Episode 33 - Euan Bowman

Episode details · 201 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:13Scott Trickett: Welcome back to another edition of the parkrun Adventurers podcast. My name is Scott. As always, I'm joined by Mel. Hi Mel.

00:00:24Melissa Erbacher: Hey Scotty, how are you doing?

00:00:26Scott Trickett: Fantastic, as always. How was your weekend?

00:00:30Melissa Erbacher: Oh, my weekend was awesome. Very full. Actually, we started it off with... indulge me for a moment it's not exactly parkrun related we went to see a movie on friday night which i know you've already seen and i'm keen to hear more what you think about it jason bourne i have seen it you want my quick review please loved it loved it okay only one problem Which was?

00:01:05Scott Trickett: Spoiler alert. If you haven't seen it, you don't want to know what happens. Switch off for 60 seconds or fast forward.

00:01:15Melissa Erbacher: And hopefully Scotty times it perfectly so that you don't actually find the spoiler when you fast forward 60 seconds.

00:01:23Scott Trickett: The car chase scene at the end is absolutely ridiculous.

00:01:29Melissa Erbacher: It was rather reminiscent of the Blues Brothers, wasn't it?

00:01:33Scott Trickett: That's not what I immediately thought.

00:01:36Melissa Erbacher: Well, in terms of the amount of cars that just get smashed up and flung out of the way, this is actually one of the issues that I really had with it. Did you know that SWAT cars are effectively like super-fast tanks that just obliterate everything in their path?

00:01:54Scott Trickett: Apparently in Las Vegas they are, yeah.

00:01:56Melissa Erbacher: Because that's a gap in my education until Friday night. when I saw that. But you loved the movie. I did. See, I felt like it's a couple of hours of my life that I can't get back. It was just, there was no story. The whole thing was just him running around away from this guy or driving away from this guy or now he's on a moped trying to get away from this guy. And it's just, oh, there was just no substance to it. And I am a fan of the Bourne movies. This one just really let me down.

00:02:34Scott Trickett: I thought it carried it well. There was action throughout the whole thing. It was a three-hour movie, but it certainly didn't feel like it.

00:02:41Melissa Erbacher: No, it felt like five hours. I was bored. I was looking at my watch. I was looking at the other people in the cinema. Yeah.

00:02:55Scott Trickett: Oh, well.

00:02:57Melissa Erbacher: Not a big fan. But that was just Friday. How was your weekend?

00:03:05Scott Trickett: Good weekend. Standard parkrun weekend for me. But I had an interesting and fun Sunday. I ran a half marathon down here in Melbourne. And it was all in a bid to get a qualifying time for two bays trail run that happens in January. But I also had my first attempt at pacing someone. Have you ever paced anybody?

00:03:34Melissa Erbacher: I inadvertently paced somebody at a parkrun a couple of months ago for the first time. So yeah, it was not intentional. It wasn't premeditated, let's put it that way. How did you find it?

00:03:48Scott Trickett: I found it a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I did a little bit of research the night before, figured out what pace we had to run. So the aim was to get under two hours for a half marathon. So I knew what splits we had to do. I knew what the course was like. So we were going to go out a bit harder, come home a bit slower. But there was like a lot of pressure, particularly towards the end when my Westerfoldian buddy, I wouldn't say she was struggling, but I think, you know, language was getting a bit loose. We were running into a tough headwind and it was just hard to gauge how hard to push them.

00:04:35Melissa Erbacher: So the pressure that you're talking about, you felt the pressure or you felt like you were putting too much pressure on them?

00:04:42Scott Trickett: The pressure to keep to time, to make sure that they reach their goal. Because effectively as a pacer, there's not a lot you can actually do to make them run faster or get them to slow down.

00:04:56Melissa Erbacher: Well, you could hold on to them to slow them down. Who runs faster than their pacer?

00:05:01Scott Trickett: Well, people who want to go faster than their pacer. I don't know.

00:05:07Melissa Erbacher: Okay. So, but did you succeed? It was a challenge, but... We did succeed.

00:05:15Scott Trickett: We got in in 1 hour 59 minutes and 52 seconds. We had a wonderful, glorious 8 seconds to spare.

00:05:24Melissa Erbacher: That is perfect. You don't want to smash it by more than 8 seconds. Even 10 would be pushing it, in my opinion.

00:05:30Scott Trickett: I did get a little bit anxious as we were running up the finishing chute. We got caught behind a couple of people and I knew that we were really close. Like there's no point in a two hour and four second half marathon because you've just wasted two hours.

00:05:47Melissa Erbacher: Well, I wouldn't go that far but did you yell furiously at the people that were in your way? Get out of the way!

00:05:56Scott Trickett: No, I just politely hoped that They would hear us coming. Anyway, it was a great morning. And Lee, my buddy that we paced, was very happy and I was very happy for her. Yeah, it was just a great morning. Great morning of running.

00:06:16Melissa Erbacher: Awesome. What a good adventure. And would you consider pacing again then?

00:06:21Scott Trickett: I would. I would because I actually got a lot out of it myself. To see someone else achieve their goal, but also run comfortably within myself and try some different things with heart rate and learn how to run at different paces. It was very rewarding. I highly recommend it. You were also at a half marathon slash marathon event on the weekend.

