parkrun news bulletin

Appears in 102 episodes, first in episode 36.

Every appearance

• Episode 460 - Across The Ditch

  Streaky September reflections: TOC completed the month (about 2,950 streak days) and loved the Bingoe card from the Office Lady and Pippa the Streakmeister; Alison logged every day and is on a 36-day streak. Berlin Marathon weekend: only Tempelhofer Feld parkrun went ahead, with 886 finishers and 80 volunteers. Ocean View parkrun (Queensland, private land) closed after 379 events; Nathan Road relaunched under a new name. Christmas planning: events have until 11 December to declare, so don't pressure them; Puarenga will roster Christmas and Boxing Day, Inverloch skips New Year's Day. Nicola Forward (With Me Now) hits the new official 800 milestone at Druridge Bay. Alison explains parkrun New Zealand's growth and funding: 10 launches this year, 77 events heading for 100, new territory manager Jane (Wanaka), APAC absorbing start-up costs since 2019, and from 1 August new events having to raise the $10,000 start-up fee themselves. The Tauawhitia Trust, set up earlier by three parkrunners and holding New Zealand charitable status, gives them a way to do that without the event handling money.

• Episode 459 - What is your Colour?

  Malaysia's special parkrun day on 16 September was cancelled over an air pollutant index reading well above 100, and Presint 18, Putrajaya and Taman Pudu Ulu also cancelled on 19 September while Taman Tasik Kota Puteri went ahead with 66 finishers. parkrun has released new milestone shirt colours at every hundred up to 1,000, which the hosts pick over at length. Jakes Point parkrun in Western Australia has announced that 10 October will be its last event for want of volunteers, taking Australia's Js from ten to nine, and Sarah makes a broader appeal for visitors to small events to volunteer.

• Episode 458 - The Unicorn

  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).

• Episode 455 - Tantrums, Tears and Tribulations

  Sarah announces Festival Green parkrun joining the parkrun family in late August, parkrun's first location in the Caribbean, on Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, launching with support from the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability's Step into Wellness campaign, and possibly the only event in the world with a 6.30am start (March-October) moving to 7am November-February. Simon then congratulates "friend of the pod" Em (M. Nico) on 10 years as Event Director of Kirra parkrun on the southern Gold Coast.

• Episode 454 - Old and New

  Merch orders closed and in production (via the Office Lady); Bushy parkrun's eighth Octogenarians and Nonagenarians gathering on 4 July with ~180 runners in that age group including eight men and three women in their 90s (Alan Anderson, 820 parkruns and a four-digit barcode; best age grade Joyce Archibald 98.55%); Lyndell traces original 2017 attendees including Albert Yee, grandfather of Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee, whose family still funds the over-80 medals; Wynnum parkrun's sixth Octogenarian Plus celebration announced for 22 August 2026; junior milestone wristbands and junior-only t-shirts changing to new colourways at 10/25/50/75/100/150/200; birthdays for Melissa Ellis and Danny Norman; the 25 millionth finish token handed out in Australia; NZ and Australian attendance and milestone stats for 4 and 11 July.

• Episode 453 - Half Way There

  News block: Simon's public service announcement urging listeners to check that the in-case-of-emergency contact on their parkrun profile is current; then Sarah on a rare weather event in Japan, where 36 of 53 events cancelled across a fortnight because of two typhoons, with 17 going ahead. Rolls straight into the fortnightly New Zealand and Australia attendance/milestone stats (NZ: Hagley biggest both weeks; Australia: Macquarie University then Albert Melbourne largest, plus Curl Curl's Channel 7 Sunrise visit marking 10 years of Medibank as principal parkrun sponsor).

• Episode 452 - The Away Game

  A long news block plus the weekly attendance rundown. Sandgate parkrun's Speed Week (6 June): 858 finishes, 38.5% under 20 minutes, nine under 15, 330 finished by the 20-minute mark, six new age-category records including a junior 10 male in 16:52 and a 30-34 men's record of 14:19. Vale Richard Scolyer AO, cancer researcher and 2024 Australian of the Year, 288 parkruns, remembered at his home event GreenWay on 13 June. parkrun globally delivered its one-millionth event, and the USA hit one million finishers the same weekend (USA 732 weeks to a million finishers; South Africa 196, Australia 209, Ireland 287, UK 381). Taman Pudu Ulu in Malaysia is set to return after its permit was reissued, taking Malaysia back to two events. Singapore Day on Sunday 9 August will be hosted by two events, East Coast Park and West Coast Park. Followed by NZ and Australian attendance stats for 6 and 13 June (NZ 73 events both weeks, largest Hagley twice; Australia 87,618 then 69,943 participants; largest Sandgate 860 then the Ponds 671).

• Episode 451 - Let those pies fly high

  Sarah and Simon run the parkrun news: Darren Woods (athlete number 490) becomes the first participant to complete 1,000 parkruns, at Morden parkrun in 33:52 - 416 volunteer credits, a 17:58 PB at Bushy Park, 21 Christmas Day events, ten Groundhog Days, and both singleton and double ton; Simon reckons that makes him the sixth person overall to hold the yellow shirt. New milestones arriving from September (25, 50 and 250 shirts retained, joined by milestones every 100 up to 1,000, plus a new junior collection); parkrun app challenge icon changes with merch rumoured to follow; and a note from the Office Lady gauging interest in a white parkrun adventurers tech cap and/or visor. Also in this stretch: the announcement that Melissa Ellis is stepping down as co-host and editor after 216 episodes.

• Episode 450 - Celebrations and pronunciations

  National Volunteer Week (18-25 May): sponsor Brooks is drawing five pairs of Ghost 18s from parkrun Australia volunteer results, no entry needed. Then Mudjimba Beach parkrun on the Sunshine Coast hosting a "Slow Week" on Saturday 16 May, celebrating back-of-the-pack excellence, tactical walk breaks and footwear chosen for cafe compatibility. Closes with a note from "the Office Lady" asking whether listeners want running/tick caps with the show logo, with a Facebook poll to come.

• Episode 449 - Is it your first time?

