Episode 84

Episode details · 303 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:14Melissa Erbacher: Episode 84 is here, and it's live, and it's fun, and it's adventurous. Scotty, how are you doing this week?

00:00:22Scott Trickett: Awesome, Mel. It's a good week. The sun is shining. It's coming up to International parkrun Day. It's happy days.

00:00:30Melissa Erbacher: How are you?

00:00:31Scott Trickett: It is happy days.

00:00:32Melissa Erbacher: I'm really well. I've had a lovely week past. Streaky September is over, and I'm enjoying not-so-streaky October. What have you been up to lately?

Streaky September

00:00:46Scott Trickett: Well, you know what I did on the weekend? We spent some days together, which we'll get to shortly. But I know you're a mad football fan, and it was football finals fever weekend.

00:00:58Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, a couple of grand finals.

00:01:00Scott Trickett: Yeah, so give us a couple of hot takes from Mel.

00:01:06Melissa Erbacher: Probably the one with the – was there a round ball used in one of these finals this time?

00:01:12Scott Trickett: Well, let me give you my hot take. Okay.

00:01:15Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:01:17Scott Trickett: Because, well, Richmond won. And I never knew I had so many Richmond supporters, but I'm not surprised because 37 years ago. Like a friend, you mean? Yeah, 37 years ago I had a choice. I was confronted with the choice of Richmond or Essendon. And it was the 1980 grand final, the last time Richmond won a grand final. And I was sitting there and somehow – My family had decided that I was going to be a Richmond supporter. And I was watching them win the grand final and it just wasn't right. I was only six at the time. And so on that day I chose to barrack for Essendon.

00:01:55Melissa Erbacher: Right. As you do. Start your career of supporting the underdog. Yeah.

00:02:01Scott Trickett: Back in 1980 when Richmond were just winning a premiership. Fast forward 37 years later and those poor miserable buggers haven't had any success for 37 years.

00:02:12Melissa Erbacher: Wow. Do you think that's because you weren't supporting them personally?

00:02:17Scott Trickett: I've taken a little bit of credit, but I think karma's got me because Essendon in the last 10 years have been a nightmare.

00:02:26Melissa Erbacher: Okay, so it might be the beginning of their 37-year streak.

00:02:29Scott Trickett: Yeah, but I enjoyed my 27 years before that, so I'm not complaining. And the other thing is I watched my very first game of rugby league because I was in Brisbane. And I was somehow infected by a rugby league virus and watched Melbourne win on Sunday night.

00:02:50Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:02:50Scott Trickett: So I'm all footied up. You're all footied up. And that's our first and only footy talk.

00:02:57Melissa Erbacher: Okay. All footied out now too.

00:03:00Scott Trickett: Yeah. But we spent some time together in the past week, which has been exciting.

00:03:05Melissa Erbacher: We did. We had to get some streaky September challenges done, so that caused some fun times. Yeah. I'm going to call them fun times. So let's go there first. Yeah, let's go there first.

00:03:19Scott Trickett: Nambour. So I visited Nambour, and the lovely Melissa Taylor joined us for our freedom walk.

00:03:29Melissa Erbacher: She did.

00:03:30Scott Trickett: Which was very kind of her, giving us the guided tour. And there is no contest. That parkrun is by a long way the hardest parkrun in Australia. Not that I've done them all, but I can't imagine anything coming close. It's brutal.

00:03:50Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, she goes all right, doesn't she, Nambour? And you guys had the benefit of doing it a little bit harder than the normal populace because we timed it so that you got to finish in the dark.

00:04:04Scott Trickett: Yeah. Do you think that was a good thing?

00:04:08Melissa Erbacher: I think probably it would have been more difficult because you didn't have that extra concept of the hills up or down that were awaiting you. But at the same time, I think you probably missed out a bit on – Fully appreciating all the elevation that's there because, you know, you're only feeling that you're not also seeing it. And obviously you didn't get to see a lot of the nature and stuff like that that you get to run through on the trails because... Because it was pitch black for a good second half of the walk.

00:04:46Scott Trickett: And we came across a dead snake in the dark. That was a bit exciting.

00:04:50Melissa Erbacher: Yes, or a headless snake. It might still have been alive without its head.

00:04:56Scott Trickett: You never know. We nearly fell over. Even though we were walking, we all nearly fell over, I think, at least twice each. Each.

00:05:05Melissa Erbacher: Well, that's the only time I've ever entered the stack club is when I was walking out there. So... It will please you to know that Melissa re-entered the Stack Club on her Sunday run.

00:05:16Scott Trickett: Did she?

00:05:16Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, she likes to pay more than her yearly dues to the Stack Club and maintain her presidency of the Sunshine Coast chapter. She did it in fine fashion. But yeah, it was good fun. Did you enjoy it?

00:05:30Scott Trickett: I did, yeah. I still highly recommend everyone go out there. Personally, I wouldn't want to do it every week.

00:05:37Melissa Erbacher: No, but also the bonus was when we were starting, we were just walking up. It was still light at this stage and a bunch of people were out there on the course and they were walking back in the opposite direction. And I'm standing there talking to you guys and I'm wearing my red 50 parkrun shirt. And they said, are you locals? Do you know, is there a parkrun around here somewhere? And they had come out to do a recce of the course ahead of Saturday. And they were from Western Australia. So that was pretty cool. Completely random. Yeah.

00:06:07Scott Trickett: parkrun is taking over.

00:06:08Melissa Erbacher: It is. All the days of the week.

00:06:13Scott Trickett: I was eaten alive as well, and I'm still suffering from that. I've come back with some welts and some scabs. It was maybe a bit of a Melbourne curiosity for the mozzies and sandflies.

00:06:25Melissa Erbacher: You were a southern delight.

00:06:27Scott Trickett: That's a great souvenir I've brought back. But there was another bingo streaky September challenge that we ticked off on Friday morning last week.

00:06:38Melissa Erbacher: Well, that was a double whammy.

00:06:40Scott Trickett: Yeah, so we're walking around Nambour and it's tough and it's in the dark and we're all a bit tired. And then mid-freedom walk, you mentioned that Mount Coolum is easy. It's nothing like this. So we all agreed to climb Mount Coolum the following morning before sunrise, which requires, in Queensland, getting up before 4.30. Something that I'm not used to doing.

00:07:04Melissa Erbacher: We had to leave at 4.30 to get there in time.

00:07:09Scott Trickett: And we also did it in our pyjamas, our gym jams.

00:07:14Melissa Erbacher: We did. We climbed a mountain before sunrise in our pyjamas.

00:07:18Scott Trickett: And I had the idea that we're climbing a mountain... At 5 o'clock in the morning, there's not going to be too many people around.

00:07:28Melissa Erbacher: I told you there were going to be people there.

00:07:30Scott Trickett: But somehow I didn't believe you. We were climbing a mountain at 5 o'clock in the morning. Why would other people want to be doing that? But it was packed.

00:07:38Melissa Erbacher: Yep, and you're in your pajamas.

00:07:39Scott Trickett: Packed to the point where I'm moving out of the way for people to pass me coming up and down.

00:07:45Melissa Erbacher: Yep. It's a popular mountain. It's a popular spot to see the sunrise as well. But it's also popular for people who just want to do hill repeats. You know, they just go up and down and up and down and up and down. And what did you think of the degree of difficulty? Not as hard as an anvil, was it?

00:08:01Scott Trickett: It was harder. It was harder. But full credit to you. He did it with Wes strapped to the front of you.

00:08:10Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. That was his first mountain climb. So it did take me a little bit longer than usual with an extra seven plus kilos to get up there. So...