00:06:51Melissa Erbacher: Yeah big one for us on the Sunshine Coast. Well they call it the Sunshine Coast Marathon and Community Run Festival but for us it actually really kind of started on Saturday at parkrun because we had adventurers from all over the place at parkrun. parkruns I should say across the Sunshine Coast because they were up for the weekend to do an event or a couple of events on Sunday so they came to parkrun to test out our courses and yeah it was great we had so many people at kawana that were new and from other places and it was lovely to be able to welcome them to our course and straight after parkrun i packed down the tent and i repacked it or re what do you call it mantled it i mantled it at um the race precinct for the sunday so myself and Deborah Mills, who's the event director at Brightwater parkrun, she had their parkrun tent and a couple of their local running club, the Sunshine Coast Running Chicks. We had two tents for their club, which we were putting all up together. So we had four tents all ready to go for Sunday and to act as the hub for the local parkrunners and the running club. to come and meet and leave their stuff and get photos and cheer. And yeah, it was, it was really cool. But after I set up the tent on Saturday, I went to collect my race bib because I was entered in the 2k family fun run on Sunday. So because this event is such a huge one, a huge day, there are so many parkrunners that are involved. I like to, or at least the last couple of years I've opted instead of spending three hours on the course to spend more time actually at the tents cheering people on from the sidelines so if I do the 2k which is the last race of the day it doesn't take too long and I can still get dressed up and as we discussed in the podcast last week I had to do some sort of fancy dress And I seem to recall you telling me that I needed to make a scene. But when it was Saturday, I still hadn't decided what I was going to wear yet. And when I went to pick up my race bib, my, what should I call it? My indecision was solidified by my race bib number. And can you guess what it was?

00:09:31Scott Trickett: 007.

00:09:33Melissa Erbacher: Close. It was 7007. so I had to do a little bit of bib tampering which I'm hoping you know the IOC or whoever these people are that that run these sorts of things don't find out about it might mean that my official photos are missing because I altered my number I don't know maybe I just need to search under 007 but yes I didn't think you would be very impressed because I know you're not a huge James Bond fan but I had to go as James Bond. There was no question. The bib had spoken. So, yep, some frantic running around on Saturday afternoon to various op shops to find myself a tuxedo shirt and jacket and a black tutu because I didn't previously own a black tutu. Check. And, yeah, I have chafing.

00:10:32Scott Trickett: Tutus. Did you say black tutus?

00:10:35Melissa Erbacher: Yeah.

00:10:37Scott Trickett: Look, full disclosure, I've actually never seen a James Bond movie, but I don't recall ever seeing any promotional shots of him in a tutu.

00:10:49Melissa Erbacher: Well, I have to do everything my way, Scotty. So, top half of me was all business tuxedo, bottom half of me was fun times tutus. And instead of guns, I actually had water pistols. So... I filled up the water pistols before my race. And then when I was out on the course, anyone who cheered for me got a squirt in the face. Everybody wins.

00:11:16Scott Trickett: Go, Mel.

00:11:17Melissa Erbacher: Take that. It was an interactive costume. So I was very happy. It all came together lovely and last minute. And yeah.

00:11:30Scott Trickett: Okay. Did you win? Because that was the other thing I wanted you to do.

00:11:34Melissa Erbacher: Oh, did you tell me that I had to win my 2K?

00:11:36Scott Trickett: Yeah, remember, distract all the kids, smash them and get through first.

00:11:41Melissa Erbacher: No, see, I'm not that kind of runner. What I will say is, though, because apart from the fact that the rest of the event was amazing and there were heaps of parkrunners and... And event directors from parkruns from all over Australia, I have counted 22 different event directors from events, not just in Queensland, but further afield as well. And, you know, a lot of the usual suspects too. But I digress. I was actually going to tell you that in the family fun run, there was a great bunch of parkrunners who were dressed in their 50 club shirts and they were chaperoning disabled kids and that made me really proud as well to see parkrunners out there in the community giving back helping other people out to enjoy that sort of experience amazing day love it every every year it's awesome you should come up next year

00:12:47Scott Trickett: That sounds pretty cool. There is a bit of this going on and we might do a little thing on it in a future episode of parkrunners helping other people to experience parkrunner. And your example there with the 50 shirts and the disabled kids. I think we should shine a light on these people in future episodes.

00:13:09Melissa Erbacher: Agreed.

Guest interview — parkrun Canada launch (Euan Bowman, Country Manager)

00:13:19Scott Trickett: On the weekend, the parkrun family grew. We welcomed Canada into the fold. And here to join us on the podcast this week, we're joined by Euan Bowman.

00:13:30Euan Bowman: Hi Scott.

00:13:31Scott Trickett: Welcome Euan. Welcome to parkrun Adventurers, but welcome to parkrun.

00:13:35Euan Bowman: Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. It's my second foray into the adventure, but it's almost like I never left. It's picked up right where I left off.

00:13:49Scott Trickett: Well, maybe we can start there. Tell us about that, because you've been around parkrun for a number of years, but you've obviously since moved to Canada and thought parkrun's perfect for Canada.

00:14:00Euan Bowman: That's right. So where do we begin? So back in 2007, I think it was, I moved south down to a place called Basingstoke in the south of England. And I was looking for something to do one weekend, and I looked up a website. I think it was like freethingstodoinlondon.com or something like that. And I found this event called WCTT, and it was like a free five-kilometer time trial. And I was experimenting with running, and I thought, you know what, I'll give that a go. And I went along, and the first time I went, actually, I was late. I had to get a couple of trains. And I turned up late and I'm like, oh, well, I'll try next week. And that was one of the key things about what became parkrun was that it was always there.

00:14:56Scott Trickett: So if you do screw up or if they screw up, there's always next week.

00:15:00Euan Bowman: So I went the next week and I just loved it. I loved that it was always there. There was no pressure to perform or to do anything spectacular. And it was there week after week and there was this community around it as well. The trouble is, Basingstoke being an hour out of London, it was an awful long way to go every Saturday morning. So I contacted Paul. And at the time, I think there was only like maybe three, four events on in the country. And I said, Paul, how would you fancy bringing this to Basingstoke? And Paul was, he was all over it. And being the trusting, generous guy that he is, when we met up, he says, okay, here's your laptop, here's your timer, Google. Go get them. And myself and a colleague from work that I wrote in, Alex, we started this, what was called the NHTT, the North Hampshire Time Trial. And we got it going. From 35 runners in the first day, over the course of just over three years I was there, we got it to about 200 people running weekly. And then when I left to come to Canada, It just went up and up, and I just checked the website there a second ago, and they're getting between 350 people to 400 every single week. And I can't imagine that, because when I saw the state of the park when I left, it was getting pretty busy. I can't imagine double the numbers there. That's just incredible. They've done a superb job there. I remember waking up that first morning and thinking, oh, what have I done? Who's going to come to this thing that we've started? No one's going to be interested. And I couldn't believe 35 people turned up. Wow. Okay. So 35 people got up at some crazy hour in the morning to come and join me for a run. I just thought that was incredible. Never would I have thought what eight years later from that day that how many events do we have now? Over 900 events and well over 120,000 people running globally every week. That just, it boggles my mind. Absolutely.

