Episode 4 - Matt Shields

Episode details · 139 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:06Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode four of parkrun Adventurers. It is a big weekend. We're very excited to have you join us. And joining me here today is my fellow adventurer, Scott.

00:00:17Scott Trickett: Howdy, everyone.

00:00:19Melissa Erbacher: So we had another country attendance record this weekend with 23,162 parkrunners across Australia. That's pretty impressive. We were also fairly close to topping the global record, which when you consider the fact that it's pretty damn cold in the UK and Poland and other such places, you know, good effort.

00:00:41Scott Trickett: It is getting cold. There's some great shots coming out of Russia. I don't know if you want to do a search on Instagram. There's a parkrun in Russia that puts up a lot of photos and they're basically running in the snow. So I reckon if they get 10 people to their parkrun, they're doing a good job.

00:00:57Melissa Erbacher: I would have to agree with you there. Meanwhile, our course's attendance records are breaking all over the shop. And I'm pretty sure that last weekend that would have had something to do with Australia Day and many events having Australia Day themed parkruns. showing their patriotism and whatnot. Australia Day is also another time where local councils and state governments tend to show recognition to the volunteers around the country for the wonderful work they did in the previous year. I was fortunate enough to be at an Australia Day awards ceremony this week along with all the event directors from the Sunshine Coast parkruns. And I know that Lachelle from Ipswich parkrun, the founding event director at Ipswich parkrun, was also nominated and received an award recently. So it's really wonderful to see our volunteers getting some recognition. I know none of them asked for it, but it's wonderful to see when it happens. Scott, how great are volunteers?

00:01:55Scott Trickett: Volunteers are awesome. We have made it a bit of a theme of the podcast so far, but it's a worthy thing because without volunteers, parkrun doesn't happen. And on that, my weekend was pretty normal. I was Run Director at Jells Park, an event that I've recently taken over as Event Director. It was a nice Christmas present to receive, but also challenging because I needed help to get that event up and running every week and so I just called on my fellow parkrunners from Diamond Creek, from Lilydale Lake, from Westerfolds and everyone without hesitation has jumped on board to support me and get gels kicking along. So we can build that up to being an awesome event that it already is, but I think we can make it so much better because it's such a great setting. So, but it wouldn't happen without all these people saying, yep, Scott, I'll help you. I'll be run director. You know, I had Sonia O'Sullivan email me on Friday night saying, hey, I see you need a marshal. I'm happy to come down and marshal. Now that's a world champion. world champion cross country, Olympian, and she was the marshal at Gels on the weekend. So I don't think you get that at too many other running events around the world.

00:03:14Melissa Erbacher: And unsolicited email or had you put the call out that you needed marshals?

00:03:18Scott Trickett: No, I didn't. I was just going to double up on a marshal. I was just going to see how we rolled on Saturday morning. And luckily for us, Sonia saw that we were short and she volunteered.

00:03:31Melissa Erbacher: Fantastic. I really love getting those middle of the week unsolicited volunteer emails. You know, they just literally make your day, especially when it's been difficult. And, you know, you don't want to constantly badger people to do their little bit to make sure the events happen. So when you just have the offers come out of nowhere, it's just magic, isn't it?

00:03:55Scott Trickett: It is something. So as run directors, we are painfully aware that we do ask for volunteers a lot. It's simply because we need them. In some events, we need them to help out. We actually don't like doing it. So you're right. When we get that email, and after Saturday, I got like four emails of offering to help volunteer. That was after about another half a dozen people put their name down on Saturday. So I left the weekend just in love with my volunteers and really liking the event that we're forming at GELS. So once again, another good parkrun weekend for me.

00:04:32Melissa Erbacher: Awesome. And have we heard about GELS before? I don't think we have. What's the course like?

00:04:38Scott Trickett: Gels is really lucky. It's set within a parkland setting where there's no roads so we don't hear traffic. It's a two lap course. The first part of the course is all downhill and then unfortunately the second part is all uphill. But you run around by a lake. it's really pretty it's lots of green trees no bridges but um it's still a great event we're lucky to have shelter toilets there's a great cafe on site so it ticks all the boxes and i'm really happy to be part of it i'm really excited to be part of it it's in a really well-populated area of Melbourne where I know there are lots of runners, but there are also just lots of people who just want to, you know, experience parkrun, get fit, get active, and I'll look forward to showing you when you come down.

00:05:29Melissa Erbacher: Yes.

Roving Adventurer report (TOC at Churchill parkrun launch)

00:05:30Scott Trickett: Hopefully you all listened to Episode 3 where we talked about the launch of Churchill. We had Toc there as our roving adventurer this week, and he caught up with another great volunteer down here in Victoria, Jo McCarthy.

