Episode 10 - Brad Beer

Episode details · 179 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:06Scott Trickett: another edition of the parkrun adventurers podcast we made it to episode 10 did you ever imagine we would get to double figures mel oh i'm yes i'm sitting here looking at both my hands again and i'm not going to count them on my fingers but i i'm looking forward to getting to the triple digits So this is a podcast about parkrun. We're not always going to talk about parkrun because there's lots of other great running events that happen throughout the year. I was at one on the weekend. It's funny. The last two weekends here in Melbourne, I've experienced my two local fun runs back to back. First off, we had the Eltham Fun Run, organized by the local YMCA. And then this week, it was Warrandyte's turn to put on their local fun run. And they couldn't be more different. I was a spectator at both of them. Warrandyte, I had the privilege or the luxury of watching Kasia compete in the 2.2k with one of her friends and it was very cute. I gave her my running watch. They were very excited to run together. It was a great setting. Warrandyte's quite hilly. It's in the bush. So they got to run around an oval first and then head out onto the road. Very well organized, really good atmosphere, great running event. Eltham wasn't as well organized, but still a fun day. I was there to support lots of my Westerfoldians. And it was also a good insight. So now that we've been involved in parkrun and putting them on for a number of years now, it's good to see how some of these local, smaller fun runs go about doing it because I can tell you what, I think they can learn a lot from just attending or getting involved with their local parkrun, engaging their parkrunners, benefiting from the relationship. But neither of these events did, but I know there are plenty that do.

00:02:17Melissa Erbacher: One such event, which some of you may have had the pleasure of actually participating in, is the Merimbula Fun Run, which has very strong connections and ties to parkrun in that its race director, Danella, is also an event director and a territory director for parkrun. So from what I understand, I haven't been to the Marimbula Fun Run. Have you been in it, Scott?

00:02:42Scott Trickett: I did. I attended last year. I organized a little bit of a road trip and it was a great event. What did you think? Yeah, great event. Danella is a very smooth operator. She's a real high achiever and she puts on a great event. And so the Maroomula Fun Run is held every year in May. So it was nice and cold leaving Melbourne. Got a bit warmer once we got to Maroomula. I think We all had a swim in the ocean, so it can't have been that cold. And this year's event's going to be held on the 29th, so you can mark that one down as a great fun run to do that embraces their local parkrun.

00:03:20Melissa Erbacher: And May's got to be a pretty good month for awesome events, because have you heard of the Warwick Pentathrun, Scotty?

00:03:27Scott Trickett: I've heard bits about it.

00:03:28Melissa Erbacher: Okay, so it's on the 21st of May this year, so it's the week before Maroombula Fun Run, but to give you a basic outline, there are five running events of five different distances run over the two days, so on the Saturday and the Sunday. And if you do all five of those events, it equals a marathon distance, which is pretty awesome. And from my understanding, you can do as many or as few of the events as you like. So if you wanted to do the 5K and the 10K, you could. If you wanted to do the 5K and the half marathon, you could. But by all accounts, it's an amazing weekend. So that's another one to look out for. Do you have a favorite running event of all time that you've ever done?

00:04:19Scott Trickett: I perhaps don't have a favourite event, individual event as such. I have a favourite series. Does that count?

00:04:25Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. What's the series?

00:04:27Scott Trickett: Okay, so the series, there's a trail running series here in Melbourne called the Salomon Trail Series. It's been going for a few years now and it's a series of four races. They start out at Studley Park.

00:04:44Melissa Erbacher: Nice.

00:04:44Scott Trickett: Which is topical. So the first race is at Studley Park, and it's all on trail. It's not massive crowds. They run it really well. Not over-commercialized, but really well-run series, and really tough, too. So you start out, long course is probably about 12 kilometers. Then each event builds up. But... I like trail running. This is through winter in Melbourne, so it's really cold. They've got some river crossings through icy water, some just wicked elevation, particularly in Race 3, which is out in the Dandenongs. And I'd have to say that's my favourite series. Does that count?

00:05:29Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. That sounds really cool.

00:05:33Scott Trickett: What about you?

00:05:35Melissa Erbacher: Well, on the Sunshine Coast, we have... a little bit of a special event. There's a township called Pomona which has got a mountain in it called Mount Cooroora. Mount Karura was actually made famous by Midnight Oil's song King of the Mountain and the race itself. King of the Mountain is run at this mountain every year in July. And so they have a Pomona King of the Mountain Festival. It's an all-day thing. They have running races for the kids. But the actual Pomona King of the Mountain race is basically you start in town and it's only four kilometers long. So you run about 1.5 kilometers to the base of the mountain. Then you go up the mountain and then you come down the mountain and run back into town. And it's... Pretty grueling. They only actually allow 100 participants every year for safety. And you actually have to apply to be a participant. So you have to fill out a paper form and post it in the mail. And then they get back to you about whether or not you've been accepted. And you need to fill in all sorts of stuff about, you know, what your running experience is and stuff about yourself and... Yeah, and then they let you know if you're going to be included, and this is my favorite event of all time. I participated a couple of years ago, and the training for it itself was lots and lots of fun. It was lots of running up and down mountains and hills, and I loved every grueling second of it. I came dead last. didn't care. It was just, I cannot explain how much fun this event was. They have SES who go and climb the mountain ahead of time, so they've got them sort of dotted all the way up and down the mountain just in case, you know, there's an emergency. At the very top where you turn around, they put a mark on your arm so that people at the bottom know you made it to the top and they they check check off your number and things like that they actually have cups of water for everyone and they literally have exactly 100 cups of water so by the time I got to the top there's this rock with this one little plastic cup of water just for me and oh I was so grateful for that water and that 30 seconds that I stopped to drink and appreciate the view before I made my way back down and um There's a sub 30 club. So if you finish the race in under 30 minutes, you get to join the sub 30 club. I'm proud to be a member of the sub 80 minute club. I don't think it took me quite 80 minutes to get all the way up and down and into town. But yeah, I mean, brilliant, brilliant event. If you can come up, I mean, they have the World Thong Throwing Competition as one of the events in the festival beforehand. So it's a great family day out as well. The actual race, the big race of the day is held at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. So fantastic. But the rest of the day it's all market stalls and rides and the shorter family races and things like that. Such a fun day.