00:17:13Scott Trickett: And now you get to do it all again in Canada.

00:17:16Euan Bowman: I get to do it all again in Canada. So on Saturday there was the launch of parkrun Canada. And the first one was out in Kelowna, which is a place in the interior of British Columbia. Now it's called Okanagan parkrun, named after the region. And it's put on by a great guy called Bill Justice. We've had a number of inquiries to parkrun Canada to start a parkrun. and as you will know there's there's a few things you need to start a parkrun you know you need to have the people you need to have the the permission you need to have the funds and you need the location and Bill came to me with pretty much everything on a plate he says I've got all that we can do this as soon as you guys are ready with the national part of it we're good to go so we work with him pretty closely to get this thing going and uh We're working pretty closely with parkrun Global, with Tom and Paul and the rest over there. We got it going. It wasn't the easiest thing to do in the world, but the best things aren't. And it was just fantastic. I could not believe how this little community in the interior of BC just got the concept. They'd never seen a parkrun before, but they just embraced the concept. 96 people came out and they completed the course and there were smiles all around and it reminded me of how simple the concept is. All you need really is a course, some barcodes and the people and you've got a parkrun and it's so transportable. It's just fantastic.

00:18:56Melissa Erbacher: Now Euan, I'm getting a bit of a reputation for asking about the big scary animals. And I know there are bears in Canada. And I have looked at the photos of the parkrun on the weekend. And it looks like it's a trail beside water. So, in the wilderness. As well as bears, I'm worried about the moose. The meeses. What's the plural of moose?

00:19:19Euan Bowman: Oh, you've got me. You've put me on the spot. Well, hopefully I only get to see one moose at a time, so I never have to come across that question, I suppose.

00:19:32Melissa Erbacher: Even one at a time, though, is that something that's in the event's risk assessment? Because those things are bigger than cars.

00:19:40Euan Bowman: They are. Bears in particular are something that we do need to look at. It is fun to laugh and joke about it, but it's like, hold on, no, bears are actually a thing. they're very dangerous absolutely so the ones I've come across mind you are fairly docile the black bears we come across they're normally just going through some sort of garbage bin and they hear you come and they look up and they go hey and then they just get back to what they're doing that said they are they shouldn't be reckoned with absolutely But you guys in Australia, I mean, you guys have dangerous animals too. It's not a new thing, really. I was listening to your podcast last week and there was somebody up north in Australia who had crocodiles, for example. I'm not sure what I'd rather have, be it bears or crocodiles. I think I'll stick with the bears, I think.

00:20:42Scott Trickett: Euan, I was also looking at the photos from the weekend, and one thing that jumped out at me was that it actually looked hot, and that's not something I associate with Canada. So firstly, was it hot?

00:20:55Euan Bowman: It was hot. Here in Canada, we're blessed to get two glorious weeks of summer, and it just so happens we're right in the middle of those two weeks. Yeah, the interior can get pretty hot. On the day, I think it was something like 35 degrees. which is when you're standing exposed and the sun's on you, it's pretty relentless. You can just stand there and the sweat's lashing off you. But that course is pretty good. A good portion of it at that time in the morning is in the shade. And it's a nice dry heat, so it's not too bad. It's not too bad at all.

00:21:34Scott Trickett: Okay, but what about when the cold comes in Canada because it's cold? Is that going to be a challenge for you? Yes.

00:21:41Euan Bowman: Yes, and that question comes up a lot, particularly on the East Coast. Where I am here in Vancouver, we get it very, very nice. It doesn't really go below zero much. So we're laughing. Any park here really wouldn't be a problem. Over on the East Coast, I bluntly have to say, when it comes to parkruns, we don't know what's going to happen. But what will happen is that we'll go into this first winter, we'll have a parkrun, and when we come out the other side, it's going to be blatantly obvious what to do. Whether the parkrun has to move to another course, whether we just run through it completely, whether we need to hibernate for the winter, it'll become so obvious what to do that it will be able to handle it pretty well. And my experience with parkruns is that the problems come when the conditions change. So in the UK, where it can be fairly mild and then you're hit with a snowstorm, people aren't used to it, so they have to scramble for an emergency plan. Here, if it's consistently cold, people adapt. And whether they wear snowshoes or they clear the path every week, as long as it's predictable and reliable, I don't see it being an issue.

00:23:05Melissa Erbacher: All right. You've got event number one done, under the belt. What are the plans for the future of parkrun in Canada?

00:23:14Euan Bowman: The plans are super exciting. Well, based on what I saw in Kelowna, the communities are just embracing parkrun. And we are committed to providing a parkrun to every community that wants one. And to date, we're fielding quite a few inquiries coming in and we have about 25 active parkrunning leads as it were. Now I appreciate not all of them will translate into actual parkruns, but it gives you an indication of the interest out there. So we are looking to make a proper go of this. I don't see it unlikely over the course of six, seven, eight years to have 500 of these events across Canada. Bear in mind that we are going to establish our presence in cities like Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, across Nova Scotia, everywhere. Once we do that, we're then going to reach out to the more remote communities in Canada where there aren't such a huge population of people. And we're going to see if they'd be interested in a parkrun. And there are a whole load of those communities. And I just think they'd love to have a parkrun there as well. So super exciting, lots of interest. We'll have coverage right across Canada from west to east. I think Canada's going to be amazing for parkrun.

