Watching the numbers

Appears in 25 episodes, first in episode 413.

Every appearance

• Episode 460 - Across The Ditch

  New Zealand stats for 26 September (73 events, 11,240 parkrunners, 1,196 volunteers; Raumanga Stream record of 200; Hagley 707 biggest, Lost Lagoon and East Otago High School smallest with 26) and 3 October (a record 77 events, 12,041 finishers, 1,249 volunteers; Hagley 604, Hobsonville Point 359; Hamilton Park in Gore and East Otago High School smallest with 21). Australian stats: 26 September 84,061 participants at 541 events, records at Oaklands Estate Reserve and Old Golf Course, Narrogin; 3 October 77,126 parkrunners at 525 events, 3,375 first timers, six records (Grafton, Jubilee Tenterfield, Kingston Park, Glenoma, Moot Yang Gunya Swamp, Old Golf Course), five junior events; smallest Puckapunyal, largest The Ponds (859) then Endeavour (826).

• Episode 458 - The Unicorn

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

• Episode 455 - Tantrums, Tears and Tribulations

  Sarah announces "We are reintroducing a parkrun adventurers segment. It is called watching the numbers", the show picks a parkrun of interest and tracks its participation over several pods. First subject is Plantation Forest parkrun on St Helena: 76, 76 and 75 participants across its first three weeks, with 27 of the 75 in the latest week unknown/unregistered.

• Episode 441 - All Aboard 2026

  Weekly participation stats for 10 January 2026: New Zealand 67 events, 13,844 finishes (an all-time country record) with 1,098 volunteers; Australia 488 events, 89,382 finishers, 6,438 volunteers, just under 7,000 new registrations; five junior events with 457 finishers. Smallest events Baxter (4), Pyramid Hill Golf Trail (5) and Bourke Racecourse (6); largest Toowoomba (737), South Bank (883) and Albert Melbourne (1,072).

• Episode 440 - Stop The Clock

  Attendance and milestone stats rundown for the two parkrun days covered. New Zealand: 64 events / 11,340 parkrunners / 1,020 volunteers on 29 November, and 66 events / 10,715 / 1,038 on 6 December, with Hagley biggest both weeks. Australia: 73,025 participants across 512 events on 29 November, and 69,725 across 514 events on 6 December, Railway Park (Qld) and Coober Pedy (SA) both recorded zero finishers, and Albert Melbourne topped the 6 December list with 921.

• Episode 439 - Legendary Intern

  A placeholder week - the hosts have not yet picked a new event to track since Brooklyn, and say they will wait for one of the coming launches to take their fancy.

• Episode 438 - Lota Love to Give

  Simon announces that the segment is being parked "until we find another event that we're eager to follow along", then gives a final update on the New York Marathon question raised last episode: Brooklyn Bridge had 362 participants, up 10 on a fortnight earlier and about 100 above normal, while Branch Brook, the next closest to New York City, had 14, down two.

• Episode 437 - Woe is a crowd

  Brooklyn Bridge parkrun events 9 and 10. Event 9: 274 finishers, 17 volunteers, 213 first-timers, adventurer Bill Troy 150th in 23:54. Event 10: 352 finishers and walkers, 18 volunteers, 273 first-time visitors. Next week is cancelled for the New York Marathon; the hosts note an upward spike they put down to marathon visitors. This is the last instalment they will cover.

• Episode 436 - The Vote That Counts

  Brooklyn Bridge parkrun tracking: event 7 on 4 October had 251 finishers and 21 volunteers with 203 first-timers, including adventurer Karen Hamilton in position 48 in 23:17; event 8 had 218 finishers, 14 volunteers and 173 first-timers, down from the 538 at launch.

• Episode 435 - The Restructure

  Brooklyn Bridge parkrun events five and six: 285 finishers with 18 volunteers, then 240 with 16, trending down from 538 at event one but levelling off. Followed by a message from listener Mary DeLuna, a Ponds parkrunner who visited Brooklyn Bridge with family, compared it to Parramatta for iconic city views and volunteered as Tail Walker.

• Episode 434 - It’s Upside Down

  Tracking Brooklyn Bridge parkrun's early events: event 3 on 6 September had 300 finishers and 23 volunteers with 224 first-timers to the event; event 4 on 13 September had 309 finishers and 19 volunteers, 230 first-timers to the event and 50 doing their first ever parkrun. Numbers appear to be settling from 538 at launch to around 300. The first adventurer there was Mary DeLuna of the Ponds parkrun, NSW. Sarah adds that Brooklyn Bridge has already cancelled for 1 November, New York Marathon weekend, as has the next closest event Branch Brook Park (which has also cancelled 8 November).

• Episode 433 - Ready, Set, Streak...

