parkrun news bulletin

Appears in 27 episodes, first in episode 36.

Every appearance

• Episode 455 - Tantrums, Tears and Tribulations

  News items: Festival Green parkrun on Grand Cayman will be parkrun's first location in the Caribbean, launching late August with support from the Cayman Islands Ministry of Health's Step into Wellness campaign and an unusual 6:30am summer start; plus congratulations to Em Nico on 10 years as Event Director of Kirra parkrun.

• Episode 454 - Old and New

  Extended news block: merch orders closed and in production; Bushy parkrun's eighth Octogenarian/Nonagenarian gathering (Alan Anderson, 820 parkruns and a four-digit barcode; top age-graded run Joyce Archibald 98.55%); a look back at the inaugural 2017 Bushy octogenarians meetup and the Yee family connection; Wynnum parkrun's sixth Octogenarian Plus celebration on 22 August 2026; the relaunch of Werribee Park Mansion parkrun after 1,379 days out following flood damage to its bridge; junior milestone wristband and t-shirt changes; birthdays for Melissa Ellis and Danny Norman; Australia's 25 millionth finish token; then NZ and Australian attendance/volunteer stats for 4 and 11 July.

• Episode 453 - Half Way There

  News block running from Simon's public-service announcement at [00:18:48] (check that your 'in case of emergency' contact in your parkrun profile is up to date) through the rare-weather item at [00:19:33] (36 of 53 Japan events cancelled by two typhoons, 17 went ahead) and into the fortnight's attendance and milestone stats from [00:20:52] — New Zealand (Hagley biggest both weeks; East Otago High School and Hanmer Forest smallest) and Australia (largest: Macquarie University 629, Albert Melbourne 791; smallest: Jake's Point WA with one participant), including why Curl Curl was huge (Channel 7 Sunrise there for 10 years of Medibank sponsorship).

• episode 452 - The Away Game

  "In other news, we've got a lot of news this week" — Sandgate parkrun Speed Week stats (858 finishes, 38.5% under 20 minutes, six new age category records); vale Richard Scolyer AO, 2024 Australian of the Year, 288 parkruns, remembered at Greenway; parkrun's one millionth event delivered globally and the USA's one millionth finisher on the same weekend, with country-by-country time-to-a-million figures; Taman Pudu Ulu in Malaysia confirmed for a return after its 2023 suspension; Singapore Day set for Sunday 9 August with both East Coast and West Coast hosting.

• Episode 451 - Let those pies fly high

  News block opened at [00:12:43] "Moving forward into some news in the parkrun world". Darren Woods (athlete number 490) becomes the first participant to complete 1,000 parkruns, at Morden parkrun in 33:52 — 416 volunteer credits, 17:58 PB at Bushy, 21 Christmas Day events, sixth person overall in the yellow shirt. Also: new milestones every 100 arriving from September (20/50/250 shirts retained) plus a new junior milestone collection; the "office lady" gauging interest in a white parkrun Adventurers tech cap and/or visor with more merch news to come; and parkrun app changes to the challenges icons with challenge-related merch rumoured. Followed at [00:15:32] by the announcement that co-host and editor Melissa Ellis is stepping down.

• Episode 450 - Celebrations and pronunciations

  National Volunteer Week (18-25 May) and sponsor Brooks giving away five pairs of Ghost 18s drawn automatically from parkrun volunteer results; then Mudjimba Beach parkrun on the Sunshine Coast hosting a "Slow Week" on 16 May, with its tongue-in-cheek recommended equipment list read out in full; then a note from "the office lady" gauging interest in branded running/trucker caps and teasing more merch news.

• Episode 450 - Celebrations and pronunciations

  Two weeks of participation stats. New Zealand 9 May: 71 events, 10,723 parkrunners, a record 1,188 volunteers; 16 May: 70 events, 11,182 parkrunners and a new record 1,229 volunteers. Australia 9 May: 73,634 participants, 6,820 volunteers, 532 events, 3,218 first-timers, five junior events; 16 May: 77,309 participants at 535 events. Includes largest/smallest events and the running joke about pronouncing Moura.

• Episode 449 - Is it your first time?

  Two news items: Launceston parkrun (Tasmania) has renamed itself Inveresk Precinct parkrun, prompting a discussion about generic vs locality-based parkrun names (Railway Park Proston, Jubilee Tenterfield as a good model, and a joke about Zillmere becoming O'Callaghan); and the death of Colin Thorne of New Zealand, who did 265 parkruns at 21 locations, started in 2017 in his 90s, and is the reason parkrun added a 101-105 year age category. Lyndell shares a personal connection via a former work colleague who was Colin's nephew.

• Episode 448 - Surrounded by clowns

  Tony opens the news with Anzac Day parkrun cancellations and the parkrun Australia / Invictus "Team Veteran" partnership, urging listeners to check cancellation pages; Lyndell adds Brisbane events (Bunyaville, Sandgate) marking the day and pointing runners to dawn services. Second item: parkrun Ireland's new national campaign "Care for the Places We parkrun".