00:08:20Scott Trickett: It did. You dropped back a couple of times and I was a bit worried if you were going to keep coming. But every time I'd given up, a little head popped up and Wes's head popped up and you just kept coming. And you made it to the top.

00:08:32Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:08:33Scott Trickett: And we all made it to the top and saw a fantastic sunrise straight before the sun came up in our pyjamas.

00:08:41Melissa Erbacher: Tick and tick.

00:08:42Scott Trickett: Yes.

00:08:43Melissa Erbacher: For the level up challenge and the normal bingo card. So we did pretty well.

00:08:50Scott Trickett: And then the following day, I got to visit your home, Kawana parkrun.

00:08:54Melissa Erbacher: See, this is what happens when you come to the Sunshine Coast for adventures. I pretty much exhaust you. That's par for the course.

00:09:03Scott Trickett: It was back-to-back-to-back adventures.

00:09:05Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, and all early morning. Oh, no, no, the first one wasn't early morning. I did let you sleep in that first day. But Kawana, hey? Kawana, hey? What did you think?

00:09:15Scott Trickett: Yeah, well, I mean, this is awkward.

00:09:20Melissa Erbacher: My worst fears. But I have to ask you, for the sake of letting the rest of the world know the truth about Kawana, because I have a biased, rosy-tinted glasses perception. Tell it like it is, Scotty.

00:09:36Scott Trickett: Well, it's on the beach. I managed to see the beach, so there's no hiding that fact. It's flat.

00:09:47Melissa Erbacher: Well, some people disagree with you there.

00:09:52Scott Trickett: Well, this is what I find funny.

00:09:54Melissa Erbacher: Perhaps compared to Westerfolds Hill and things like that, then yes, it's a very gentle course.

00:10:01Scott Trickett: To be honest, compared to most parkruns I've done, and last time I checked it was two more than you, it's probably one of the flattest parkruns I've ever done. So if you like it flat and fast...

00:10:15Melissa Erbacher: Have you checked the elevation of it against all your other parkruns?

00:10:19Scott Trickett: No, but I'm just going on feel.

00:10:21Melissa Erbacher: Okay, just going on feel. Well, maybe you took it a bit easy on Saturday. There'd be a lot of people who would disagree with you that it's flat and fast.

00:10:31Scott Trickett: Okay. Well, I had the privilege again with running with the showman, and he lived up to his name once again. How so? Well, he's always entertaining, isn't he? He's cracking jokes, he's stopping and doing magic tricks for some kids.

00:10:47Melissa Erbacher: Magic tricks?

00:10:48Scott Trickett: Yeah, he just stops and then just pulls out some tricks. I thought he took it a bit far at the turnaround, when we stopped at the turnaround and he pulled out a table and set up a little nativity scene. A nativity scene? Yeah, made out of sticks and stones that he collected on the way, but it was in parkrun style, so he recreated a semi-life-like scene. Tim, figure of Tim, replica of Tim. I think he tried to do PSH, but he ran out of sticks.

00:11:15Melissa Erbacher: In the nativity scene.

00:11:17Scott Trickett: Yeah, I think that's what he was trying to do. But I said, Adam, come on, we've got to finish. So he packed it up and we kept going.

00:11:24Melissa Erbacher: Because we're not religiously insensitive at all.

00:11:28Scott Trickett: Well, it was a parkrun style nativity scene, I think it was. He was trying to recreate the 13 Pioneers.

00:11:38Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay. For parkrun 13. Something like that. Gotcha.

00:11:44Scott Trickett: I was more interested in running.

00:11:47Melissa Erbacher: As you are, of course.

00:11:49Scott Trickett: But I loved it. And that point, that turnaround point is magic. You're very lucky. I think so. Well, you get 360 kind of views, don't you? So you go all around the head. And I didn't see any dolphins. I thought I was promised dolphins, nor whales.

00:12:07Melissa Erbacher: I didn't promise dolphins. I promised that whales go past there. So there weren't any. I did stop and ask the cyclists that were also checking out the view from the top when I went past. And they, yeah, they didn't see any whales today, or that day, I should say.

00:12:24Scott Trickett: And your parkrun morning was a little bit different, even though you were at Kawana, because you had the pleasure of taking a guide dog around.

00:12:33Melissa Erbacher: I did, I had the company of Bridget for Saturday morning. Along with Wes, we walked Bridget, who is the guide dog for a lovely lady named Casey, who's a visually impaired runner. And Casey was out doing her 50th parkrun at Kawana with her guide, Bridget. So that was very cool to have her along to celebrate her milestone and to help her out a little bit with her dog. Have to admit though, Bridget put the brakes on when she saw her mum come back in the opposite direction Because obviously, well, maybe not obviously because I haven't mentioned it. Casey normally runs at South Bank, which is a loop course. So I guess when Bridget gets walked by the South Bank parkrunners, she doesn't get to see her mum coming back because it's just one big giant lap. But she got to see her coming back at Kawana and she just went... And that was it. So I kind of had to... drag her gently up to the lighthouse before we could turn around then she was happy to be headed back in that direction again and once again with Wes on the front so a couple of extra challenges there yeah well that was his fifth parkrun and and you know what he hasn't doubled up yet so that's what an adventurer he is he's done five different parkruns so far

00:13:50Scott Trickett: And we also took the opportunity to tick off the last of our bingo challenges by listening to a podcast.

00:13:57Melissa Erbacher: Not a full podcast, but... We never stipulated that, though, did we?

00:14:01Scott Trickett: No, we didn't. There were no rules.

00:14:03Melissa Erbacher: No.

00:14:03Scott Trickett: It was just listen to a podcast, so... And it was my favourite as well. Yeah, mine too. And give us your quick review on the podcast.

00:14:14Melissa Erbacher: Oh, it was, well... Excellent, as always. And I should mention that it wasn't our own podcast. It wasn't parkrun Adventurers. What's our favourite podcast, Scotty? For the listener's benefit.

00:14:27Scott Trickett: No, they'll have to guess. I'm not going to give it away.

00:14:30Melissa Erbacher: Okay, we'll let them guess.

00:14:33Scott Trickett: There are clues throughout every episode of our podcast, so it should be pretty easy to guess. But that wraps up a real adventure for me, the Trickett's Take on Queensland. And visit the Sunshine Coast. And we had a wonderful time. Thanks for hosting us.

00:14:51Melissa Erbacher: You're very welcome. Even though you did get a couple of events ahead of me on the most events list. But just quietly, you're going down, Trickett. Okay.

00:15:00Scott Trickett: We probably should put an end to this contest soon. What do you mean? Well, let's cap it at the end of the year.

00:15:08Melissa Erbacher: Are you scared? No. Okay.

00:15:11Scott Trickett: I just need to have an end goal.

00:15:14Melissa Erbacher: Okay, well, maybe not the end of the year. Maybe it's first of 50.

00:15:17Scott Trickett: Done. And then we will never speak of it again.

00:15:20Melissa Erbacher: Oh, we'll see. We've been to Riverway before, but we wanted to head back up to Townsville to have a bit of a chat to their event director this week because they have what I am dubbing the parkrun Story of 2017 happen on parkrun Day last weekend. And here to tell us all about it is event director, Nico Boon. Nico, welcome to the parkrun Adventurers.

Meet the ED

00:15:56Nico Boon: Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Scott. Thanks for having me on.