  Two news items. First, Launceston parkrun (Tasmania) has renamed itself Inveresk Precinct parkrun - the event team said the decision "wasn't taken lightly" - which sets off Lyndell on parkrun naming conventions: small regional towns with generic park names (Railway Park at Proston) should follow the Jubilee Tenterfield model of naming both park and locality, and she jokes about the alphabeteering chaos if Zillmere were ever renamed O'Callaghan Park. Second, the death of Colin Thorne of New Zealand, who completed 265 parkruns at 21 locations, started parkrun in 2017 in his 90s, and is the reason parkrun now has a 101-105 year age category; Lyndell relays condolences via a former work colleague who was Colin's nephew.

• Episode 448 - Surrounded by clowns

  Anzac Day: many events cancelled for proximity to cemeteries and dawn services, others going ahead under parkrun Australia's Team Veteran partnership with Invictus, check the cancellations page. parkrun Ireland teases a national campaign, Care for the Places We parkrun. Rolls into the stats round-up: New Zealand figures for 11 and 18 April supplied by Alison (attendance records at East End, Invercargill and Lower Hutt; Hagley over 1,000), Australian figures for 18 April (89,460 participants, 6,794 volunteers, 530 events), and a Polish country attendance record.

• Episode 447 - You raise me up

  April Fools' Day roundup, the hosts share the pranks events posted on 1 April: Sandgate's dogs-only "barkrun"; Reddall Reserve's invented volunteer roles (cake maker, vest washer, usher, chalk writer, production manager); Queen's, Glasgow piloting "parkrun self-scan" with "no more queues at Kew"; Global HQ's new mascot "Bushy the Tree"; Hagley's school-style enrolment catchment zones; "Park Buff" at Haigh Woodland; participation charges at Castlewellan (£5 runners, £10 walkers, paid volunteers); a board decision to rename to "Park Fun"; and a parkrun credit card.

• 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 "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 441 - All Aboard 2026

  News round-up: three new non-executive directors appointed to the parkrun Australia board on 6 January (Darren Goucher of Centennial, Rowan Greenland of Burley Griffin, Stevie Ring of "Cameo" parkrun); parkrun Global appoints Ellie MacArthur as global head of event delivery and volunteering; 31 Australian events broke attendance records on 3 January with Albert Melbourne setting a national record of 1,570; extreme-weather cancellations (43 in Australia, 392 in the UK, 26 of 27 Netherlands events); and a farewell to retiring parkrun Australia staffer Mandy Oliver.

• Episode 439 - Legendary Intern

  The fortnight's parkrun news: Mel and Dave spotted in their adventurers tops doing zoomies on the Channel 9 News at the Melbourne road-tunnel open day (about 50,000 walkers and runners); Storm Claudia forces 116 UK cancellations one week and 70 the next; and Lithuania, new to parkrun, declares Independence Restoration Day (11 March) its special day, with a second event launched and a third due.

• Episode 438 - Lota Love to Give

  News block opened by Sarah "So we have some news on the Junior parkrun front in the state of Victoria": the Victorian junior event at Eynesbury Heritage Trail holds its last event at the original location on 26 October after 206 events, 630+ PBs and 3,317 finishes, and relaunches on 16 November as Aintree Reserve Junior parkrun. Then ANZAC Day 2026 falling on a Saturday and how events may be affected; congratulations to Eman Vergara on his fifth world major (New York, 2:49:22, plus a 17:55 parkrun the day before); a reminder to book flights and accommodation for "Palm" in early March (South Australian public holiday Monday); and a reminder that events have until 15 December to declare Christmas Day and New Year's Day plans.

• Episode 431 - Start Spreading the News

  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.

• Episode 428 - Evolution

  Melissa brings the news that Professor Richard Scolyer AO, joint Australian of the Year for melanoma research, living with glioblastoma, completed his 250th parkrun on 14 June at GreenWay parkrun, Haberfield, in 40:38. A record 589 participants and 26 volunteers turned out, beating the previous 556. She reads his Facebook post in full. TOC then covers Sandgate Speed Week (14 June): 894 finishes, a new record, 183 PBs, 16 runners under 15 minutes, 328 under 20 and 657 under 30, with six adventurers present including Eman, David Moss, Michael Blain, John Pointon, Erica Liotta and Hayley Bower. Also an advertised vacancy for a non-executive director on the parkrun Australia board.

• Episode 427 - Onions Have Layers

  The weekly numbers rundown. New Zealand on 7 June: a cold snap with snow at Hanmer Forest, finishes down 2,463 to 7,235 and volunteers down to 898; Hagley the largest, the smallest on the North Island with 10. Australia: 504 events, ~61,700 finishers, ~6,100 volunteers, ~8,800 PBs; an attendance record broken at Horseshoe Bay Reserve (South West Rocks), 170 to 178; Mobilong the smallest with four and Puckapunyal five; South Bank the largest with 702. Rolls on into course-damage news (Taree still closed after the floods, Risdon Brook, The Terrace, Whitfords Nodes) and the Whit Monday special day in the Netherlands, where train strikes disrupted travelling parkrunners.

• Episode 423 - The Hope Song

  Weekly Australia / New Zealand numbers for Saturday 10 May 2025. NZ: 59 events, 9,967 finishers, 960 volunteers, Hagley largest with 607 and Southend smallest with seven; torrential North Island rain cut the numbers. Australia: 508 events, 69,854 finishers, 6,266 volunteers, 10,988 PBs, 2,961 genuine first-timers, 4,042 registrations; Nhill smallest with three and Albert Melbourne largest with 814. Mel closes with "there wasn't much news that came across my desk this week".

• Episode 422 - Potato, Potarto

  A quiet news week: last week's announcement of parkrun's new interim CEO, Lil Duggan, and what fresh eyes might mean for the organisation; the UK-centric nature of parkrun governance and why the global board must be UK-based; goodr parkrun sunglasses arriving in the post; and rugby union's Johnny Wilkinson park walking at Bracknell as a Vitality ambassador.

• Episode 421 - There's No Place Like Home

  Weekly numbers and global news. Across the ditch: 10,497 finishes in New Zealand supported by 967 volunteers, Hamilton Park the most intimate with 23, Cornwall Park up 161, no attendance records. Australia: 73,737 finishes, 6,069 volunteers, 9,846 PBs and 1,667,270 registrations, with new attendance records at Wallaby Track (+17) and Prince of Wales (+83), both in Ballarat. Then global news, parkrun Global names Elizabeth "Lil" Duggan interim CEO from 30 April 2025 following Russ Jeffries stepping down (the news post is read out in full), the UK relaunch of the parkwalker initiative (Hazlehead parkrun fielding 97 parkwalkers out of 114 volunteers), and the limited-edition goodr x parkrun sunglasses in parkrun apricot.