00:05:44Tony O'Connell: And what did you think of the Churchill course today, Jo?

00:05:47Jo McCarthy: Oh, this is an amazing course for Victoria. It's certainly something different compared to all the other Victorian courses. We've got challenging hills, beautiful parkland. It was tough, but I loved it.

00:06:00Tony O'Connell: Jo, I noticed that you've done 41 different volunteers across a number of different parkruns. What's your favourite volunteering role?

00:06:06Jo McCarthy: Oh, look. I am actually one of the run directors at Balyang, so that's where most of my volunteering stints have been involved with. But I really love, not that I've been able to do it much, but being a marshal or doing the scanning at the end, you get to interact directly with the parkrunners as they're participating or afterwards. But yeah, anything where you get to cheer people on is great.

00:06:29Tony O'Connell: Yeah, that's one of the big pluses with the parkrun, isn't it? The interaction with our runners.

00:06:33Jo McCarthy: Definitely.

00:06:34Tony O'Connell: I see today was your 144th run and you've done 34 different courses. That's a sensational number of different places to go and visit. Have you done any international runs?

00:06:44Jo McCarthy: I have done a few, actually. My first international run was Tollcross up in Scotland, which was just an amazing experience. I think it was about their fourth event, so I loved doing that. And then I went over to New Zealand About 18 months ago, there was meant to be a whole group of us going, but it didn't happen. So I just went on my own and did a couple over there and a few Freedom Runs over in New Zealand as well. So I'd love to go back and finish them off. That'd be great.

00:07:15Tony O'Connell: Fantastic. New Zealand's one of the ones on my bucket list. I've just got to organise myself enough to actually get over there and stop having all these events around Australia to get to. With your parkrun experiences, you've gone around, what's some of the best things that you've enjoyed about parkrunting?

00:07:31Jo McCarthy: Look, I've been doing parkruns since, you know, Ballyang's first event, and straight from doing that one, I was immediately hooked. I just loved the whole atmosphere, the fact that, you know, you didn't have to be a fast runner, that it was free, and you could keep coming back, doing the same run and trying to improve your times. And then I just started to realise, oh, look, there's all these other places you can go visit. So I started doing the whole tourism bit. and uh just kind of set different goals so it was my goal um a couple of years ago to visit all the victorian parkruns and so now i've got to try and maintain that with all these new launches happening um and just the whole atmosphere of meeting now that you know go to going to different parkruns you start to see the same people at launches and just at my home parkrun valiang the you know this group of parkrun buddies get together and go out for breakfast or we you know The new friendships you make out of running is just fabulous.

00:08:26Tony O'Connell: I think your goal of keeping up with all the launches is fairly ambitious, especially with at least three coming up in Victoria in the next month or so.

00:08:34Jo McCarthy: I know, it does make it hard to be a run director and go to launches, but we're pretty good down at Geelong. We sort it out and make sure... It's a great team. Yeah, it is a really good team down there.

00:08:46Tony O'Connell: So where to next for Jo McCarthy? Where's next week's parkrun?

00:08:49Jo McCarthy: Next weekend, I believe I'm staying at home. I think it's going to be my actual 100th run at Ballyang. Okay. So we'll celebrate that. And after that, I think we're going to look forward to the launch. The next launch is coming up in Victoria.

00:09:05Tony O'Connell: No worries. We have a couple coming up in February, so it's a busy month. Yeah, can't wait. Cheers. Thanks a lot, Jo.

00:09:10Melissa Erbacher: No worries. TOC. Super hearing from Jo. Thanks very much for that, Toc. She is the epitome of a parkrun adventurer, a wonderful parkrunner who volunteers and gets around to other local and not-so-local events. Toc also managed to speak to Heather, who is the other co-ED at Churchill parkrun on the weekend, and here she is.

00:09:35Tony O'Connell: So Heather, did you get to relax and enjoy the launch? You were run director today and you got to stand up in front of almost 160 people for the launch. Did you get to relax at all?

00:09:45Heather: I don't think I got to relax too much but it was terrific to see so many people and so many faces of local people and people from other parkruns just come and join us today and all the different age groups so I probably enjoyed it toward the end as I saw that nothing was going wrong, everything was going well with the timekeeping and everything and people were well organised so I was delighted about that and certainly pleased when it was all finished and all come together well.

00:10:12Tony O'Connell: It was definitely a very smooth launch the way it was conducted and it's a Gippsland launch record for the number of people to turn up so you handled the big crowd really well. So as an Inverloch regular parkrunner what was the attraction starting up Churchill parkrun?