00:09:03Scott Trickett: So is the race the feature of the festival?

00:09:07Melissa Erbacher: It's the highlight and how the festival finishes. So many people would be familiar with the King of the Mountains song and a lot of them would think that it actually relates to Peter Brock who was at Mount Panorama, you know, They all thought he was the king of the mountain. But it's literally the lyrics and the song were written about this race. So little known fact. And it all belongs in this tiny little town called Pomona in the hinterland on the Sunshine Coast.

00:09:40Scott Trickett: Well, sounds awesome. I'm curious about the 100-runner cap, though. What's the criteria for entry? Is it first in?

00:09:50Melissa Erbacher: It's not first in. So basically, I think what they do is they try, obviously, if you're a previous winner of previous years, then you get the number one bib. And you get automatic entry. They actually have a sister event called the Karawara King of the Mountain Festival in New Zealand. And I probably really pronounced that incorrectly as well. But the winners here get to go over to New Zealand and race that event. And New Zealand send a big contingent of runners over every year as well. So any runners they send, and when I say big contingent, I'm talking, you know, between six and ten people. come over from new zealand to run the event so um if you've done it it is it is 10 of the field and um i i was very grateful to be accepted possibly i was accepted because they like to encourage more female participants because it is a largely male dominated event um there is one lady named leslie who does the event every year and she's actually a teacher in pomona and um So yeah, she's in it all the time. But yeah, they get quite a broad spectrum of people involved. And you do obviously have to sign a death waiver. to be able to do it. Fortunately, nobody's ever been injured in this event. The climb up the mountain is essentially like goat track in many spots and you have to give way to the people coming down. If you see the people coming down, especially the leaders, you understand why because these guys do it in 23 and a half, 24 minutes. Which is absolutely insane. You might think, okay, yeah, four kilometers, whatever. The mountain itself is 438 meters high. So they're running 1.5 K to the base and then 438 up, 438 down. And these guys literally just practically jump off the top and um yeah they they just skip across a couple of rocks on the way down so if you you don't get out of their way then there's several people going to die so yeah you have to give way to the people coming down it's impressive to see isn't it trail running downhill trail running is a real skill it is you need to have you know the surety of a mountain goat i think

00:12:18Scott Trickett: Yeah. My good mate, Matt Fullerton, he'll like the call out. He's a faster runner than me, but going downhill, he's no good. I can always run away from him. I think it's got to do with body mass and I'm using my momentum going down the hill. I'm not putting myself in the category of other good trail runners, but to see some people fly down the hill and fly up it is very impressive.

00:12:44Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, I have to say the only event that I have ever actually overtaken someone was a trail run that I did a couple of years ago and I overtook them on the downhill just because either I don't care as much on the way down or I think what it actually is is that you feel like a kid again and you just go all out and you go so fast you wouldn't be able to stop safely if you had to. You just... Go fast until the ground levels out a bit and you can slow down then.

00:13:16Scott Trickett: Yeah, I think that's part of it. It's like you're pushing it. So where is your safety limit? Because you know that you're going to fall if you trip. And in fact, in the Solomon series last year, I did fall. I had a good old tumble. And if there was a rock where I fell, I probably wouldn't be here. But I bounced off, hit some grass, hit some twigs. And running downhill is about finding your limit of where you're prepared to fall over.

00:13:43Melissa Erbacher: Yes, I think so. Good fun though.

00:13:46Scott Trickett: It is great fun.

00:13:48Melissa Erbacher: I think it has to have that element of this could really hurt if I do something wrong to make it a little bit more fun.

00:13:56Scott Trickett: That's what trail running is all about, the fear of falling. We're two events in at Studley, which is a trail run. It's a pretty mild trail. It's gravel trail and a bit of dirt here and there. No one's fallen over yet.

00:14:10Melissa Erbacher: No one joining the Stack Club at Studley yet.

00:14:13Scott Trickett: Not yet. Nobody's asked for a Band-Aid or reported it.

00:14:18Melissa Erbacher: Have you noticed, this is what I always do at the trail run events, you look at people from behind and you see whether or not they have dirty bums and that's how you can tell because people aren't going to own up to it. It's when you see they've got like a shoulder that's got some brown on it that wasn't there to start with or, you know, the kind of scuff marks from meeting the foliage a little bit too close. That's when you know that somebody's had a bit of a stack and haven't told you.

00:14:44Scott Trickett: Well you'll get to experience a trail parkrun this Saturday. Are you looking forward to visiting us?

00:14:51Melissa Erbacher: I'm really looking forward to visiting you and checking out Studley. I can't wait to get across that suspension bridge to be honest.