• Episode 447 - You raise me up

  Sarah opens the news block at [00:19:39] with a round-up of April Fool's Day posts from events worldwide - Sandgate's dogs-only "bark run", Reddall Reserve's invented volunteer roles, Queen's Glasgow's "parkrun self-scan", Bushy the Tree as a new global mascot, Haigh Woodland's "park buff", Hagley's enrolment catchment zones, Castlewellan's participation charges and the With Me Now parkrun credit card. Rolls on into global/national numbers: a record 438,419 finishes worldwide, one million parkrunners now qualified for a 25 milestone shirt or above, 49 new Australian attendance records over Easter, plus the fortnightly New Zealand and Australian stats rundowns.

• Episode 446 - Show us your weed

  News block: the six Austrian events collectively declining to hold their national special day on 1 May (Tony reads an anonymised Austrian ED's social-media explanation about course capacity and permit limits); Lithuania's special day on 11 March with 12 adventurers across three events; parkrun New Zealand attendance figures for 21 March (66 events, 12,656 parkrunners, 1,131 volunteers, Cambridge attendance record 181 up to 210); Australian smallest/largest events and three new Australian attendance records (Bluegum Hills NSW, Maylands Peninsula WA, Mildura Weir VIC).

• Episode 444 - Addicted to Love

  News block opened at [00:13:08] "shall we jump into some news in the parkrun world": parkrun Australia's one-year partnership with Mexican chain Zambrero (buy-one-get-one-free on Saturdays); the 12 millionth registration, who ran at Sunnyvale Baylands in California on Valentine's Day, plus follow-ups on the 11th, 10th and 9th millionth registrants; a congratulations to adventurer Leanne Evans for finishing the 163km Tarawera Ultra-Trail in 33:11 with a 40% dropout rate; then the New Zealand and Australian weekly attendance stats for 14 and 21 February and the junior events for 22 February.

• Episode 443 - Gelato in Milano

  The fortnightly stats read. TOC does the "across the ditch correspondence" New Zealand numbers for 31 Jan (67 parkruns, 15,014 parkrunners, 1,157 volunteers — 11 events smashed attendance records and the New Zealand all-time national attendance record was broken by ~1,300-1,400, roughly a 10% jump) and 7 Feb (67 parkruns, 14,718 parkrunners, 1,147 volunteers); largest both weeks Hagley, smallest Mangawara River Walkway then Hamilton Park. Lyndell does Australia: 7 Feb had 97,488 participants, 6,781 volunteers, 521 events, 5,037 first-timers, 19 attendance records; Melbourne biggest both weeks; smallest included Bourke Racecourse (4), Railway Park (7), Nathalia Showgrounds (8), then Coober Pedy Oval, Moora (6) and Pyramid Hill Golf Trail (7). Junior events: 5 held, 698 Little Legends, 111 volunteers, 71 new registrations, 75 first-time-ever finishers. Lyndell catches a typo in the 31 Jan Australian figure (9,309 should be ~95,000) and TOC owns it.

• Episode 442 - A Lil Bit of Hope

  Australia Day news round-up: parkrun community awards, Cottesloe parkrun winning the Cottesloe Active Citizenship Award (Sarah's home event, where she is an RD), and Colin Thorne of Whangarei NZ becoming the world's oldest parkrunner to reach 250 parkruns at age 102.

• Episode 95

  Revived for the year-ender after being dropped: Scott at [00:01:31] "You know one thing I've missed, Mel? I've missed the news. Remember when we used to do the news?" ... [00:01:45] "It's time for the news." A joke news read of 2017 by the numbers — 45 episodes, 2,471 minutes of audio, 113 guests, 57 roving reports, four millionth global registration.

• Episode 57

  Explicitly stood down this week. Scott at [00:04:25] "our other bit of news is the news is gone", Mel at [00:04:31] "we just really don't have a very good attention span on this podcast... we get a little bit itchy-feeted, bored, doing the same thing all the time." Scott adds at [00:05:02] "So there's no news. It might come back, but just not this week."

• Episode 54

  Melissa cues "Are you ready for some news?" and the pair read two scripted news items: South Australia's parkrun tally since December 2012 (1,014 events, 7,131 volunteers, 99,169 finishes, with 100,000 expected to fall next parkrun day), and the end of UK legend Ron Hill's 19,032-day running streak. Followed by an unscripted discussion of running streaks, including Melissa's own 115-day cello-playing streak.

• Episode 53

  Mel: "The news is absolutely chockers this week. Let's go straight to it." Two items read over a music bed: 33,520 new parkrunners last weekend and 33,538 PBs across 1,024 events; plus a tongue-in-cheek item about unconfirmed unicorn sightings at an Australian parkrun whose location is withheld "for the protection of the magical beast". Ends with a music sting at [00:01:24] and Scott's "That wasn't as chockers as I thought it was going to be, Mel."

