Episode 17 - South Australia

Episode details · 99 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:10[crosstalk]

00:00:10Scott Trickett: back to the parkrun adventurers podcast we have a new look so we have a new sound by the sounds of it scotty you're talking about me or the music i'm talking about you this week Well, keen listeners would have also noticed new music at the start, but I am a bit under the weather. But such is my commitment to parkrun and the podcast that we're going to soldier on. My voice might give out a few times throughout the pod this week.

00:00:25[music]

00:00:43Melissa Erbacher: We'll see how we go. Hopefully you don't suffer an untimely death from the man flu by the end of the podcast.

00:00:52Scott Trickett: Fingers crossed. That'll make a good podcast, though. I die mid-sentence. Not the way I want to go out, but great for ratings.

00:01:06Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, did you hear about that moment where that guy died on the podcast? I mean, it might go viral, this is true, but not the way I want to get listeners personally.

00:01:19Scott Trickett: Our listeners are growing, which is great. We thank all our listeners for spreading the parkrun Adventurers love. You're out and about spreading the parkrun Adventurers love down in Tassie this week, Mel. That's exciting.

00:01:34Melissa Erbacher: I was a little bit incognito on Saturday morning as I was trying to get a quiet little adventure in at Hobart parkrun.

00:01:43Scott Trickett: Hang on, describe incognito for Mel Erbacher. Is that no costume?

00:01:50Melissa Erbacher: Well, people would recognise me if I was in costume, so no, I was just in regular running clothes. I was in my... running club t-shirt and actually I was wearing long pants so they probably did notice me because I stuck out a bit like a Queenslander does when they go somewhere else and it's really freaking cold but apart from that I mean there are heaps of other adventurers there this week as well so I think It's a popular time of year to travel to Tasmania, and the weather has been glorious. Beautiful, beautiful, sunshiny days, and the course was great. Have you ever been to Hobart parkrun, Scotty?

00:02:30Scott Trickett: I've never been to Tasmania, so no.

00:02:34Melissa Erbacher: Put it on the list. I know the list is getting longer every week, but put it on the list. It's... A course that you would love. It's trail. It's got hills. There's not actually a bridge, so it doesn't tick that box, but I think you'll find the view is good enough to keep you going, even without a bridge.

00:02:57Scott Trickett: I have seen some of the photos of Hobart. It doesn't look like an inner-city parkrun at all. It looks like you're out in the bush.

00:03:07Melissa Erbacher: It's not in a city. I think it took us maybe 20 minutes to drive. So we were staying in the city and it took us about 20 minutes to drive out to parkrun. So I'm terrible with directions and geography and navigating and even the Google person talking, I can't help them. you know, describe things. So my hubby was driving. He could probably tell you how to get there. I've got no idea. I know what time I had to wake up so that I could get ready in time and then have 20 minutes to drive there. So that's about the extent of it. It's not in the city of Hobart. I can tell you that. It's outside. It's around a reservoir, which I was expecting it to be colder and windier actually, but it wasn't. But yes, the undulations were very welcome and we got to run most of the way around the reservoir before we turned around and came back. So beautiful course and lots of opportunities for high fives when obviously on an out and back. So no, it was really good. Great morning, great event team as well. They were very friendly.

00:04:21Scott Trickett: And it's a nine o'clock start, isn't it?

00:04:24Melissa Erbacher: It is.

00:04:24Scott Trickett: How did you find that?

00:04:27Melissa Erbacher: It was like luxury. You know you're on holidays when you get to sleep in and still go to parkrun. Everybody in Queensland and Victoria and pretty much everywhere else had already finished by the time we even started. So, yeah, that was very, very bizarre. But welcome, definitely welcome. We're still in Tasmania at the moment and we've got another one coming up this weekend. We'll be at Launceston. So another 9am start. I'm going to get a sleep in on a Saturday morning again. Looking forward to it.

00:05:03Scott Trickett: I was back at Studley this week, a bit of a special week for me and my family. My daughter Kasia, who has been on the podcast, and we've talked about a fair bit on the podcast, ran her 50th run on Saturday. I don't know if this is an indictment on my wife and I, but it was actually the first time the three of us had run a parkrun together.

00:05:26Melissa Erbacher: The first time in 50 parkruns for Kasia that all three of you had run at the same time.

00:05:32Scott Trickett: Yeah, is that bad?

00:05:34Melissa Erbacher: I mean, why would that be bad?