00:15:00Scott Trickett: Well I ran it on Saturday. The suspension bridge is fun.

00:15:05Melissa Erbacher: Excellent. I'm not sure I'll get to run it though. I might have to just sort of wait until people have comfortably gone so that when I run across by myself, it doesn't trip them all up and get them all wiggly under the legs.

00:15:25Scott Trickett: Well, I said this on the show last week. If you run across the bridge, it's fine. And if there's a few people on it, it's fine. But if you walk across it by yourself, which I've done a few times... It really bounces. Have you tried skipping? No. I'd guarantee to fall over and trip if I did that. I think Kasia was skipping on Saturday, so I'll ask her. And now it's time to talk to one of our parkrun adventurers, Brad Beer. Brad loves parkrun, but he's also written a book to help us stop getting injured or overcome our injuries, something that all runners will eventually come across. Welcome to the pod, Brad. Thank you, Scott. Thank you, Mel.

Guest interview — Brad Beer

00:16:19Melissa Erbacher: Scotty, you just said all runners will get injured. I have to interject here and actually tell you that I haven't actually been injured yet in my running career.

00:16:30Brad Beer: Mel, you are an example of what runners can aspire to. Running doesn't have to result in injury.

00:16:37Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I love that. I'm an example of what runners can aspire to. I think we can just end the interview right there and play that on repeat for the rest of the podcast.

00:16:46Brad Beer: Can't get any better, right?

00:16:47Melissa Erbacher: No, not at all.

00:16:48Scott Trickett: I've been telling you that from the beginning, Mel. I'm the same as Mel too, Brad. I haven't suffered too many injuries in my so-called running career. So perhaps we could start with what are we doing right?

00:17:02Brad Beer: Well, guys, Scott, Mel, good question. What I've found, though, and this sort of sets the framework for the book, is there's five things that over the years of both running and being a health professional in the physiotherapy space working with runners, I discovered that there's really intuitively I always applied this to any runner that was injured that I saw in the physiotherapy room. But when I took a zoomed-out approach, I realized that there were five things Key ingredients, if you like, a bit like baking a cake that needed to be there to produce injury-free running. So guys, without knowing your full training histories and your weekly training routine, etc., What you're probably doing right is you're getting the bulk of those five key ingredients, if you like, or five key steps in place. And whether that's through just pure good luck at the moment or serendipity or purpose and intentional work, I'm not sure. But that's most likely what's happening. But it's great. Let's not change it.

00:18:06Scott Trickett: What are the most common injuries that you come across that come into your clinic?

00:18:10Brad Beer: The most common ones that I see are stress reactions. So, you know, these are the good old shin splints, as we term them, or people know them. Stress reactions of the feet, guys. So that can be the toe bones, the long bones of the toe. Then we see the good old barrage of Achilles tendon problems. There's a few categories of those from the reactive tendon that flares up with the overzealous runner through to the degenerate chronic tendon that's just this ongoing saga for the runner. Right through, guys, to your strains of quads and hammies and things like that. And then you've got your very popular, it's probably not the right word, but very common ITB friction syndrome, hip impingement, those sorts of conditions.

00:18:59Scott Trickett: So give us the one tip. I know you've got five, but give us the one thing to avoid injuries. What's the most important thing we have to look out for?

00:19:07Brad Beer: oh scott that is a top question um i will try and give you an answer that's you know specific to your question and if i had to pick one scott of the five um they are written in sequence but i'm actually going to tip the sequence on its head scott and talk about the power of rest which is another way of saying in short tongue-in-cheek don't mess up your training program

00:19:35Melissa Erbacher: I've got to say my rest days in my training program are my favorite training days.

00:19:40Brad Beer: Well, Mel, you said at the start, you know, you're an injury-free runner. The wisdom you've got there is probably a big part of it. So well done.

00:19:48Melissa Erbacher: Wisdom or laziness, I'll let you decide.

00:19:52Brad Beer: Let's go with wisdom, eh?

00:19:53Scott Trickett: Much more of a nice character trait. I'm glad you said that because sometimes, see, when you're at parkrun and you're a run director, And particularly with parkrunners, it attracts new runners. And so when they see someone up there telling you what to do, I've had it happen a couple of times. People will come up to me and ask for advice. They'll say, so I've got this niggle in my knee. What should I do? And the first thing is I say is go see a physio. But I also do say don't go crazy. Don't go from a base of zero to 20Ks in one week. Is that what you're hinting at?

00:20:28Brad Beer: Yeah, Scott, that's great. And there's so much hearsay about this person said to do this, this person said to say that. But there are some very practical rules of thumb, if you like, that help particularly beginner runners. And the mantra I've often heard saying is that just don't spike your training volume or just don't spike your training load. So in other words... you know, don't go from zero kilometers a week to 20 at pace because that's a big spike in load for your body. You know, it's as big of a spike as it is for the runner that's, you know, seasoned, that's running 50, 60, 70K a week, week in, week out, that goes from that to, you know, 30, 40K on top. So it's those spikes that tend to cause a lot of trouble for things like tendons and stress responses in the bones. So, you know, a rule of thumb, which, you know, there's a few around, but 10 or 15% incremental increases allowing for some rest days is, you know, is a good safety net.

00:21:27Scott Trickett: Let's talk about your parkrun journey. You like to run fast, don't you?