• Episode 411 - GPS fails

  Simon brings a Financial Times (UK) article, "parkrun comes of age: six of its best international 5Ks", picking London Bushy, Frankfurt's Nidda, Milano Nord, Central Burnaby in Vancouver, Brimbank in Melbourne and Hikarigaoka in Tokyo; Mel is baffled by the Brimbank choice and argues for beach or Albert Melbourne instead. Followed by the Australian attendance-record news: 29 events broke their previous largest attendance, some records only a week old and one standing over 400 events. Mel closes it "Thank you for bringing us that little snippet of international news."

• Episode 407 - Highlights and Hopes

  Announced by Mel as "News and discussion". parkrun Australia's new two-year partnership with Snap Fitness, commencing 1 January 2025: parkrunners get a free 14-day membership, Snap members supported to attend their local event. Simon reads Snap's own numbers (1,000+ locations, 20 countries, five continents, ~half a million members) and Mel notes the parallel with parkrun's own footprint. Simon then checks how far each host lives from a Snap gym.

• Episode 405 - B4s Return

  Week's global parkrun news: Paul Sinton-Hewitt's memoir "One Small Step" going on pre-sale via the parkrun shop with signed copies and an apricot page edge; parkrun Australia's controversial "500th active event" shirt (TOC argues 514 events have launched and closed events are being written out of history); the UK apricot sale with no apricot in it; Storm Bert causing 391 UK cancellations, 51 in Ireland, 19 in Australia and 504 globally; and a launch tally of 34 new global 5k events since early September.

• Episode 403 - In the Poo

  Announced on air as 'news and discussion': Budgie the travelling mascot's updated itinerary via Heather Hunter, Nick Griggs' 13:44 all-time male parkrun record at Belfast Victoria and the hosts' complaint that parkrun HQ had not acknowledged it (with a later inserted edit noting HQ did post about it on the Monday), a defibrillator passed on by Newborough parkrun to the local tennis club being used successfully, and the all-capitals 'collegiate wear' merchandise range.

• Episode 400 - Thank you for the Music

  News block opened with a newsflash sting: progress towards resuming Pioneer Dairy parkrun (NSW Central Coast) now the access road is finished and the board has approved a restart, aiming for a late January / early February return; a listener question answered by the show's South African correspondents on why Namibia and Eswatini have no Freedom Day equivalent; the permanent closure of Epworth Equestrian parkrun in the UK after the landowner withdrew permission, going out on a record 454 finishers; and Malling parkrun's rename to Leybourne Lakes.

• Episode 398 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

  News and discussion block: parkrun UK bringing back the apricot thermal/drying robes (Ollie reads the product copy and jokes about sounding like an infomercial; Mel notes Peter and Sonja Pohlman have them and that they post to Australia and New Zealand); Lorna Jane's Active Nation Day on Saturday 28 September, with parkrun Australia's published total of 68,095 participants and Lorna Jane donating $1 each to Women's Community Shelters toward a $100,000 goal; and a late message from Jodie Vandermeer whose Redlands Plodders group completed the alphabet at Queen Elizabeth parkrun, Casino, in matching shirts.

• Episode 397 - The Grate Return

  Sarah opens with "I guess moving on to some news and discussions then, Simon": congratulations to Ryan Stoddart, the latest parkrunner to complete his Tasmanian statesman, finished at Kingston Park parkrun, with the hosts speculating on which state or territory he tackles next (Sarah backs WA, Simon the ACT); then the theft of a Run Director's car and all the parkrun gear at Bibra Lake parkrun in WA, forcing a cancellation, with his own thank-you message read out and the car, phone, wallet and gear all recovered.

• Episode 396 - Oh What a Feeling!

  TOC's weekly news round-up, a quiet week after a busy one. Ryan Stoddart is about to complete his Tasmanian clean sweep at Kingston Park, and Cameron Storey (a University of Western Australia Event Director) has reached 500 parkruns before the age of 20.

• Revisits and Backflips

  Round-up of two weeks of parkrun world news: Bushy parkrun's event 1000 (6,204 finishers, ~136 volunteers, 10 adventurers present), including contributed audio from UK participant Rob Eveson on events 999 and 1000; Tom Williams stepping down after 14 years as parkrun's head of EMEA; the announced-then-reversed 5K app changes ("the backflip"); a weekend outage on event results pages; and the registration of parkrunner number 10 million, a junior at Arrow Rest junior parkrun.

• Episode 394 - Dangling the carrot

  News and discussion block opened by Mel "Now, news and discussion from us, TOC": the new Collegiate milestone shirts reaching the Australian shop and Janet Reid modelling the purple volunteer version; Bushy Park's 999th event in London (1,787 finishers on a wet day, 82 volunteers the previous week, and a 1,000th-event roster with 25 Funnel Managers, 11 scanners and 30 marshals); and an email from parkrun Australia HQ, signed Renee Gimbert, about early-stage work to bring parkrun to Oceania (Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu), which TOC jokes he will take on as event ambassador.

• Episode 391 - The Rookie

  Olympics-flavoured news and discussion: listener Richard writes in adding triathlon gold medallist Alex Yee (England) and silver medallist Hayden Wilde (New Zealand) to the list of Olympic parkrunners; the hosts' favourite Paris events; and Singapore's extra parkrun day for National Day (independence from Malaysia in 1965), with Bishan the only event declared so far and 40mm of rain forecast. Janet Reid and Eric Banner are both heading over for it.

• Episode 376 - palm24

  TOC delivers a compressed live-show news bulletin, noting that the format is truncated because they are recording on the day rather than on a Monday. He covers the launches (see the launches entry) and notes that the usual Dazza's slot is being skipped this week because the crowd is in an actual cafe.

• Episode 374 - details, details

  News block. Congratulations to John Day of Cleveland parkrun (Queensland), who became the oldest person in parkrun history globally to complete 500 parkruns, finishing in 49:36 on his 449th at Cleveland; his first parkrun was Cleveland's inaugural on 4 May 2013 and he has 32 volunteer credits. Then two newly updated parkrun HQ FAQs, why the Most Events page was removed, and "where is the actual evidence", with both hosts disagreeing at length about the removal of tourism and performance stats.

