Episode 25 - parkrun Singapore

Episode details · 325 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:12Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode 25 of parkrun Adventurers. We are halfway to our 50 milestone. Yay us! I'm here, Mel of course, joined by Scotty. How you doing Scotty?

00:00:25Scott Trickett: Hi Mel, I'm doing great. So this is our aubergine edition. I think I can feel another logo change coming up.

"Aubergine edition" / logo-colour running gag

00:00:33Melissa Erbacher: Yes, definitely. The other ones didn't last very long but I think this needs to be marked.

00:00:38Scott Trickett: You weren't feeling the yellow?

00:00:41Melissa Erbacher: No, all I'm saying is you only just changed it a couple of weeks ago and now you're changing it again. But I'm happy for aubergine. Good. Did you have any adventures on the weekend, Scotty?

Adventures on the weekend (host recap — Victoria's first Longest Run)

00:00:53Scott Trickett: Well, you know that I did. I had a really long one.

00:00:58Melissa Erbacher: Tell me about it. I've been dying to hear about it.

00:01:00Scott Trickett: You suitably comfortable? Have you got your snacks?

00:01:05Melissa Erbacher: I've got my Scooby snacks. I'm very comfortable. Yes, go for it.

00:01:10Scott Trickett: What's your snack of choice? What's your fuel for this podcast tonight?

00:01:18Melissa Erbacher: Well, it's actually a combination of Milky Ways and Mars bars tonight. How are you snacking?

00:01:24Scott Trickett: So we've got a weak spot for chocolate, obviously. I was snacking on a peppermint crisp. So it should be minty fresh edition.

00:01:37Melissa Erbacher: You're delaying.

00:01:38Scott Trickett: Adventures on the weekend, yes. We did the longest run in Melbourne and felt a bit lonely from my national brothers and sisters.

00:01:47Melissa Erbacher: Oh, and we were devastated that we couldn't be joining you as well.

00:01:52Scott Trickett: How is it that we could have had a Sunshine Coast, two Brisbane and a Sydney and they all got postponed?

00:01:59Melissa Erbacher: Well, the weather was pretty disgusting, I have to say. And the forecast was not for a nice outlook. We didn't want there to be any accidents in the travel part between events. And there were forecasts for flooding and wild winds and things like that. We actually lost a few roofs on the Sunshine Coast yesterday. on Sunday. And yeah, the rain was torrential all day. So we made the right call and postponed, not cancelled. So we postponed the event. So there's still an opportunity for people to get their longest runs in, in Queensland and New South Wales.

00:02:39Scott Trickett: So they're coming up. Remind me of the date they're coming up.

00:02:42Melissa Erbacher: Sydney have rescheduled until the 31st of July and Queensland will follow the week later on the 7th of August. Those dates, we understand, clash with other running events in various places. However, we are in the winter running season and... no matter what weekend we chose, they were going to clash with something. And these are the weekends that the actual longest run organizers were available. So believe it or not, people, we have other lives. And we have other commitments, other running events or other weekends away and families, ourselves. And we organize these things out of the kindness of our hearts. So we would appreciate your understanding that we can't make everybody happy with the weekends that we chose, but if the organizers can't be there, the events can't go ahead.

00:03:35Scott Trickett: This is true, and you're right, you're never going to please everyone. But I reckon you're still going to have a good time on August the 7th.

00:03:44Melissa Erbacher: Well we will, and you know what, this has actually created an unheard of opportunity, in my opinion. I, as you very well know, looked up flights to see if I could sneak down to Melbourne last weekend and join you guys down there. It was not to be because I don't have that kind of budget sitting in my account just waiting. However, you guys have got the opportunity to plan. And there is the chance out there that somebody could do three longest runs in three different states in one year and that might never happen again. So I think that's a challenge for all parkrun adventurers. Even those who didn't take part in Victoria, there's still the opportunity for people to get two longest runs in in the same year and I think you should all go for it.

00:04:38Scott Trickett: I think you've just given some people, a few people, an idea, no doubt.

00:04:44Melissa Erbacher: But tell us all about Victoria's first longest run.

00:04:47Scott Trickett: So the weather, ironically, in Melbourne was absolutely perfect. We didn't have a drop of rain. It was overcast. It was winter. It was a winter day, but just couldn't have been better for running the whole day. We started out at Jells. So it was kind of exciting. So like at 6 o'clock in the morning on the streets of Melbourne, on a Sunday morning, not many cars. So it's sort of as I was getting closer to Gels, I was wondering, are these people going to drive into the park? And sure enough, they did. And so Gels is a national park, state park. So there's no roads around it. There's minimal lighting. There's a cafe on site. So if you drive in it, it's basically pitch black, except for this row of car lights leading to the parkrun car park. So that was kind of exciting, just thinking that, one, this is going to happen, and two, people have actually shown up.

00:05:45Melissa Erbacher: It's always exciting when people show up.

00:05:48Scott Trickett: Well, it is because it wasn't promoted extensively. And first time we're doing it in Melbourne. I honestly wasn't sure if we're going to have 10 or if we're going to have 100. So it was pleasing to see a few more than 10 cars there. But as I said, pitch black still at 7 o'clock. So it was that weird, people are here, but because I can't see them, I don't know who they are. And then there's also that thing when people have got the headlamps on. So they've got their headlamps on. When they look at you, they basically blind you. So you can't see, not only because you can't see them because it's dark, but then they're blinding you with their headlamp. So I just sort of started a quick briefing without really knowing who was there and then being blinded by 50 headlamps directed right at me. But that was exciting because then I could meet the people throughout the first run who had actually showed up. So we started off at Gels and the sun rose throughout the run, which was really nice, which is part of the plan. So unfortunately, because it was cloudy, there was no actual sunrise to see, but it just got lighter. And there's something about, you know, the first light, the morning light, that's just really nice. So Gels was a success and everyone hung around until everyone had finished and then we all moved on to the next event. Which was? My beloved Westerfolds.

00:07:15Melissa Erbacher: Did you have more runners at the second run?

00:07:18Scott Trickett: We did. So the highest amount of runners was at Westerfolds, which I think we had about 70-odd, and that was the highest for the day. So that started at 8.30. Maybe it timed in with a lot of people's run. I can't explain it. Maybe everyone just wanted to experience Westerfolds.

00:07:36Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, I can see how you would. I mean, it's a good time of day. You started at 8.30, didn't you? So, yeah, on a Sunday morning, people can get a little bit of a sleep in and then still go have an enjoyable run.

00:07:48Scott Trickett: So we all ran Westerfolds. I got the opportunity to meet up with my girls, my wife and daughter, and we had a little shuffle around Westerfolds. Ivona and my daughter, Kasia, were going to join me for the final six events. But some might suggest that 30 kilometers in one day is probably too much for an eight-year-old. And we probably agree. So their challenge was to try and take shortcuts. Still try and be involved in the day by taking shortcuts. And luckily at Westerfolds, we knew all the shortcuts. Throughout the run, Ivona and Kasia would just pop up in the middle of the field in front of all the runners.

