Episode 98

Episode details · 211 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:15Melissa Erbacher: it's episode 98 of the parkrun adventurers we are on the cusp of another milestone podcast my name is mel i'm joined by my co-host scotty hi mel hey scotty um what have we got to talk about this week oh usually lots lots of fun stuff well tell me tell me how has parkrun engrossed your world this week engrossed my world well it's it's been a busy week actually behind the scenes uh i actually i will on parkrun day i volunteered but on earlier during the week on monday evening i attended uh a meeting to get some landholder permission for a proposed event not too far from where I live about an hour away from me in Woodford so there's going to be a Woodford parkrun watch this space in the next few months because we got permission and had a fabulous time I went with the future ED Kelly up to Woodford and met with the show society up there and it was amazing you know I just love these little rural communities And they have their committee meetings and stuff like that. And everybody is so down to earth. And by the end of the meeting, I knew everyone by their first names. And one of the ladies had brought along a slice, you know, to share with everybody. And it was just great. I love... I love that parkrun is getting out there and getting into all these communities. And they were really excited about the prospect of having a parkrun come and join them soon. So that was really good fun.

00:01:59Scott Trickett: Okay. Take me back though. So what does that actually involve? Do you go there with a presentation? Do you have to talk in front of a group of councillors? What happens? What actually is involved in getting permission to start a parkrun in one of these towns?

00:02:16Melissa Erbacher: Well, this one in particular, so it really depends on where you want the course to be. In this case, the course is going to be in the Woodford showgrounds, which means that we contact a council to check with them. Because all parkrun events, you need to get permission from the landholders to run on their land. And most cases, that's council. In some situations, that's state government. And in this case, after we contacted council, they said, look, it's got exclusive lease to the showground society. So as long as you have their permission to use the land, then that's okay with us. So we had to approach them. They have a meeting once a month where they have the president, the secretary, and then any members of their committee who come along and talk about all sorts of business to do with the show and the showgrounds and yeah so we had to submit a request in writing about you know what we were proposing to do and then to help sell the concept I guess we went along to the meeting and yeah we did present in front of the group we We basically got up and explained to them what parkrun was. None of them had ever heard of it. Not surprisingly, being a bit sort of far away, I think their closest event is Central Lakes, which is about 40 minutes away or 30 minute drive perhaps down the mountain from them. And yeah, so we just had to explain what it was and answer any questions they had. You know, a lot of them scoffed at the idea of running five kilometers because, you know, They had their knees all taped up or things like that. So we had to explain that there's walking and all that sort of thing involved and the benefits that it's got for the community and the kind of other benefits that are going to come into the town through parkrun tourism and adventures and all that sort of thing. So... Basically, they had to put it to a vote whether or not they were willing to give us permission to do that. And after they understood the impacts that it was going to have, like even on their normal operations and that sort of thing. And yeah, in this situation, it was all in favour, said I. Oh, well done.

00:04:38Scott Trickett: You must be very persuasive when you're talking about parkrun.

00:04:43Melissa Erbacher: I don't know if I'm persuasive so much as passionate and... People can't help but get caught up in the enthusiasm. And Kelly, who's the future event director there, she's a local and she's very passionate about the community as well as parkrun. So I'm sure that shone through from her that they could see that she just really wants to do something that's going to be so positive for their local community. So they were definitely on board. And yeah, full kudos to Kelly for getting up there. and having a chat with them as well with me.

00:05:19Scott Trickett: So this community doesn't know anything about parkrun. They don't know what it is. In my role at the moment, one of my biggest challenges explaining to people what it is, they can never get past the running event part of it. And I think you hinted at it there that these people would never consider running 5k. So then do you flip your persuasive argument to tell this group of people that it's not a running event?

00:05:46Melissa Erbacher: Well, that's before they even have to ask the question. It's one of the things I say, it's a run, not a race. And open to all abilities and ages as well. I explain that I always use norm as my, what's the word? I don't know. encouraging arguments that, you know, we have a 93-year-old parkrunner who comes along and that always, you know, impresses everyone because it's an impressive thing to do. But then we also, you know, really emphasise that everybody participates at their own level, you know, to their own capabilities and it's more about the social aspect and having fun and meeting people. I really emphasise the social aspect aspect of it and explaining that people don't have to be fit to go to parkrun you know they just they just show up in whatever capacity and explain that if it takes them an hour and a half so be it and if they want to beat their own personal time next week and make it an hour 29 fantastic you know but there's no pressure on them to do that and i also mentioned that we have a tail walker who comes last on purpose so nobody even ever comes last

00:07:02Scott Trickett: Awesome. Well done, Mel. Anything else take up your time this weekend? I know you volunteered at Kawana.