00:10:28Heather: It's probably more that I felt Churchill really and district really needed to come together more as a community. I think we, and we've talked with a lot of the community groups here, a lot of people don't know each other, aren't well connected, it's a changing community and anything we can do to bring people together and support one another, get to know one another and get fitter, we thought would be a really good thing and there was a number of us that really enjoyed the camaraderie at Inverloch and the people that we've met and the new people we've met which we wouldn't have in any other environment and the parkrun provides that as well as getting fit and that encouragement it provides to everyone else and we thought that would be a really good thing for this community and certainly the feedback today suggests that we're on track with that that a lot of people get a lot out of it and that that's a good thing and we're We'll aim to try and get people to get to know one another more and get to know new people. So Inverloch, the way Inverloch is run and the atmosphere that's set, I think is just superb. And I love Inverloch and it's going to be hard to not, I'll have to continue going over there occasionally because it's just part of my community too.

00:11:36Tony O'Connell: I'm sure we'll see you over there, but it was really great to see people sitting around talking after the event and no one rushed off. Everyone just stayed and chatted. It was really fantastic. So I see you've done 40 runs and 14 volunteers. What's your favourite volunteer role?

00:11:53Heather: Probably around the stopwatch at the end when people are coming in and trying to urge people along. I tend to give a little bit of cheek at times as people pass. But encouraging people to finish off well, it doesn't matter. I really enjoy all the roles. I think they're all really good because you're interacting with people. And seeing people just really do their best and enjoy themselves. And it doesn't matter what they do or how they do it. It's just a matter of trying to help people get to the end on that day and feel good about themselves. So anything around that. But I do like giving a bit of cheek every now and then.

00:12:30Tony O'Connell: Around Gippsland, you'd definitely be known as the lolly lady. Every parkrun you've been to, you turn up with a big tub of lollies for everyone. Was it nice to see a few people turn up with tubs of lollies for your parkrun today?

00:12:42Heather: Oh, look, that was just something special when Heather Sullivan posted that she was bringing some lollies. I thought that was just beautiful. And it's funny because I don't eat a lot myself, and I'm in a bit of a health freak, and I But I know that people do like them and it's good after a run to have that bit of energy boost back or to have a couple before the run. So we had that and bananas today to balance it out to make sure we had the healthy thing going and that's a good thing. But it was just lovely, the support and those little things that people think of to help and support you I think are the things that make it really worthwhile.

00:13:21Scott Trickett: Great to hear from Heather, as you said, the other half of Churchill parkrun. And thanks heaps to TOC. We really appreciate the work that our roving adventurers have done so far. It's really easy to do. So if you want to get involved, if you want to be part of the show, we would welcome your contributions. So as long as you've got a phone, a smartphone with a voice memo app on it, just turn it upside down, treat the phone like a microphone, and you're all set to go. You don't have to edit it, you'll just send it to us, send it to our email address, which is show at parkrunadventurers.com. We might use it, we might not use it, we might save it for later on, but we really appreciate any efforts that our rovering adventurers will put in for.

00:13:57[music]

00:14:15Melissa Erbacher: we are super excited to welcome our next special guest he's a territory director in the region of runners he was part of the russ and robo duo from the former parkrun show australia ladies and gentlemen, Mr Dave Robbo g'day guys great to be on the show and i'll tell you what after three and a half episodes you guys are absolutely killing it and uh

00:14:37Dave Robbo: yeah russ and i we've been listening closely and following it and and loving what you guys have done so far with the parkrun adventurers podcast so keep up the good work oh we're chuffed it's high praise that is very high praise you're a social media master you've got the naked runners with mossy yes yeah i don't know if it masters the word um addict is certainly a correct word but um Look, yeah, spread the love around. That's what I say, Scotty. And, you know, just trying to get more people moving more often and using a few little vehicles, not just parkrun. But yes, the Naked Runners. And we've got a little podcast over there as well, which you're invited to come and check out. And yeah, Mossy and Robbo as a commentary duo. So at the moment, I'm actually calling not from the region of runners, but down all in the southern reaches of the region of runners, a little place called Sydney, which you might have heard of. So just down here for the next day or so.

00:15:33Scott Trickett: So tell us about what's happening in parkrun in Newcastle at the moment. You call it the region of runners. Give us a bit of a history behind that because I'll tell you, as a Melburnian who's produced a lot of elite runners, how did region of runners come about?