00:08:26Melissa Erbacher: I love this strategy. This is great.

00:08:28Scott Trickett: So they got around. So they did about three kilometers for Westerfolds because it's a looped course. And, you know, Westerfolds has become sort of like this special place to me. You know, I've run there so many times. You know, I really, I love the park. So whenever I sort of run there, you know, it's like a little bit of part of me. I know it probably sounds a bit hippie and lovey-dovey, but... It's a real special feeling to run at that park, and already the vibe of the longest run was good at this stage. Everyone was really happy, everyone was really excited, and so then to be running at Westerfolds with all these people who were experiencing it for the first time and sitting out on this adventure, this challenge, and then doing it with my two favourite people, Westerfolds was just the mutts nuts for me. Then we moved on to Coburg, beautiful Coburg. I'm telling you now, Mel, next time you're in Melbourne, Coburg is the course to visit because I'm just floored by its beauty every time I get there. And we're heading out, we're in winter and we're out of autumn, but the trees are still, what do they call that?

00:09:38Melissa Erbacher: The leaves are turning.

00:09:39Scott Trickett: Yeah, the leaves are turning and they're falling and so it just makes it really pretty. And, you know, we have had a lot of rain here. So the creek was really full. The waterfall was flowing. Just a really pretty course. And, yeah, I pushed it a bit there. I did my fastest run there. From Coburg, we went over to Maribyrnong. So we'd done all the hills. The hills were out of... We completed all the hills for the day. Now we were just all on the flat. So I think people appreciated that. You know, 15k in, 15k of hills. I think a few people were looking forward to Maribyrnong. And I again did the course briefing out at Maribyrnong and I neglected to mention their hill. Apparently there is one. Just at the end. So a couple of locals just reminded me about that small little hill at Maribyrnong. But I think we lost a runner. Didn't describe the course that well because one runner got lost.

00:10:40Melissa Erbacher: Whoops.

00:10:41Scott Trickett: Yeah, whoops.

00:10:42Melissa Erbacher: Did she do some extra kilometres? Did you make her do some extra kilometres?

00:10:47Scott Trickett: Well, yes, because she didn't turn around when she was supposed to. And when we saw her coming back, everyone thought, oh. Lorraine's had a slower run, a gentle run, maybe taking it easy. But, no, she ran an extra 3K.

00:11:02Melissa Erbacher: So an eight-kilometer marathon. Was she wearing a GPS watch? Did she not think when she got to two and a half that it might have been time to turn around?

00:11:11Scott Trickett: I think that's what happened, yeah.

00:11:13Melissa Erbacher: But she waited until she got to four and thought, hmm, this is a good time to turn around.

00:11:18Scott Trickett: Maybe, maybe. She was happy. She admitted she should have been listening to me more closely.

00:11:24Melissa Erbacher: So by this stage then, when she finished Maribyrnong, she was the first one to have done a half marathon worth of running on longest run day.

00:11:32Scott Trickett: Yes, she could claim that.

00:11:35Melissa Erbacher: So four events down.

00:11:37Scott Trickett: Four events down. We head over to Parkville.

00:11:41Melissa Erbacher: How's everybody's legs feeling at this point?

00:11:43Scott Trickett: Well, this is it. There was not much complaining. people being sore or being tired at this point Parkville again is really flat and we had the other treat there was a trails plus event going on at Princess Park at the same time so this is one of those ultra marathon or ultra running events where they have six hour 12 hour 24 hour runs 50 kilometer runs just around the park and they had their timer and their big fun... what are those things called that you run through, the finish line, finish chute? Oh yeah, the fin— the finish chute yeah so they allowed us to all run through that so that was a bit of a extra thrill so we just took a little So there's two paths around.

00:12:32Melissa Erbacher: When you say they allowed you, do you mean you actually asked if it would be okay or you just did it anyway?

00:12:38Scott Trickett: No, no, no, I asked. I spoke to the organiser of the event a couple of days beforehand and then it was confirmed on the day that it was good. Trails Plus are a big supporter of parkruns.

00:12:48Melissa Erbacher: Nice one.

00:12:49Scott Trickett: Yes. They allowed Parkville parkrun to go ahead on Saturday morning because they had the park effectively booked under a permit for their event, but they said no. parkrun can go ahead in junction with ours, and then the longest run, same thing.

00:13:04Melissa Erbacher: That's awesome support.

00:13:05Scott Trickett: Yes. If you want to enter an event in Melbourne Trails Plus, look it up. I tried to run Parkville a bit quicker because I was really hungry at this stage. One thing I did overlook was the need to pack food.

00:13:16Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:13:19Melissa Erbacher: For a whole day of running, no food.

00:13:22Scott Trickett: No food. Oh dear. I had a muesli bar in the car. We packed food for Kasia. We made sure Kasia was fed. But both Ivona and I neglected our needs for food. So I was particularly hungry. So we ducked off from Parkville a bit earlier to head to Studley. We finished the 5K, but... left early to get to Studleigh to try and refuel at the boathouse. So I refueled with a hot jam donut and a cup of coffee.

00:13:52Melissa Erbacher: As you do. Yeah. I'm not sure that's quite enough to sustain somebody over 35 kilometers of parkruns but carry on.

00:14:00Scott Trickett: Carry on. Well it was. It did. Hope I'm not spoiling the outcome. But we get to Studleigh, so this is event six now. And I said the hills were done earlier, but there are a couple of little hills at Studleigh. You've done it.

00:14:14Melissa Erbacher: Would you classify them as... You've got a little bit of a switchback that, yeah, it's got some elevation, but it's not very long. So it's just short and sharp.

00:14:28Scott Trickett: Yep. But it is a really hard course. I do acknowledge that, Studley, just because of the different terrain and lots of puddles, tree roots.

00:14:37Melissa Erbacher: I imagine it's not super easy after you've already done five other parkruns.

00:14:45Scott Trickett: No, no. So I think Studley probably recorded the slowest times across the day, which is not unusual. We're seeing that on a weekly basis at parkrun. But I encourage people to slow down. walk, enjoy the view at Studley. It's definitely picturesque, so there's plenty of opportunities to slow down.

00:15:05Melissa Erbacher: And how is Kasia doing by this point?

00:15:09Scott Trickett: Kasia sat out Studley because as she said, she's done it before. She doesn't need to do it today. She decided that the more she runs, the more it hurts her.

00:15:25Allan Hoskins: So she skipped Studley because she'd done it before.

00:15:27Scott Trickett: And they took quite a bit of a shortcut at Parkville, so she was feeling fresh for Albert, where there are no shortcuts because it's a big lake that you've got to run around. Which is where we headed to for the final one. Everyone was still feeling pretty fresh, I've got to say. Maybe there was a little bit of cramping. There was no groaning.

00:15:47Melissa Erbacher: You didn't have any groaning.

00:15:49Scott Trickett: Not that I noticed.

00:15:51Melissa Erbacher: I don't think your parkruns are hard enough.

00:15:53Scott Trickett: I think we spaced it out really well. So we had an hour and a half between each one. So it did give everyone an opportunity to freshen up.