00:05:38Scott Trickett: Well, I guess usually one of us is volunteering or one of us wants to have a good run, like a fast run. But it was Kasia's request that we all ran together and that was great because both Kasia and I are sick. So it timed nicely. But it was a great morning. It was probably one of my highlights of my parkrun career so far to see my daughter, who was the only reason I started getting involved in parkrun in the first place, so we could have a regular, habitual Saturday morning activity, reach her 50th parkrun before she's turned eight. And I wouldn't say she loves it, but she was excited to run on Saturday. And Rob, the run director, brought her up the front, did a quick interview with her where he asked her what's her favorite parkrun.

00:06:34Melissa Erbacher: Did she tell him Westerfolds?

00:06:36Scott Trickett: She did. All the Studley runners.

00:06:39Melissa Erbacher: I love her spirit. That's awesome. So it was a great morning. Did she... So he got her up and interviewed her in front of everyone else. I think I spied in the photos that she obviously didn't have her red 50 shirt yet, but she got something else a little bit special.

00:06:56Scott Trickett: Well, we made a cape.

00:06:58Melissa Erbacher: A super cape.

00:06:59Scott Trickett: Yeah. We had to mark the occasion in some way, and you can't order your 50 shirt beforehand. So we came up with a cape, and it gave her superpowers.

00:07:12Melissa Erbacher: I'm sure she felt very special.

00:07:15Scott Trickett: Except for it choked her. What do you think about that? Yvonne and I aren't experts in cape making just yet. So any time she ran, it pulled back and choked her. So need a bit of work on that for the 100th run, I think.

00:07:32Melissa Erbacher: You'll have to modify the pattern. You've got a year or so at least to do that.

00:07:37Scott Trickett: We'll get there.

00:07:39Melissa Erbacher: Well, congratulations to Kasia on your wonderful achievement and everybody else who made a milestone club or just, you know, showed up to volunteer or run at parkrun on the weekend. This week on the podcast, we're lucky enough to have a gentleman who is very involved with parkrun in South Australia. He is is a former ED, he's presently a Territory Director, and his name is John Lawrie. John, welcome to the podcast.

Territory Director guest interview — John Lawrie (South Australia)

00:08:14Scott Trickett: Hey, John, great to have you join us.

00:08:19John Lawrie: Yeah, thanks for having me on.

00:08:20Scott Trickett: Our second guest from South Australia, we caught up with Sarah Pixley early on, and she told us all about Murray Bridge.

00:08:28John Lawrie: Yeah, she's a fantastic ED up there at Murray Bridge.

00:08:31Melissa Erbacher: How much did she pay you to say that on the podcast?

00:08:34John Lawrie: No, nothing at all.

00:08:36Melissa Erbacher: You had a bit of a big weekend last weekend. Can you tell us what happened on parkrun Day for you?

00:08:43John Lawrie: We did have a big weekend. We got the family up at about quarter to five and jumped in the car and headed up to the wine region of Clare, so in the Clare Valley, and we started a parkrun there. That's our most northern parkrun in South Australia now. It's in a beautiful wine area. So I think it's going to be a fantastic tourism destination for parkrun tourism.

00:09:10Melissa Erbacher: So how did it go? How many people did you have? What happened?

00:09:14John Lawrie: Yeah, it was great. It's going to be probably a small parkrun to start with, being in a regional area. The same day that we started was also the start of the football and netball season up there. So that will keep the numbers down during that season. There were 25 runners and a full complement of volunteers. It's a great out-and-back course, 2.5km back on the Riesling Trail, which is a crushed gravel surface. But, yeah, it's beautiful. It was quite chilly. I actually had to put two jackets on when I was there because I was standing there and it was just very cold. So in the middle of winter, it might be a challenging one for people to get to.

00:10:04Melissa Erbacher: I like the sound of a Riesling trail.

00:10:06John Lawrie: Yes. There's plenty of wineries. In fact, the turnaround is right at the gate of a cellar door. Luckily, it runs at standard 8 o'clock in the morning because the cellar door is not open. Otherwise, we might get the 25 people going out and only 10 of them coming back.

00:10:27Scott Trickett: Now, Clare Valley have been wanting a parkrun for some time, I know. They're obviously an enthusiastic event team there. Can you tell us a bit how the event came about in Clare Valley?