• Episode 369 - When Paris met Harry

  The episode's 'low': a long news-and-discussion item on parkrun HQ removing records, sub-17/sub-20 and age-grade statistics pages (and later the most-events table) from country and event websites on Thursday 8 February 2024, the leak and the HQ apology, and both hosts' personal responses, Mel on how climbing the most-events list helped her through a marriage breakdown and on the pendulum swinging too far from fast runners, Olly on parkrun 'personas' and the five-year strategy. Also carries a record 5,918 Australian parkrun volunteers, and the death of marathon world-record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana in Kenya on 11 February.

• Episode 368 - Gooey buttercake flavoured goodness

  News and discussion: Squeaky Beach at Wilsons Promontory named Australia's best beach ahead of Killalea ('the Farm') near Shellharbour, with Ollie caught having edited a pro-Shellharbour line into the show notes; parkrun Australia's all-time attendance record smashed with 81,222 participants across 467 events and 4,728 first-timers, plus 31 Australian event attendance records including Lochiel's 524; Martin Dent's ten-year Main Beach course record beaten by Launceston's James Hansen; and TOC's response to Paddy's weekly-results bingo challenge.

• Episode 367 - YMMV

  Ollie signposts "switching across to our news and discussion" and the pair work through the week's parkrun news: parkrun Australia's one millionth participant and the limited-edition commemorative drink bottle; continuing mainstream media coverage (Colin Thorne, an ABC News package filmed at Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve parkrun featuring comedian Ross Noble); and Joint Australian of the Year Professor Richard Scolyer, a GreenWay parkrun regular, honoured with Professor Georgina Long for their melanoma immunotherapy work. Bill Barker's email proposing an adventurers league in the 5K app is read inside this block.

• Episode 366 - Euphony

  Attendance and milestone news. Albert Park recorded 1,090 finishers with 38 volunteers, a new Australian event record passing South Bank's 1,010 (Mel credits Joanne and Scott, and points to the Australian Open bringing tourists into Melbourne). Australia set a national attendance record of 78,274 participants with 19 events recording their own records; Ollie notes Australia had never passed 70,000 before 2024 and has now done so every week of the year. This weekend (27 January) the one millionth different Australian is due to take part, with 999,503 to date. The centrepiece is Colin Thorne of Whangarei parkrun, New Zealand, who has just turned 100, completed his 175th parkrun in 1:00:34 and moved up an age category (age grade 114.01%); Ollie reads from the parkrun New Zealand story about him and his late wife Betty, and both hosts point listeners to Colin's own run report.

• Episode 365 - Tick Tocky

  News and discussion block: a new Australian attendance record on 6 January of 78,050 people (about 72,000 participants plus 5,500-odd volunteers), 19 Australian events breaking attendance records the following weekend and around 50 so far in January; a new women's parkrun world record of 15:13 by Ciara Mageean [Kiara McGeehan] in Belfast, taking 12 seconds off Izzy Batt-Doyle's Aldinga Beach mark, which remains the Australian record at 15:25; a thank-you to roving reporter Greta, who has stepped down as a South Australian regional ambassador after many years; and news that Prodirect is being replaced by Sports Shoes as the milestone shirt supplier in the UK.

• Episode 364 - Bumping Uglies

  Ollie signposts "in no way a segue, of course, now to our news and discussion" and reads a statistical curiosity from Tracy Leiper ("Tutu Tracy") in the Stats Geek group: New Farm, Kirra and Coomera launched ten months apart in 2011-2012 but held events 563, 562 and 561 on the same day, and will all reach event 566 on the first parkrun Saturday of 2024.

• Episode 359 - Rrrrriverside

  The show's news slot, opened "I understand we do have a bit of news and discussion following on from last episode" and closed "I think that's it for our news and discussion, Mel". Three items: the response to TOC's call for adventurers to log a naughty (34 adventurers took part; the Australian figure jumped from 93 the week before to 127, which Mel believes is the largest ever Australian total); parkrun Australia joining forces with the Diabetes Alliance Program Plus in the Hunter New England local health district; and the milestone hoodies reaching the Australian shop for pre-order from 28 November.

• Episode 358 - Log a Nottie

  TOC's news round-up: a reminder that events have until 11 December to declare Christmas and New Year's Day runs on the Christmas Compendium, and a plea not to badger event teams; parkrun passing 100 million participations worldwide; barcode number 9 million about 1,200 registrations away; UK storms cancelling more than 100 5K events and over 50 junior events in one weekend; TOC's challenge to listeners to log a nottie (Australian numbers down from about 120 to 89, with 1,086 worldwide still logging weekly); and the limited-edition parkrun picnic rugs that sold out at about $150.

• Episode 356 - All power to the editor

  The week's news slot, which the hosts flag as thin: parkrun UK has released new milestone hoodies, and Melissa Ellis reports having checked the online shop and found that it will post to Australia for around 50 pounds plus postage. Ollie jokes about trading them for Australian parkrun umbrellas.

• Episode 355 - Mimosas and Jell shots

  Simon opens with "let's have a look at news and discussion". Two items: parkrun has released the Christmas Compendium, with both Christmas Day and New Year's Day falling on a Monday in 2023 and event teams under no obligation to put on an event, anything not declared by Monday 11 December shows as not taking place (parkrun.com.au/special-events/ or the 5K app under Utilities > Special Events); as of that afternoon 47 events had said yes to Christmas Day and 40 no, 50 yes to New Year's Day and 35 no. Second item: the "most events" tables have been rebased, Australia doubled from 20 to 40 different events, the UK from 20 to 50, New Zealand dropped from 20 to 10, and no country now sits at the old 20 line. Includes the hosts' Christmas Day traditions (Melissa: Frog Hollow, now Toolern Creek).

• Episode 353 - Mel’s a dot

  TOC runs through eight Australian events that broke their attendance records in one weekend, Warragul, Rooty Hill, Launceston, Jakes Point, Dorset Recreation Reserve, Dolls Point, Christies Beach and Carine Glades, noting Launceston did it at event 526, boosted by a Clifford Craig Foundation heart-health group, and reflecting on Australian growth from 42 events and 5,611 finishers ten years ago to 464 events and 60,000 finishers this weekend.