00:16:01Melissa Erbacher: And so of the whole day, how many people did all seven of the events? Do you know?

00:16:07Scott Trickett: I think it's between 20 and 30.

00:16:10Melissa Erbacher: Do you think the runners that participated were more the long distance type or were there a whole bunch of people out there challenging themselves to do more longer distances than they'd ever done before?

00:16:26Scott Trickett: Look, I think there was. I know there were a couple of people who achieved some real milestones. You know, it was a real challenge to get through 35 kilometers over the whole day. And I know of a couple who were really chuffed with themselves for doing it. And to be honest, I was pretty chuffed with myself. I'm probably in the worst running form shape of my life, almost. And I was quite surprised with how easy I got through it.

00:16:56Melissa Erbacher: Perhaps you're not in as bad of a shape as you think you are.

00:17:00Scott Trickett: Oh, no, I am. But it was good to hear one of the comments that kept coming up was that people hadn't run these courses before. So we were getting people out experiencing new parkruns, which I really loved. And the common feedback was, this is a really nice parkrun. I've got to make sure I come back and do it on parkrun day, which I like because we know some people do get stuck running at their home event week after week after week. So I like to hear that people were up for some more adventures.

00:17:34Melissa Erbacher: Did you meet a bunch of people you'd never met before?

00:17:37Scott Trickett: Yeah, I did. I did. So I had a tendency of setting everybody off and starting at the back and doing that thing that you hate, sort of running through the back of the field.

00:17:48Melissa Erbacher: Overtaking people.

00:17:49Scott Trickett: Overtaking people. I think I do it in a nice way. Like I think I stop and have a chat and see how they're going.

00:17:58Melissa Erbacher: Introduce yourself. Hi, my name's Scott. I'll be overtaking you shortly.

00:18:02Scott Trickett: Yeah. So I did meet a few people doing that, which was great.

00:18:08Melissa Erbacher: And so what does the jury say? You're going to do another one next year?

00:18:15Scott Trickett: I think feedback has been positive, and I think a few people who didn't know it was on or couldn't make it are keen to see it back on next year. I'd be really surprised if it wasn't.

00:18:27Melissa Erbacher: You're not committing to organizing another one?

00:18:29Scott Trickett: Well, look, if nobody wants to organize it next year, then I'll definitely put it on again. There's no doubt about that. But I would like to see someone else have a go at it, come up with a different seven courses to cover over the day. And I think now that we've done one, the first one's out of the way, so it's easy to follow up.

00:18:53Melissa Erbacher: Well, the first one sounds like it was a roaring success. You had hundreds of people across the seven events. So that's awesome.

00:19:04Scott Trickett: Yeah. I mean, it was like parkrun every hour and a half. It really wasn't too much different. So that was my Sunday. Did you have any adventures on the weekend?

00:19:14Melissa Erbacher: I did. I had an adventure to Town of Seaside's anniversary, their first anniversary on Saturday. So that was great fun.

00:19:23Scott Trickett: Do they call it TOS?

00:19:25Melissa Erbacher: They do. They actually have, if you live in Town of Seaside, they've got a shirt that says, I'm a TOSer, a Town of Seaside resident.

00:19:36Scott Trickett: So that's what it's actually called. It's actually called Town of Seaside.

00:19:40Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, that's the name of it. It's not Seaside. It's Town of Seaside. Like you go to, what's the name of a town? Goondiwindi. So you go to Goondiwindi, well you actually go to town of Seaside. And it's only a very little town. Very, very little. so yeah you spent the morning with a bunch of TOSers tell me what it was like i did i was actually supposed to run last week as i believe i mentioned in the podcast however the volunteer photographer who is my husband actually got called away to work so he was unable to do it so i volunteered to be the photographer for their anniversary event And I had the exquisite pleasure of also playing babysitter to another parkrunner's 11-week-old mini dachshund. And his name is Schnitzel. And he is just the most ridiculously cute puppy you ever saw. And he was wearing a tiny little blue and black tartan coat, which is no bigger than a tea cozy because he's just this tiny little thing. And I got to take him out onto the course with me and had him on his leash. I was dressed as a unicorn and he took a fancy to my tail. So I had this puppy jumping up and down. grabbing my tail from behind and then dragging it backwards and trying to pull me down while I'm trying to stay still enough to take photos of the parkrunners as they're running. So there were quite a few fuzzy pictures. I'm going to blame those on Snoozle. I must also confess to taking a lot of photos of the puppies. So there might have been Three photos of parkrunners, one photo of the puppy. Three photos of parkrunners, one photo of the puppy. I was kind enough to edit a lot of the extra puppy pictures out before I uploaded them to the page. But... I'm going to keep those because he's gorgeous. And I just had the best morning playing with a puppy, taking photos of happy people and then I got to go and spend time with them all at the finish line as well. So it was a really lovely morning. Donella and Jerry did a great job. Donella also went to the effort of getting some audio from other parkrunners who attended the event and you can listen to those now.

Roving adventurer report — Town of Seaside first anniversary (Donella Taylor)

00:22:10Donella Taylor: This is Fenella Taylor reporting from the town of Seaside parkrun's first anniversary and I'm here with Katie Johnston who's been one of our most amazing volunteers. Her and her husband Neil have volunteered with us 27 times the two of them together and we've really appreciated all of their time and help with us. Gerry and I wouldn't be able to get the event going without you guys. So thank you so much for coming today. Oh, thank you, Donella. We really enjoy coming up here.

00:22:42Unidentified speaker: My husband's a runner. He enjoys the running part of it. But we both enjoy the social part of it. It's just a great group of people. And we appreciate being able to give something back to the community.

00:22:53Donella Taylor: Yeah, thank you. And how did you hear about parkrun? How did your parkrun journey start? My husband heard about it. I really don't know how.

00:23:03Unidentified speaker: But he heard about it and thought, fantastic concept.

00:23:06Donella Taylor: So we came along to see what it was like and we were hooked from the first time. Awesome. Have you done any other parkruns, or just TOS?

00:23:13Unidentified speaker: No, we've only done TOS. Wow. Aren't we special?

00:23:17Donella Taylor: Yes, there is a whole other world out there of parkruns. Absolutely, yes. Thank you for coming along this morning and volunteering once again to help us. We really, really appreciate it. Awesome, that's my pleasure. Thank you. And I'm here with Rob Fleming who's our first male points winner for the 2015 and 2016 year. Hi Rob.

00:23:42Rob Fleming: Hi Donella.

00:23:43Donella Taylor: Congratulations.

00:23:44Rob Fleming: Thanks Danella.

00:23:45Donella Taylor: You've done an amazing job being a regular runner of ours and volunteering four times through the year. We really appreciate it. What do you like about parkrun?

00:23:54Rob Fleming: Well, parkrun's a lot pretty special for everyone because anyone can do it, so that makes it fantastic for everyone. I'm lucky because I live literally 100 metres from the start line, so if it wasn't for that as well, I probably wouldn't be getting down here as much. But, yeah, it's just an incredible thing to do.