00:15:47Dave Robbo: Yeah, it's a very good question. I thought you might ask that. It goes back to a little while ago there was a documentary came out about a little place in Ethiopia called Bokoji and the documentary was titled Town of Runners and it was all about how this little village was producing a lot of the world's best distance runners. And there's pockets in Kenya that can claim the same sort of thing. So, yeah, a few of the running fraternity in Newcastle, we got to watching this and we sort of thought, oh, we could call this place the town of runners. It was about the time that parkrun was starting to blossom on the scene and running was certainly growing. So we didn't mind that name. And then we thought, oh, what about a bit more of a catchier name? unique name and it's known as the Hunter region and so we just thought the natural progression is to call it the region of runners and it sounded a bit funny to start with but we found that we just kept using it and using it it started to stick and I think it's safe to say now it's pretty much it's made it into Australian running folklore if you pick up a copy of Run For Your Life magazine it's used in there every now and then and certainly within parkrun that's probably where it's become most famous I guess so yeah if you're wondering where it is it's a little Well, it's a region geographically positioned north of Sydney, about 160km north of Sydney, maybe not even that, and it takes in Lake Macquarie, Greater Newcastle, Port Stephens, and then Maitland, Singleton, and Cessnock as well. So it's a pretty big region, but yeah, it's booming. In terms of the parkrun movement, it really is flourishing, and I knew it was our first event, but happy to say that we're about to launch number 12 this coming weekend. So if you're interested in coming for a little holiday in the region of runners, you've got to stay for about 12 weeks unless you're here over Christmas to get all your runs in.

00:17:41Melissa Erbacher: So Robbo, tell us a little bit about the launch that's coming up this weekend. What event would that be?

00:17:47Dave Robbo: Yeah, so it's called the Terrace parkrun and it follows a bit of a trend within the region of runners to, I guess, give a bit of a slang name to our event. So it comes from Newcastle parkrun was obviously taken by the one in the northeast of England. So we went with Newey, which is the nickname. And Lake Macquarie parkrun, well, that was a bit long, so they abbreviated that to Lake Mack parkrun. And this one, the Terrace parkrun, it's going to be held in a place called Raymond Terrace. It's about 20 minutes north of Newcastle. And, yeah, it was decided to call it the Terrace. So affectionately known, that's what the locals call it. And a very pretty little run there, pretty flat and right on the river. Like a lot of our parkruns around Australia, it features a body of water and we run alongside it. And it's a double out-and-back course and set to be a cracker. And I would expect, you know, I don't know if it'll be the match of, say, your Sirame Winery parkrun launch, but I reckon it'll be north of 300, maybe 400. So we'll see how many people turn up on Saturday.

00:18:53Scott Trickett: Well, can you tell us about the Beaches parkrun? I think that's got a lot of people's interest. Yeah. It is 100% on beach, on soft sand.

00:19:01Dave Robbo: It is, yeah. Beautiful beaches in Newcastle. It starts in front of Bar Beach Surf Lifesaving Club, and it runs south to Merewether Surf Club, comes back, and then you get to do it all again. And look, it's pretty. It's what it says on the tin. It's on the beach. And with that comes a lot of variations, variables, I guess, and the tide... can really spit up a very, very challenging run. If you get the high tide and you've only got soft sand to run in, you know, it's as hard as some of the hillier parkruns around the place, parkruns like Black Butt, which is our sort of hardest and hilliest run in the region of runners. So you can have that and then maybe, you know, you pick it with a nice low tide and it's hard, compact sand and it's not too bad. It's interesting to see who keeps the shoes on and who takes the shoes off and who's trying to keep their toes and shoes dry and sort of tiptoe around as the waves come up and who just goes straight through. So it's a lot of fun. People, I think, they like the change as much as anything. And it hasn't been one of the bigger parkruns, but that's been nice as well, just to have a small community and loyal community. And I think, yeah, people have enjoyed coming and trying it out and just experiencing the challenge of, of having to spin those wheels, especially in the soft sand.

00:20:20Scott Trickett: What's the pro tip? Shoes or no shoes?

00:20:23Dave Robbo: Go without shoes. You know me, if I've got a podcast called The Naked Runner, it's all about getting the feet naked. And look, that's a great excuse to do it. If you've got feet that aren't used to, I guess, being outside the shoes, best to sort of take it carefully and certainly if you've got calves that aren't used to running that way as well um you can expect to have them wake up a little bit maybe at the end of 5ks but uh yeah there's plenty of people that will gear themselves up to run the beaches parkrun they'll go and do some soft sand running say in the week or two leading up to it so that they're getting a bit more accustomed to it and get the body used to it um but no for me scotty get the get the skin on the on the sand feel the sand between the toes splash around in the water um that's half the fun of it and then You know, you literally, you cross the finishing line, you're sweaty, you're covered in sand, and you just dive into that Pacific Ocean, and it's one of the best experiences post-parkrun that you can find.

00:21:16Melissa Erbacher: So, Robbo, you mentioned the tides obviously vary from week to week. Is this something that the event team publish, you know, predicted tides or high tide, low tide times weeks in advance, or do they do it at all so people can sort of know what to expect?