00:24:38Scott Trickett: No argument from us there. I think there'll be lots of Australians because I think we have a great affinity with the Canadians. I think everyone in Australia knows a Canadian, it seems. So are you expecting to see a lot of adventurers or tourists, as other people call them?

00:24:57Euan Bowman: Absolutely. Bill with the Okanagan parkrun he did a couple of dummy runs and he told no one about it but people still found out and he was blown away he was blown away when he was speaking to people from all corners of the world he had someone from Aberdeen in Scotland and he was really excited to tell me that a fellow countryman had come to his parkrun even though it wasn't even a parkrun yet it was just a dummy run so people hear about it and, uh, they will do everything to be there.

00:25:32Scott Trickett: And you also had Tom Williams visit you for your launch and you managed to beat him. Was that satisfying?

00:25:41Euan Bowman: You know, it was, ah, it was satisfying, although, um, we were sitting down for coffee afterwards and, um, on that route, there's a little bit of an out and back. So you go out and then you come back and, um, Tom was just casually telling me that on the way back he was high-fiving everybody like yeah you know yeah good job good job and I'm like really you're you know I was I didn't I didn't say that I was giving it my all but you know that's what I was thinking and I was deflated a little bit so Tom Tom Tom gave it a good go but he was also taking his time while he was running too so felt great but at the same time I felt it was a bit of a cold victory so I need to go over to his parkrun and see if he can have a rematch just to satisfy it for myself, I think.

00:26:33Melissa Erbacher: Euan, you said the course was an out-and-back. Are we correct in assuming that it's a trail? And can you tell us about it?

00:26:40Euan Bowman: I would describe it as more like a towpath, a canal. Although it's not a canal, it's a creek. And there's these... lovely paths that go on either side. It's not paved, it's just very light gravel the whole way. Absolutely perfect for running. It's good for a PB if you're looking for a good fast course. Very wide as well, so even though we do turn around, you don't ever feel cramped at all. We had just under 100 people out on Mission Creek And it wasn't a problem at all. So beautiful course as well. You're surrounded by mountains. It's just one of the most scenic courses out there, I think.

00:27:28Scott Trickett: Well, we're going to have to add it to the list. We're going to have to add Canada as a country to our list, Euan. Very exciting times for you. Very envious of your position. Good luck with everything.

00:27:41Euan Bowman: Thank you. Thank you. You're very welcome to come over.

00:27:45Melissa Erbacher: It's exciting times for adventurers all over the world, I think. Another country to add to the list. I can't wait.

00:27:51Euan Bowman: Like you say, I expect parkrun adventurers from all over the world to be coming over, and they already have been. So, yeah, here's to it.

Event Director interview — Chermside parkrun 1st anniversary (Mark Huth)

00:28:11Melissa Erbacher: Our next guest on the podcast joins us from Queensland. He's about to celebrate a very special anniversary this weekend at Chermside parkrun. We're joined by event director Mark Huth.

00:28:25Mark Huth: Hi Mel, hi Scott. Great to be on the show.

00:28:27Melissa Erbacher: So you're turning number one this weekend, Mark. What are the preparations for the anniversary?

00:28:34Mark Huth: Cake. We've got cake. We've got lots of cake. We've got cupcakes and slices and Chopped chip cookies and all that sort of stuff. So I've got all those bases covered. We've got a onesie theme. It was a special request from one of our run directors. And it seems like a pretty good theme. And looking at the weather forecast, it was sort of getting towards the end of winter. I wasn't sure whether it would be cold enough to have it. But looking at the forecast, it's going to be nice and cool on Saturday morning. So it looks like we'll get away with it. So it's going to be a nice morning for onesies. It won't be too warm, hopefully. So it's looking great, looking fine. And 8 or something like that, 8 or 9 degrees on Saturday morning. So... That'll be lovely. But we're also turning 50, so it's our 50th run. So if you don't have a onesie or you don't like running in onesies, then you're free to wear a red, something red, because, you know, the 50 milestone shirt's red. So, yeah, if you don't have a onesie or don't want to run in onesie, then by all means come in red. There'll be plenty of people in red as well.

00:29:40Scott Trickett: I like the choice of theme, Mark. Lots of diversity. I remember our first anniversary at Westerfolds, we sort of went with a onesie theme as well. Did you put a lot of thought into your onesie?

00:29:55Mark Huth: Personally, well, I found a Doctor Who onesie. It's a TARDIS, so I'm a bit of a Doctor Who fan, so I figured if I was going to get a onesie, it might as well be something that I really... and may wear again so um and you know we go camping a bit so i think we'll probably probably come out again at camp so um but some of our rds have got you know pokemon's a bit bit of a rage still at the moment so we've got a pikachu onesie one of our rds we've got a pikachu onesie and that one's got a cow onesie so so there should be a few onesies within our run directing group as i said hopefully the weather's nice and fine for it you said you've

00:30:34Scott Trickett: you'll use it camping. Have you ever run in a onesie?

00:30:37Mark Huth: No, I haven't. I just put one on for the first time today, actually. It arrived in the mail this morning, so I wore a onesie for the very first time today, would you believe it? It felt quite comfortable, actually. It was quite nice.

00:30:51Scott Trickett: You're in for a treat. I reckon by about 1km, you'll be unzipping the front. You'll become a halfsy by about 2km.

00:31:01Mark Huth: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll have to go and try it out during the week and just see how far I get. So, yeah, it should be interesting. So, as I said, I'm hoping it's cool. So lots of people will survive the 5Ks in a onesie. There might be quite a few people walking by the end of it, I'd imagine.

00:31:16Melissa Erbacher: That's okay. You'll be fine. You don't have to run in the onesie.

00:31:20Mark Huth: Actually, I won't be running because of the run directing. So I'll be just standing around. Oh, well, there you go. I should go for a run though just to feel the pain. of the people in the onesies. So I might go for a run later on this week, very early in the morning, very early in the morning, you know, like before the sun gets up or something like that.