00:10:39John Lawrie: Yeah, sure. Probably about two years ago now, I think a Facebook page showed up with the title of Bring parkrun to the Clare Valley. Nobody in head office or or in the state had heard that they were actually looking for a parkrun at the time. And all of a sudden this Facebook page turned up. So we contacted them and found out sort of what they were on about and what they were looking for. And then as often happens with groups trying to set parkruns up, the amount of work and specifically trying to get the funds and things like that, Takes a little while to get done. And so the Facebook page sat there. It got a lot of interest in the early days. I think they had about 200 likes or something on it. So, you know, great numbers for a regional area. And then it just sat for a while while they were trying to get the funding sorted. And so interest dropped off a little bit. One of Sarah's good friends actually, Natalie, I was speaking with her at one of Sarah's events and found out that she lived in the Clare Valley and so I had a word in her ear and said, how would you like to get behind this thing and get it done? So I started working with Nat and she just ran with it, took it by the horns as it were, got the funding from the council, And then she had an interesting issue to deal with in that she thought the team that had set up the page before knew exactly where they were going to run, had the course sorted and all that sort of stuff. And so then she had to go and look for a course because it wasn't actually picked out for her. And the problem with the Riesling Trail is that there's a lot of short areas and then it crosses roads and continues on. And, of course, we can't – can't cross roads for parkrun. So she had a little bit of trouble actually finding the right spot. But again, she worked tirelessly at doing that, spoke to people to get access into the showgrounds, which is where the parkrun starts and where everyone parks, and got it all organized with the Riesling Trail Management. And then here we are on Saturday with the event up and running. So she did a great job.

00:13:26Melissa Erbacher: I'm sure it's going to be A big one for the parkrun adventurers out there to get down to Clare. I know, put a parkrun in a vineyard or anywhere near a wine region and you've got me. You've got me right away. So it won't be long before I'm back in South Australia just to test that one out. But it's been a while since you guys have had a launch down there. What is the timeframe between the last parkrun and this one launching for you in South Australia? Yeah.

00:13:57John Lawrie: The last parkrun to launch here was Loch Eel, and that's just over six months ago.

00:14:04Melissa Erbacher: Okay. So what has the growth been like since? So was Torrens the very first parkrun to start in South Australia?

00:14:12John Lawrie: Yeah, it was. Torrens was the first one, and that started December 2012. That one started, and we started that with, I think there was 47 people running that day, and regularly now, Torrens are getting 280 to 380 people every Saturday morning. From my point of view, it's really important that we find some more metropolitan areas to start up and help relieve some of the pressure of Torrens.

00:14:44Melissa Erbacher: Is there a lot of interest on the go already for that?

00:14:48John Lawrie: Yeah, we today found out that we've got a date for our next parkrun, which is in the western suburbs, not very far from the airport, probably only about, probably about two k's from the airport, right on the beach, it starts. So that's gonna be West Beach parkrun. And that starts, as I said, on the beach and it runs up the Torrens River as well. So we'll actually have three parkruns on the Torrens River. We will have West Beach at the mouth, at the start of the river, Torrens up at the city, And then Lochiel, which is at Campbelltown in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide, which is also on the Torrens. So we've still got a little bit of room. We can probably fit another few on the Torrens, but we've pretty much got the top, the middle and the end covered at the moment. So that's really exciting. And the team down at West Beach are excited to get started as well.

00:15:47Melissa Erbacher: parkrunners do love running near water, don't we?

00:15:51John Lawrie: Yes. Well, there's two things that parkrun's really about. That's scenery and coffee, isn't it?

00:16:00Melissa Erbacher: Exactly.

00:16:02Scott Trickett: You've touched on something there, John, that I know is a passion of yours. You don't mind a bit of coffee?

00:16:07John Lawrie: Life's too short for bad coffee, that's for sure.

00:16:10Scott Trickett: So did coffee drive you to parkrun? Were you attracted by the post-run coffee more than the running itself?

00:16:18John Lawrie: Definitely more than the running. The social aspect is pretty great about parkrun. It really is a great community to be a part of. The coffee definitely helps, and I try and get the run over as fast as I can, which isn't that fast, but I don't love running.

00:16:39Scott Trickett: Where are you calling home now? I know you started at Torrens. Have you moved on to Lochiel?

00:16:44John Lawrie: I did. I moved to Lochiel and changed my home parkrun to there. mainly just so that I could support the team and get it up and running. So the idea was that I stepped away from Torrens and I was actually going to start looking at Mawson Lakes, which is just a little bit north. So basically along the northern suburbs of the inner north of Adelaide. And again, trying to create a bit of a capture point for the people that were coming from the north. Um, so that they could again, relieve Torrens a little bit. Um, but as it, as it happened, I, at the same time as looking into that, got onto a parkrunner from Torrens who happens to be a council member in the Campbelltown council area. I said to him, where can we set up in your area? He said, yep, no, just the place. He said, I'll work with council and get, get all of that done. And so that was. I think it took probably six or eight weeks in total to get that one off the ground. So I moved out there to help them and basically they're running themselves now. I've been away for so many weeks recently with doing trials for Clare and doing other anniversaries and checking things out for other people that they've just been running themselves, which is fantastic. And that's really the way that it, It has to work so that we can help build these other ones because we've probably got another four on the go. In fact, probably five on the go that should be up and running by the end of this year.