00:21:33Dave Robbo: Well, I think they don't want to scare too many people off, so they don't go publicising it too much, I don't think. I know I was helping the event team when it was launching and I did actually go and research the tides and stuck the tide charts up for the next 12 months just within the event team's Facebook group. But, yeah, look, I think that is up to the parkrunner to do the research, to know what they're in for on a given Saturday. And... Not only is it the tide, but, yeah, sometimes if we've had a big storm come through, which we have had in the last 12 months, you know, half the beach can have eroded away sometimes too and you're left with a bit of a precarious run. And it has actually been cancelled a few times just due to safety. So, yeah, look, there's a few elements to battle with. But, yeah, look, I put it to you, the parkrunner, listening right now. If you want to really get a taste of adventure, don't worry about the tide charts. Just turn up. and run with whatever there is there.

00:22:31Scott Trickett: Okay, we've added it to the list. Our list is getting very long. It's definitely on there. You've got another challenge in the region of runners that I like. More parkruns than a fast food athlete.

00:22:43Dave Robbo: Yes, yeah.

00:22:44Scott Trickett: How are we going with that challenge?

00:22:45Dave Robbo: Look, we're pegging them back. So, yeah, for those that aren't aware of it, yeah, the famous golden arches, you'll know who I'm talking about. We just had a fun challenge one day.

00:22:55Melissa Erbacher: We thought, I wonder how many...

00:22:57Dave Robbo: parkruns there are versus that particular restaurant. And we did the maths, and a little while ago, I think it was something like 28 to 6 or 7 in favour of, well, not in favour of parkrun. Look, we're clawing them back, so I think this Saturday, I'll have to go and check it again, but this Saturday, the score, I think, will be 30 to 12. So given that, you know, three, four years ago, it was a whitewash to one side, we're slowly pegging them back. And, look, it's not a judgment on whether you are pro this particular restaurant or not, but it's just an observation that, you know, if there's as many of those, well, let's have as many parkruns and give people the opportunity to maybe get themselves moving and burn off some of the easy calories that we put away sometimes. So, yeah, look, it's captured people's imagination a little bit, that challenge, and I'm tempted to make a little shirt of it at some point when we do finally topple them. So, yeah. We'll see. Obviously, we want a nice controlled growth of parkruns in the region, but I think there's still plenty of areas where it can expand. And I'm looking at Cessnock and the wine region. We've welcomed some parkrunners out there a little while ago. It's a great area, and I think it would be lovely to see a parkrun out that way too. So maybe with the Sirromet launch, we might see some more places catching on with the running and wine industry.

00:24:20Scott Trickett: Yeah, I think it's the next trend in parkrun, which is going to be the wine run.

00:24:26Dave Robbo: Is it a bribe? It's almost bribing people, but look, it's whatever it takes to get them there, get them running, and if we reward them with a coffee or a half a glass of champagne at the end, well, then so be it. We've got to get this country moving.

00:24:39Scott Trickett: Yeah, I just think it's a beautiful setting for a run, regardless of whether you have wine for breakfast or not. I want to run through grapevines, hills. Beautiful.

00:24:49Melissa Erbacher: Not to mention the fact that red wine has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. So technically it's good for you.

00:24:57Dave Robbo: Proven. Yep. Resveratrol. There'll be people enjoying some of that right now, maybe even before their parkrun the next day. So, yeah, look, I think there's a lot going for it, guys.

00:25:07Scott Trickett: This broadcast is fueled by it.

00:25:10Melissa Erbacher: And if I recall, my last PB was following a night with red wine.

00:25:15Dave Robbo: Well, it's one thing that Russ and I never were able to do was land a – a red wine sponsor for the show. So maybe you guys are heading in the right direction.

00:25:22Scott Trickett: I'm prepared to take up that challenge.

00:25:25Melissa Erbacher: I'm willing to try all the vineyards. That's the word I'm looking for. I'm willing to try all the vineyards.

00:25:35Dave Robbo: Well, while we're talking about it, next time you're down in Adelaide, down in the Adelaide region, and I think it's in Clare Valley, there is a brand, a label called Naked Run Wines. And we use that as the prizes for some of the Naked November awards. campaign that just went at the end of last year. So, yeah, check that one out, guys. That might be your first sponsor. I'll put a good word in for you.

00:25:54Scott Trickett: Good. We need a Clear Valley parkrun. I know they've been working on one for a while.

00:25:58Dave Robbo: Well, look, they might be the guys for it. I'll come down to the launch. Have we still got the Learjet?

00:26:03Scott Trickett: No.

00:26:03Dave Robbo: You guys got the keys for that yet?

00:26:04Scott Trickett: That disappeared when your show disappeared.

00:26:06Dave Robbo: Oh, I'll have to dig out the keys. I think I had a spare key. Russ has got the master.