00:24:10Donella Taylor: And you enjoy volunteering as well?

00:24:11Rob Fleming: Yeah, volunteering is great. And I'd actually say to everyone, actually, if you run and you don't volunteer, please volunteer. And also, if you finish your run and you want to have a chat with your friends, always make sure you just go and say thank you to a volunteer at the end, because I think the fact they've given up their time is absolutely special enough to be able to run.

00:24:28Donella Taylor: And have you been to the other parkruns as well?

00:24:30Rob Fleming: I have. I've been fortunate enough to do the original one at Bushy Park.

00:24:34Donella Taylor: Oh, wow.

00:24:34Rob Fleming: I used to live there.

00:24:36Unidentified speaker: Oh, when did you do that?

00:24:37Rob Fleming: Back in about 2004 before they even got specials, so that was good. Oh, wow. And then we gave out tokens. I was involved with Gladstone as well, setting that up. And also Kawana as well.

00:24:50Donella Taylor: And you've done some in Melbourne as well?

00:24:51Rob Fleming: Yeah, oh yeah, one in Melbourne as well. So get around.

00:24:55Donella Taylor: Excellent. Thank you. Thanks for that. See you. And I'm here with Megan Hewitt. Hi, Megan. Hi, Donella. Now, Megan was our first female points winner today for our first year, and she's been a regular runner of ours and a huge volunteer for us, which we really appreciate. Megan, how did your parkrun journey start?

00:25:22Unidentified speaker: I had heard about parkrun and I was always wanting to join, but I didn't have the motivation to get out of bed and drive any distances further than my local area. So when the town of Seaside parkrun started, I was so happy and I just said I've been nearly every single weekend.

00:25:42Donella Taylor: You have, which is why you won the pointy competition. Awesome. And has parkrun inspired you to try other events maybe of longer distance that you might not have sort of tried before?

00:25:57Unidentified speaker: It has inspired me to keep going. I've only been running for a few years, but I have already done my 10K ones, which I never would have thought I would have done before in my whole entire life. But since coming to parkrun, it has kept me running through the kind of the Christmas every after but I normally would stop and that's get me then motivated to try to keep trying the 10k yeah I must be sure about doing any more than that well never say never I never thought that I would do a 10k and now I'm doing a marathon and you Danella being here amongst Can I say that you and Gerry have been so amazing for the community and everything that you've done. You know, you've got three young children and every week you're here organising it all, it's not behind the scenes and it's just so fantastic and we're all so very lucky to have you and Gerry.

00:26:51Donella Taylor: Oh, thank you, that's lovely.

00:26:53Unidentified speaker: And your journey of getting to your marathon is... completely inspirational and very emotional.

00:26:59Donella Taylor: It is very emotional yeah this time last year mum came along to our launch and it was her last parkrun that she attended she wasn't well so she just stayed for the run brief and then she headed home so yeah it's emotional.

00:27:16Unidentified speaker: It's been a very big year.

00:27:18Donella Taylor: It has been a big year but I'm so proud of what we've been able to put together and and all the new people that we've met and all the new people that are coming along and improving their times. And it's not all about improving times. It's just about getting out there and giving it a go. And, yeah, I just think it's amazing all the new people that you come across and you meet.

00:27:44Unidentified speaker: You and Jerry are very good role models, everybody.

00:27:46Donella Taylor: Oh, thank you. Thank you.

00:27:47Unidentified speaker: All right.

00:27:50Donella Taylor: Signing out now.

00:27:52Unidentified speaker: Bye.

00:27:54Donella Taylor: Bye.

00:27:56Scott Trickett: Thanks to Donella for getting our roving reports from TOS and also thanks to Katie, Megan and Rob. We're heading into Asia now on the podcast. We're going to chat to an Englishman who's looking after the parkrun experience in singapore welcome to the podcast dominic watkins hey there scott you're in charge of east coast park parkrun in singapore the only parkrun in singapore and you're coming up to your second anniversary this saturday that's got to be pretty exciting yeah it is it's been um it's been it's been a bit of a journey getting there but we're there now so um it's um

Guest interview — parkrun Singapore / parkrun in Asia (Dominic Watkins)

00:28:45Dominic Watkins: It's looking good. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We've got a few bits and pieces going on. We've got a couple of presentations to do. People are getting quite excited about it. It should be good.

00:29:00Scott Trickett: You mentioned it's been a bit of a journey. Have there been some challenges along the way?

00:29:06Dominic Watkins: Yes. I didn't start the parkrun. It was a lady called Carol Cunningham who started it over here. back in June, 2014. So, um, and I think she, she didn't know, like, like, like I didn't know how, whether how part one was going to go here. Cause runnings can be, um, you know, the running races here hit like, you know, 10, 20,000 people and it could have been exploded into this unmanageable thing very quickly. Actually it's gone, it's the opposite way. So it's been trying to get people to come along, has been a bit of a, um, a struggle. I think it, probably because parkrun isn't known in Asia. So it's all the expats tend to know about it. So, you know, which to begin with, it was like, you know, 20 local expats were running and then we'd have 20 maybe tourists turning up.

00:29:59Scott Trickett: So the locals, you're saying, haven't embraced it as much as we'd like?

00:30:05Dominic Watkins: No, but it is getting there. It's gradually this last... last say six months to a year we've had we've seen a gradual increase in numbers so and those numbers have been more um more locals i think i think um they see the times of parkrun as very very fast because it's very good because it's just been unfortunate the way it's been the people that have attended parkrun have been the ones that have known and have been sort of runners as opposed to beginners. And we're trying to encourage people to come, you know, who are, you know, trying to just, just, just begin walk, walk to run or walking or whatever it is just to be able to come along. Um, so we do get a full spread, but we've been, you know, we've kind of just had that more of a pointy end to our, to our parkrun, um, which I think has put off some people. But gradually now, you know, we are now getting more and more people who are running, you know, walking, running and doing 40 minutes plus, which is helping encourage the Singaporeans to come along.

00:31:14Scott Trickett: And one thing I'd imagine, like Singapore's a small place with a high population. East Coast Park that you're running, it's got to be a busy park, doesn't it? Even at 7.30 on a Saturday morning. It's not too bad.

00:31:27Dominic Watkins: I mean, at that time in the morning, because it gets busier later on. So say from like 9 a.m. after that, it does get a lot busier. There are a lot of people out and about. But where our parkrun is situated on one end of East Coast Park rather than centrally, so that end, although there's a car park there, doesn't tend to get quite so busy.

00:31:53Scott Trickett: Okay, so people don't see parkrun happening and they're curious as to what's happened?

00:31:59Dominic Watkins: There are. There are even some running groups that go past because a lot of people tend to use their Saturdays here as a, the running people tend to use it as a training run. they don't necessarily come unless they want to use it to do a 5k. So it's, um, it's trying to change people's mindset a little bit as well. You know, do you know, just to say, well, this is actually somewhere you can come at any Saturday, you can come along, you can run it, you can walk, you can turn up with friends, you can do whatever and just have a bit of a social, you know, uh, both, both before, during and after the run. So it's trying to get, it's trying to get that across really. Um, That has been helping. I think also the concept of a lot of the races here have high numbers, finisher's medals, t-shirts, all these goodie bags and everything. And because parkrun is more bare bones than that, they don't see it as a progression in the same way. They just want to go out and get a t-shirt. So rather than have that achievement of getting a milestone t-shirt, which is

00:33:11Chris King: you know, a different, a different thing.