00:21:34Brad Beer: It's funny, I actually, here on the Gold Coast, in our practice, Libby Sargent, or Libby Maxwell, married name, is one of the race directors, and I've often, Libby and I have chatted, and it's been quite funny. She says, you're so fast, and I say, Lib, I know there's plenty of people faster than me, so I certainly know where I live in the world running scene, all the pecking order guys, and locally, I might be one of the runners at the pointy end, but internationally, I know that there's plenty out there faster than me.

00:22:07Melissa Erbacher: Have you ever run a parkrun that took you more than 20 minutes?

00:22:11Brad Beer: Mel, I haven't. I haven't. I remember the first parkrun. It was, I think, the first parkrun in Australia at Main Beach. And, you know, for the last seven or eight years in my Mark II of my running career, I had a bit of an eight-year break in between doing it flat out as a junior triathlete and then coming back as an adult. But in this Mark II, this phase two of my running life, I've I've always sort of been, I guess, trying to explore my potential and see what I can do. So I've always, when I've stepped onto a parkrun running line bar, I think one or two occasions where I've just partnered someone around, I've always just tried to give it my best shot in terms of maximum output.

00:22:55Melissa Erbacher: So you're fast then. This is what we're establishing here. You gave us a bit of a slidey, roundy answer before. You weren't going to own that you were fast, but sub-20-minute parkruns, that's on the quicker end, definitely. Yeah.

00:23:11Brad Beer: Oh, look, my best, my most memorable parkrun was before the Gold Coast Marathon, not this year, but the year before. And Rowan Walker, who's a great marathoner from Australia and certainly someone I respect, he was on the Gold Coast visiting. He took to the start line. I was trying to get ready, actually. That year I decided to race the Gold Coast 10 because I was trying to get my 10k PB down. And um and i was like great this i'm gonna be able to chase rowan and i think i stayed with him for about two and a half k and then he dropped the hammer and put big a bigger gap so um it's probably my most memorable that was my pb parkrun with with uh rowan went on to i think they're about a minute quicker but uh he's another lead okay so i want to set you a parkrun adventure brad please i want you to run a 25 minute parkrun Nice. All right. I'll accept the challenge, Scott and Mel.

parkrun adventure challenge (guest challenge)

00:24:03Scott Trickett: Good. You can go slower than 25. So I want you to really kick into cruise mode and meet some of those people in the front end middle pack, parkrunners.

00:24:13Brad Beer: But I've always long appreciated, guys, the... one of the biggest kicks I get out of running events, parkrun or whatever it is, is, you know, is getting there and cheering people through. I just think it's fantastic because we're, everyone's running the same distance and, you know, in many ways, I think the greater effort is with the person that's, you know, the first timer that might be coming through in the, you know, the back end of the field. I mean, literally they are the ones that are out there doing it harder for longer. Right. So, and that's one of the things I love about parkrun is it's, You know, individual, you can do it as fast as you like. But really, everyone's only out there to try and improve themselves. And I think it's a real buzz and it's not a pressurized environment. So it's a unique event, isn't it?

00:25:01Melissa Erbacher: It is absolutely a unique event. I have to ask though, Brad, you're a physio by trade, yes?

00:25:09Brad Beer: Correct.

00:25:10Melissa Erbacher: So is the word out at Main Beach parkrun and you just get approached by a lot of parkrunners saying, oh, my calf's giving me issues or my hip feels a little bit pointy, you know, can you take a look at it? Or do you just, you know, send them to your practice?

00:25:26Brad Beer: Oh, Mel, good question. I get questions asked often wherever I am, and I don't mind. I genuinely love what I do, and one of the greatest thrills is just being able to help. I mean, in a commercial or non-commercial sense, it's the same satisfaction you get from being able to help. So, Mel, I'm more than happy if I'm not having to get off so my wife can go to work on a you know, look after a little girl to be there answering questions until whenever it's, you know, needed. So Mel, yeah, often getting questions but I never find that a burden. I always find that a pleasure.

00:26:02Melissa Erbacher: Oh, you might have just opened Pandora's box now.

00:26:06Brad Beer: More than happy, more than happy. You know, the tips that people often ask for are great for keeping injuries at bay, but they're also good for people to, you know, explore their potential and, you know, discover the joys of, you know, following that next level of their running and, you know, that sort of stuff. So it's good stuff.

00:26:24Scott Trickett: Okay, what about your levers with? We've established your fast. Give us one tip for everyone else to run fast. What's the one thing you've done that's helped you improve your PB?

00:26:35Brad Beer: Yeah, Scott, you are a master of good questions, but I like them. Scott, I would say... And then, you know, there's the five ingredients, but if I had to boil it down to one, I'd actually boil it down to one of the five incidental steps of technique, Scott. And so this is something that certainly, you know, in my younger triathlon years, I run much faster as an adult than I did then, and it doesn't make sense. But one of the things that's made a difference is when I came back into running as a sport, I... paid attention to, it's often spoken about, but my cadence, my turnover rate, and it's probably one of the major flaws that I see runners of any ability making, and that's equating going faster with bigger steps. That's actually putting the cart before the horse. So going faster, yes, the greater speed means the stride length will be longer but not at the cost of the quick turnover rate of the legs. So Scott, the one tip would be check your cadence and you want to do that by counting how many times your foot lands inside one minute. And the ideal number is close or right on 90 steps a minute.

00:27:48Melissa Erbacher: 92 you say in the book?

00:27:50Brad Beer: I think I might comment that it's 88 to 92, Mel, but the sweet spot's 90, yeah.

00:27:58Melissa Erbacher: That's just one foot, so does that mean 180 steps per minute?