00:26:10Melissa Erbacher: I believe Donella's got it in a hangar in Merimbula.

00:26:13Dave Robbo: Ah, perfect.

00:26:14Melissa Erbacher: That's what we're seeing.

00:26:15Dave Robbo: That's good. All right. Well, we'll have to track it down. There's a pilot down there at least, so that's good.

00:26:20Melissa Erbacher: And after we get one in Clare Valley, I think we need to move to the Barossa where they've got a winemaker called Soul Growers. They do spell soul differently, but I think we're willing to make the compromise.

00:26:33Dave Robbo: It's making a lot of sense.

00:26:35Scott Trickett: Thanks for joining us, Robbo.

00:26:36Dave Robbo: Absolute pleasure, guys. Keep up the good work. I can't wait to follow you all the way to episode 100 and beyond.

00:26:38[music]

00:26:49Scott Trickett: Okay, joining us now, we're going international. We're joined by the Irish Country Manager, Matt Shields. Hi, Matt. Scott, pleased to meet you. Likewise. It's good that we can connect this way to parkrunners in Ireland. What's parkrun like at the moment in Ireland? A bit different, weather-wise in particular?

00:27:09Matt Shields: Yes, it's very different. We're in the throes of winter here. Just before Christmas, we had a lot of rain, a lot of flooding, a lot of events cancelled. Things were quite kind last week, so we're maybe heading towards better times.

00:27:25Scott Trickett: When you cancel an event in Ireland, what are you dealing with? You mentioned flooding. What else do you have to worry about?

00:27:32Matt Shields: Our biggest concern in the winter usually would be frost and ice. Black ice is really the killer. Black ice takes out a lot of events. But this year we have had a lot of very, very heavy rain, record rainfall and high winds. So we have had courses blocked, maybe trees down, and we've got a lot of courses that have flooded. We had one inaugural event that was due to start quite recently that was underwater for four weeks and only actually just got started last week. Wow.

00:28:03Scott Trickett: Yeah, that's not an ideal way to start your event, is it?

00:28:06Matt Shields: We were a little bit concerned when the water went down whether we'd still have a course, but we had one. It was okay. It was okay, but it didn't do any damage.

00:28:15Melissa Erbacher: Can I just ask Matt, do your courses mostly have actual asphalt or concrete paths or are they sort of more trail courses?

00:28:25Matt Shields: The first few to set up here were Eichfeldt, and that proved very popular. It took quite a time to really get the concept parkrun and get trail courses in, but increasingly now what we're seeing is more and more off-road type forest trails, grass. We're seeing that come in more and more, and I think it's really because the parks are getting harder and harder to find. So it is. But to start with, yes, it was all tarmac. Now it's a good mixture and it's getting better. So how many events do you have in Ireland? 45 events at the moment. So we have maybe about another three or four in the pipeline.

00:29:10Scott Trickett: Okay, so it's growing. What impact? I read about the National Activity Plan. What impact has that had on parkrun Island?

00:29:18Matt Shields: The National Activity Plan is an initiative by the Department of Health, and the Department of Health are really our major supporter. From the early days, we saw the potential of parkrun. They'll get people of all abilities out into the exercise. So they come on board, they talk to us. They have supported us right down the line. They've opened the doors of a lot of other organisations and people. So they haven't introduced us to a lot of tables. The National Activity Plan is really just formalisation of what they do, what Healthy Ireland does. And Healthy Ireland will be our major sponsor and supporter.

00:29:57Melissa Erbacher: Would Operation Transformation come in under that or is that something that's been more of an initiative from parkrun's side in Ireland?

00:30:03Matt Shields: No, the Operation Transformation is actually a TV program and it's a TV program that's aimed at getting people into the activity game. The same objectives as what we would have but basically it is a TV program. It's closely associated with the Irish Sports Council, and it would also be supported by Healthy Ireland as well. So Healthy Ireland is like an umbrella. It's the Department of Health. It's the overall overseeing body. And within that, then, there's various strands. There's the Sports Council Council. encourage people into activity. There's parkrun, so we act as a venue. And then there's Operation Transformation, which is this TV online program that essentially markets getting people into activity for a six-week period. Now, what they've done this year is that since we all have the same... current body, or they have the same body overlooking us, they said, look, could we all work together? And that's basically what has happened. So Operation Transformation has suggested to people in their six-week program that they use parkruns as one of their weekly sessions. And when it comes to the graduation in February, they hold a graduation event that's for 5,000 people in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. That actually sold out within 48 hours. So what we've said to people is that if you didn't get into the graduation event on the 20th of February, you won't do your graduation at parkrun on the 20th of February. So what we have seen over the last four weeks is that our participation numbers have gone from around 3,000, the next week it was 5,000-something, then it was 7,400, and this week it's 9,200. That's phenomenal. It is absolutely phenomenal. But it's the power of TV and the power of marketing. And also the type of people we're talking about here, the type of people that, you know, they feel comfortable in numbers. So the more the numbers grow, the more people there is, the more like people there is at the events that are walking, jogging, walking, you know, the more confident and the more comfortable they feel coming to the events. So the numbers grow.