• Episode 351 - Missing Magpies

  News round-up: results of the Women and Girls of parkrun project - 52% of first-timers in the last 12 months identified as female, up from 47%, over 5,000 more female than male first-timers, with every Australian state and territory recording more female first-timers; the adventurers bumper and phone stickers organised by the Office Lady have all been posted out;parkrun numbers in Australia dropped below 100 for the first time since the pandemic (97 last week, 1,111 worldwide); and a rundown of the current Australian parkrun start-time rules - 7am in Queensland and the NT, 8am in NSW, Victoria, SA and the ACT, 9am in Tasmania, and 7am/8am either side of the 26th parallel in WA, with historical exceptions.

• Episode 347 - What Windmill?

  Melissa reads a late-breaking parkrun blog post, "Changes to the Nordic Special Day Events", noting up front that it was read after the Monday-evening recording because it dropped on Monday UK time. The Nordics move to a single joint special day on Ascension Day (Thursday 9 May 2024) after 2023's separate national days drew unmanageable crowds, 300 in Finland, 500 in Norway, close to 1,500 each in Denmark and Sweden, with 644 at Amager Strandpark on 5 June and 727 the day after, raising permit, capacity and duty-of-care issues. No other countries' special days change.

• Episode 346 - Wonder Woman

  News and announcements: a three-metre giant metal magpie sculpture newly installed at Seven Creeks Park in Euroa, Victoria, just in time for swooping season; the adventurers shirt ordering portal open until 31 August with kids' sizes now available (thanks to the Office Lady for organising the run of shirts); and belated congratulations to Singapore on its National Day, marked at East Coast Park parkrun event 357 with 222 participants and adventurers Leonie Butler, Heather Morgan and Helen Davis.

• Episode 344 - Guess Who?

  Simon opens the news block: the parkrun APAC office has been running hour-long online sessions (communications, wellbeing, event support already done), with one on Tuesday 1 August aimed at prospective EDs, councils and landowners interested in starting a new event, and a fifth on Thursday 3 August with Carol talking about volunteers; recordings stay available via the link sent to everyone who volunteered in the last year. Melissa then raises the parkrun Stats Geek group's story that PSH (Paul Sinton-Hewitt) was scanned at both Horsham parkrun in the UK and the Wes Mitchell Park launch in Queensland on the same day, consensus is a scanning error, not time travel or a prank, and Simon confirms his athlete ID is the four-digit A1674. The block closes with an holding the age grade record at Coomera with 18:47 (~94%), and a note that Coomera was started by Renee Gimbert and is the eighth event in Australia.

• Episode 340 - Homework

  News and discussion: Andy Butchart (31, Scotland) breaks the men's parkrun world best at Edinburgh in 13:45, taking three seconds off Andy Baddeley's Bushy Park mark; and Shipwreck parkrun ED Phil Gore wins the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra at Nanango with a world-record 102 laps of the 6.7km loop (684km), assisted by New Zealander Sam Harvey, after four and a half days as last man standing out of 54 runners.

• Episode 339 - West Side Story

  Sarah Jefferson runs the week's news: Sandgate parkrun's Speed Week, read from a message by Russell Johnson, a record 712 finishes, attendance up 106, 11 runners sub-15, 233 sub-20, including congratulations to Eman Vergara on an all-time PB of 16:51; Dan Baldwin regaining his WA statesmanship at Baxter; and the worldwide release of the Event Management System (EMS) replacing WebFMS, announced on the parkrun Australia site on 13 June.

• Episode 337 - Interference

  Ollie's news and discussion round-up: Shellharbour parkrunner Jess Hull breaks the Australian and Oceania women's 1500m record in 3:57.29, her ninth Australian record, number four in the world in 2023 and number five Commonwealth all-time, tipped off by friend of the pod Michael Gentle with stats courtesy of David Tarborton, plus her three Shellharbour PBs and former course record. Then Global Running Day on Wednesday 7 June, its history as US National Running Day from 2009, the Garmin badge and parkrun partner Brooks' virtual 5km Strava challenge.

• Episode 332 - Severn Swather

  News and updates block: signing up for the City to Surf adventurers team ("Adventurers Pod", the collective noun kindly created by Chris Fraser); Jindabyne Sport and Rec parkrun's announcement that its final event on the current course will be Saturday 10 June 2023, with hopes of returning to the original lakeside course after winter; South Africa's Freedom Day on 27 April, with adventurers out at Sunrise-on-Sea, Zandvlei, Bridgetown, Vaal Marina, Mountain Drive and others; Norway's special day, with Helen Davis, Alison King, Hendo Stu, Nicola Tarrant and Stephen Davis making a frond of five at Ekebergsletta parkrun in Oslo.

• Episode 320 - Summer Holidays

  Oliver Spake reads an ABC news piece about Renmark runner Holly Ranson, the first Australian woman (and fourth Australian overall) to complete 24 parkruns in 24 hours, running more than 120km across Adelaide courses from Mawson Lakes to Largs Bay to raise funds for a rehabilitation program in South Australia's Mount Lofty Ranges. Melissa Ellis adds that Renmark parkrun is on hiatus because of the Murray River flooding. Earlier in the same stretch they note Australian attendance was at its second-highest ever for the weekend.

• Episode 318 - parkrun, if you’re listening

  Breaking news broken into the middle of the mailbag: parkrun Global has announced the appointment of seven new trustees to the board following a lengthy recruitment process, with the new members getting underway across January-March and some existing trustees stepping away. Ollie also flags that parkrun has alluded to releasing an ambitious five-year strategy the following month. The hosts admit they were hoping the announcement would be about new milestone shirts.

• Episode 315 - Honey Stud

  Ollie and Mel report that the City of Canterbury and Bankstown has declined to waive its park-use fees, so Cooks River and Panania parkruns may pause; the existing agreement lapsed the previous week. They wish parkrun HQ luck resolving it and note parkrun's global commitment to free access.

• Episode 305 - You’ve Got Mail!

  Recap of the week in the parkrun world: parkrun's 18th birthday (30 September) and the parkrun blog's 2022 highlights read out by both hosts, average finish time now over 30 minutes, the new equal walking/running/volunteering milestone clubs, Russ Jeffries taking over as CEO, IWD parkrun, 2,200 locations and 7 million registered parkrunners; the launch of the #parkwalk campaign for October; and a new course record at Nambour parkrun by Aidan Hobbs (17:28, 1:37 faster than the previous record held by Dean Cain, his 24th current course record).