• Episode 52

  Scott hands over at [00:04:44] "how about we go to some parkrun news?" Mel reads global attendance (178,649 parkrunners, 14,098 volunteers, UK cancellations from ice), then the pair run through non-parkrun Australian events of the weekend: the Cadbury Marathon (Tasmania), the Two Bays Trail Run (Dromana to Cape Schanck, Victoria), the Undies Run for Bowel Cancer (Adelaide) and Sandman 2 (Margaret River, WA). Rolls straight into Scott's own account of running Two Bays.

• Episode 51

  Scott and Mel read the global weekly numbers over music: 15,830 volunteers at 1,013 locations, 183,866 participants including 30,139 first-timers, 36,850 registrations in seven days, and parkrun Australia's 400,000th registered parkrunner. Also 22 events cancelled worldwide for weather (flooding in Australia and South Africa; ice and extreme cold in the UK, Poland, France, Canada and Russia, with Moscow at -31), and the birth of a child to Gareth Saunders and his wife Mel.

• Episode 50

  Short stylised news read, alternating between the two hosts, entirely about the podcast's own 50-episode milestone: 2,490 minutes of audio released, 113 guests, 34 roving adventures reported, hundreds of social adventures shared, six new costumes for Mel and four official-event stacks for Scott.

• Episode 49

  Read-around news items alternating between the two co-hosts: Tommy Patton Jr parkrun processed the 1,000th parkrun event of the weekend (first time parkrun HQ topped 999 events in one weekend); approaching 3 million registered runners; 2016 Coast to Kosciuszko results (Bunyaville's Kevin Muller first in 27:55:05, former podcast guest Trevor Allen 11th, Victorian George Mihalikoulis 12th, Wangaratta's Sharon Schultz fifth lady); and the Buck family from Goondiwindi parkrun arriving at Richmond Olympic parkrun in Canada by stretch limo. Not named on air this week — introduced only as "let's see if anyone else has got some highlights in the news".

• Episode 48

  Scott announces "It's time for the news" and the two hosts alternate a global bulletin: Christmas/New Year's Day festive-run compendium counts across Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, USA and Russia; parkrun de Fontainebleau welcoming refugees from Calais and Paris; the parkrun Australia AGM of 3 December (Gareth Candy stands down as President, Scott Watkins named Chair, Craig Curtis and Renee Gimbert continuing as Treasurer and Secretary, Stephen Jackson remaining a Representative, with Silpa Palmer, Dale Murray and Matt Fullerton joining); and Bunyaville parkrun's record 270 attendance and 2,200+ photos on their third anniversary.

• Episode 47

  Scott calls "It's time for the news" and the two hosts alternate news items: 17,073 first-timers worldwide on parkrun Day with a country-by-country breakdown, a Tribe Sports Black Friday free-shipping promotion, Achilles Melbourne member and Jells parkrunner Adam Koops running a 3:38 marathon PB with sighted guide Amelia at Run for the Young, the Afterglow Twilight Night Trail Run on Victoria's surf coast, and a joke item about parkrunners being visible from the International Space Station.

• Episode 46

  Scott and Mel alternate reading news items: minus 31C parkrunning in Russia (Shebelinsk) against a "tropical" 2.5C in Moscow; the inaugural IAU 24-hour Asia and Oceania Championship in Kaohsiung with John Pearson (Noosa), Nikki Wind (Berwick Springs) and Sharon Schultz (Wangaratta) taking podium honours; City to Sea in Melbourne; and parkrun events worldwide taking on the Mannequin Challenge.

• Episode 42 - Tim Oberg

  Scripted mock-newsreader bulletin, hosts alternating items: weekend volunteer (13,985) and new-registration (17,773) numbers; a Derek Zoolander running club clean sweep of the points prize at a Queensland parkrun, with Pat O'Connor giving his first-place medal to 72-year-old Graham Rose; the Perth 2016 World Masters Athletics Championships; a parkrun Global statement (read at [00:05:31], attributed to Russ Jeffries, Head of Marketing) on a delay to the next batch of milestone t-shirts, now due 1 December; and Jackie and TOC (Tony O'Connell) becoming the 12th and 13th members of the Peel Club at Darwin parkrun, TOC dressed as the red Teletubby.

• Episode 39 - Simon Kilma

  Scripted news items read alternately by both hosts, cued at [00:00:12] "maybe we should just go straight to the news": International parkrun Day worldwide stats (12 years, 120,005 events, 214,866 volunteers), Noah Carter's 15k age-group world record, Michael Kallenberg's superhero-costume half marathon world record at Cardiff, Coast to Kosciuszko 240km invitations, and kilted parkrunners at Port Macquarie.

• Episode 36 - Lucy Bartholomew

  Scott opens with "we're going to hit you with some news straight off the bat"; Mel reads the weekly numbers (18,862 parkrunners at 173 locations, 2,448 new runners, 1,664 volunteers), then a news-desk-style run of items: Katie Kelly and Kurt Fearnley medalling at the "large quadrennial international sporting event" (a running euphemism for the Olympics/Paralympics), Lucy Bartholomew's Gobi Desert 70k win, Brendan Davies at the Great Whitsunday Trail, the St Peter's parkrun course revision (with Paul Wilcock's statement read in), and a weather item on 11 flood cancellations.