00:32:20Scott Trickett: You have to be happy with that kind of support. You've got government on board and you've got mainstream media on board as well.

00:32:28Matt Shields: It really is fantastic. By ourselves, we could never have grown participation from 9,000 within such a... probably up to a few years. And it is really, really fantastic because it is really bringing the people to parkrun that we really want to engage with. People that are trying to get into activity, trying to learn their first 5K, trying to get into an active lifestyle. So it's fantastic. It brings the right people and it brings the numbers. I hope that at the end of this six-week TV program that, you know, I don't imagine that we'll retain the 9,000, but it would be nice that we can retain a substantial parking.

00:33:09Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I'm sure you will. I mean, six weeks is certainly enough time for people to develop a habit and to really get a taste of what we do at parkrun. So I'm sure it's the same in Ireland as it is here in Australia. People get hooked very quickly. So you might need to launch a few more events.

00:33:30Matt Shields: Yeah, I think we might need bigger parks. Yeah, I think the key thing is what you say is that people will get a taste of what we do. So it is that these people will feel that this is a place they can come to and they can be comfortable, secure. And well, time will tell. Some of the parks are, you know, we had our parks wouldn't be massive. So we're not talking over here about events where we can accommodate a thousand people. But we had nearly 800 in Marlay now, a couple of weeks ago. We had, I think, over 500 in Cork, so we had last week. It really does, the events are working at capacity.

00:34:11Melissa Erbacher: Pretty impressive numbers.

00:34:12Matt Shields: Yeah. It raises its headaches, but they're nice problems to have. Have you come across any Aussie parkrunners? We would get quite a few tourists. We would get masses of tourists, and in all sorts of strange places. We have a lot of small community parkruns right up the west coast of Ireland. Some of them, like Fair Island is one in particular. It's on an island. You have to get a ferry to run it, and there's been people turned up on Fair Island from all over the world. And we would regularly see Aussie visitors. So we would see tourists and visitors from all over the world everywhere turn up at the Irish parkruns in the summer.

00:34:51Scott Trickett: What's your marquee event? What's the one if someone was coming over, which event would you say, oh, you've got to run this one? That'll give you a good taste of Irish parkruns.

00:35:02Matt Shields: Scott, I couldn't fall under that one that lynched me.

00:35:05Scott Trickett: The top three? We're in the top three.

00:35:07Melissa Erbacher: Actually, I've got a bit of an alternative top three. What are the top three events that tourists or parkrun adventurers would most likely see a leprechaun?

00:35:23Matt Shields: parkrun events that will give you a flavor of Ireland. If you go to Bere Island, Bere Island is something special. It's really the community thing. The big thing in Ireland, I think, and I think the thing that is going to be pretty strong over here is this community ethos that the people all feel is one and pulled together. And Bear Island, from my mind, is really fantastic. It's an island that has a population of under 200 people. And every Saturday morning, a big percentage of the island all come together for parkrun. Some of them can run. Some of them can't. Some of them just like to come down and help and volunteer and marshal. But it's really just about being there. It is a community event. It's not the run that's incidental. And they all then retire to the coffee house afterwards where they sit in for maybe a couple of hours. It has to be quite an experience. Sounds like it.

00:36:19Melissa Erbacher: That one's going on the list. Have you ever been to Australia, Matt?

00:36:23Matt Shields: My daughter lived in Melbourne for just over four years. So I was out there a couple of times. So it was over the best of season. And I've actually run Melbourne parkrun a few times.

00:36:35Scott Trickett: Yeah, so you ran Albert Park, Melbourne, around the lake.

00:36:39Matt Shields: Yeah. The first time we came out, we travelled about a wee bit. I was in Sydney, Melbourne, but I spent quite a bit of time running around Melbourne, certainly in the second part of it, but really enjoyed it, yeah.

00:36:53Scott Trickett: Well, thanks for joining us, Matt. It was great to hear stories from Ireland and it was also great to hear an Irish accent. on our program. We really appreciate it. Hope to visit or adventure over in Ireland soon.

00:37:05Matt Shields: Well, if you're coming, be in touch. It'll be a warm welcome.