00:15:59Melissa Erbacher: Now, we're going to confuse everyone because you're calling me Liz and everyone else knows me as Mel, but that's perfectly all right. Full disclaimer here, I am related to Nico, so that's why she calls me the family name. But just so everybody else doesn't get confused, we'll get that out of the way. So let's jump in, Nico, because that's what Kevin the dog did on Saturday. Tell us what happened at your event.

00:16:28Nico Boon: Oh, goodness. It was – I didn't actually know it happened at the time. I was run directing and found out later on in the morning that this had actually happened. But – So Kevin and his owner, Karen, were just going for a walk around the footpaths around Riverway and our parkrun obviously started and we have around about 200, 250 runners each week and I think just the shock of all the runners coming past spooked Kevin and His owner said he's not normally that skittish but, yeah, gave him a bit of a fright and he's escaped out of her hand, the lead in her hand, and took off into the river. Three of our parkrunners actually saw this happen and jumped into the river to help rescue Kevin who just started making his way out into the middle of the river. So they waded out through the weeds and all the water creepy things on the side of the river and helped get Kevin back to shore. So what happened was I received a message later in the morning from Karen, Kevin's owner, wanting to find the three ladies who helped rescue Kevin. She posted on Facebook as well and we put a post out on our Riverway page and we managed to find two of them, Nikki and Liz were two of the ladies that helped rescue Kevin and get them in touch with Karen. But Jess remained elusive and we just found Jess this week as well. So Karen actually came down to parkrun the Saturday just gone, so a week later, was standing at the finish line with a sign saying Nikki, Liz and Jess and she had a little gift for each of them. She was so extremely grateful to the ladies that helped us to rescue Kevin.

00:18:27Melissa Erbacher: Isn't that the sweetest? Now, I understand, are there freshwater crocodiles in that river?

00:18:33Nico Boon: There are. So where we are based on the Ross River is quite far away from the – there's weirs in the river and we're quite far away from the mouth of the river. So that's where the saltwater crocodiles are, but there are actually freshwater crocodiles in that part of the river. eels in the river it's chock full of weeds at the moment and there's some snakes in there apparently as well have been reported in there so people do some in the river but it's not super pleasant so just to dive in like that was pretty brave.

00:19:08Melissa Erbacher: Yuck. And I understand that these three ladies, after they did their dog rescue efforts, they actually went on to finish parkrun.

00:19:17Nico Boon: They did. So one of the comments on the Facebook page was that there's a headline now, people are resorting to extreme acts of kindness to avoid running, which was a bit hilarious. But all three ladies went on and finished their parkrun after rescuing Kevin and making sure he was safe. They went on to finish. their run in time. So, yeah, to be running, sopping wet the rest of the run was also pretty amazing.

00:19:45Scott Trickett: And, Nico, there was no animosity from the owners that this group of parkrunners running towards them caused the dog to be scared. They were just grateful that the dog was saved.

00:19:55Nico Boon: Very, very much. Sometimes you do have, as a lot of event directors would know, having a lot of people on the path can get some members of the public a little, get their nose out of joint, I guess, a little bit, having all of those runners come past. And we do make sure in our run brief each week, we remind everyone to be courteous, but To have a member of the public just be so grateful that our runners actually went and helped rather than being a bit put off that our runners were spooking the dog in the first place was, yeah, it's certainly very nice to hear that.

00:20:37Melissa Erbacher: Do you think you might have converted her to bring Kevin along to come and actually join in at parkrun next week?

00:20:43[laughter]

00:20:43Unidentified speaker: LAUGHTER

00:20:44Nico Boon: I don't think Kevin will be around large groups of runners for a while. But, yeah, I don't know. I haven't actually spoken to Karen about joining parkrun herself. She obviously enjoys walking Kevin. But as far as putting Kevin in around lots of other people, maybe not for a while.

00:21:07Melissa Erbacher: Seems fair enough.

00:21:09Scott Trickett: And what's your parkrun story, Nico? How did you get involved in Riverway parkrun or parkrun in general?

00:21:16Nico Boon: As I said, it's a favourite story of mine to tell because I actually started running 2013, around about the start of 2013. Never run before in my life. Hated running actually. And I started walking three times a week and decided that was boring and started a Couch to 5K running app, listening to that on my phone and running with that. And when I said that I was getting into running, I actually had – Mel here say that I needed to join parkrun and that there was a parkrun launching at Riverway, which was just down the road from my house. So I said, no, I'm not doing that. I don't, I can't run with people. They're all be fast. I don't want to run with fast people. They'll think I'm too slow or I just felt I wasn't ready to run. But she's very insistent, Mel, very insistent that I did go down and give it a go. So on their fourth event, I turned up, in my big W singlet, big W shorts and big W shoes. I, like I said, just not into running, um, just felt totally out of place because there's all these super fit people and we all took off. We did our 5k. I ran, walked it, um, coming down through the finishing chute and there was people cheering and I thought they were cheering for the person behind me. Um, I ran down through the chute and realised there was no one around. I was by myself and these people, random strangers, were actually clapping and cheering for me. It was an incredibly welcoming moment and to realise that these people who are very fit athletes don't care about how fast other people run. They don't care about... how far you've run, how well you did. They just care that you've finished and just so welcoming. So I started going every single week. It was just, it was almost like an addiction. And because it was only new, Tracy, the event director, called out for run directors to help and I put my hand up. I said, why not? Why not get involved? And, yeah, from there I was run director and have been since, yeah, It's probably about this time, maybe a bit earlier, so over four years now, run directing there and just watching everyone else have the same experience as me. So coming down on their first parkrun, not feeling sure that they're in the right place and realising that, yes, all of these people are here to welcome you. It's a community. It is such a great community at Riverway. And at all the other parkruns I've been to too. They're just, everyone is just so lovely and welcoming. And earlier this year, Tracy stepped up to be an event ambassador and asked me to take over as run director, as event director. So I accepted. I just love this parkrun and the team we have there are just amazing as well. The run directors that help, just help it keep going each week.

00:24:40Scott Trickett: And we love having you, Nico. Can we go back to that first event? So the parkrunners accepted you and made you feel welcome. Did you feel welcome at that first event or did it take a little bit more warming up before you felt part of the Riverway family?

00:24:59Nico Boon: I felt welcomed from the first event. So I finished, I'm not a particularly outgoing person. I'm not someone who actively seeks to go and talk to people. I'm actually quite shy normally and um so on that first day I don't think I actually spoke to anyone other than the barcode scanner um and maybe anyone who would have said you know well done or anything like that when I finished because it was a what you know about um 30 or 40 people so it wasn't a big event at that time um so as far as feeling welcome I was welcomed straight up It took me a little while to, I think the first time I volunteered was the first time I actually got to talk to people properly and get to know other people within the Riverway parkrun community.

00:25:50Scott Trickett: And you've stepped up to be the event director. How has it been replacing the massive personality that is Tracy Cohen in Riverway?

00:26:00Nico Boon: I think because I have been so involved with Riverway for so long, I was okay stepping up and I did actually make this condition to Tracy that I would accept the role only if she was there, if she was going to stay on as event ambassador. I said, I just, I can't do it without you. So she has promised she will be there for me if ever I need her. And she is, and she always will be. I know that because she's just loves parkrun so much and, To be able to step up to event director, only if I had Tracey would I be able to do it. I couldn't have just walked in and, yeah, without her support and help.

00:26:44Melissa Erbacher: Nico, you've also got an alias that you go by. The Gumby Runner. I have to admit that following the exploits of the Gumby Runner has given me much joy over the years because the Gumby Runner does all sorts of wonderful things, you know, when she's out running that I can really relate to and could so easily be me. Can you tell us some of the fun you've had maybe with, you know, the app? What was the zombie app that you used to run with?