00:07:10Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, mostly it was just, you know, various event ambassador queries and questions and things like that. Talking to some people about Commonwealth Games athletes that are coming over from other countries and would like to participate in some local parkruns. So that's a bit exciting. Yeah.

00:07:29Scott Trickett: We should get them on the pod.

00:07:31Melissa Erbacher: Well, we'll see what we can do.

00:07:33Scott Trickett: We should have an influx of international athletes hitting your part of the world very soon. I'm sure some of them will have done a parkrun or are going to do a parkrun while they're here.

00:07:43Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. I know we have had some that came over to scout local areas last year to see where they might want to train their athletes. And they brought a couple of athletes with them. And those athletes came and participated at that time. So I'm sure they'll be back. What did you get up to, Scotty? I think you mentioned last week that you were planning on heading off on an adventure and you weren't sure where.

00:08:05Scott Trickett: I wasn't, but we made up a last-minute decision to head to Munindi, which was out at Mernda. I've never been to Mernda officially. We ran the trial many months ago, but now I've ticked off that event. My quick 30-second take on Mernda, it's one of those multi-lap events, but there's lots of variety within those laps. So you're going around a lake and then into some gravelly nature conservation area and And then there's even a little bit of a hill up alongside the road. So lots of contrast and variety out at Mernda. And the other good thing is I got a top 10 finish and I was just jogging. So I started out just having a run. I don't know what I was doing. This has become my thing at parkrun. I don't do any warm up. I don't know if I'm walking with Kasia. That's sort of a last minute decision between Yvonne and Kasia. And so I just start moving when they say go. And then I realize that there's only a few people in front. And then this little bit of competitive urge creeps in. Not so much that I actually want to run hard and sweat and puff, but I just move through a few people. So I got a top 10 finish, which doesn't happen very often.

00:09:20Melissa Erbacher: Congratulations. Thanks. Thanks.

00:09:23Scott Trickett: Yeah, so that was parkrun, but also parkrun extended to Saturday night this week because I went down to the Bellarine Sunset Run, scored myself a free ticket into that event. It's a 21.8k event, not a familiar distance, and it's a... They advertise it as a sunset run, but it starts at about 4.30, and I don't know what it's like up in Queensland at 4.30, but down here at 4.30 it's bloody hot. The sun's almost in full force. And I absolutely overcooked myself on this run to the point where I was in quite a lot of stress as we got halfway. So take a back. It's an out and back and it's all along the coastline, so fully exposed. So running 10k out, we were running into a headwind. And while the wind was cooling, it was also really hard to run into a headwind. And I got to the turnaround point just thinking it's going to be so easy to come back with this tailwind. But that never works that way, does it, Mel?

00:10:32Melissa Erbacher: No, you get buffeted from the side usually at the very least, if it hasn't completely reversed to be a headwind on the way back too.

00:10:39Scott Trickett: Look, it didn't reverse, but it never feels the same. You never feel like you're getting the same benefit of a tailwind compared to the negatives of a headwind. But the bigger issue is I was just completely exhausted after 10K. And it was – I think I'm going to put it on record as probably the hardest race I've ever run. including marathons because I was really distressed I thought I thought I was having a heart attack a few times I kept looking at my heart rate monitor and it was through the roof but then I look at it a few minutes later and it was right down so there's a tip for beginners don't trust your heart rate monitor on the wrist I'm not sure how accurate they We need to get some experts in to explain to us this technology thing. Because I'm switching between Garmin's and TomTom's at the moment. And I've even done a couple of runs with my Apple Watch. And my heart rate is never the same. It's dependent on watch. So I don't think I can really rely on that.

00:11:42Melissa Erbacher: It could be that your heart is all over the shop.

00:11:45Scott Trickett: It could be. Yeah, I could be having a heart attack.

00:11:48Melissa Erbacher: Well, I hope that's not the case. But it doesn't sound like you had much fun in your sunset run.

00:11:54Scott Trickett: No, no. And it was 21.8 kilometers.

00:11:58Melissa Erbacher: So you got a bonus 700 meters.

00:12:00Scott Trickett: Bonus 700 meters.

00:12:01Melissa Erbacher: That's very generous of the organizers.

00:12:03Scott Trickett: Yeah. I think I kind of forget. I don't know about you, but I kind of forget that 21 is a long way to run. I've convinced myself that, oh, it's just 21. I can do that easy. But when you're actually doing it, it's a long time running.

00:12:17Melissa Erbacher: There's no just about it.