00:33:13Dominic Watkins: Um, but it, it's not that it has, it's not that it's not working. It is, it is gradually coming through and people are gradually, you know, we've had, um, this year we had our first two Singaporeans who've got their 50 milestone t-shirts and we've just got a couple of other people who've just got their a hundred milestone, um, uh, in the last couple of weeks. So that's been good. So that, you know, and we've had quite a few juniors, we've even had a school, uh, a school turnout and, um, We had, I think there was about 40 school children run it, which are all teenagers, which was really good fun. Quite unnerving seeing them pass all the old boys. But, yeah, it was good.

00:33:56Scott Trickett: But, I mean, this is one of the things. When you're launching parkrun in a new country that aren't aware of it and you are the only event there, I mean, there's some real challenges. One thing you are going to get, though, you're going to get all the tourists.

00:34:09Dominic Watkins: Yeah, that's been really good. I mean, we've had a constant flow of tourists, obviously because we are the only parkrun in Asia currently, which means that we've had quite a few people plan their holidays to come through, but not just plan the holiday to come through, plan the holiday around coming to our parkrun. So we had one couple who came here flew into Singapore, then flew off to Thailand for a week, but came back in time to run the parkrun again, then went off somewhere else for a week and came back to run parkrun again, um, and then go home. So, I mean, that is extreme, but, um, uh, you know, it's, um, yeah, but it's, but it's good. It's quite good. Um, we had, uh, another one of our regulars, he, he, uh, came here on secondment and he, that one of his, uh, uh, reasons he chose coming here was because it was actually, uh, there was a parkrun here. So, um, that's, you know, it is definitely about a bonus and, and, um, it took a while also because we didn't have our own, um, country website, um, in the beginning for people to know we're here as well. So I think that didn't help last year, as in beginning of, since beginning of the year, we've had our, our, our own parkrun.sg rather than being off of the back of Australia. which has made a big difference as well, particularly with sign-ups. So we've had many more sign-ups. We had as many sign-ups in the first, I think, three months this year as we did for virtually the whole of last year. So that was really good.

00:35:49Melissa Erbacher: That's great numbers. Dominic, where is the furthest you've had an adventurer come along to do your parkrun?

00:35:57Dominic Watkins: I'm trying to think. So South Africa we've had. Obviously UK, a lot of Australians, New Zealand, Finland as well. They're all quite far. We had one guy who was doing a tour of every continent, so he was doing a parkrun in every continent as well.

00:36:26Scott Trickett: How did the Finnish runner cope in the Singapore heat?

00:36:30Dominic Watkins: He's got the course record.

00:36:33Melissa Erbacher: So pretty well then.

00:36:35Dominic Watkins: Yeah, but in fact both our course records are held by Finnish runners, so yeah, which is interesting. Yeah, that's weird.

00:36:48Melissa Erbacher: They must know something in Finland that we don't know.

00:36:50Dominic Watkins: I think they came here to train. Yeah.

00:36:55Melissa Erbacher: So you didn't start parkrun in Singapore, but you are now the country manager. What are the plans for parkrun in Asia and Singapore in the future?

00:37:07Dominic Watkins: In Asia, I know the plans are afoot to have one in KL in Malaysia. That should be happening later on this year. They're just sorting things out on that. For Singapore, We've been actively looking for other venues for events, and we've been talking to NParks, which is the local owner of all the parks in Singapore, because mostly it lands a bit of a premium here to try and find places to do it and get permission as well. We've got another one. on the cards, but the one thing that's holding us back at the moment is volunteers more than anything. And people are, you know, because in most other countries, people would write in and say, we'd like to start a parkrun and have a plan. We haven't had that yet. So we're trying to be proactive and set up, you know, get some venues together, get some courses measured and sorted out and approved. And then we'll work backwards for having someone who wants to become an event director.

00:38:21Melissa Erbacher: You're just recently off a plane, Dominic. You went on a bit of an adventure. Did you happen to get a parkrun in while you were gone?

00:38:29Dominic Watkins: Yeah, I did actually. It was a last minute one, but I talked my wife into going. So we went to Horsham parkrun at the weekend on just last Saturday, which is fairly local to where we were staying because we were in Dorking, Surrey. Um, and there's a, there's a, there's a few choices of where to go, but she's done the Reigate Priory one before. So we, we, we decided to go there. Um, it's a three lap course, um, on a local small town park. Um, but it has quite a good turnout. I think there was about 300 plus there. Um, and we just went there as a, to just talk just for a bit of fun, really. And it was, it was, it was really good, really enjoyable parkrun, um, some on footpaths, some on grass. A couple of little slippy bits, very well marshalled, nicely organised. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. A few high fives, a bit of cheering. Yeah, a few dogs, always good.

00:39:29Melissa Erbacher: Was the temperature in the UK a little bit different for a parkrun than you're used to at home?

00:39:34Dominic Watkins: It was mild in the UK being June. It wasn't too bad, but it was nicer. It's been nicer running in England, definitely. Your heart rate's so much lower. So it feels more effortless in a way. Yeah, no, it was a nice parkrun. I did last year, because I came back in December last year to UK. And we went to, I was up in Sheffield visiting my wife's sister-in-law. And we went to Sheffield Hallam parkrun. And that was cold then. It was really cold. I had to wear a hat and gloves. I think it was about six, seven degrees or something. It was very cold though and very windy. At one point, one of my legs blew into my other leg and nearly tripped myself up going along. That was still a nice part run to do. They're all different. That's the good thing about part run. Every single course is different. All the people are but they've all got one thing in common, and they love part runs. I've only done three part runs, but this is what I've discovered, just the different ones. I wasn't sure how a three-lap was going to work, seeing them on this weekend, which is one of the reasons we went, because with the courses here being quite difficult to find a space to do a single-loop lap course, We've been looking at multi-lap and we weren't sure whether the three-lap would be suitable, but having seen this one, I would say yes, it definitely was. It was really nice, very sociable and really nice to run past people and encourage people as you're running as well. So, yeah, it was good.

00:41:20Melissa Erbacher: It's great that you can find solutions for your events in your country by visiting other events elsewhere.

00:41:26Dominic Watkins: Well, you learn from each other, don't you? So that's the thing. I mean, you know, we've learned loads of things from passing run directors, you know, that have come through we've had. And also, you know, looking at how to set up, you know, doing the tokens at the end, how the finish funnels are. All these things, you know, as an event director and country manager, you need to, you know, be able to see how you can improve yourself because ultimately you want everyone to have a good experience as well.

00:41:56Scott Trickett: Thanks for sharing your Singapore experience with us on the podcast, Dominic.