00:28:02Brad Beer: Correct.

00:28:03Melissa Erbacher: That's three per second.

00:28:06Brad Beer: Correct. Yep. But I like to, um, which sounds when you do the maths, I think that's not possible, but it's, it's, it's more than possible. It's, you know, it's practice worldwide for all distances and except for sprinting. We're not talking about sprinting here, but, uh,

00:28:21Melissa Erbacher: I do like your tip in the book to just count one leg because obviously trying to count to 180 in one minute while trying to run and stand up.

00:28:31Brad Beer: It's not going to happen, which is why I break it down and say, look, count one leg and just get your steps. And anything less than 90 technically will mean that the runner's foot is probably landing down a little bit further in front of their body. um and putting some breaking forces on which in effect create a slower speed and also a much heightened risk of injury so um and people ask well how long do i practice this for and i say count one minute of every five minutes until your cadence fairly consistently gets to that 90 steps a minute or within a step or two of it and um gosh there's some fascinating reports come back not just about reduction in injuries but The things that often get runners more excited is, oh, I've run a new PB or I didn't think I'd ever be able to do that distance. So it really is probably the one critical fact that then sets the path for all the other little technique tweaks and things, guys.

00:29:26Melissa Erbacher: Do you ever get any feedback that somebody's tripped trying to make their legs move that fast?

00:29:31Brad Beer: No, I haven't had that. I do get feedback, Mel, that when people start to try and do this, that they feel a little bit more taxed in terms of energy. It feels like it's harder to run with a quicker cadence. Yes, there is a slight increase in oxygen cost to get your cadence going initially, but that quickly passes. So it's only the first couple of weeks I find where people feel like that. But it doesn't have to happen overnight. And, you know, I like to make it clear for runners that this is one of the key things that will determine their ability of improving their running pace, if that's their goal, or decreasing injury risk. And it's not a matter of will it happen? It will happen, but it doesn't have to happen overnight. So, you know, Enjoy the process. People put a bit of pressure on themselves. It has to be perfect the moment they learn about something. I just don't think that there's longevity in that.

00:30:31Scott Trickett: Okay, so it's PBs for you and I this week, Mel. Congratulations already. Just move your legs faster.

00:30:38Melissa Erbacher: Ironically, I'm volunteering as the tail runner this week. If I get a PB, I don't think there'd be a lot of happy runners.

00:30:48Brad Beer: I know our event director here on the Gold Coast at Main Beach, sorry, Libby, she did the, I think it might have been the tail runner position, but she was walking the event and I saw her this morning and she said, that was one of the best experiences I've had is actually taking my time to connect with people and hear their stories. And she was just buzzing with it. So good on you, Mel. Yeah.

00:31:14Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, there is a lot of cheering you can do on course when you're the tail runner. And you also have the benefit of appreciating the landscape and the atmosphere while you're going. And it's not all over in 20 minutes or less.

00:31:26Brad Beer: Yeah, makes you get the most out of the experience.

00:31:28Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. Value for money.

00:31:31Brad Beer: Yeah, well, we're talking about parkrun, right? Yeah, we are, absolutely. Which is, you know, one of the greatest examples of a community that's, you know, what an incredible story it is.

00:31:45Scott Trickett: It is and will continue to be. Thanks for the hot tips this week, Brad. We really appreciate it. And I hope your parkrun journey and parkrun adventures continue.

00:31:57Melissa Erbacher: We look forward to hearing about your 25-minute parkrun.

00:32:01Brad Beer: I will report back in, Scott and Mel, and thanks for having me on the show, and certainly I'm planning to be a parkrun adventurer for many years to come.

Tim Oberg listener Q&A

00:32:26Scott Trickett: We're excited. Tim's excited. He is here with us now to answer your questions. Welcome to the pod, Tim.

00:32:33Tim Oberg: Mate, I'm excited. It's great to be here for another round of questions, the probing questions from the parkrunning public. Hit me.

00:32:40Scott Trickett: Good. We're going to start with a question we got on last week's episode. It was from Jacob from Gdynia. He wants to know if you will fund our trip to Poland.

00:32:51Tim Oberg: Well, first of all, it's Jakub, not Jacob. Nice Australian pronunciation.

00:32:57Scott Trickett: He was Jakub last week, but he's become Jacob this week.

00:33:03Tim Oberg: Jacob from Australia. Right, so will I fund your trip to Poland, as in you too?

00:33:10Melissa Erbacher: Yes, this is a very important question.

00:33:12Tim Oberg: Well, I mean, how many listeners are we getting, 1,000 a week? So I think if every listener puts in $4, then there's your return airfares to Poland. So I think there's no need for parkrun Australia to fund it because that's simply, you know, robbing from the funds that could launch another parkrun event. However, if we set up a, you know, a bit of a GoFundMe or a, you know, whatever we want to call it, $4 per listener for Scott and Mel to go to Poland to broadcast parkrun adventures. That seems like a good deal to me. What do you think, guys? So the answer was no.

00:33:53Melissa Erbacher: But he gave us an alternative solution, which I really like.

00:33:57Tim Oberg: I don't think it's a bad idea.

00:34:00Scott Trickett: To your knowledge, have there been any, like, tour-operated trips, parkrun-related?