00:37:07[music]

Social landscape round-up (social media + anniversaries)

00:37:16Melissa Erbacher: So having a look around the social landscape this weekend, we had a few comments and photos shared with us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. One I liked in particular was from Kelly Underwood, who shared a group photo of the crew that was celebrating Bibra Lake's anniversary this weekend with an orange theme. It looked fabulous, the orange. Seriously, such a good colour. I don't see any Oompa Loompas there, Scott, though, so obviously a little bit of room for improvement.

00:37:48Scott Trickett: Yep. We questioned, well, I questioned the orange theme, but I agree with you. The photos looked great. I love a colour theme. I think it allows everyone to get involved, and orange was a great choice. So well done, Bibra Lake, and congratulations on your first anniversary. We also had underscore PK, who ran his first parkrun at Mount Barker parkrun. And he hashtagged #parkrunadventurers. He survived his first ever parkrun and loved it. What a surprise. And the Mount Barker course is just beautiful with a bunch of runners, walkers, with a great bunch of runners and walkers. Bring on next Saturday. So he's hooked after one event. So well done.

00:38:34Melissa Erbacher: And obviously he's got his priorities in order because he's already listening to the podcast and hashtagging parkrunadventures.

00:38:42Unidentified speaker: Yep.

00:38:42Scott Trickett: He's all over it. Another one who's all over it is Dadathlonblog. He was very clever. He dressed in orange and tagged parkrunadventures but didn't run at Bibra Lake. So special mention to him. He explored Phillip Island parkrun. Do we have any anniversaries this week?

00:38:59Melissa Erbacher: We do. We have Tamborine Mountain celebrating their first anniversary in Queensland this weekend. That's a fabulous parkrun. It's another trail parkrun, which is beautiful. Tiniest little creek crossing ever, but it's gorgeous.

00:39:14Scott Trickett: Is it tough? It sounds tough.

00:39:16Melissa Erbacher: It has been listed on several parkrunners' top five most difficult parkruns. I wouldn't put it in my top three, but I'm used to a lot of elevation on my trails, so I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask if it's tough.

00:39:32Scott Trickett: Do they get many people at Tambourine Mountain? Is it a big event or is it...?

00:39:36Melissa Erbacher: I believe it gets quite a few tourists, but relatively speaking, it's a smallish event, so a nice close-knit community there of runners.

00:39:45Scott Trickett: Cook's River, we're also celebrating their first anniversary. Another very original theme. Can you guess it? Have a think. Cook's River. There's your clue.

00:39:56Melissa Erbacher: Cook's. Cook's. Oh, they're not going all as master chefs, are they, Scott?

00:40:03Scott Trickett: Oh, close. They're going with an apron theme.

00:40:07Melissa Erbacher: Oh, aprons. That's great.

00:40:09Scott Trickett: It is. That's a clever one. Again, another one that everyone can get involved in. Easy to run in an apron.

00:40:15Melissa Erbacher: This is true. And, you know, if you were so inclined, you could always undo the apron strings from behind and turn it into a cape by shoving it over your shoulders backwards.

00:40:25Scott Trickett: Great work. Look forward to seeing the photos of hundreds of people running in an apron.

00:40:29Melissa Erbacher: I hope they remember to wear their running clothes underneath. That's all.

00:40:32Scott Trickett: Oven mitt. You could just be running along with your oven mitt.

00:40:35Melissa Erbacher: I'm hoping also with clothing in that situation.

00:40:39Scott Trickett: Yeah. Clothing optional. Might get more people there or might scare more people away. Who knows? So well done, Cooks River parkrun. Next week on the show, we're going to welcome back the boss, Tim Oberg. So we want questions. Last week it was – well, last month it was just you and me asking him the questions. Now the forum is open to all our parkrun adventurers. Send us some questions. We'll put them to Tim. So we'll put a post up later in the week so you can comment with some questions for him or you can email or tweet us. It's over to you guys. We're looking forward to that.

00:41:16Melissa Erbacher: And we'll also be adventuring to South Australia next week with our guest ED. We're not going to tell you who she or he is because it's going to be a surprise.

00:41:26Scott Trickett: Well, you've got me intrigued. I'm looking forward to that because we haven't heard from our South Australian friends yet. So we're done. That's it for this week. Yep. We could stay longer, but we can't.

00:41:36Melissa Erbacher: Don't forget to keep us in the loop during the week, guys. Hashtag parkrun Adventures. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all over the place. We want to see what you're up to.

00:41:44Scott Trickett: And in your run briefing, the run director says, do we have any first-timers here? Yes. Do we have any tourists here? Yes. If they say, do we have any adventurers here? You make sure you put your hand up and you shout yes.

00:41:59Melissa Erbacher: Otherwise you might break some poor man's heart.

00:42:01Scott Trickett: Yes. So do that for me this week and we'll catch up with you all next week. Bye.

00:42:06Melissa Erbacher: Yes, bye, but maybe see you at park one.