00:31:40Melissa Erbacher: So you'll just be that random guy running around the park in a onesie on a Thursday with nobody else?

00:31:48Mark Huth: Might have to be, yes, I might have to do that.

00:31:51Melissa Erbacher: That's all right. Just make sure you don't do it on Friday because if you get locked up, then you might not make it to your anniversary on Saturday. Oh. So now, Mark, how many people do you average at Termside parkrun these days?

00:32:06Mark Huth: About 150 to 200. Over the winter, the numbers have dropped off a little bit, I guess, but we're still getting about 150, which is a really lovely number. We've got quite a few parkruns around on the north side now, so it's all spread nicely amongst all the parkruns. So we've got Mitchelton and Sandgate nearby, and they're some of the more popular parkruns on the Brisbane north side. So, you know, I think 150 is a great number for us, so we're very happy with that.

00:32:33Melissa Erbacher: I like 150. I think most courses kind of max out at 150, and once you get over that, it gets a little bit crazy, unless you've got super wide paths.

00:32:44Mark Huth: Yeah, our path's pretty wide, so we can handle it. I mean, we had 360 at our launch, and it seemed to handle that okay. I didn't get any complaints or any... feedback that it couldn't handle it. So the course can handle a little bit. Yeah, smaller numbers is lovely. So there's, you know, it's a little bit less stress on a Saturday morning and you need a few less volunteers perhaps. So it's, but I guess over time it'll eventually grow in numbers. But yeah, at the moment it's quite a nice number. So yeah, 150, 200 is pretty good.

00:33:17Scott Trickett: Tell us a little bit about Chermside and the course. I've got no idea where Chermside is.

00:33:23Mark Huth: We're on the north side of Brisbane, sort of central north side. It's sort of a high density residential area so it's lots of houses, lots of Nearby, we're actually pretty close to Chermside Shopping Centre, which apparently is the largest shopping centre in Queensland. And we're just 200 metres from that, so we've got lots of options for coffee afterwards. It's in a lovely park called 7th Brigade Park. There's a big kids' playground in the park called Kidspace. It's a lovely area for our meeting area before and after the run. It's a huge kids' playground. So parking toilets, big playground, free council Wi-Fi. So it was just an ideal spot to start the run there to have the meeting area. And then we just run through the park. It's just a follow the concrete bikeway through the park. There's a little bridge that we cross there's a little bit of um a couple of turns over a bridge under a bridge there's some nice wide area open space there's a bit of shade for the summer which is really good especially in queensland it's nice to have a bit of shade in the summertime uh it's it's just a nice central location there on the north side of brisbane it's it's near the highway there's a big thoroughfare through brisbane called gympie road and it's not far from that so it's very easy to get to

00:34:51Scott Trickett: All I heard was bridges, over bridges, under bridges. So, sold.

00:34:58Melissa Erbacher: Mark, I first met you at Brightwater parkrun before Termside had started. So, you've been a parkrunner for quite a while and you're also quite the adventurer. What made you decide you would like to start up a parkrun?

00:35:14Mark Huth: Well, I always... thought we sort of needed an extra parkrun on the north side of Brisbane like for a long time there for about a year and a half there was about four there was like Sandgate and Mitchelton and Bunyaville and North Lakes and that was good but it just felt like that you know the numbers were increasing at those parkruns and you know there was plenty of other spaces in on the north side that probably could be a good spot to have a parkrun so I just felt like it needed another one and Um, I never thought I'd start one myself. I was just, uh, I thought we needed one, but I didn't imagine it would, I would be starting it. And, uh, it was down at kids space one day. Like we used to get in there a lot when my daughter was younger and I hadn't been down for a couple of years and, uh, happened to be down there. And one day I was just looking around, I thought, this looks like a pretty good spot to start a parkrun. You know, it has all the facilities that, you know, parkruns have. And the pathway was pretty good. Nice wide pathway, pretty flat, you know, nice scenic location. So I was thinking, hey, this would be a good spot for a parkrun. And I walked around some of the paths and found a 2.5k loop that 2.5k out and back. And so this is great. You know, the perfect spot. And so I emailed Tim and just said, hey, look, this looks like a great spot for a parkrun. Being a bit naive, not really knowing what happened next. And so he just emailed back and said, that's a great idea, Mark. Here's what you do to start a parkrun. And I'm like, oh, okay, that's what you do. So um so and they also emailed me some other people who were also interested in starting a parkrun at that location so we got together and and um yeah eventually started one up it took a little while to get it going we had to wait for funds from the council uh that took a couple of months but eventually that all came through and we're able to start it up and and so yeah now i'm the event director for that and you know it was a little bit nerve-wracking at the beginning i hadn't really done this sort of thing before and i hadn't done run directing before at any other parkruns i'd volunteered a few times at a few of the local parkruns you know timekeeper and finish tokens and barcode scanning so i knew all the different roles but actually you know putting them all together and overseeing the whole thing wasn't something i'd done before so there's certainly uh stepping out of my comfort zone and but it's been great it's been great uh It started off as a little bit nerve-wracking, but once you get up and running and regulars start coming along and you get a handle on how everything works and stuff, you start to relax. It's hard to believe a year's already gone past and coming up to our anniversary this week. It's humming along. It's really lovely. It's a really nice way to start the weekend. I've always started the weekend with parkrun, but now starting it this way as well, being in charge of an event, it's just made it all that more special. So it's lovely.

00:37:59Scott Trickett: And Mel mentioned that prior to launching Chermside, you're a great adventurer. You get around to about 20 different events. One thing I did notice, though, is that they're all in Queensland. Do you just love Queensland?

00:38:15Mark Huth: I think I've been to Kira. No, sorry, not Kira, Kingscliff. Kingscliff, so I have done one in New South Wales, yes. I just, I don't know, I haven't been on too many big long holidays to get to the other states, so... Kingscliff is only just New South Wales.