00:42:01Dominic Watkins: I'd love to get over there one day. Yeah, no, do. This weekend would be a good one.

00:42:06Scott Trickett: Good luck. Good luck with your anniversary. Hope you have fun. No doubt you will.

00:42:10Dominic Watkins: All right, mate. Thanks a lot.

Roving adventurer report — Portland Winter Solstice Fun Run (Allan Hoskins)

00:42:21Allan Hoskins: G'day Scott and Mel, it's Alan Hoskins here, the event director of the Portland parkrun. It's a Sunday morning and I'm down here at the Portland Winter Solstice Fun Run. And I've got a few parkrunners here that have done the 5, 9 and the 15k events, so we'll say g'day to a couple. I've got Chris and Beryl King here from Portland parkrun, g'day guys.

00:42:42Chris King: How you doing? Good.

00:42:44Rob Fleming: Bye, guys.

00:42:45Allan Hoskins: And your event was the, what event did you do today?

00:42:50Chris King: 9K walk. 9K walk, yeah. I think it's about the third time I've done it. First one was 15, and then I've gone back just to getting older and slower.

00:43:01Allan Hoskins: Now, we did have a little bit of a theme event yesterday at parkrun. Just tell us, just describe your outfit there, Chris.

00:43:08Chris King: We're sort of well and truly out there. I had an old bright orange ACDC concert T-shirt, flashing devil's ears and a pink tutu just to round it off.

00:43:21Allan Hoskins: They tell me that people have been looking for the devils here yesterday.

00:43:24Chris King: They have, yeah.

00:43:24Allan Hoskins: They've safely tucked away at home, though, but... And I see you're wearing your Portland parkrun T-shirt, your apricot T-shirt.

00:43:33Chris King: Yep. Arrived in the mail or at our front door just after we got home from the parkrun yesterday. Oh, excellent.

00:43:40Allan Hoskins: Excellent value. Well done. Well done, guys. Thank you very much.

00:43:42Chris King: Thanks very much.

00:43:43Allan Hoskins: And well done for parkrun adventuring here at the Portland parkrun Winter Solstice. Yeah, no worries.

00:43:47Chris King: Thanks a lot.

00:43:49Allan Hoskins: Now I have Jody May with me. I'm actually walking with Jody as she comes near the finish of her 15K walk run. How are you going, Jody?

00:43:57Jody May: Fantastic. Love it. Great event.

00:43:59Allan Hoskins: That's good. Great. And you did parkrun yesterday as well?

00:44:03Jody May: Did parkrun. Great little warm-up. Great for the legs. Real community spirit.

00:44:06Allan Hoskins: Great. You're looking well, though, and you're going to finish strong.

00:44:10Jody May: My legs are tired, but I'm going to keep swinging those hips to get all the way to the end.

00:44:14Allan Hoskins: That's a go. Very well done. And we had a bit of a themed event yesterday at parkrun. Fun there?

00:44:19Jody May: Fun. Lots of fun. Lots of bright colours. It was good to see. People really made a big effort.

00:44:24Allan Hoskins: Excellent. And we've got some Portland strawberries at the end here, so I'll see you over at the end.

00:44:27Jody May: Fantastic. Thank you.

00:44:28Allan Hoskins: Thanks, Jay. Now I've got Mel from the Hamilton parkrun adventuring here in Portland, I suppose, on a beautiful sunny Sunday, winter's morning.

00:44:38Mel: It's a Sunday.

00:44:38Allan Hoskins: It's a Sunday morning.

00:44:39Mel: Sunny Sunday. Sunny Sunday.

00:44:41Allan Hoskins: How did you go on your 15k run, Mel?

00:44:44Mel: Oh, awesome. Absolutely fantastic. If Alan didn't run with me, I think I'd still be coming. Yes, out on the track, not here.

00:44:53Allan Hoskins: And a lovely finish as well, a big cartwheel finish.

00:44:57Mel: You'll often see me doing them, cartwheels, whether it be parkrun or it be a half marathon.

00:45:02Allan Hoskins: And I believe you might have volunteered at parkrun in Hamilton yesterday.

00:45:06Mel: I think I did, yes. I was the timekeeper. And it was just amazing. I love volunteering at parkrun.

00:45:13Allan Hoskins: Courtney, you volunteered here today. You took a few photos.

00:45:15Mel: Yeah.

00:45:16Allan Hoskins: Excellent. You got a few shots. Where were you situated?

00:45:19Courtney: On the corner of where the 5Ks meet the 15Ks.

00:45:23Allan Hoskins: Oh, excellent. You got a lot of photos. Hopefully someone buys some of your photos, maybe.

00:45:27Courtney: Yeah, maybe.

00:45:28Allan Hoskins: Yeah? Who knows? Well done, girls. And we've got Mangambia parkrun here, represented at the Portland Winter Solstice event as well. And we've got Kerry.

00:45:37Kerry: Hello.

00:45:37Allan Hoskins: How are you going?

00:45:38Kerry: Yeah, I'm knackered now.

00:45:39Allan Hoskins: And you did the, what have you done there? 9K. The 9K run or walk?

00:45:43Kerry: Run. Run? Well, shuffle.

00:45:44Allan Hoskins: A shuffle. A shuffle, yeah. How did we go to 9K?

00:45:46Kerry: Yeah, no good, better than last year. Excellent. And struggling through a few foot injuries, but I'm okay and I made it through.

00:45:52Allan Hoskins: And you're a run director over at Mount Gambier?

00:45:54Kerry: Yeah, one of the newest ones down there at Mount Gambier.

00:45:56Allan Hoskins: Oh, excellent. And when was the last time you run directed? Was it yesterday?

00:46:00Kerry: No, it was about four weeks ago.

00:46:01Allan Hoskins: Oh, four weeks ago?

00:46:02Kerry: Yeah, we've got eight run directors at Mount Gambier now.

00:46:04Allan Hoskins: So every eight weeks it would be your turn, I'd say, on the podium?

00:46:07Kerry: Yeah, because we've got a lot of people that run fun runs all over the country, so it's very difficult with only a couple of run directors. Oh, excellent.

00:46:14Allan Hoskins: And how many parkrunners would you have here from Mount Gambier represented today?

00:46:18Kerry: Well, the photo we just took, we had 38 runners from Mount Gambier, and I'd say most of them have run parkrun at least once, if not many, many, many times.

00:46:26Allan Hoskins: Excellent. It's a great turnout. We've turned the weather on for you too. Yeah, great day. We've just haven't got a whale in the bay. If we had a whale, I think we would have topped it off. But anyway, it's great.

00:46:34Kerry: Can we pretend because we're on voice recording that they can't see it? That is a whale. Oh, my God, there's a whale.

00:46:39Unidentified speaker: It's a whale.

00:46:39Allan Hoskins: All right, thanks, guys. Thank you very much. No problem. Thank you. Thank you. And now I've got Kari from the Portland parkrun, who actually volunteered yesterday as a photographer at our coloured event. She took a few pictures of people in tutus and crazy-looking run directors with wigs and stuff on. How are you going, Kari?