00:27:15Nico Boon: it um so when i first started running i looked up couch to 5k programs to use on my phone and i come across this one called zombies run um it was free so that was that was a big selling point but and i'm you know a bit partial to uh zombie fiction um and it was It's a whole lot of fun to run with. But during the runs, I would have to do things like run for so many minutes and then stop and do squats and lunges and things like that. So running along the side of a very busy road, ducking into the bushes to do these sorts of things so that because, as I said, I'm not a runner. At that point, I did not feel like a runner. I was someone who was walking and struggling to run a little bit. And I had a certain level of embarrassment that people would look at me and go, oh, my gosh, because I'm not. I was overweight. And just that insecurity of wearing running shoes and running down the road and having people, I imagine, looking at me going, oh, my gosh, I can't believe that woman's actually trying to run. Look at her. She's hilarious. So it's that insecurity that I had and so I ducked into the bushes and I, there's so many, so many just hilarious events and I can only laugh at myself but having to skip past a, so skipping was one of the exercises and I had to skip past the tavern on a Saturday afternoon with the Sunday afternoon, with the Sunday stage crowd all watching. I stopped caring. I stopped having any shame at certain appointments going, I'm learning to run. I don't care anymore. And I liked posting about my exploits because the way of sharing them and laughing at myself and giving other people a laugh as well was certainly fun. But, yeah, squatting in the bushes and having the police drive past and turn around and come back again. see what this weird woman is doing in the bushes. Just doing my squats.

00:29:31Melissa Erbacher: I think one of my favourite ones was when somebody came to ask you the time but you thought they were asking for a high five. That was because you had your headphones in, didn't you? So you went to give them a high five.

00:29:45Nico Boon: I had my watch on and he saw I had a watch so he's put his hand out in a fist and and pointed to his watch and I thought he was going for a fist bump. I gave him a fist bump and then I realised he was asking for the time and I looked at my watch and it didn't have the time because it only had the time I had run and the pace. So I told him my pace and the time. I was so embarrassed and I just, again, ran off there and I think I actually spent another good couple of minutes laughing out loud to myself. What an idiot.

00:30:25Scott Trickett: After you gave him the time, did he give you a fist bump back at least?

00:30:28Nico Boon: Yeah, he did. He did give me a fist bump. Okay. He did. I had a bit of a laugh about it because this particular where he asked me is an area in it has a bad reputation for being a bit unsafe. And this particular area, I am usually on edge as I run through there, just, you know, just keeping aware of my surroundings and to have this person, you know, like, yeah, totally going to fist bump you.

00:31:01Grette Wilkinson: Like, we're all good. We're all good. You're not going to hurt me.

00:31:06Nico Boon: I think everything in my brain was just like frozen. It was trying to process all this information. It just wasn't coping.

00:31:15Scott Trickett: Well, speaking of that, what is the running scene and parkrun scene like up in Townsville? I imagine you've got some challenges with the heat, but you've got two parkruns up there. You've got North Shore and Riverway. How's everything going?

00:31:29Nico Boon: Yeah, so Townsville, so since I started running and joining parkrun, you actually sort of get not – you can't avoid it. You get thrust into the running scene there. So – Shortly after Riverway started, North Shore started, which was, it's in a suburb about 20 minutes, 15, 20 minute drive away from Riverway. It was actually a Stockland community. So Stockland at the time was a sponsor and they started up North Shore parkrun. And it's actually quite a nice little run through Park Area, obviously being parkrun, but through Park Area. And... Yeah, I've actually been there just a couple of times, but I do spend most of my time at Riverway. The people there are just as welcoming as you'd find at any other parkrun. And, yeah, it's a nice place to go for a bit of a run if you want a bit of a change of scenery from Riverway, I guess, for those that are regulars at Riverway. But the running scene itself is quite big considering how hot it is. Summertime, usually it does get hot and we do have to remind ourselves our runners to rehydrate and take care of themselves maybe run a little bit slower especially in the warmer months. We have a Townsville Road Runners running group and they organise the Townsville Running Festival each year which is a really big event and we also have trail events around there's a few trails around the Townsville area that we all like to run in as well so It's going to parkrun and getting to talk to other people who do these running events and pretty much getting thrust and forced into doing these events because everyone gets so excited and they talk about it. So, yeah, I think part of being part of a running community is actually going and learning to run, doing these events and just having a whole lot of fun.

00:33:36Melissa Erbacher: Speaking of having a whole lot of fun and we're all about the adventures, you've done quite a few different parkruns, haven't you, Nico? Yeah.

00:33:42Nico Boon: I have, mainly in Queensland.

00:33:45Melissa Erbacher: Can you give us some highlights, top three, not including your home parkrun?

00:33:51Nico Boon: Top three is hard. So my family's all down on the Sunshine Coast Brisbane area, so we go down there often for holidays and I try and do as many parkruns, different parkruns as possible when I am down there. Look, my favourite parkrun I have done was Nambour. I... did that one Christmas and it's all trail and I'm a big fan of trails and it's not easy. So, yeah, Nambour is probably up there on the list. Kawana is beautiful running along the ocean there. It's, yeah, it's a very beautiful parkrun to run along and Oh, gosh, we did Airlie Beach. Airlie Beach is beautiful too. I like beaches, obviously.

00:34:49Melissa Erbacher: I get to run on the beach. I really enjoy that. Who doesn't? Let's face it.

00:34:54Nico Boon: I know. And I think the sea breeze as well helps just having wind, wind cooling you down as you run along. Yeah, so I think they might have to be my top three that I've visited.

00:35:07Scott Trickett: It's a very popular top three, Nico. I think you need to come down south a bit more to get a taste of some non-beach parkruns. We've got plenty down here. But thank you for joining us on the podcast this week and telling us all about Kevin and then your story of parkrun. We've enjoyed it.

00:35:26Nico Boon: Excellent. I'm glad you have. Thank you so much for your time as well.

00:35:38Scott Trickett: Last time we spoke to a Paralympian, we had a lot of fun. So it's time to do it again. And this time we're speaking to a parkrunning Paralympian. Welcome to the podcast, Brant Garvey. Thanks so much for having me. Now you've been to the Rio Olympics. You participated in the very first triathlon at the Paralympics.

00:35:57Brant Garvey: How did that go for you? For me, it was the achievement of a lifelong dream. Honestly, I had... Ever since I remember watching the Olympics as a little kid, I'd always wanted to go and do that. And I didn't even know there was a difference between the Olympics and the Paralympics at that stage. And then it wasn't until 2013 when I was introduced to the idea of triathlon and then discovered that it was debuting in 2016 and said, that's what I want to do, and then did everything that I possibly could to make it happen. And, yeah, to get there was absolutely phenomenal and the most terrifying experience of my life in terms of I've never, ever been so nervous before a race.

00:36:48Melissa Erbacher: I can imagine. I mean, I get a little bit nervous before fun runs sometimes, but to be contesting for Olympic medals and, you know, with the elite of the world, that must be quite...

00:37:01Brant Garvey: surreal experience and even more so in the sport of triathlon because it's not like there is heat beforehand or anything else it's it's literally comes down to you know for me three years of training for for one race one hour race and um And for those of you who don't know my story, I also got injured during that one race and I was in first place and then I got to see every other athlete in the race gradually pass me over the rest of the race.

00:37:39Melissa Erbacher: Now, Brant, Scotty didn't mention how you qualify as being a para-athlete. Can you give us a bit of a rundown for our listeners who haven't heard of you before? What makes you a para-athlete?