00:12:18Scott Trickett: There's no just about 21. At the moment, where I'm placed fitness-wise, 21.8 kilometers is a long way. And in the heat, in the wind, it was a challenge. But it was an adventure. And there was this other thing. So you race a pirate ship. And I'm happy to say that I beat the pirate ship. But I never saw the pirate ship out on the water. I'm not sure if I was too focused on... the pain of what I was going through. I suspect the pirate ship cheated. I don't think it ran the same or it sailed the same course as we did.

00:12:54Melissa Erbacher: Does the pirate ship have a motor?

00:12:57Scott Trickett: No.

00:12:58Melissa Erbacher: So it would have had the headwinds on the way out too?

00:13:00Scott Trickett: Yeah. So maybe it couldn't go that way, so it went out. I don't know how ships work. But I never saw it. But then I crossed the finish line and they said, yes, you beat the ship.

00:13:12Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Well, well done you for beating the pirate ship.

00:13:15Scott Trickett: Yeah. Thank you, Mel. Thank you. And good event. One of those good community events. And why the parkrun connection? Because I think everybody I spoke to was a parkrunner. I ran into, I knew them through parkrun or I would start a conversation and eventually they would talk to me about parkrun. So I can't escape it.

00:13:36Melissa Erbacher: And was this all part of your training, this distance, doing that on the weekend? Is it like a strategic thing in part of your plan or was it just a... you know, there's going to be this fun run on and I'll just participate.

00:13:48Scott Trickett: Well, there was a free ticket going, so I snapped it up and it was a free ticket from my coach. So I said, coach, I'm going to run this on Saturday night, which meant I had a day off on Sunday, which was also a bit weird. I'm in a bit of pain. So I didn't think it was wise to go out for a Sunday run after a long Saturday night run. But it kind of fit my plan and I'm back on track this week.

00:14:12Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:14:14Scott Trickett: So thanks for all those people that have been asking too. Remember a couple of episodes?

00:14:17Melissa Erbacher: It was last episode. Was it?

00:14:19Scott Trickett: Yeah. I asked people to check in on me. And so I've had a couple of random texts and a couple of people actually asked me, am I on track? So I need it, people. I need it because I know I'm going to sleep. And if I know that people, even if you're just pretending that you care, just keep pretending for a few more weeks so that I create this habit.

00:14:42Melissa Erbacher: A couple more months even. Stick to it. See, and now this is the problem. I don't want that kind of pressure yet. I'm getting it. I accidentally clicked interested in the Melbourne Marathon Festival for the Half Marathon in October on Facebook. And oh my goodness. everyone's going to town with, yay, go Mel, congratulations. Oh, I'm going to take this as a definitely you're going. It's like, no, no, no. I said interested. I didn't say going. And yeah, now everybody's just putting on the pressure. It's like, oh, I don't react well to pressure. I'm no coal turning into a diamond. I just, you know.

00:15:21Scott Trickett: No, embrace it, Mel. I took it as you were coming. Oh, did you? When you said on the podcast, I said, right, great. Let's start making plans for your Melbourne adventure. No, no, it's happening. It's happening. I think we've just got six or seven months to get you from going from the half to the full.

00:15:43Melissa Erbacher: Well, see, the thing is Adam has a potential work opportunity which involves a nine-day cruise. So that might conflict in October with the marathon festival.

00:15:54Scott Trickett: Do you work with Adam, do you?

00:15:56Melissa Erbacher: I don't, but... That's an excuse.

00:15:59Scott Trickett: I'm hearing excuses.

00:16:01Melissa Erbacher: I'm not sure I could pass up an opportunity to lounge around on a cruise for nine days if that came up.

00:16:07Scott Trickett: You'll just be a distraction to him. Let the man focus on his job. You come and run a marathon in Melbourne.

00:16:14Melissa Erbacher: We'll see.

00:16:15Scott Trickett: Give people what they want.

00:16:17Melissa Erbacher: I've never been one to bow to peer group pressure, so that's not going to work if that's the tack you're going to take.

00:16:23Scott Trickett: I see that as a challenge.

00:16:26[music]

00:16:34Melissa Erbacher: Parking from a place we don't actually have a parkrun yet, but we hope to change that in the not too distant future. We have a lovely young lass by the name of Jenna Brook, who is about to embark on an excellent adventure. Here to tell us all about it, we have the Jenna herself. Jenna, welcome to the parkrun Adventurers podcast.

00:16:55Jenna Brook: Thanks so much for having me, guys.

00:16:57Melissa Erbacher: We'll let you do the telling. What exactly are you going to get up to from next week?