• Episode 304 - Let Us Entertain You

  Ollie reads the official parkrun announcement of the new optional parkwalker volunteer role ahead of the October Parkwalk campaign: positioned ahead of the Tail Walker and behind the runners, receiving both a volunteer credit and a walk/run credit, with new parkwalker vests and parkwalk prompt boards being distributed. Followed by discussion of prompt boards (the first-timers board is the most-used) and confirmation that juniors is included in the promotion.

• Episode 300 - Tricentennial

  Two news items read by the hosts. A new Australian male parkrun record of 13:53 set by James Hansen at Launceston parkrun, relayed from an interview by parkrun adventurer and social media ambassador Sally Heppleston; and Paul Sinton-Hewitt and wife Joanne running their 500th parkrun at Dietenbach parkrun in Freiburg, Germany.

• Episode 298 - Not Flat

  parkrun Malaysia announced its return from 20 August 2022, with Taman Pudu Ulu parkrun and Presint 18 parkrun (Putrajaya) reopening and Taman Tasik Danau Kota parkrun to launch later once an event team is established. Then the August volunteer update: the event-day course check becomes compulsory worldwide (teams confirming the role up from 24% to 91%), a reminder of the hot and cold weather policy, the latest volunteer video on the Run Director role (the RD must stay at the start/finish and take no other role during the event), and clarification that volunteers can hold more than one role and earn credit for combinations.

• Episode 295 - Aidan Hobbs

  The hosts read out Tim Oberg's departure press release in full: he has stepped down as head of parkrun in Australia and the Asia Pacific after 4,109 days (587 parkrun days) from the launch of Main Beach on 2 April 2011 to his last day on 1 July 2022, with 1.1 million registered Australian parkrunners at 441 locations. His acknowledgements name Paul Sinton-Hewitt, parkrun Australia board chairs Gareth Saunders OAM, Gareth Candy and Scott Watkins, Medibank, St Peter's ED Paul Wilcock, and his family. Ollie adds that Tim is the inspiration for the Obi Award, a former host of the podcast, and the namesake of the show's Oberg challenge.

• Episode 290 - 98, 99, 100!

  Weekly news round-up, opened by Melissa "about other news Mel, what's been happening". Covers Colin (98) in New Zealand topping the age grade at Whangarei with 101.36% and a 52:50 in the VM95-99 group; New Zealand's National Volunteer Week (19-25 June); Sandgate parkrun's Speed Week 2022 with two new course records (male to Kieran Perkins in 14:14, female to Cara in 16:18), 13 runners under 15 minutes and a 200th finisher PB of 21:09 by Brad Carr; and the weekend stats read by Melissa in the Informant's absence, 455 events, 39,895 walkers, joggers and volunteers, 1,293 first-timers.

• Episode 288 - Travel Tips

  News block: the June volunteer update and the new 100 Club wristband for junior parkrun; parkrun Australia's 31 May partnership with Invictus Australia to bring military veterans and their families to parkrun (quoting Invictus Australia CEO Michael Hartung, and the new Team Veteran parkrun Group), which Melissa Ellis notes applies to her as an ADF reservist; plus the weekend Australia/NZ stats, 447 events, over 35,000 walkers, joggers and runners, 4,620 volunteers, 1,463 first-timers.

• Episode 287 - Rhubarb Lemonade

  Ollie asks "What else is happening in the news of the parkrun world, Mel?" Mel reports that Adrian Hillyer of Peppertree parkrun has updated the Western Wanderers Challenge to include two more Victorian events, and that the 5K app's new update lets users build their own challenges from templates (specific names, names starting with or containing, event numbers and dates).

• Episode 286 - 99 Apfelsine Blätter

  Ollie "Let's jump straight to the news. Why not? Because it is in Australia National Reconciliation Week." The item is National Reconciliation Week rather than parkrun operational news: the 2022 theme "Be Brave, Make Change", an acknowledgement of volunteers who include an Acknowledgement of Country in the run brief, and Melissa "I have had feedback in the past that that welcome to country does make a difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders when visiting parkrun events." Runs to about.

• Episode 284 - The Very Very Best Day

  Ollie's cue "But what's happening in the news world, Mel?" opens the news slot. Melissa gives a special congratulations to Pippa White in the UK, who reached her 250th parkrun and her 250th volunteer occasion on the same day at Trentham Gardens parkrun. The slot continues with the octogenarian meetup: on parkrun day, 7 May, 19 octogenarians attended Rhodes parkrun with five PBs achieved.

• Episode 281 - Hoppy Easter

  News round-up: Polar joins as a parkrun Australia sponsor (Melissa recalls her first Polar chest-strap heart rate monitor and plugs the Polar Pacer / Pacer Pro); junior parkrun turns 12, having started at Bushy Park in 2010 and still running there only on the first Sunday of each month, now in the UK, Ireland and Australia across 370+ locations, with Australia's five active events listed; and Rhodes parkrun announces an octogenarian celebration day for Saturday 7 May.

• Episode 279 - Phil Gore

  Two news items: the official renaming of the first-timers briefing to the "First Timers Welcome" in the future roster, tied to parkrun's research on barriers to a first attendance; and the first weekend of the new dogs-at-parkrun rule (one dog on a short handheld non-extendable lead, at the participant's side, within reach). The hosts appeal to listeners to be patient with dog owners who have not heard about the change and to leave any approach to the event team.

• Episode 278 - Goldilocks

  Events returning, mothballing and closing. Pioneer Dairy officially mothballed as of 22 March over a $200 park licensing fee, with Run Director Dr Gordon Spence on breakfast radio pushing for local support, compared to Little Stoke in the UK. Lancefield (Victoria) returned for event 107 with 16 people, its first since 15 May 2021. Jindabyne returns on a new course as Jindabyne Sport and Recreation parkrun because of Lake Jindabyne flooding. Bowral parkrun stays on ice but the team returns as Southern Highlands Botanical Gardens parkrun on 14 May. Plus a shout-out to Nicola Forward of With Me Now for five marathons in five days for charity.

• Episode 271 - Arise

  Olly reads parkrun Australia's announcement of a new national supporter joining the family from 1 February, Blue Frog, a cereal maker: "we feel that Blue Frog truly understand our values and will support us with a financial commitment appropriate to our growing size and scale". Both hosts browse the Blue Frog website live on air and joke about whether the podcast could get free samples.