00:37:55Brant Garvey: So before I was born, my mum had an ultrasound and she was told that everything was fine. And then I came out as an above-knee amputee. Basically, they call it a congenital amputee. It means that my legs stopped growing just above my knee. And they really have no idea why. There's no reason. There's no evidence. It's just A freak occurrence. And personally, I would have thought that two arms and two legs would have been a major checklist item on an ultrasound, but apparently not the case in 1985.

00:38:32Scott Trickett: So you've grown up without having one of your legs, effectively. How has that affected your active activity lifestyle? Did it ever prohibit you from getting involved in sport and running and footy and all those things that kids get involved in?

00:38:47Brant Garvey: The first challenge was actually getting someone to make an artificial leg. So we were living in Darwin at the time and, you know, it was really hard to find someone that would make a decent artificial leg. And my first artificial leg was hand-carved out of one piece of wood on a lathe and didn't have a knee, was entirely out of wood and had a strap that used to go around my neck to hold it on. So I can't imagine being overly comfortable.

00:39:17Scott Trickett: No, that's not conducive to running around the footy field or going for a run or a swim, in fact.

00:39:24Brant Garvey: And because it had no knee, when you were learning to walk, you actually had to swing it out to the side so that you would clear the ground. So if you tried to swing it straight through, like an able-bodied person would walk, you would actually trip yourself over. So it took me longer than most. It was about probably the age of two when I first pushed away my little trolley that I used to balance and started walking without it.

00:39:48Melissa Erbacher: Having been born... Without your leg, Brant, do you feel like, because it's been the normal for you growing up, do you feel like that may have been a different case than somebody who's had an accident or an illness that has meant they had to have something amputated during their life?

00:40:07Brant Garvey: I definitely think that there's a difference between the two experiences, that's for sure, because they have actually lost something. So they've known what it's like and then have to readjust. For me, it's always been the same and it's just been about learning and adapting. My mum... Said when she found out that I was born with one leg, she was always worried that I was going to get left behind and that I wouldn't be able to do things that other kids could do. And then now she tells me that she reckons I've spent my entire life trying to prove her wrong by just taking on every possible challenge and always just trying to find a way to do everything that every other kid was doing.

00:40:49Scott Trickett: And has this led to, you've got a website and a motto you live by, I guess, the noexcuses.com.au.

00:40:56Brant Garvey: That didn't happen until 2013. And that was where running was introduced into my life. So growing up as an above-knee amputee, we kind of always just automatically, there was assumptions everywhere. from other people that running as an above knee amputee was impossible. And then in my circle of people with the same disability as me, it was the same consensus that you just couldn't run as an above knee amputee. And then in 2013, I decided that I really wanted to, rather than just accept what people had told me, to find out if it truly was impossible. So then I started my first run in 2013. It was horrendous. My leg fell off and I landed flat on my face but decided not to stop there and come back again. And then I'm literally talking meters at a time. I vividly remember celebrating the first time I ran 100 meters without stopping and I was shattered. And then I was able to get a little bit further and a little bit further.

00:42:05Melissa Erbacher: I'd like to go back. So you started off, your very first prosthetic leg was made out of wood and it didn't bend at the knee. And now obviously that's not going to be appropriate for running. But at what point did you get a leg that could bend at the knee and was able to assist you with that kind of motion?

00:42:26Brant Garvey: Probably would have been a couple of years after that I had a leg that came with a knee. But when I started running in 2013, I was doing it on my everyday leg. So not designed for running at all. Basically, think of a door hinge. That's what the knee is on a pole with some kind of foot, which is not really flexible at all. And so... I've got video footage of my running on my everyday leg, and it looks like that I've been shot and that I'm running away from the person that shot me. That is honestly horrendous. It's painful for people to watch. And then after I started running a fair bit of distance, I think the furthest I ran on that everyday leg was 12K for a fun run. I decided that if I was going to take this seriously, that I needed to invest in the equipment that's designed to do it. And that's when we got the blade leg or the Rolls Royce of artificial legs.

00:43:32Melissa Erbacher: That's a great description, a very, very visual description, which is awesome when you're on a podcast. Brant, how many, so obviously runners, we have a thing for shoes and like to have as many pairs, like the correct amount of, pairs of shoes for runners is, one more than we already own. How many legs have you got?

00:43:54Brant Garvey: Currently, I have three legs. So I have an everyday leg, a cycling leg, and a running leg. And each one of those is worth about $20,000. Wowzers. And the sporting ones are self-funded, so they're not paid for. You have to save up the money and buy them yourselves. And the running leg, for example, only lasts me two years. Wow. Makes shoes look really cheap.

00:44:26Scott Trickett: Yeah. So how many Ks do you get per leg? Do they give you that when you buy one?

00:44:32Brant Garvey: No. So basically doing what I do. voids the warranty of the leg because I'm doing so much volume on the blade leg. They would have it, so they tested to a certain amount, and I think it was probably a year's worth. But, you know, in 2013 I was training for an Ironman, so the amount of kilometres that I would have done would have, yeah, would have far exceeded what they were designed to do and probably why I blew a knee and a blade in less than two years.

00:45:05Scott Trickett: As one of our elite athletes, do you get any support from government bodies or any of the...

00:45:13Brant Garvey: olympic committees that are around it's a unfortunately it's a very very cutthroat industry in terms of so for my sport in triathlon you get funded if you're ranked uh in the top eight but in the top 50 percent of the the athletes in your benchmark race so what that means is that Once a year, they'll have either the world championships or every four years is the Paralympics. And they base the funding on your result in that one event. So it doesn't matter how you do the entire year. If you don't perform in that benchmark event, you don't get any. So I got injured in Rio, obviously, and so that meant that – I lost my funding for the next 12 months and then I got really sick before the World Champs this year and that means I lost my funding for the next 12 months again.

00:46:18Melissa Erbacher: It doesn't seem like a very fair system, does it?

00:46:21Brant Garvey: No, it's definitely... It doesn't work in the current way, but I don't have any advice on what it should be in terms of I don't know what the best way to do it is. But, yeah, for me, I've had some amazing results throughout the year and then something out of my control happens before the World Champs and then, yeah, it's all self-funded.

00:46:44Melissa Erbacher: And how do you stay positive and motivated when these – It's basically bad luck when these unlucky events occur that sort of derail where you were headed along the way.

00:46:58Brant Garvey: I'm just really focused on controlling the stuff that I can control. That's kind of where I keep all my attention. So these things that happen in terms of the funding from AIS and, you know, being injured before the most important race happens of your life. You just have to go, yep, let's see what we can take away from that, what we could have changed to potentially prevent that, and then focus on all the stuff I can control. So focus on getting back into training to make sure that we've got a stronger base. If finance is an issue, I just hustle really hard in building relationships and then finding people that are passionate about what I'm doing and that I can give value back to and then building relationships with those companies.

00:47:50Scott Trickett: Brant, let's turn our attention to Tokyo 2020. So you said you were in front at Rio and you had an accident or an injury. Is that some motivation to push on for Tokyo 2020?