  Melissa explicitly revives the segment, "I'm bringing this segment back, watching the numbers at Brooklyn Bridge parkrun", tracking the new US event's first two weeks: 538 finishers and 23 volunteers at event 1 (141 first-timers), then 382 finishers and 18 volunteers at event 2, of whom only about 48 were returners. Also notes Branch Brook Park closed for the day in support, and that it was a US record inaugural.

• Episode 432 - Amazing Grace

  The fortnightly participation rundown: New Zealand on 16 August had 63 events, 8,840 finishers and 998 volunteers (Hagley largest with 474); Australia had 515 events, 61,745 finishes, 6,077 volunteers and 2,288 first-time-ever parkrunners, with Cobar the smallest (2) and Albert Melbourne the largest (632).

• Episode 430 - Cleaner Wanted!

  Mel announces the segment is going on hiatus: "we are going to put our segment watching the numbers on hiatus for a little while until we come up with another event that we fancy to track ... We haven't got anything on the radar." TOC appeals for more Australian launches to give them something to track.

• Episode 429 - It's Question Time

  The final instalment of the Alice Springs Telegraph Station parkrun watch, sung in by Sarah: week 10, from 28 June, drew 97 participants against 98 the week before, which Simon reckons is about where it will find its equilibrium. Sarah states outright that this is the last time the segment will run.

• Episode 428 - Evolution

  Two weeks of Alice Springs Telegraph Station parkrun. Event eight: 79 finishers, 10 volunteers. Event nine: 98 finishers, 11 volunteers, a dip attributed to the Larapinta Trail events in town in prior weeks having boosted attendance. Second adventurer to visit was Margie Lewis on 14 June; none on 21 June. Melissa flags that the next report will be the last for this event.

• Episode 427 - Onions Have Layers

  Melissa Ellis's self-described 'ongoing segment' tracking the new Alice Springs event. Adrian Homburg was the first adventurer there and posted to Dazza's. Event seven had 123 finishes (121 the week before), 13 volunteers and 52 first-timers, 14 of them first-ever. Adrian turns out to be Victorian - 227 parkruns at 99 different events, 49 volunteer roles at six locations, Malley Dex of two. Padded out with the Larapinta Trail (231km through Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges), the West Mac Monster ultra and the Finke Desert Race.

• Episode 426 - Lost Property

  Melissa: "This is our ongoing segment that we call Watching the Numbers at Alice Springs Telegraph Station parkrun." Event six had 121 finishers and nine volunteers, still no adventurers; of 41 first-timers, 15 were first-ever parkruns and 26 were visitors. She suggests Val and Steve, who are travelling, could detour south and be the first adventurers there. Simon notes the numbers are dropping off far more slowly than other recent launches.

• Episode 425 - Tracky Dacky Doo Dah Day

  The hosts' self-named ongoing tracker of Alice Springs Telegraph Station parkrun: event five drew 149 finishers and nine volunteers, 57 first-timers of whom 24 were brand new to parkrun, and still no adventurers. Attendances so far 186, 147, 156, 136, 149, hovering around the Dunbar number.

• Episode 424 - Reaching a Rec-Ord

  Sarah's self-described "ongoing segment of watching the numbers at Alice Springs Telegraph Station parkrun". Event 4 drew 136 parkrunners, 41 first-timers to the event, 19 of them first-ever parkrunners, and 37 returners recording their second, third or fourth parkrun. Still no adventurers have visited the event.

• Episode 423 - The Hope Song

  Mel's self-declared favourite segment, tracking the new Alice Springs Telegraph Station parkrun week by week. Event three had 156 parkrunners, nine more than week two, with 59 first-timers of whom 35 were recording their very first parkrun ever, and 52 people back for their second or third. No adventurers have visited yet.

• Episode 422 - Potato, Potarto

  Mel's self-declared ongoing segment tracking the new Alice Springs event: 147 parkrunners at event two, 39 fewer than launch week, 73 of them first-timers at the venue, 22 unknowns and 34 people recording their second ever parkrun. No adventurer has reached it yet and she intends to watch for the first one who does.

• Episode 415 - Pow Wow to PALM

  Melissa explicitly names it: "in our ongoing segment that we are calling watching the numbers". Tracking attendance at a recently launched event, 238 participants at event eight, after two 246s and a 247, which the hosts read as the event settling around the Dunbar number.

• Episode 414 - Wombling Free

  Mel: "the ongoing segment that we are calling Watching the Numbers at [Patinia] Island", 247 finishers at event seven, up one on event six, apparently levelling out around 250; 97 tourists/visitors and 16 first-time-ever parkrunners.

• Episode 413 - Transport & Tryouts

  A new recurring bit the hosts coin on air, tracking the attendance of a very large new event: Birtinya Island had 246 at event six, tying its lowest to date, with a sequence of 461, 359, 364, 246, 277 and 246 again. Mel and Peter agree the numbers are levelling and say they will keep following along.