00:18:32Scott Trickett: Well, exciting times in South Australia. You're a good parkrun adventurer. You've done a few parkruns around Australia. With Torrens being the only parkrun in South Australia for such a long time, how is the culture in South Australia compared to around the country? Is it any different? Is it dominated by the Torrens culture?

00:18:53John Lawrie: Yeah, it is probably dominated by the Torrens culture, I suppose. The second parkrun in South Australia to start up was in Mount Gambier. And that was exactly 12 months to the day after Torrens. And they really started up independently of Torrens being so far away because they're five hours away down at the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier. But everything else has probably really grown out of the Torrens parkrun community. So it probably makes sense that the culture has probably come from there. And as well as that, with me being the territory director helping start up all of the others. Obviously, I'm taking what I've learned from that Torrens area. But as far as the other parkruns in other places, they're all great. They're all fantastic. It is the best way to start your weekend, isn't it?

00:19:51Scott Trickett: No arguments from us. I'll put you on the spot, though. Have you got a favorite?

00:19:58Melissa Erbacher: Top three?

00:20:00Scott Trickett: Yeah, give us a top three. I've got a top seven.

00:20:05Melissa Erbacher: Well, your home parkrun's not allowed to be included. Scotty didn't mention that was one of the rules.

00:20:10John Lawrie: It's tough because I was actually going to say that Lochiel probably at the moment is my favourite just because of the way that the community got up around that. Well, when I come up to Queensland, my sort of pseudo home parkrun is Varsity Lakes and that's a great run. I also tried out a couple of others when I was up there with Broadbeach Waters, which is good as well. You can't really complain about any other parkruns though, can you? It's just not right. It's not the right thing to do because they're all great. All right.

00:20:48Melissa Erbacher: How about best coffee in Queensland? Which parkrun has the best coffee or coffee shop?

00:20:54John Lawrie: Well, in Queensland...

00:20:57Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, yeah, I'm asking in Queensland because that's where I travel, so predominantly.

00:21:03John Lawrie: Anyone that is my friend on Facebook would have seen that when I did come up to Queensland, Zarraffa's got a pretty good hiding as far as visits go. So anywhere that's close to a Zarraffa's, I reckon, has got to be pretty good.

00:21:23Scott Trickett: Do you ever get to Melbourne, John?

00:21:25John Lawrie: Occasionally. Generally, the times that I get over there is with work and it's during the week. So I haven't actually done a parkrun in Victoria.

00:21:36Scott Trickett: Well, you must. We've got good coffee here too. You should combine your two loves.

00:21:41John Lawrie: I think I'll have to do that. Definitely.

00:21:44Scott Trickett: Well, make sure you look me up when you get here. Thanks for coming on the podcast this week. It's great to catch up with our friends in South Australia.

00:21:50John Lawrie: Thanks very much, guys.

parkrun adventure challenge (red shirt challenge)

00:22:01Melissa Erbacher: Now parkrun adventurers, I know you've all been waiting for another adventure challenge and this week we've got one for you. In the spirit of Kasia's 50th parkrun milestone, we decided to put out a red shirt challenge. So basically what we need you to do is this coming parkrun day, wear a red shirt to parkrun, it's a secret parkrun adventure code and then approach somebody else who's also wearing a red shirt now they're not necessarily going to know about the podcast or that you're approaching them because they're wearing a red shirt but we want you to go up to those people if you know them Great. If you don't, even better. And we want you to get a picture with that person and post it to social media. Don't forget to hashtag parkrunadventurers or if you want to tag us at parkrunadventurers as well. It works on Facebook so we'll still see your posts and on Instagram. And let's just see how many new connections we can make this week. We want to see the whole place lit up red on Instagram and Facebook. And look, we're back on Twitter. I'm liking it, so tweet us as well if you can.

00:23:19Scott Trickett: Looking forward to seeing all that red on Instagram next week. This week, our social adventurers have been busy. Shall we pick up with last week we asked to hear Stuart Marshall's story?

Social Adventurers

00:23:36Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, I'll recap. So for those of you who may not have listened to last week's episode yet, go do it. Go do it now. Stop and listen to that one now. But if you have, then you'll remember that Stuart Marshall Training actually posted a photo of himself and his bride who had just got married. And we asked them to hear about their story.