00:48:03Brant Garvey: It definitely is in terms of – so I was – I got out of the water in second place and then passed the leader through transition, took the lead of the race, and then I injured my adductor magnus on my good leg. So right up in the groin there was tendinopathy. Never felt it before ever in the lead up to the race, but it got me on race day. And then I just got – I got to watch everyone ride past me. And so that part was like I know that I have – physically and mentally what it takes to be the best athlete in the world but it's about me getting it put together on the day that counts and and so having that belief is incredibly motivating and that's what keeps me going i mean i know that i can do it it's just about making everything a line like making all these crazy scenarios align on that particular day

00:48:59Melissa Erbacher: Now, if you weren't already busy, you know, training for the next Paralympics in 2020, you've also recently, I won't say you've set the goal because you've had the goal for a little while, but you have let everybody know that you're keen to get yourself a 20-minute 5K. How are you going to work towards that?

00:49:21Brant Garvey: Yeah, so this 20-minute 5K is something that I've been talking about for a while, but it's always kind of been it'll happen when it happens. But now I want to take control of it. If I can run a sub-20-minute 5K, it kind of puts me at equal with the best above-knee amps in the world. Uh, so the fastest that I've ever ran, which is on, it would be on file for, um, the parkruns was a, I think it was 22, 18. Uh, and that was in 2000 and maybe mid 2016. And so I, you know, I'm an, I know I'm a far better runner than I was at that stage. And so I'm going to, go do a benchmark parkrun probably this weekend and see where we're at and then start plotting out the course to get it to sub 20. One of the reasons that I love doing it at a parkrun is because there's always someone around that you can then track down to pace you or push you to that next little bit that you didn't think or you probably wouldn't do if there was no one out there running.

00:50:34Scott Trickett: And you're parkrunning over in Perth. You've run at Claisebrook Cove a few times.

00:50:38Brant Garvey: Are you going to head back there this weekend? I think I'll go there just because it's comfortable. But another thing that I'd love to do is just start visiting as many different parkruns as I can. I think that it's probably also a good one to benchmark because I know where I was previously at that particular run and We're also doing a whole bunch of other training that then is going to complement it. So that's probably some of the stuff that I'll share. You know, I'm going to this, what they call mega Pilates at LA fit here in, in Perth. And yeah, In terms of core strength, it's just so good at being able to develop that core hip strength to be able to make sure that all the power that I'm generating is going through my feet and moving me forward.

00:51:27Scott Trickett: Good luck with all that, Brant. I've got a question. When you go to parkrun and you're there amongst the parkrunners, amongst the ordinary folk, how do they feel when you pass them? Is that all they want to talk to you about? um, that you, you, you're an amputee and, or do they just treat you like a normal runner?

00:51:47Brant Garvey: Yeah, totally. I don't even, I don't even think the, I've had anyone, you know, like the leg looks really cool. So that's one of the things like the leg really stands out the blade leg. Um, but yeah, no, when I go there, I, I think it's, It's just a great kind of social competitive vibe. So if I'm running beside someone, I can see that they're trying to push harder so that they obviously don't get passed by me or I'm trying to hold on to them. But I don't think the leg has anything to do with it. I think it's just people out there not wanting to get beaten by anybody, you know. People would love to chat to me about my story because in Western Australia, they've promoted my journey a lot. So if I go down to a parkrun, a lot of people will know me from the stuff that we've done here in TV and throughout the media here in Western Australia. And that side of it, they're fascinated by. But yeah, no, definitely no one really, other than the cool factor, makes anything about the leg

00:52:48Melissa Erbacher: You might be surprised. Personally, I get motivated by people that appear to be doing it tougher than me. So if I get overtaken by somebody with a pram that has a child in it at parkrun, then I'm like, okay, I need to really suck it up because they're out there and they're doing this and they've got an extra few kilos to push along. So you're probably inadvertently inspiring people and you don't even know about it. You do have a little one on the way very shortly. Will you be planning to get the pram out in six months or whenever the neck strength is good enough for the bub to make its way around a parkrun course?

00:53:28Brant Garvey: 100%. So one of my biggest, biggest goals and challenges coming up at the moment is – so I'm a professional speaker. So I go around talking to all sorts of organisations and sporting teams and schools and – I reckon the number one excuse that I would get about not being able to stay fit or achieve a goal comes back to the fact that they have kids that would be the most common excuse i get and i've always given them a hard time saying i still think that you can do it and so now i'm going to be in that position in three weeks time and so i have to back it up and um i'm excited about trying to balance it and figure out a way because i truly believe that you can make it work i mean you're a prime example you're taking your your little one to to parkruns and I would love to I'm just probably a little bit more impatient about the wanting the neck to be firmed up as quickly as possible like come on six months is ages before I'll be able to go for a run with you well you can always start a little bit earlier at the moment Wes gets around on the carrier with me but we're just taking it easy we're walking and he climbed his first mountain last week so

00:54:44Melissa Erbacher: He's getting there slowly. He's only four months. My husband's looking forward to when he can run with him in the pram, though.

00:54:50Brant Garvey: Yeah, yeah. I'm pumped about it as well. And Wes, does he love it, going for the walk?

00:54:57Melissa Erbacher: He falls asleep most times. But he does love the fresh air. And when he is awake, he's just always looking around in wonder at where I've taken him. Yeah.

00:55:09Brant Garvey: Yeah, I'm really, really looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to being able to share it. We've got a boy coming as well. So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to being able to find ways to balance making sure that you stay healthy body, healthy mind and being a present parent.

00:55:27Scott Trickett: Brant, you've got a lot coming up in the next few weeks. I wish you luck. I really do. I've witnessed it firsthand with Mel over the weekend and it's a wonderful time. but it certainly throws some challenges your way. But I think you're up for a challenge. People can follow you on Facebook. You've got a great Facebook page, so I'm sure plenty of our listeners have loved hearing your story, so they can follow you on your Facebook page. And thanks for joining us on the parkrun Adventurers this week.

00:55:54Brant Garvey: Yeah, absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. And, yeah, if any parkrunners see me at a parkrun, by all means, don't be scared to come up and say hi. I love chatting to people and I love running alongside people.

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:56:17Grette Wilkinson: Good morning parkrun Adventurers, it's Grette here and I am at the launch of the Carisbrook parkrun in South Australia. So Carisbrook is in the city of Salisbury area, which is just outside of the city of Adelaide. And Carisbrook Park is this beautiful park that follows the Parra-Wirra River. And it's a lovely, lovely course. And so we're launching today on grand final day. So I'm going to find some people to chat to about how they found the course. Okay, so I'm here talking to... Sean. Hi, Sean. And we're at the Carisbrook parkrun. Have you done the parkrun this morning?

00:56:57Sean: Yes, I have, yeah.

00:56:58Grette Wilkinson: And how did you find it?

00:56:59Sean: It was hard because my glutes are sore from training yesterday. But it's always good to come out. Yeah, it was good. It's a nice run.

00:57:07Grette Wilkinson: So tell me about the course.

00:57:09Sean: It's good because you're not near any roads, you're not near any pavements, it's out in the trees, along the riverbeds, along the riverbank, sorry. So yeah, it's really good. It's probably one of the nicest ones.

00:57:19Grette Wilkinson: So this isn't your first parkrun?

00:57:21Sean: No, I've done Mawson Lakes as well, and the one in the city around the Torrens, which gets a bit busy, whereas this one's a lot nicer, quieter, more scenic.

00:57:29Grette Wilkinson: And how many parkruns have you done?

00:57:31Sean: I don't know. Lost count.

00:57:33Grette Wilkinson: Quite a few.

00:57:34Sean: Yeah, quite a few. Started doing Torrens when that first started and then just done them on and off over the years.

00:57:40Grette Wilkinson: And do you think you'll be back to Carisbrook?

00:57:42Sean: Oh, definitely, yeah. I organise a running group on a Saturday morning. Lovely. And we go to different places every Saturday, so we'll put this one on our sort of motor, so we'll definitely be back.

