Mark Musk

  Scott sets an August challenge for the adventurers off the back of his own non-training phase: one freedom run a week for the month of August, all 5K or under. Mel makes him make it attainable ("One freedom run a week. That's what we'll do for the month of August"), and notes it dovetails with Streaky September coming up.

• Episode 121 - Mark Musk

  A second challenge, aimed at Western Australian listeners: work out the identity of the anonymous Facebook parkrunner "Lego Admiral Ackbar". Mel's own theories have been denied by the people she contacted; listeners with a theory are asked to get in touch or record audio, with the goal of getting the Admiral on the show.

• Episode 80

  "Streaky September Bingo", five challenges set for listeners to check off during the month: (1) streak in your PJs, (2) streak a parkrun, (3) streak a freedom run, (4) post a streaky selfie (Facebook group, or #streakySeptember on Instagram/Twitter), (5) streak with a friend. The hosts debate whether doing four at once counts as cheating; Scott rules it does not but urges people to "spread out the fun". A pyjama-run idea floated is parked earlier in the episode and then revived here.

• Episode 48

  Grows out of Mel's story of winning a local Christmas-lights competition in the environmental category (a papier-mache roof scene, early LEDs, solar lights; prize was six miniature fruit trees, a worm farm and a lighting voucher) and Scott's admission that he wrapped cheap Kmart lights around a pole to make "the parkrun tree". At Scott sets the week's adventure: "send us your photo. Christmas lights, parkrun style." Mel frames it as a parkrun tree LED light competition.

• Episode 29 - Jessica Trengove

  The results of the "reverse freedom run" challenge set a couple of episodes earlier, listeners running their parkrun course backwards and recording it. Four submissions played: Ross Pentland at Jells parkrun (inner east Melbourne), where fog and the reversed route get him lost; "parkrun adventurer Melissa" (Melissa Ellis) with Paul at Portland parkrun, Victoria, running the out-and-back in reverse after racing it forwards; William Barlow at his Canberra parkrun (spoken as "Jindera/Junandera/Jinundera"), commentating the field and running his daughter April to the finish; and Tegan and Jules at Jells parkrun, who set the challenge in the first place. Scott: "We started at Jells. We finished at Jells. Three out of four from Victoria." Mel complains loudly that no Queenslanders took part.

• Episode 27 - Dani McLaren

  The reverse freedom run challenge, trialled by the hosts before being thrown open to listeners. Mel's audio: a pre-dawn, head-torch reverse run of the Nambour course with seven Sunshine Coast locals recruited on Facebook the night before, plus late-comers from Noosa. Scott's first attempt at Coburg failed because Coburg is an out-and-back (his running partner Tim tells a Kirra reverse story instead, in torrential rain); his second, at Westerfolds on the Sunday, worked, with ten runners hitting the big hill early. Listeners are asked to record their own reverse freedom run on their phone and email it to parkrunadventurers@gmail.com for next week's show, ideally on a course that isn't an out-and-back.

• Episode 24 - Rochelle Vaisanen

  Follow-up on challenges the hosts set listeners. Brad Beer (Main Beach), challenged back in episode 8 to run a parkrun slower than 25 minutes, reported back that he did it while pacing someone to a goal. Brendan at Shellharbour accepted last week's challenge to deliver his run briefing talking like a pirate, though no audio was captured. The hosts then set themselves a challenge: to record an entire podcast in pirate accents for International Talk Like a Pirate Day in September.

• Episode 18 - Rodney Turner

  The Red Shirt Challenge, set the previous week, runs through the whole episode. Mel reports doing it at Launceston with Christine, photographing herself with every person wearing red ("I took photos literally of myself with every single person who was wearing red"), Scott saw red shirts at the Parkville launch, listeners' red-shirt photos fill the social segment, and Scott extends it: "Another opportunity to get dressed in red, so we can continue our red challenge, Mel, for another week."

• Episode 17 - South Australia

  The Red Shirt Challenge: Melissa asks listeners to wear a red shirt to parkrun this coming Saturday as a 'secret parkrun adventure code', approach a stranger also in red, get a photo together and post it with #parkrunadventurers on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Framed as being in the spirit of Kasia's 50th-parkrun milestone.

• Episode 11 - Freedom

  The "top secret mission" the hosts set on Facebook during the week: run a parkrun course you have never run before and record your impressions. Eight adventurers reported back with self-recorded clips, played in a block, Ollie at Main Beach (QLD), Bree at Studley (VIC), Nicole at Launceston (TAS), Melissa at Jells Park (VIC), Chris at Port Macquarie (NSW), Caro at Maylands Peninsula (WA), Karen at Frog Hollow (VIC) and Kelly at Salisbury, East London, Scott recapping all eight. Mel promises more "super secret, top secret" missions announced via the Facebook page.

• Episode 10 - Brad Beer

  Scott sets the guest a challenge inside the interview: "okay so I want to set you a parkrun adventure brad please I want you to run a 25 minute parkrun", the point being for a sub-20 runner to drop into cruise mode and meet the mid-pack. Brad accepts "I'll accept the challenge, Scott and Mel", and Mel closes the interview with "We look forward to hearing about your 25-minute parkrun."

• Episode 6 - Northern Territory

  Melissa Erbacher hands over "I think you're putting the challenge out there now, Scotty", and Scott sets the week's listener challenge: "create your own running club based on your favourite movie". Grows out of the episode-long movie theme and the hosts' own film-named clubs, Mel's Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can't Run Good and Scott's Westerfoldians.

• Episode 2 - Norm Phillips

  The listener challenge set in episode 1, get your photo taken with the Event Director / Run Director, is reported back on. Scott completed it at Wangaratta ("I got my photo with the ED and RD on the day"), Mel declares it "a podcast challenge accepted and completed" and asks listeners to hashtag #parkrunadventurers when posting theirs. Picked up again where Liv, the Event Director of the day at the Sirromet launch, "took a selfie with herself".

• Episode 1

  First outing of the listener challenge, framed as "what we're going to try and introduce as a regular feature to our show. We're going to set you on a little parkrun adventure." The inaugural challenge: introduce yourself to and thank your Run Director or Event Director on Saturday morning, high-five the volunteers, and post a photo tagged #parkrunadventurers.