• Episode 265 - Advance to Go

  Melissa Ellis reports the announcement that Nick Pearson is leaving parkrun after seven years as CEO, with Russ Jeffries (head of communications since 2015) overseeing a three-month transition and expected to be appointed permanently. Both hosts reflect that Pearson's tenure spans almost exactly their own parkrun lifetimes.

• Episode 262 - All the good things

  Weekly news wrap, closed off with "That's probably all our wrap-up of news from the past week." Three items: Crissy Field parkrun in San Francisco announces on 19 November that it can no longer resume at its venue (tourists pointed to Bixby parkrun half an hour south); parkrun HQ announces that digital barcodes may be scanned from Saturday 27 November, though printed barcodes are still requested; and a final call on the second Ugly Christmas Singlet/shirt order, closing Sunday 28 November and never reprinting.

• Episode 261 - Back in the ACT

  Ollie reads parkrun Australia's weekly update verbatim: the ACT returns this week (participants encouraged to use the Check In CBR app); New South Wales reopening now targeted for Saturday 18 December after the delay to lifting restrictions; and parkrun has written to the Victorian government seeking clarification of its classification to allow events to return across that state.

• Episode 256 - X Factor

  Two pieces of parkrun news. First, parkrun's overnight website update introducing volunteer club badges (10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500), which changed the results URL structure and temporarily broke third-party tools like the Running Challenges Chrome extension and the 5km app; it also enables re-ordering of previously claimed milestone shirts. Second, in a solo coda after Mel signs off, Ollie announces that under the New South Wales roadmap parkrun events in NSW are set to reopen on 4 December, with hopes Victoria follows soon.

• Episode 249 - Becky Maybury

  Not announced by name in this episode, but the standing news round-up: Panorama Punish at Bathurst is cancelled for 2021 (the hosts pledge to be "on the grid in 2022"); Finland is launching what will become the world's most northerly parkrun in September; and the state-by-state "lockdown latest" - New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT and all of New Zealand still paused.

• Episode 236 - Snot Logs & A-Listers

  Melissa Ellis reads the parkrun UK press release of Friday 21 May announcing the delay of the English 5k restart from 5 June to a new target of 26 June, with a go/no-go decision on 11 June; Oliver Spake reads the accompanying statement from parkrun Global CEO Nick Pearson and the notes on landowner permissions, red tape, and support from Sadiq Khan, DCMS and Sport England. They then run through the good news: 10 US events returned (Bear Creek Greenbelt, Himmel, Lilly, Livonia, Durham NC, Charleston, Depot Park, Egan, Roosevelt Island, Fletcher's Cove), 30 of South Africa's 221 events returning 29 June, Poland 12 June, Denmark 19 June.

• Episode 199 - Bek Milne

  Guest co-host Scott Watkins revives the show's old news segment with a roundup of what event teams are doing during the COVID-19 shutdown: Mount Barker (SA) hosting an Un-parkrun Day bingo video show each Saturday, Karkarook (Vic) still publishing weekly news reports, Chelsea Bicentennial (Vic) running an iSpy "who are you looking forward to seeing" activity, Newy (NSW) profiling the other events in its self-proclaimed Region of Runners, crosswords from Albert Melbourne (very hard) and Dubbo (more accessible), and on the Aussie tourism Facebook page a street-sign spelling challenge and a guess-the-course photo game. International news: parkrun has enabled custom text under "parkrun" on apricot event shirts, though international stock is limited so parkrun Australia hasn't promoted it heavily. Mel rates the delivery "a solid seven and a half out of 10", docking points for not using a nasal newsreader voice.

• Episode 95

  Deliberately revived for the year-in-review finale: Scott says "You know one thing I've missed, Mel? I've missed the news. Remember when we used to do the news? Well, let's bring it back." The bulletin is a joke wrap of 2017, 45 episodes released, listeners in 20-odd countries, 2,471 minutes of audio, 113 guests, 57 roving reports from the Channel 5 News crew, parkrun's four millionth global registration, Finland/Norway/Germany joining, Mel missing episode 71 to deliver baby Wes, and Scotty resisting changing the logo all year.

• Episode 57

  Explicitly stood down this week. Scott "our other bit of news is the news is gone", Mel "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 "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 and Scott's "That wasn't as chockers as I thought it was going to be, Mel."

• Episode 52

  Scott hands over "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

  Scott and Mel trade news items: parkrun HQ processed 1,000 events in one weekend for the first time (the 1,000th being "Tommy Patton Jr. parkrun"); 3 million registered runners due to tick over within the week; the 2016 Coast to Kosciuszko, won by Bunyaville parkrunner Kevin Muller in 27:55:05, with former podcast guest Trevor Allen 11th, Victorian George Mihalikoulis 12th and Wangaratta's Sharon Schultz fifth lady on her first C2K; and the Buck family from Goondiwindi parkrun arriving at Richmond Olympic parkrun in Canada by stretch limo in the snow.

• Episode 48

  Scott hands over "It's time for the news." The two hosts alternate items: festive-period Christmas Day / New Year's Day event counts by country (Australia 39/66, Ireland one on Christmas Day at Clonakilty 9.30am and five on New Year's Day, New Zealand 7/7, South Africa 6/12, UK 151/196, USA with only Fletcher's Cove declaring and declining, Russia extra events but no compendium page); parkrun de Fontainebleau in France welcoming refugees from the newly established Fontainebleau refugee centre via the local Red Cross; the parkrun Australia AGM of Saturday 3 December, where Gareth Candy stood down as President and Scott Watkins was named the new Chair, Craig Curtis and Renee Gimbert continuing as Treasurer and Secretary, Stephen Jackson remaining a Representative, and Silpa Palmer, Dale Murray and Matt Fullerton joining; and Bunyaville parkrun's third-anniversary attendance record of 270, beating 231, plus more than 2,200 photos.

• Episode 47

  Scott hands over with "It's time for the news" (followed by a musical sting). Worldwide first-timer counts for the parkrun day (17,073 across 14 countries), a Tribe Sports Black Friday promotion on parkrun kit, 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 hands over "Should we listen to some news?" The bulletin covers minus 31 degrees on parkrun day in Russia (Moscow a comparatively tropical 2.5 degrees), the inaugural IAU 24-hour Asia and Oceania Championship in Kaohsiung with Australian parkrunners John Pearson (Noosa), Nikki Wind (Berwick Springs) and Sharon Schultz (Wangaratta) on the podium, the City to Sea 15k in Melbourne, and parkrun events worldwide taking part in the Mannequin Challenge.