00:57:53Grette Wilkinson: Excellent. All right, well, it's lovely to see you and great to have you back.

00:57:56Sean: No worries. Thanks for organising the run. It's great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

00:58:00Grette Wilkinson: All right, so I'm now here talking to... Fiona. And... Belle. And they are actually sitting here at Carisbrook parkrun. They're having a beautiful breakfast. So tell me about the breakfast, guys. Bit of banana bread after the run.

00:58:15Unidentified speaker: Yeah?

00:58:16Grette Wilkinson: And is that a bit of a regular thing for you guys?

00:58:18Unidentified speaker: It is. We have a Saturday morning running group and we go to all different places and have breakfast together.

00:58:24Grette Wilkinson: That sounds awesome. And sometimes you come to parkruns?

00:58:26Unidentified speaker: We do. About once a month we do parkruns.

00:58:29Grette Wilkinson: Fantastic. And I hear you guys did a bit of a first last weekend.

00:58:34Unidentified speaker: Yes, we both did our first Yurrebilla run last weekend.

00:58:38Grette Wilkinson: So what's Yurrebilla all about? Running for the day. So it's just a short run, isn't it?

00:58:46Unidentified speaker: 56.

00:58:48Grette Wilkinson: 56 metres?

00:58:50Unidentified speaker: 56 kilometres.

00:58:53Grette Wilkinson: That sounds like a challenging run.

00:58:56Unidentified speaker: It was interesting. It was, yeah, it was good. It was good fun. Yeah, a good way to push yourself and see what you can do.

00:59:05Grette Wilkinson: And how about you? How did you go last weekend?

00:59:07Unidentified speaker: I went all right. I finished, so that's the main thing. You know, almost 10 hours, but didn't go to plan and it wasn't pretty, but we got there. That's it. Well, that's an ultra, isn't it? That's exactly right. They're never pretty. I don't know. It was my first one, so I didn't really know what to expect.

00:59:23Grette Wilkinson: Oh, well done. You did well. And so how did you find the run this morning here at Carisbrook?

00:59:28Unidentified speaker: Yeah, really nice. After doing Mawson Lakes parkrun, it's our regular running group's parkrun, so it was nice to get off the Z and have a bit of a, more of a trail and a few little inclinations in there. So we should probably explain to people what the Z is. Sorry, the Z at Mawson Lake. So the shape of the 2.5 out and 2.5 back is a Z shape. So that's the Mawson Lakes parkrun that we do. So known as the Z course.

00:59:58Grette Wilkinson: Also good for Zoolanders. Yeah, that's right. There's a few zoo animals out there along the track. So this one's quite different, a bit more of a trail here at Carisbrook?

01:00:09Unidentified speaker: Yeah, it's just nice to be off the footpath or cement and onto a bit of gravel. I think us trail runners prefer that. So you do a bit of trails? Yeah, yeah, prefer to stay on the trails. You can go further and the body holds up a bit better and recovery's nicer and there's more things to look at and keep you entertained when you're out there for nine hours and 57 minutes and 35 seconds. 35 seconds? Yeah.

01:00:36Grette Wilkinson: Well, thank you so much for coming along to Carisbrook Park. Do you think you'll be back?

01:00:40Unidentified speaker: Yeah, I'm sure we will. It's nice, especially with our running group, having the kids out here. So they've got the playground. Yes, there's a beautiful playground here, isn't there? There really is. And we can gather and have a bit of brekkie and coffee afterwards. So it's lovely.

01:00:54Grette Wilkinson: Great. Well, thanks for coming along and hope to see you again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so I'm now here with... Hope. And we're at the Carisbrook parkrun. And how was your run today, Hope?

01:01:06Hope: It was good. It's a bit rough under the pram foot. Yes. But we did a better time than the trial last week. Excellent.

01:01:12Grette Wilkinson: And so you've got a few decorations on the pram this week. I do. What's happening today?

01:01:18Hope: Oh, the grand final's on. Crows are in the grand final. First time in 19 years, so let's hope they get up and win.

01:01:25Grette Wilkinson: Yeah, so you did a bit of decorating this morning. The pram looks fantastic.

01:01:28Hope: What have you got on the pram? I've forced my daughter to wear her Guernsey. She wasn't too impressed about it, but we've got Claude the Crow, we've got the scarf, we've got the flag. I've got my hat, my guernsey, my jumper. You look brilliant. It looks fantastic. And I got lots of friendly banter along the way. I bet you did. So a lot of go-crows from everybody else that was wearing crows gear today. That's awesome.

01:01:49Grette Wilkinson: And I'm just peeking in the pram now. It looks like your daughter's... Absolutely dead to the world.

01:01:55Hope: This is a usual thing at parkrun. Usually around the 3K mark she falls asleep and I get a good half an hour after I finish parkrun. You can enjoy your coffee. So we sit and relax and we don't get her and put her back in the car too early. Otherwise we won't sleep again. Oh, fantastic. So she always comes with you to parkrun? Always comes with me unless I'm doing the run directing gig and then I leave her home with Dad. Oh, and how do you find run directing? A little bit nervous to start with. I got a croaky voice the first time I did it at Mawson Lakes, but in a few weeks' time I'm doing it here at Carisbrook.

01:02:24Grette Wilkinson: Well, thank you so much for stepping up and run directing. That's fabulous.

01:02:27Hope: No worries. Do you enjoy it? I do, I do. I feel a bit of sense of responsibility to make sure everyone is heading in the right direction. Yeah, that they don't get lost. That they don't get lost. And how did you find the course today? The course is fine. Beautifully in shaded, you know, nice amount of hills and downhills. Yep, perfect.

01:02:47Grette Wilkinson: Fantastic. And so we'll obviously see you back at Carisbrook because you'll be run directing.

01:02:52Hope: I am tail runner next week. Fantastic. So getting my volunteer numbers up. Excellent. We love volunteers. Exactly. So volunteer.

01:03:00Grette Wilkinson: parkrun is not possible without them.

01:03:02Unidentified speaker: Awesome.

01:03:02Grette Wilkinson: Well, thank you so much for talking to me today and good luck with the game later on. Yeah, go Crows.

01:03:08Hope: Go Crows.

01:03:10[other]

01:03:10Unidentified speaker: Woo!

01:03:12Grette Wilkinson: Okay, and so I'm now here with... Me.

01:03:15Jess: What's your name?

01:03:16Grette Wilkinson: Jess. Yeah, and we're at the Carisbrook parkrun. Yeah. How did you find the parkrun today? Good. Yeah. Who did you run with? Amy. Yeah? Yeah. And you've got a t-shirt on there. What does it say on the back of that t-shirt? 50. 50. Have you done 50 parkruns? I've done 100. You've done 100 parkruns. And how old are you? 11. And where do you normally parkrun?

01:03:38Jess: Mount Barker. Yeah?

01:03:39Grette Wilkinson: And did you like Carisbrook today?

01:03:41Jess: Yeah. Yeah.

01:03:42Grette Wilkinson: And so you were saying that you ran with Amy. Who's Amy? Is she a friend of yours?

01:03:46Jess: Yes. Yeah?

01:03:48Grette Wilkinson: Yes. Where does she normally run?

01:03:51Jess: Mount Barker. Mount Barker as well. Yeah. Yeah.

01:03:54Grette Wilkinson: And what's your favourite thing about Carisbrook parkrun?

01:03:57Jess: The playground. Oh, so tell me about the playground. I like it. Yeah. It's pretty awesome.