00:38:34Melissa Erbacher: It's barely, it barely counts as being out of Queensland. I'm just saying.

00:38:40Mark Huth: Yeah, I understand, yes. It was 8 o'clock though, so I had to remember that, so... But, yeah, look, there's just so many parkruns here in Queensland, especially southeast Queensland. There's so many to choose from. It's wonderful. You're spoilt for choice up here as far as parkruns are concerned. But I guess it's just a sign that our family is overdue for a long interstate holiday by the looks of it. So, yeah, definitely would like to get to some others, you know, Sydney, Melbourne and stuff like that. Just haven't had an opportunity, so we'll get there.

00:39:12Melissa Erbacher: I'm sure you know what I'm going to ask you next, Mark.

00:39:16Mark Huth: surprise me top three that you've been to not including termside and go okay um oh look south bank maybe i quite enjoy south bank parkrun it's it's just such an iconic parkrun you know you get to run around you know the center of brisbane it's uh it's a lovely run down by the river there and uh i don't do it that often but um i always enjoy it it's quite nice to see uh quite nice to see the city from that from that angle and to be able to do that so i know it's if you're going to be in brisbane you're only going to do one parkrun that's hard to go past south bank is the choice to do um i'd have to say bunyaville is another one because it's so unique in brisbane there's no other parkruns really like it in brisbane itself so you know it's a trail run it's it's it's a difficult parkrun that's for sure it's There's lots of hills and it's a trail, so you've got to watch your footing. But it's just nice running through the forest there at Bunya Forest. A hearty bunch of parkrunners there too, a lovely bunch too at Bunyaville parkrun. So I've done a few there, done a bit of volunteering there. Yeah, as I said, it's quite different compared to all the others in Brisbane. And the third one is probably Sandgate. That's the My original parkrun, that's where I first started parkrunning. I also have my PB out there as well because it's a nice flat course out there, so it's really good for fast times out at Sandgate. And it's also such a scenic course as well, so it's really quite lovely out there. So, yeah, Sandgate always has a bit of a soft spot in my heart. So that's probably my top three, but... I mean, there's heaps. They're all great. You know, wherever you go, there's something different and always a nice group of people. The event team's always lovely. So, yeah, I quite enjoy the touristing. I haven't done it for a while now since Chermside started up, but I'm keen to get back and doing some more touristing.

00:41:15Melissa Erbacher: What you need to do is adventuring. I do love that two out of the three of your top three are events that I haven't actually been to yet. So that's pretty much why we ask. We're not asking on behalf of the listeners. Scotty and I want to know where we need to go and we're trying to plan out our adventures.

00:41:33Mark Huth: Excellent. Yeah. I had to fill those details in for you.

00:41:38Melissa Erbacher: But this does prompt one question for me because looking at your history and you have done 28 different events, I noticed that you've done every single event on the Sunshine Coast except for Nambour parkrun. I thought, oh, maybe he doesn't like trails. But then you just mentioned Bunyaville.

00:41:56Mark Huth: It's time to get to Nambour. I'd love to get there. It's just, yeah, since Chermside started up, I've been spending most of my time there. But I'd love to get there. And it's actually interesting. The guys from Bunyaville, I was speaking to them just after Nambour started up. And so... These are parkrunners who run at Bunyaville every week. So they're used to a nice, tough parkrun. There's hills in all directions at Bunyaville. And so my PB at Bunyaville is like three minutes slower than it is anywhere else. And so I was speaking to some of the guys at Bunyaville after Nambour started up and they were saying how tough Nambour is. So these are people who run Bunyaville every week, which is the toughest parkrun in Brisbane. And then they were saying, oh, gee, Nambour's tough. So I'm really quite keen to get up there and try it out. So I will get up there soon enough. So I'm not scared of it. I just haven't had an opportunity to get up there yet. So I'm really keen to try it out.

00:42:51Scott Trickett: Well, Mark, so am I. But I'm also keen to check out Chermside now after our little chat. Thanks for coming on the podcast this week. Thanks, Scott. It's wonderful to be here.

Strava Art competition reveal (podcast adventure challenge)

00:43:08Melissa Erbacher: For those of you who tuned in last week, you'll be waiting to hear all about our very exciting competition, which we are about to reveal to you now. I think we need a drum roll, Scotty.

00:43:22[other]

00:43:22Scott Trickett: There it is.

00:43:29Melissa Erbacher: Would you like to reveal the competition details?

00:43:34Scott Trickett: So first thing you have to do is join our Strava Club. The parkrun Adventure is on Strava.

00:43:41Melissa Erbacher: We'll share another link on the Facebook page in case you can't find us.

00:43:45Scott Trickett: Very easy to do. Everyone can join Strava. You don't need to have a fancy watch to be on Strava and to record your runs. If you've got a mobile phone, install the Strava app and take that with you on your run.

00:44:00Melissa Erbacher: It's a free app.

00:44:01Scott Trickett: It is. So I guess we're excluding people who don't have smartphones. Sorry.

00:44:07Melissa Erbacher: Well, no, not necessarily, because anyone who listens to this podcast must have a computer. So if they've got a computer, they can access Strava.

00:44:16Scott Trickett: They're not going to go for a run carrying their computer with them.

00:44:21Melissa Erbacher: No, but you can manually log a run on Strava. You can just enter the details, no, and make a map.

00:44:30Scott Trickett: That's not going to work for our competition because what we're doing.

00:44:34Melissa Erbacher: This is true.

00:44:35Scott Trickett: We've overlooked the minor details Mel. What we want you to do is create some Strava art. So Strava art for those that don't know is when you go for a run on Strava it tracks where you run and it draws a pretty little line and sometimes if you're lucky enough that pretty little line can form a pattern, a picture, a shape.

00:45:04Melissa Erbacher: Sometimes intentionally it forms a shape and that's what we want you guys to do. But not just any old shape. We're going to share an image with you on our Facebook page and we want you to replicate that image. And that is how you win the competition because the image that most closely resembles the original is going to win.