00:46:58Kari: I'm doing very well, thank you, Alan.

00:46:59Allan Hoskins: That's good. And you did the 9K event today?

00:47:02Kari: I did. I had a bit of a plod, a bit of a run, a little bit of a walk, and I'm quite happy. It's been a while since I've gone that far, so I'm stepping out of my comfort zone.

00:47:11Allan Hoskins: Excellent. And you've done nearly every parkrun, I think. You've done every parkrun you've done in Portland?

00:47:15Kari: I have, except for yesterday when I volunteered.

00:47:17Allan Hoskins: Well, you were still there as a volunteer, and we need the volunteers to keep parkrunning up and going as well. Had good numbers as well yesterday. We had around about 80 people.

00:47:26Kari: It's deceptive, isn't it? When you're standing around, it doesn't look like that many people, but no, I think you guys are doing a fantastic job, and I think a credit to everyone that's involved to get it up and running.

00:47:35Allan Hoskins: And it's not just us. I mean, it's obviously not just the young people organising it. It's everyone in the community running it and joining in and having a lot of fun as well, so it's great.

00:47:44Kari: Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm trying to do my bit by bringing along some of my personal training clients to the event, and they're really enjoying it, and they're setting PBs every week, so...

00:47:52Allan Hoskins: They're not hating you for it and you're not pushing them.

00:47:54Kari: No, not at all. There's a little bit of encouragement on both sides. So it's working out really well.

00:48:00Allan Hoskins: Excellent. Thanks, Kari. Well, enjoy the rest of the day. We've got a beautiful day here in Portland.

00:48:03Kari: It's like this every day, isn't it?

00:48:05Allan Hoskins: Pretty much, yeah. Except we've got no whales today. What's the game? No, that would have been... A whale would have topped it off, I think.

00:48:10Kari: I said to someone before it would have been spectacular to just have a whale out there to finish off the day. But perfect running conditions this morning. Couldn't have asked for anything better.

00:48:17Allan Hoskins: We could always go over and yell, whale, whale, whale and see how many we get.

00:48:21Kari: We could try. Yeah. Yeah, or we could SMS them.

00:48:24Allan Hoskins: Can you fight?

00:48:24Kari: Yes. We'll see how we go.

00:48:26Allan Hoskins: Well done. Thanks, Kari.

00:48:27Kari: Thanks, Alan.

00:48:29Allan Hoskins: I have another parkrunner adventure in the rail from Hamilton parkrun. How did you go today?

00:48:33guest: Great, thanks, Alan.

00:48:35Allan Hoskins: Excellent. And you did the 15K run? Yes. And I believe you got a podium finish.

00:48:40guest: I did manage third place. Very happy. Oh, excellent.

00:48:42Allan Hoskins: And you got some prize money there by the look of it as well. Yes. Oh, so it's always good to come down to Portland and get something out of that.

00:48:48guest: It is. First time, so it's really great. It was a great course.

00:48:50Allan Hoskins: So it's your first time down here? Yes. To do this one? Yep. Have you tried the parkrun down here yet?

00:48:55guest: No, I haven't.

00:48:56Allan Hoskins: Oh. It's on my list. On your bucket list to do.

00:48:59guest: Yeah.

00:49:00Allan Hoskins: And we've also got the Winter Solstice, the three bays as well. So would you be interested in doing that or would you do that?

00:49:05guest: Yes, I'd like to do three bays. Just probably not this year, maybe next year.

00:49:08Allan Hoskins: Okay, you're a marathon girl. Yes. You're obviously a marathon because I did see you down at the greatest... Actually, you did pass me going down a hill, I believe, and yelled out. I could not believe that I knew anyone as I was struggling going down a hill and you did go past me pretty quickly and it was fairly wet at the time as well.

00:49:24guest: It was awful conditions. It wasn't very nice.

00:49:27Allan Hoskins: It was brutal on that Great Ocean Road.

00:49:28guest: Yes.

00:49:29Allan Hoskins: No, well done. It's a beautiful day here in Portland.

00:49:31guest: Great. Fantastic.

00:49:33Allan Hoskins: Well, there you have it, Scott and Mel. There's another successful day and a lot of parkrun adventurers out here today at the Portland Winter Solstice event. Great to see that many represented from Mount Gambier, Hamilton, Portland, and Aranda, other parkruns as well. So we've got plenty of tourists out here today as well. So well done to everybody. And thank you very much. So signing off here from the Winter Solstice event for the Portland Runners Club here in Portland.

00:49:56Scott Trickett: Bye. A fun day was had in Portland. Thanks, Alan, for getting all those roving reports for us. A few of our other listeners had some fun times and some fun adventures. And what they did is they took a photo, and they used this program called Instagram, and wrote comments. And that's exactly what Dave D'Alessio did at St. Peter's parkrun. He was all dressed up to the Nikes, first parkrun in the wet.

Social Adventurers (Instagram and Facebook round-up)

00:50:23Melissa Erbacher: Well, we've already heard that it was a wet weekend in New South Wales, so good on you, David, getting out there and doing it anyway. Jez Savage was at Woodbridge Riverside parkrun in WA. He put on the tourist hat, laced up the trusty cloud surfers, and went hard. His fastest parkrun time in 18 months. Congratulations, Jez. That's awesome.

00:50:45Scott Trickett: Macalicious21 was at Parkville parkrun at Princess Park for his 5k warm-up. Systems check run for my longer race later today. Macalicious ran for 24 hours, covered 160 kilometers. Silly, silly thing to do. And then I did run into Macalicious, got a high five for him at the longest run.

00:51:07Melissa Erbacher: He also did longest run as well. Oh no, that was at Princess Park.

00:51:13Scott Trickett: Yeah, he was still there because he was running for 24 hours. So he was still there and he was dishing out some high fives. So thanks, Macalicious.

00:51:23Melissa Erbacher: Running Optimistic was at North Lakes parkrun this weekend. My parkrun love heart, smiley face, pretty happy with a 24.50 time.

00:51:33Scott Trickett: Dirty Cheetahs. We need to get the history behind that name. But he was at Mossman parkrun. Smackley arrives at Mossman parkrun well prepared. So he was well prepared for the weather with his floaties. Are they floaties?

00:51:49Melissa Erbacher: I think it's a life vest. Like an actual life vest.

00:51:53Scott Trickett: It wasn't that much rain was there?

00:51:55Melissa Erbacher: It was wet enough to cancel longest run on Sunday. Wilby 1981 volunteered at Burley Griffin parkrun launch. Ding, ding, ding, ding. Turnaround marshalling 435 parkrunners, a new ACT record. And he was there with his little helper and she had a cowbell. I would be very impressed if she managed to ring that thing the entire time the runners were out there. I'm not sure how impressed Wilby 1981 was by the end with the cowbell ringing.

00:52:27Scott Trickett: 4.35, that's a good showing for a launch in the ACT. We said they were excited. They were really excited. Mama of hope. Now, she wasn't sure how much of an adventure it is when you visit your closest parkrunner home, but she is a Diamond Creek-er, and she was on tour at Westerfolds. She couldn't get under 25 minutes. That still eludes her, but she said, thanks, guys. Love your course and your friendly atmosphere at Westerfolds.