• Episode 45

  Scott: "Here's the news." The hosts read the weekly bulletin: 972 events across 14 countries; a barcode-length gag (9.84 km of printed barcodes, 10,768 forgotten barcodes); Pan Pacific Masters on the Gold Coast with congratulations to Deanna Elliott, Mark Munchenberg, Simon Mackley and Ryan Stoddard; the inaugural Tarawera Trail Marathon in New Zealand (Majel Backhausen winning the 50 km); and parkrun Australia's Christmas compendium of festive-season events.

• Episode 44

  Scott hands to the news "before we do that, let's listen to some news", then he and Mel alternate items: parkrunners converging on New York for the marathon and doing a pre-marathon Central parkrun; volunteers at the Perth 2016 World Masters Athletics Championships; Nneka Okontar joining the Peel Club at Burley Griffin as only the 14th parkrunner in the world; Brendan Peel completing his 100th different event at the Karkarook launch to join the Cow Club; and the Westerfoldians taking the team title at Run for Fireys. Rolls straight into Scott and Mel's own weekend adventures.

• Episode 43 - Satoshi Ashida

  Handed over "Shall we listen to some news?" / "Let's." Read alternately by both hosts: a global attendance record of 164,273 parkrunners; parkrunners at the Noosa Triathlon Multisport Festival; parkrun Global launching local parkrun clubs on Strava at 800+ events; medals for parkrunners at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Perth (Andrew Shug, Adrian Royce, Roberto Buzzi); Canada's third event launching at Richmond Olympic; and 105-year-old Fauja Singh tail-running at Rutland Water. Rolls straight into host chat about age grading, Halloween costumes and Melvin the travelling toy monkey.

• Episode 42 - Tim Oberg

  Scott hands over with "How about we have some news?" and the two hosts read a mock-serious bulletin: 13,985 volunteers and 17,773 new registrations globally over the weekend; a Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can't Run Good clean sweep of the top three male and female points-prize places at a Queensland event, with Pat O'Connor handing his first-place medal to Graham Rose; the Perth 2016 World Masters Athletics Championships; a parkrun Global statement (read by an unidentified voice) on the delayed Milestone t-shirt batch, attributed to Russ Jeffries, Head of Marketing; and Jackie and Tony O'Connell becoming the 12th and 13th members of the Peel Club at Darwin, TOC running it dressed as the red Teletubby.

• Episode 41 - Noah Carter

  Melissa hands the bulletin to the junior newsreaders "Are you ready to read the news?" Items: the 39th Medibank Melbourne Marathon Festival (32,000 runners; parkrunners winning the marathon and, with Eloise Wellings and Brett Robinson, the half); 23,363 junior parkrunners and 1,708 junior volunteers worldwide on the last parkrun day; a University of Aberdeen study on exercising with friends; and Danny Norman's 500th parkrun. Read entirely by children this week, which is unusual enough to be worth noting.

• Episode 40 - Shoes for Planet Earth

  Scripted news read alternately by both hosts: a record-breaking parkrun day worldwide (161,356 parkrunners, 14,057 volunteers); parkrun USA's seventh event, College Park parkrun in Maryland, launching 15 October; Kurt Fearnley taking silver behind Marcel Hug at the 39th Chicago Marathon; a comic item on daylight saving splitting the Australian time zones; and the third annual Sandgate Sunset Run, won overall by the relay team Too Fast Too Furious (165 laps / 41.25 km).

• Episode 39 - Simon Kilma

  Read alternately by Mel and Scotty. International parkrun Day (Saturday 1 October 2016) and parkrun's 12th birthday, with global cumulative stats; Noah Carter's world-record 15k at Wynnum; Cardiff Half course records and Michael Kallenberg's superhero-costume half-marathon world record; Coast to Kosciuszko 240km invitations going to parkrunners; and a tongue-in-cheek item on kilted parkrunners doubling at Port Macquarie.

• Episode 38 - Tom Do Canto

  Scott's "Let's have some news" opens the weekly bulletin, read alternately by both hosts: 143,260 athletes at 793 parkruns across 14 countries; Gareth Saunders' five-year directiversary at Southbank's 200th; Eloise Wellings' gold at the Australian Road Running Championships; widespread stopwatch/scanner upload failures; parkrunners at the Twilight Bay Run, Trails Plus Surf Coast Hell Run, Run Maroondah, the Yurrebilla 56k and the Beach to Brother Marathon; Territory Directors Silpa Palmer and John Storey at the Berlin Marathon; and a marriage proposal at Toowoomba parkrun's third anniversary (James Hogan to Liz Worrell, with a wired tulip for a ring).

• Episode 37 - Danny Norman

  Mock-newsreader bulletin, traded line by line between Mel and Scott: weekly parkrun Australia registration and attendance stats; parkrun HQ support-team volumes; weather cancellations, including the cancelled You Yangs and "Maury" inaugurals rescheduled to 24 September; the extension of the show's own Strava art competition deadline to 25 September; Kurt Fearnley's silver medal at the "Large Quadrennial International Sporting Event"; the winter running season (Blackmores Sydney Running Festival, Mitchell Street Mile, Devil's Lair Cape to Cape); and a magpie-swooping report with a first-person victim testimony from Deborah Mills, closing with a plug for magpiealert.com. Scott signs it off "And so that's the news news."

• Episode 36 - Lucy Bartholomew

  A rapid-fire news read alternating between the two hosts, in a mock-newsreader register. Items: 18,862 parkrunners at 173 locations, 2,448 new runners and 1,664 volunteers; two Australian parkrunners medalling at the "large quadrennial international sporting event" (Katie Kelly first finisher in the para triathlon, Kurt Fearnley third in "the parkrun distance" for his fourth straight podium); Lucy Bartholomew winning the China Mountain Trails Devil's Ridge 70k in the Gobi Desert; Brendan Davies first to finish the 57.4km Run the Great Whitsunday Trail; a St Peters parkrun course revision forced by the WestConnex roadworks, with a statement from Event Director Paul Wilcock; and 11 events cancelled across Australia for flooding.