00:45:31Scott Trickett: Now we're being generous about this. We're giving you four weeks. We're going to run this competition over four weeks.

00:45:37Melissa Erbacher: All entries must be submitted between the 24th of August and the 20th of September because we're going to announce the winner during episode 37.

00:45:47Scott Trickett: The winner will receive their choice of option P. Which will be a mystery prize of undisclosed value. That's all we're saying. Or option A.

00:46:01Melissa Erbacher: Which is going to get better every week, but starts with a one-of-a-kind costume accessory personally crafted by me.

00:46:11Scott Trickett: Money can't buy.

00:46:13Melissa Erbacher: Well, the right kind of money might be able to buy that. If you know what I mean.

00:46:21Scott Trickett: So next week, we'll reveal more prizes from option A, but the winner has a choice. A couple of rules. You must be a member of the parkrun Adventurers Strava Club. Again, easy to do. Join Strava. Join the club. what we want you to do is send us the link. So when you create your Strava art, send us the link to our email address, which is parkrunadventures at gmail.com.

00:46:49Melissa Erbacher: Now, what we haven't mentioned is that people can submit multiple entries. So if you go out and have a crack at it and it looks pretty ridiculous, submit it because you don't know that might be the closest that anyone actually gets. However, if you've still got some time, you're more than welcome to go out and try it again to perfect your technique with the particular curves or lines of this image.

00:47:18Scott Trickett: Okay, so that's it. Quick update on the Strava Club. Membership continues to grow. Brendan Davies continues to lead the leaderboard. And Mel Erbacher still has not appeared.

00:47:31Melissa Erbacher: Well, I've only just learnt that there's like a minimum amount of Ks that you have to do to even appear on the leaderboard these days.

00:47:38Scott Trickett: Yes, 17 kilometres.

00:47:40Melissa Erbacher: So obviously I'm going to have to start training for something again.

00:47:43Scott Trickett: That's a good idea.

00:47:45Melissa Erbacher: I'll have to start thinking of a run to enter. If anyone's got any suggestions, let me know.

00:47:54Scott Trickett: Melbourne Marathon.

00:48:00Melissa Erbacher: You just had to rub that one in, didn't you?

Social scene round-up (Social Adventurers)

00:48:02Scott Trickett: What's happening in the social scene?

00:48:05Melissa Erbacher: Well... busy weekend this weekend i guess because adventurers were out there having adventures and that's what we like to see on instagram beaker design said the weekly wooters parkrun infographic is still evolving this week the map has pins in australia singapore and the uk so if you've had a look at this Beaker Design actually do like a club report for Wooters Runners, and they put all the little stats on a little graphic for them, which is pretty cool, including a map of everywhere that they ran. I think that's pretty special.

00:48:47Scott Trickett: I'm very impressed by Beaker Design's work. We might have to collaborate on something.

00:48:53Melissa Erbacher: Sounds like a plan.

00:48:55Scott Trickett: Get in touch with us, Beaker Design. Dr. Nick was sampling all Mudgee has to offer on a bit of a run.

00:49:02Melissa Erbacher: Chris Fraser was nursing City to Surf knee injury, so he couldn't run. He said it was a full roster, so he couldn't volunteer. And there was nothing to do but take in the view and the atmosphere at Shell Harbour parkrun. Well, if there's any place you have to take in the view and atmosphere, I... think Shell Harbour's a good place to do it.

00:49:22Scott Trickett: Will be 1981, April's 49th parkrun. Penny came out to her and fell over. Poor Penny. Penny has a hard time.

00:49:32Melissa Erbacher: She does. Penny hasn't got a lot of luck at parkrun.

00:49:39Scott Trickett: No. April did try to help, but the watch was still going, so she had to finish. She's got her priorities, April.

00:49:46Melissa Erbacher: She does. How cute was the video though? Like you see Penny fall over and April goes to the left to help Penny and then she sees the timekeeper and the flags and she goes, oh, oh, and then she runs back to the right and straight through the finish line. Penny still lying on the ground. That's sisterly love for you.

00:50:07Scott Trickett: It is. It's worth a look.

00:50:08Melissa Erbacher: Finding My Balance had a parkwalk tourist at Kawana parkrun with Kuvera this weekend. And I saw Finding My Balance out there. They were also at the Sunshine Coast Marathon on Sunday. So I think they were saving their legs.

00:50:22Scott Trickett: I've got a question about this photo. The ocean looks really blue.

00:50:26Melissa Erbacher: Yes, it is really blue. I don't think there were any filters. It is real. I stopped and saw a whale around the lighthouse on Saturday morning. And I'm not the only one. There were lots of others who were taking a pause at the turnaround just to check out the view and see if there were any whales moving. But yeah, no, that's pretty standard. We turned on the weather last weekend. You should come check it out.

00:50:57Scott Trickett: Mama of Hope was down at Ballyang Sanctuary parkrun in Geelong and the course was looking very pretty from the couple of photos she shared.

00:51:08Melissa Erbacher: Dirty cheetahs were out. Cashew 7 aka Cheetah Cassie was representing WA Cheetah Division in style. Not sure what style though and eating a cow for breakfast. By eating a cow for breakfast they mean there was a stuffed cow in her pocket and she was dressed as a cheetah. Just had to clarify.

00:51:30Scott Trickett: We're actually one of the few podcasts that are horrified by the fact that you were to eat a cow for breakfast. Others rejoice in it. Underscore PK, debuting the sweet Brooks running shoes he won thanks to a recent running heroes challenge. with a bonus joint 22 push-up challenge action with fellow parkrun adventurers at the start-finish line this very morning on what we all know as parkrun Day.