00:34:07Tim Oberg: Uh, you know, in the UK, there has been, I don't know if they've been a tour operator or just a savvy parkrunner who has actually taken, well, sort of organized groups of people to go to Poland. I don't think he was a tour operator himself, but it was just kind of like, hey, who wants to go to Poland? I'm going. Um, and I know that, um, Jacob was actually wondering, is he, you know, do we sort of endorse this kind of thing? So it was an interesting one. I think there's actually good scope for, you know, a bit of organised parkrun tourism. It's a bit hard in Australia because their distances are so big, but certainly over in the UK, I think with such small distances and Europe being so close that it's possible. But, you know, it's happening. parkrun tourism is happening, as we all know. So a little bit of coordination never hurt.

00:35:00Melissa Erbacher: We've got a question from Marianne who wants to let everyone know that Highlands held a Clean Up Australia Day thing at their course after parkrun on Saturday. It was very well attended and they managed to fill a small skip with everything from plastic bags to fishing rods. And she wants to know, could this be a formal yearly event for all Australian parkruns to give back to our communities for letting us use the courses each week?

00:35:28Tim Oberg: I do. I really like this. And this is something. I know that Main Beach parkrun on the Gold Coast, for example, have worked there with some local environmental groups to ensure that their course is looked after and so on. But look, I think it's a great idea. you know ultimately we're blessed to be running in these beautiful open spaces and we have a responsibility to make sure that they're well looked after and I'd like to think parkrunners do that anyway but you know I didn't even know Clean Up Australia was coming so that says what a bubble I'm in but if we want to look at it next year then I would say yes Marianne contact me send me an email tim at parkrun.com give us a six weeks notice and I think we can probably do something

00:36:18Scott Trickett: Great. I agree. I think it's a good idea. Next one from Will. Will sent us about 10 questions, but I'm going to summarize it. Will's worried about the commercialization and the commercial aspect of parkrun Australia. He wanted to know why did Adidas leave as a major sponsor? Are we going to replace them? And if not... He's suggesting that we could contribute a gold coin every week. So maybe parkrun is not free every week.

00:36:52Tim Oberg: Gee, big questions. Controversial questions there. All right, so... Just for the listeners out there, Adidas was our first major national sponsor. They were the sponsor for the first three years of parkrun's existence and it was a three-year contract and when the contract came to an end, we had a discussion and both parties chose not to renew it. Strategically, Adidas were moving in a different direction and I think we were as well a little bit. So there's nothing sinister behind any of that. We've still got a great relationship with Adidas but they're just not a partner in Australia anymore. We don't need to replace them like for like in terms of replacing them with another competitor in the sports brand market because we've got global relationships overseas with Tribe Sports who create our club shirts So anyone who's got one of the beautiful new Tribesports club shirts, that is a global relationship and so therefore I'm not looking for any sports brand partners in Australia. Of course we are always looking for new partners but because of the overseas relationships there's no desire to look for a sporting brand in Australia right now. uh what was the next question gold coin donation although i appreciate the sentiment it's not something that we're looking to do either and we don't like our event teams to have to handle cash at events because that just creates all sorts of complications in our what is very simple event model um and and you know to be perfectly honest parkrun australia is in very good health financially we've got great support from our partners we've got great support from various levels of government um so there's no real requirement for for that to happen at this point in terms of parkrunners putting their hands in their pockets although we do of course really appreciate the donations that come in to parkrun australia i think last year we got about twenty thousand dollars worth of donations from from parkrunners so um so yeah everything's in good shape that way um and certainly no need to look to do uh you know shake the tin so to speak at parkruns to um to help us survive i think that was will's concern i think he's worried about parkrun becoming quite commercial because i guess he goes along sees this great event happening and just wondering how and who is paying for it but Well, I'll jump in there, Scott. Tom Williams, my friend and colleague in the UK, who I'm sure you'll have on this podcast at some point, tells a great story that he has a reference point for what parkrun should always look like, no matter how many commercial partners we end up having, no matter how many events, how many countries. He always relates parkrun back to his very first ever parkrun, which was at Bushy Park. I think it was about seven years ago or something like that. And Tom turned up in Bushy Park at quarter to nine. There was no one around. There were no flags. He couldn't see anyone. He thought he was in the wrong place. And then he asked a few people and they said, no, you're in the right place. And at about five minutes later, a couple of flags went in the ground. Tom said, where do I put my bag? And I said, oh, you can throw your bag under the tree. And, and then five minutes later they were off and running and they never had a coffee afterwards. And so, so that's Tom's reference point as to parkrun should never move too far away from looking just like that, where it's just a run in the park. a couple of flags in the ground, minimal commercial sort of in your face messaging and really everyone just having a fun time and having a coffee and breakfast afterwards. So if we ever get too far away from that will, let us know and we'll certainly do our best to make sure that I guess the parkrun spirit is always preserved.

00:40:55Melissa Erbacher: So we have another question. This one's from Danella and it relates to the recent post on the parkrun Australia page with a couple of very enticing pictures of the Sydney Opera House. And Danella wants to know what is the actual likelihood of the Opera House parkrun becoming a reality?

00:41:14Tim Oberg: So the likelihood of this happening, look, it all comes down to one thing, I think. is who is in charge of the path because if it falls under the auspice of city of sydney council then i think we've got a shot because we've already got a good relationship with city of sydney council through our existing parkrun at st peter's And so then we can have a conversation. However, if the path is under the control of the Centennial and Moore Park Trust, then I don't think it will happen because they've got some very strict sort of higher fees around usage of their parks. And for the listeners out there who don't know, parkrun does not pay councils or landowners for the use of the park because of the community service that we're providing. So if it's Centennial and Moore Park Trust, it's probably not going to happen. If it's City of Sydney, then certainly we can strike up a conversation. And, yeah, we'll see. It really just depends on where the boundary of Centennial Park and Moor Park Trust also oversee the botanical gardens and I think the domain and basically a lot of that open space. But if it doesn't extend out onto the pathways down on the harbour, then we could be in luck. So, yeah, we've got to find that out. We'll see.