01:04:03Grette Wilkinson: Yeah. It's big.

01:04:04Jess: Yeah, it is big.

01:04:05Grette Wilkinson: It's got lots of stuff.

01:04:06Jess: Yeah, I like the climbing bits.

01:04:11Grette Wilkinson: Yeah. Yeah. They look really good.

01:04:14Jess: All right. I like to be run director at Mount Barker.

01:04:17Grette Wilkinson: Ah, do you sometimes run direct at Mount Barker?

01:04:19Jess: Yeah, I did it on my birthday. Did you?

01:04:22Grette Wilkinson: Yeah.

01:04:22Jess: Yeah.

01:04:23Grette Wilkinson: What do you like about run directing? I get to speak in the microphone. Do you like doing that? Yeah. Oh, good job.

01:04:29Jess: Yay.

01:04:30Grette Wilkinson: Yeah. Well, thank you for volunteering at parkrun, especially doing run directing. Yay.

01:04:38Scott Trickett: Thanks, Grette. She's dusted off her microphone slash smartphone. And got us a roving report from Carisbrook launch, another launch from South Australia.

01:04:51Melissa Erbacher: Gangbusters, that's where they're going.

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

01:04:54Scott Trickett: Now we have one launch this week, and it's in Victoria, the little town of Portarlington.

01:05:01Melissa Erbacher: It is. Are you heading along to that one, or do you have a special milestone to attend closer to home?

01:05:06Scott Trickett: I have a very special, the most special milestone to attend closer close to home so we're at Westerfolds but Portarlington will be good. Sleepy little town. I have memories of breaking my foot in Portarlington.

01:05:22Melissa Erbacher: We've got a couple of anniversaries this week as well. One in WA and the other in Queensland. So we've got Champion Lakes over in the west and Hamilton Island up in the north of Queensland. Happy anniversary to those events.

01:05:37Scott Trickett: Party time on Hammo. I reckon that'd go off.

01:05:40Melissa Erbacher: I would say so, definitely. And in the wrap-up, we're done with Streaky September, Scotty.

01:05:49Scott Trickett: Really glad we made it to the end, and we both did.

01:05:52Melissa Erbacher: And we didn't break our streak.

01:05:54Scott Trickett: Yeah. Well, how did you go on Sunday?

01:05:58Melissa Erbacher: I didn't go on Sunday at all or Monday or Tuesday I am celebrating not so streaky October at the moment and just giving my legs a little bit of a break um yeah how about you did you streak on Sunday weren't you didn't you say some time along this month that you're going to keep it going um Three to four times a week, I said. Did you? Yeah. And so I'm running out of week to get those three to four times in. So I will get out there.

01:06:30Scott Trickett: I actually went for a run down at Wynnum. Did a little freedom run down there.

01:06:35Melissa Erbacher: Gosh, you're freedom running all over the place.

01:06:37Scott Trickett: I wanted to check it out. And again, another nice flat course, which was good, but it was raining.

01:06:44Melissa Erbacher: That one is flat. I will confirm that that one is flat. that one is definitely flat i can see it's a fast one too it would be a fast one unless the wind gets up yeah and it's also got a couple of turnarounds you know 180 back on yourself twice so that can slow some people down i think but i'm sure if you're super motivated you can still make it fast but final thoughts on streaky september i know you didn't break your streak but do you feel like it was a success

01:07:12Scott Trickett: Look, like I said in previous episodes, it was transformational for me and our family that we got to spend time together and we enjoyed walking together as a family. I'm a little bit... I don't want to say I'm disappointed because I didn't run as much as I'd like because... You were injured. I was injured and... But there's something about, I want to go back, so next year. We're doing it next year, Mel. Streaky September is now going to be a tradition for the parkrun adventurers.

01:07:43Melissa Erbacher: And you know what? If you want to do a bit of a streak with a run, you don't have to wait until next year, Scotty. You can always do that.

01:07:51Scott Trickett: Yeah, well, look, let's give myself 11 months to build up for it.

01:07:56Unidentified speaker: Okay.

01:07:59Melissa Erbacher: I would personally like to say thank you to everybody who participated in Streaky September because I had quite a few touch and go days during the month. And if it hadn't been for the support and knowing that so many other people were out there doing it as well, I'm pretty sure I would have dropped the streak. So thank you to everyone on Strava and Facebook and Instagram and Twitter who shared that you were streaking with us because it really made a difference.

01:08:28Scott Trickett: I was also touch and go a couple of times. And I've got to tell you, the one night when we arrived in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, our plane was delayed. It was busy all day during the day. Kasia was at school, Bonnie finished work, and we just jumped on a plane. And we landed in Brisbane. It must have been around 11 o'clock. A bit after, yeah. And then we had to get a hire car. Then we had to make our way back. to our accommodation and we pulled into our accommodation at 11.58. My genius wife had the idea to jump out of the car and start the streak at 11.58 while I ran into the reception to get the keys.

01:09:16Melissa Erbacher: Wow, that is cut net fine.

01:09:18Scott Trickett: So we definitely cut it fine and then we proceeded to run around the hotel car park

01:09:25Melissa Erbacher: At midnight. At midnight.

01:09:26Scott Trickett: Well, it was sort of past midnight, but we'd started the streak at 11.58, so it's still, I reckon that counted.

01:09:32Melissa Erbacher: It counted, yeah.

01:09:33Scott Trickett: It counted. We started the streak on the Friday, finished it on the Saturday, but because we had our daughter in the room who had, funnily enough, had already done a fun run at school that day, so she'd completed her streak.

01:09:45Brant Garvey: Ah.

01:09:47Scott Trickett: The parents were left high and dry, so we were taking it in turns, running around the car park, watching our daughter. But we did it and that's cutting it fine. That's also a commitment.

01:10:00Melissa Erbacher: That is commitment. That's the power of Streaky September and not wanting to break your streak. Well done to Vonnie because I reckon, do you think you would have broken it if she hadn't got out there and had that idea?

01:10:11Scott Trickett: No. I'd given up. I was a bit cranky. It wasn't my finest hour.

01:10:18Melissa Erbacher: That's okay. There have been quite a few challenging moments in Streaky September. I know that it wasn't always easy and I did cuss you quite a little bit when we were climbing Mount Coolum because... Okay, yes, Mount Coolum, the climb itself was my idea. However, before sunrise, who does that? Who sets that as a challenge knowing full well that you have to complete that challenge yourself as well? You know, I think we need to be... A little less off the cuff when we're making rules up and making challenges up live while we record. And maybe we need to discuss these things before we record next time.

01:10:56Scott Trickett: So that was it. Streaky September. All done. Thanks again for everyone who joined us. We'll move on to the next thing, which is our Perlustration. Mel, it's back. It's coming back. When is it coming, Scotty? Let's do a little planning on that. Let's write some questions. Okay. We might come back next week with that.

The Perlustration (annual listener survey)

01:11:16Melissa Erbacher: to release the Perlustration for 2017. Awesome.

01:11:21Scott Trickett: Happy parkrun Day this weekend. International parkrun Day. It is Gush's 100th parkrun. Massive celebrations at Westerfolds for me.

01:11:30Melissa Erbacher: What about for you? My parkrun destination is yet to be confirmed for this weekend. I've got a little bit of catching up to do, so I think I might go on an adventure. Yeah.

01:11:44Scott Trickett: Well, I'll wait to hear all about it on next week's episode of the parkrun Adventurers. Thanks, Mel.

01:11:52Melissa Erbacher: Thanks, Scotty.