00:52:56Melissa Erbacher: I'm pretty sure the sub 25 on the Westerfolds course eludes a lot of people. So you're in good company there, honey. Stuart Marshall Training said, it's these views that make me hate taper week. I miss running. Only one more day to wait and I can hit the path again. Might just run a PB tomorrow because I can't help myself. Then Sunday, I get to run with my best friend who just happens to be the most amazing wife any guy could ask for. Well, I think my husband would disagree with you, but I'm glad you think that way.

00:53:29Scott Trickett: Beaker Design created a nifty infographic to celebrate Nui's fourth birthday.

00:53:35Melissa Erbacher: All right. On Facebook, Caro Voss was volunteering at Korean Glades parkrun's second birthday, complete with tutu and a mouthful of cake. Great job, Caro. I love, love, love when people say volunteering. It is such an ego boost for me. So keep doing it, guys.

00:53:54Scott Trickett: Lots of love for Caro. Dan Baldwin, four brothers from three states meeting at Bendigo parkrun on the weekend and they went the jump. Got a nice jump shot there. Well done, boys.

00:54:06Melissa Erbacher: I'm impressed that four brothers all finished at the same time because that was a jump shot before the finish line, wasn't it?

00:54:13Scott Trickett: It looked like it, yeah.

00:54:15Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, my four brothers wouldn't let that happen. They would be out there competing who's going to smash who, you know. Yeah, it would be all on. There would be no finishing together. Melissa Ellis said, no run for this adventurer this morning as I'm saving my legs for tomorrow's longest run in Melbourne. Good opportunity to get another volunteer on the board at Berwick Springs. I love how you're working the volunteering to save your legs. Good job.

00:54:44Scott Trickett: parkrunner mark called a court not sure about the pirate pre-run briefing however this takes a lot of beating he shared the um the parkrun pre-riff rap it's worth a watch it's quite funny to watch a white british man um rap over dr dre beat he does it well so look it up it's on facebook thanks for sharing mark

00:55:06Melissa Erbacher: Tok was out there showing us multiple pictures throughout the day on the longest run. Thank you, Tok. It meant a lot to me who was sitting in my house with the rain outside, not doing a longest run, to see how you guys were going throughout the day. So I appreciated that.

00:55:23Scott Trickett: Hey, and it was a big day because Wendy Glenn was also at the longest run. And the longest run in Melbourne has to come close to having been my ultimate parkrun adventure. Three courses I had previously run, plus four that were new to me, and the major adventure into the unknown of seeing if I could run that far in a day. What a spectacular day.

00:55:44Chris King: I agree. It was.

00:55:47Scott Trickett: I finished up running with Wendy. So that was great too. We crossed the finish line at Albert Park together.

00:55:55Melissa Erbacher: That's very cool. I'm glad to hear when so many people enjoy these extra adventures that happen around the place.

Launches and anniversaries ("Where is the cake?")

00:56:02Scott Trickett: No launches this week.

00:56:04Melissa Erbacher: We've got a few anniversaries, though. Personally, I'm going to be heading north to Gladstone, Queensland's third anniversary. They are not having a fancy dress theme. However, I have been told by the event directors that I am more than welcome to dress up should I choose to.

00:56:21Scott Trickett: That's kind of them. And what are you going to do, Mel? Are you going to sit on that decision for a couple of days?

00:56:27Melissa Erbacher: Oh, look, it's... It's not actually easy to pack a lot of my costumes into a single carry-on bag that can go on a plane. So I would say I'm probably going to hit out this one in a running club shirt. So we'll see which one I pick this weekend.

00:56:49Scott Trickett: Hey, you're going to an anniversary this week. So am I. I'll be at Gels for our first year anniversary. We're celebrating with crazy socks.

00:56:57Melissa Erbacher: Crazy socks. That's awesome. Have you got your crazy socks ready?

00:57:00Scott Trickett: I purchased some socks on the weekend.

00:57:04Melissa Erbacher: Were they crazy?

00:57:05Scott Trickett: Well, whether they fit the definition of crazy, I'll leave up to the Gels parkrunners to decide. I think they're going to say no.

00:57:14Melissa Erbacher: If you have any doubt that they will be classified as crazy, you need to go out and buy some pom-poms and some, I don't know, glitter pipe cleaners and sew them on because you need to represent. Yeah, of course you can. Well, you've got to accessorize the socks to make them crazy.

00:57:33Scott Trickett: Taking notes. Thank you.

00:57:34Melissa Erbacher: Logan River in Queensland are celebrating their third anniversary with a circus theme. That's going to be another bright, colorful one.

00:57:42Scott Trickett: And Mornington Peninsula, two years up, they're celebrating with an 80s rock theme. I like that. We haven't had that one before.

00:57:51Melissa Erbacher: You could probably send Rowan down there in his get-up from Longest Run and weekend shenanigans. He was rocking that mullet. He really, really was.

00:58:02Scott Trickett: And as we just heard from Dominic, East Coast Park, parkrun, are celebrating their second anniversary.

00:58:08Melissa Erbacher: They're not technically an Australian event anymore, but because they were included on the Australian events list for the first year and a half, we thought it would be a good idea to wish them a happy second anniversary and include them with the others.

00:58:22Scott Trickett: So we've come to the end of another episode. I know you've all been waiting for it, so now we're going to dissect Game 7 of the NBA Finals. We've left it to the end. We've left the best bits to the end. So hit us with your hot take, Mel, and then I'll give you mine.

00:58:37Melissa Erbacher: My hot take. The finals of which? What sport are we celebrating this time?

00:58:47Scott Trickett: I know it's a parkrun podcast.

00:58:52Melissa Erbacher: Is it one of the one with balls?

00:58:57Scott Trickett: It was a big event. It completely missed your radar.

00:59:03Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't watch TV, so that could be why I missed it. Okay, it started with an N. Give me the acronym again and I'll try and figure it out.

00:59:13Scott Trickett: NBA.

00:59:15Melissa Erbacher: Oh, so the basketball.

00:59:16Scott Trickett: There you go.

00:59:19Melissa Erbacher: Well, is Michael Jordan still playing?

00:59:21Scott Trickett: No.

00:59:22Melissa Erbacher: Shaquille O'Neal?

00:59:23Scott Trickett: No. Come on, don't let me down. Just give me one name.

00:59:27Melissa Erbacher: of a player who might still be playing. Didn't one of the Kardashians marry a basketballer? Mr. Kardashian? Because if you're that famous, don't you take their name? My hot take is the team in the long white shirts are going to win.

00:59:46Scott Trickett: No, the game's over. It was one of the great series in NBA history. Might have to start another podcast for that.

00:59:57Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, you might have to start or find another co-host who knows about ball sports.

01:00:04Scott Trickett: Okay, we're done then. That's a different way to end. Look, we're struggling with a way to end. Thanks for joining me this week, Mel. We'll see you next week.