00:42:39Scott Trickett: Okay, Tim, that's all the questions we've got. How's your parkrunning going at the moment?

00:42:44Tim Oberg: Well, look, long story short, I actually ran an early beach parkrun personal best on Saturday just gone. which was 20 minutes and 40 seconds, which is... Well, that's a long way off my... My all-time best is 18.23 at the red-hot fast Kira parkrun on the Gold Coast. So it's a lot hotter up here, and that sort of takes its toll. Not that I'm trying to make excuses, but I've got this niggling Achilles issue going on at the moment. I can't remember if we've discussed this on previous... or not, so I'm sort of having to tiptoe around it and I'm doing a lot of strengthening work and running. And look, my running's okay, but it's just kind of gnawing away at me and I really don't want to do any damage. So it's okay without being great, if that makes sense.

00:43:41Scott Trickett: Is that all the questions you got for me?

00:43:43Tim Oberg: I was like pumped.

00:43:44Melissa Erbacher: I actually have another question that we could ask.

00:43:47Tim Oberg: Yeah, go on.

00:43:49Melissa Erbacher: Okay, so Tribe Sports, you mentioned a little bit earlier on when you were answering another question, has been a global partner of parkrun. So the apricot tees that have been customisable in the UK were very, very popular and sold out within a number of hours. And I understand that performance teas... are coming in both men's and women's that can be customizable in other countries as well. And the future range, they've got a coming later in 2016 and there are singlets, no sleeves. What can you tell us about this, Tim? Very important in Australia.

00:44:27Tim Oberg: Wow. I know, and we've been banging on about Aussies wanting to buy singlets, or vests as our friends in the UK call them, for forever. Now, I'm told, don't quote me on this, but obviously it's about to go on the podcast, I'm told that the vests will be available in April, but non-customisable. There's just going to be a stock ... wallaby gold, I mean, parkrun apricot, and then I hadn't seen that Mel, I'm just looking at it now. So yeah, I'm told April, but I mean, look, these things do have a habit of, you know, being delayed and so on. But certainly I know that the, you know, what they've done so far has been a big hit. And I do believe that I've actually seen on Facebook a few sneaky little Aussie parkrunners have got customised shirts for Australia when they were only meant to be customised for the UK. They've still got the Union Jack flag on them, but they've snuck the cheeky little Aussie event names under parkrun on the front there. So they're going to become collector's items, I think. because they were kind of underneath the radar.

00:45:41Scott Trickett: Singlets have been long overdue in Australia, so that is good news. Can we customize them so they don't have that design on the back?

00:45:48Tim Oberg: Well, I don't think the plan is to have such a big design on the back. I think that's kind of for the t-shirts, I'm pretty sure. Again, don't quote me on this. For the thousand people listening, don't quote me.

00:46:09Scott Trickett: It's a bit more than that now, Tim.

00:46:12Tim Oberg: Oh, 2,000. Well, that means it's less money per head to get you guys to poll it. Maybe that needs to be your goal, 4,000 listeners, which equals two $2,000 return flights to Poland if they give a dollar each.

00:46:30Melissa Erbacher: I'm pretty sure my husband and Scotty's wife would be a little bit disappointed if they didn't get to come to Poland with us.

00:46:38Tim Oberg: So we're fundraising for them now on the podcast, aren't we?

00:46:41Melissa Erbacher: Well, you know, they do a lot of behind-the-scenes support.

00:46:44Tim Oberg: Oh, right. Okay, well, I think on that note.

00:46:49Scott Trickett: Yes, thank you, Tim.

00:46:50Tim Oberg: All right, guys, pleasure. Keep up the great work. And to all the listeners, thanks for your ongoing support of parkrun.

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter submissions)

00:47:04Scott Trickett: You might be a bit sad this week, Mel.

00:47:08Melissa Erbacher: Why's that, Scotty?

00:47:09Scott Trickett: We don't have any roving adventurers.

00:47:12Melissa Erbacher: What's up with that?

00:47:16Scott Trickett: No submissions this week. I think maybe they heard Gary last week and thought, no, the bar has been set too high.

00:47:24Melissa Erbacher: Look, guys, don't worry about it. I don't have a radio voice. Not everybody sounds like Gary Clark.

00:47:31Scott Trickett: Yeah, our bar is pretty low, so keep them coming in.

00:47:37Melissa Erbacher: We have no standards here. Just talk to someone, send it to us, we'll probably use it.

Social media round-up

00:47:44Scott Trickett: We're still active on social media, so let's have a quick look around. There's a bit of a Melbourne thing to our Instagram post this week. We missed John Z. Webb last week. He visited Westerfold's parkrun with his son, and he found the hills were a bit exhausting, so he headed back to Coburg this week. We had a nice photo of the Albert Melbourne run director, John. He always brings his...

00:48:12Melissa Erbacher: Inimitable.

00:48:13Scott Trickett: Inimitable style to the job. Well done, John. And finally, Chris Wade was in Melbourne. He was volunteering at Jells parkrun. He said it was great fun, great people.