00:52:01Melissa Erbacher: Over to Facebook, and we had Brendan Schollery looking forward to seeing us both at Next Year's City to Surf in Sydney. And he told us that Ulladulla, New South Wales, is a beautiful town on the south coast and is crying out for a parkrun, which just needs a suitable venue. And that would solve our parkrun alphabet U challenge. Now, about the city to surf, I'm pretty sure I didn't say I would be going next year. But I love your confidence there, Brent.

00:52:34Scott Trickett: I just want to go back to, what was the name of the town?

00:52:37Melissa Erbacher: Sydney.

00:52:39Scott Trickett: Starting with U. Ulladulla. Ulladulla. Not Ulladulla?

00:52:45Melissa Erbacher: Oh, no. No, it's definitely got to be Ulladulla.

00:52:48Scott Trickett: Looks pretty, so let's hope they get a parkrun up there. Not so we can complete our thing that we were trying to do last week, just because it looks pretty.

00:52:56Melissa Erbacher: But also because we want to complete that thing that we were trying to talk about last week.

00:53:03Scott Trickett: Our mate Tok is still uncertain as to what the big sporting event that is held every four years will let you know from tomorrow.

00:53:13Melissa Erbacher: Maybe. And Peter Pohlman said, thank goodness for the beep, Melissa and Scotty. I wouldn't want the podcast to be classified E again by iTunes.

00:53:24Scott Trickett: Peter's referring to the one time that I accidentally labelled the podcast as explicit.

00:53:32Melissa Erbacher: Which meant he couldn't download it at work, which is amusing because we both of us thought initially that it was because I had a slight swear word, which wasn't even really a swear word. No, I said freaking. And so, which isn't a swear word, but we thought perhaps that iTunes had heard me say that and went, oh, no, no, no, that's explicit language. But yeah, no, it turns out that Scotty just pressed something accidentally.

00:54:02Scott Trickett: And turning our attention to my favorite social media platform, Twitter. Liz at the library. Getting my parkrun on as run director at Penrith parkrun.

00:54:14Melissa Erbacher: Good on you, Liz. And Ross Pentland twat at us a couple of times. That's the past tense of tweet, right? One of the Mizuno trail shoes have Michelin rubber. And he also said that he loves that he got BAMF in his screenshot. B-A-M-F. So that's what he could spell out of his 10 consecutive parkruns.

00:54:42Scott Trickett: On this, you know how we were talking about, so Ross was referring to our conversation last week about running shoes being made by Bridgestone and Dunlop. Yes. I was looking at the bottom of my shoes a couple of days after we said that, and Continental make the soles of my running shoes.

00:55:01Melissa Erbacher: So who are Continental? Are they another car company?

00:55:04Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:55:05Melissa Erbacher: Oh, never heard of them.

00:55:06Scott Trickett: Well, Mike Bristow, he's also heard of them because on Twitter, he tweeted us. I think tweeted is better than twatted.

00:55:19Melissa Erbacher: Use whatever language you like, Scotty.

00:55:21Scott Trickett: So Mike Bristow tweeted that a well-known Stripey ex-parkrun sponsor makes shoes with the Continental branded soles. So Mike's got the same brand of shoes that I do.

00:55:35Melissa Erbacher: Oh, there you go. I should check out. I'm going to go look at all the soles of all my shoes and see if any of them are made by those sorts of people. But I still want to see the same kind of tread. Are your shoes, do they have the tread that they have on tyres? Or do they have like foot tread?

00:55:53Scott Trickett: I haven't, no, I think it's foot tread.

00:55:55Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, because I'm looking for the tyre tread. I think they would corner better.

Anniversaries and launches ("Where is the cake?")

00:56:00Scott Trickett: Are you in the mood to party? Well, you're in luck this week. It's the party week at parkrun.

00:56:11Melissa Erbacher: Tell me more.

00:56:12Scott Trickett: These are all the anniversaries this weekend alone in parkrun Australia. Balyang Sanctuary, fourth anniversary. Cairns, third. Capalaba, second. Hervey Bay, second. Lake Joondalup, second. Maribyrnong, second. Mount Clarence, second. Singleton, second. And Chermside. who we heard from earlier with Mark, celebrating their first.

00:56:37Melissa Erbacher: Far out. That's nine parkruns all celebrating an anniversary this weekend.

00:56:43Scott Trickett: And next year, when Wilson Botanic will join us as they are ready to launch, is Saturday, which makes another parkrun for us down in here in Melbourne.

00:56:54Melissa Erbacher: And 10 anniversaries are going to be all on one Saturday. So that's most of the states covered. We've just got ACT in South Australia and Northern Territory missing. So guys, you need to get on the bandwagon and make this the Uber anniversary next year. You guys all need to launch something on this weekend next year.

00:57:16Scott Trickett: So no excuse to not get in on a party this Saturday. Are you going to one of those?

00:57:21Melissa Erbacher: I am going to one of those. I will be heading north to Hervey Bay. How about you? Will you be looking for cake someplace close by?

00:57:29Scott Trickett: Yes, I'm going to be partying at Maribyrnong.

00:57:32Melissa Erbacher: Nice.

00:57:34Scott Trickett: Okay, so that's it for another week. Mel, have you been enjoying the music we've had on the podcast the last few weeks?

00:57:40Melissa Erbacher: I have. I always enjoy the podcast music.

00:57:43[music]

00:57:43Scott Trickett: It's courtesy of a band called Neon Nightclub, and you can look them up. on Facebook and wherever else you find music. So we thank Neon Nightclub for providing the tunes.

00:57:58Melissa Erbacher: Are we going to go out with a song from them?

00:58:00Scott Trickett: Do you feel like it?

00:58:02Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. I was just listening to some Yeo this afternoon and I think we need a full song at the end.

00:58:09Scott Trickett: We're in party mode, so let's continue the party. Have a great week, rest of the week, and have a great parkrun day.

00:58:18Melissa Erbacher: Have a great parkrun adventure.

00:59:36[music]

00:59:36Unidentified speaker: That you got me feeling you went to my life

01:00:47Unidentified speaker: Bye.