00:23:59Scott Trickett: And he replied, and he let us know that they are a little parkrun family. His wife and himself both have hit their 50 runs, and both their kids have now also got their 10 runs up. And while they didn't meet at parkrun, it's certainly now part of their lives. In fact, at their recent wedding, and included in their wedding vows was to run a parkrun in every state and territory in Australia by their 10th wedding anniversary. They've got two states down, and now they plan their holidays around parkruns, which as we know is what all adventurers do. But we love the last line he signed off with, that they love their parkruns, they love volunteering, and we love listening to your podcast every week while we do our midweek run.

00:24:47Melissa Erbacher: So congratulations Stuart Marshall Training and your new wife Oz Twin Mama on your nuptials. We hope you meet your goal far before your 10th wedding anniversary of joining the Peel Club of Running a parkrun in every state and territory in Australia. It's a wonderful adventure goal to have and we look forward to hearing more about your stories.

00:25:12Scott Trickett: And if you're listening on your mid-week run this week, run faster because it's a short episode. We're nearly finished. So if you've got anything left in the tank, people, use it all up now.

00:25:25Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Also on Instagram, we had David D'Alessio who said, From St. Peter's, Sydney to Cottesloe, Western Australia for parkrun adventuring. 3,957 kilometres. That's a fairly decent distance to travel for an adventure. Well done, David. Oh, and also we had positives. You catch me with your name every week. Positivism one. You shared a brilliant group costume ensemble pick this week. You were at Ginninderra's fourth anniversary. And the Barlows dressed up as the Four Seasons for Jindy parkrun's fourth birthday. Now, Scotty, if you didn't see this pick, which I think you already have, they had Spring. They had summer, they had winter, and they had autumn. And so autumn was Mrs. Positivism 1. She had an orange shirt with beautiful maple leaves in the fall colours all over it. Positivism 1 himself was wearing, I believe he must have been summer because he was in the full-on Hawaiian outfit with the grass skirt. He looked like summer. Yeah, he looked like Summer. They had one of their daughters beautifully dressed as Elsa from Frozen, so I'm sure she must have been Winter. And their other little girl was dressed as Spring, and she was looking gorgeous too. So well done, guys. I love group ensemble costumes. It just makes my day.

00:27:00Scott Trickett: Hey TJ was a parkrun tourist at Phillip Island parkrun this week. And underscore PK, he was beaten by my oldest kid. Just. And he loves it. Another superb parkrun with the family. So PK's got his family involved. He's sharing some parkrun love.

00:27:20Melissa Erbacher: That's what we like to hear. On Facebook, we had Chris Fraser had a very wet welcome to Taree parkrun, set up camp in the dark during thunder, lightning, storm, and after a five-hour drive, they could have at least fixed the weather. Fingers crossed for sunshine at 8 a.m. That's another wonderful adventure story. Five-hour drive to get to a parkrun and setting up a camp in the dark and the storming weather. Good job.

00:27:49Scott Trickett: Must be crazy. And we did have lots of positive feedback about last week's episode. People were enjoying the longer podcasts. Longer podcasts. So we're giving you a short one this week.

00:28:06Melissa Erbacher: That didn't work out.

00:28:08Scott Trickett: Maybe one week on, one week off. We're just keeping you on your toes. But they did appreciate our special guests. And everyone loved you giving me a hard time about my forgetfulness on High Five Bridge.

00:28:25Melissa Erbacher: Oh, well, I quite enjoyed that myself. I love that sort of material.

00:28:33Scott Trickett: Now, I'm at another launch this week. Are you going to have your spies there?

00:28:38Melissa Erbacher: I can neither confirm nor deny. I'm not making any promises. Just in case, I would watch yourself.

00:28:44Scott Trickett: Well, I'm not making any promises. We're launching Parkville this week in Melbourne, which is around Princes Park. Long time coming for Melbourne. We're all very excited about that. Where's the cake this week?

Where is the cake?

00:28:57Melissa Erbacher: There's no cake. Nobody's having an anniversary, so it's lucky that there's going to be a launch because that means this time next year there will be cake.

00:29:07Scott Trickett: That's good. All the limelight's on Parkville this week and next year this time. Well, I hope you continue your adventure or enjoying your adventure in Tasmania, Mel. Where are you off to next?

00:29:20Melissa Erbacher: This weekend, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, I'm going to Launceston parkrun, but I will be doing a Freedom Run of Devonport parkrun on Friday. So I couldn't miss out on checking out another course. So really looking forward to that as well. And I hope you're going to be back to being Scotty next week and not snotty.

00:29:41Scott Trickett: Yeah, that'd be nice. I'd appreciate it, as well as our listeners, too, I think.

00:29:46Melissa Erbacher: Thanks for tuning in again, guys. We'll chat to you next week. You're not dying. You just can't think of anything good to do.