00:48:28Melissa Erbacher: And there was also a little picture from Sandy Shell's life. They were on their way with their kids up to the Sunshine Coast from Brisbane. And she said, the things we do for parkrun. 4.45am starts so we can go hang out at our fave parkrun with our fave Zoolanders.

00:48:46Scott Trickett: They sound like great people. They are great people. And we also had a bunch of submissions from our regulars. miss spelt Kavira running guy Ryan underscore PK we love all them so keep them coming in so where's the cake this week Scotty this week we do have three anniversaries we'll start at Parramatta where they're celebrating their third they're going for the brightest fluoro and a party hat if you like

Where's the cake? (parkrun anniversaries wrap-up)

00:49:15Melissa Erbacher: I'm glad they quantified the if you like situation there because have you ever run in a party hat, Scotty?

00:49:20Scott Trickett: Yep, I have.

00:49:22Melissa Erbacher: It doesn't end up on your head by the end of the run. Same with wigs. Wigs either get really sweaty or they, yeah, wigs don't really work when you're running in my opinion.

00:49:34Scott Trickett: I've gone all right with a wig. What I struggled with is a moustache one time. That kept coming off.

00:49:41Melissa Erbacher: Couldn't you grow a moustache? You are a boy.

00:49:44Scott Trickett: Not on short notice.

00:49:46Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay. You need to pre-plan these sorts of costumes.

00:49:49Scott Trickett: I need a couple of days' notice for that.

00:49:51Melissa Erbacher: Gotcha.

00:49:52Scott Trickett: Moving right along to Albury Wodonga.

00:49:55Brad Beer: Great theme.

00:49:56Scott Trickett: It's for their second anniversary. Bright tights and tutus.

00:50:00Melissa Erbacher: Yep. I'm going to be stopping in to check out the photos in that one. Bright tights and tutus. Although I don't think I've got any tights that would be bright enough for that. I love having... A gap in my wardrobe highlighted. Okay.

00:50:16Scott Trickett: So bright tights.

00:50:18Melissa Erbacher: Bright tights. It's on the Christmas list.

00:50:21Scott Trickett: It's a good course, Aubrey Wodonga. You do actually cross over. So you start in New South Wales, cross over to Victoria, which is a much better part of the course, and then you finish back.

00:50:31Melissa Erbacher: I actually found the Aubrey side was very shady and beautiful.

00:50:39Scott Trickett: Picture-esque, but the substance is in the Vic part of the course.

00:50:46Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Interesting that they chose to start and finish in Albury, though.

00:50:51Scott Trickett: Moving right along. We'll hopefully have some roving adventurers from their anniversary. Rounding out the anniversary wrap-up, Dawesville over in WA. They made it to one year.

00:51:04Melissa Erbacher: Good on you, Dawesville. Yay.

00:51:06Scott Trickett: Yay.

00:51:07Melissa Erbacher: And they're having an 80s rad retro run. That's going to be awesome too.

00:51:14Scott Trickett: The themes are good. They're starting to, they're fun. Bright colours, easy to do.

00:51:21Melissa Erbacher: And three parties this weekend. New South Wales has got one and a half. Victoria's got half and Western Australia's got one. Queensland, I'm feeling a little bit, oh, you know what? I'll come to Victoria. That's what I'll do this weekend.

00:51:35Tim Oberg: Well, we're also having a launch down here in Victoria.

00:51:38Scott Trickett: Bairnsdale's kicking off.

00:51:40Melissa Erbacher: Bairnsdale.

00:51:42Scott Trickett: It's another country one over in the east part of the state.

00:51:50Melissa Erbacher: Did you know that bairn is a word they use in Scotland for a baby?

00:51:55Scott Trickett: No.

00:51:55Melissa Erbacher: I wonder where they got the name Bairnsdale from. Well, isn't Dale a, you know, a natural environment situation? Like a dale is not a valley, but it's a – I'm really showing my intelligence here, aren't I?

00:52:14Scott Trickett: Well, I'm not helping you, so I've got no idea what you're talking about.

00:52:19Melissa Erbacher: Maybe we need to clarify what a dale is. Do we have time to Google it, dictionary.com?

00:52:25Scott Trickett: Yeah, click Google. I'll wait. I'll entertain the listeners.

00:52:31Melissa Erbacher: Use your singing voice.

00:52:34[music]

00:52:34Scott Trickett: Danke schön, darling. You got an answer for me yet? [German: "Thank you very much, darling."]

00:52:44Melissa Erbacher: I don't. I can't type fast enough when you're singing in German. Well, it is. It's a valley, especially a broad valley. So maybe it's Bairnsdale is a baby valley.

00:52:56Scott Trickett: Well, if you know the answer... How would you go about getting a message to the parkrun Adventurers, Mel? What's the easiest way to get in contact with us?

00:53:10Melissa Erbacher: The easiest way would be to drop us a Facebook message. But there's heaps of ways you can get in contact with us. Most commonly, people like to Instagram us. They hashtag parkrun Adventurers, which you can do on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. You could also email us. What's our email address, Scotty?

00:53:31Scott Trickett: parkrunadventurers at gmail.com That one's pretty easy to remember. Next week, we're going to be recording our podcast on location together in the same place. So that's something to look out for in episode 11.

00:53:50Melissa Erbacher: And it's going to be in a parkrun location.

00:53:58Scott Trickett: We'll leave it there. Hope you join us next week.

00:54:03Melissa Erbacher: It's going to be super fun.