00:17:03Jenna Brook: Oh, well, it's very exciting, that's for sure. So on the 18th of February, I'm starting a run from the southernmost tip of Tasmania all the way to the tip of Cape York up in Queensland. So it's just in excess of four and a half thousand kilometres over four months, all in aid of bowel cancer.

00:17:24Scott Trickett: Okay, and we're calling it Running for Bums. Interesting name. So tell us a bit why we're running for bowel cancer. What's the idea there?

00:17:33Jenna Brook: Yeah, so bowel cancer for me is something that I feel I have a message that can make a difference in the world. My family has had a bit of bowel cancer in it, my grandad. had bowel cancer later in his life. And because of that, our family has been very vigilant with our screening. And because of a couple of symptoms that I had and the family history of bowel cancer and bowel polyps, I personally was screened, started screening when I was 25 and I've had 14 polyps removed already. So it's my hope that I will never develop bowel cancer, even though I do have a relatively high risk if I don't screen. And that's sort of what the whole running for bums is about. It's about starting a conversation about bowel cancer. We as a society aren't that comfortable talking about bowels and bums and poo and colonoscopy. So, yeah, it's really just about getting that conversation started and trying to reduce some of the embarrassment and stigma that can be associated with bowel cancer so that more people are screening early, they're more open to talk with their doctors and families about it, and we can really start to cut into the 80 lives a week that are lost in Australia to bowel cancer.

00:18:44Scott Trickett: Okay, yeah, you touched on it there. Like we are embarrassed. I think it's because it's, as you said, it's dealing with our private bits, stuff we do in the toilet in our own private moments. But 80 people a week are dying from this disease. That's a lot, I imagine.

00:19:00Jenna Brook: Yeah, it's quite staggering. So bowel cancer is, it's the second biggest cancer killer in Australia. It obviously affects men and women and actually affects them quite equally. We do have it more prevalent, I suppose, in the older society, but more and more young people under 50, people that are 40, 30, even 20 years old, even younger than that sometimes that are getting diagnosed with bowel cancer. And it is really sad to think that people are dying every week because they were too embarrassed to talk about it when it was in its infancy. And then eventually when they do talk about it and they go to their doctor, it's too late, unfortunately. And, you know, nobody... nobody wants to face bowel cancer. And if we can get people who are at a higher risk of bowel cancer screening earlier, maybe we catch them, you know, in stage one bowel cancer, even stage two, not stage four when it's already spread to other organs and their options are very limited. So yeah, it is tricky in today's society. You know, we don't really want, we'll do a lot of other things, you know, on social media and everything and be very open. But when it comes to talking about you know, our bodily functions, we are still quite reserved with it in this country.

00:20:13Melissa Erbacher: I've got no issue talking about poo at all. Scotty will know. He's had several conversations with me about poo, mostly to do with my infant son.

00:20:22Scott Trickett: I'm glad you cleared that up more.

00:20:27Melissa Erbacher: I said mostly. We all know everybody feels great after they've had a really good poo. I am aware that you can get bowel cancer screening kits at home. So I don't know, you might buy them at the pharmacy and take them home and do the test and then you send it off. I've got family who've done them. For people who don't actually have a history, how early would, what's the recommendation for sort of getting screened?

00:20:53Jenna Brook: Look, I mean, I mean, For me personally, if you can afford a bowel cancer screening kit, so you can pick them up from your pharmacy, exactly how much they are, I'm not sure, but I think they're around the $20 to $40 mark. As you said, you take them home, you do the test and then you send it away to get the results back. And basically what that's testing for is blood in your bowel motions because it can be an indicator of bowel cancer. It can also be an indicator of other things. So just because your test returns positive doesn't mean you have bowel cancer, but it does mean that you need further investigation. So For me personally, if I didn't have any family history of bowel cancer, I wasn't at an increased risk and I didn't have any symptoms and I could afford a bowel cancer screening kit, I'd be going out tomorrow and getting it. I mean, why not? It's something that we have available to us. Why not use it? If you have a strong family history or you've got a genetic factor, so one in four cases of bowel cancer do have a genetic factor to it or if you are experiencing symptoms. I would probably be going to your GP and looking more down the route of a colonoscopy. That's me personally and that is what some cancer, what's the best word, you know, organisations do say, that the screening kits are great. If you don't have any symptoms, there's no family history and you just want to keep on top of your screening, definitely grab one of them. You know, we have, I think it's everyone over 50 or 55 in Australia gets one of these screening kits sent to them for free from the government. but only 40% or 50% of people are returning them. So they're getting a free opportunity to possibly detect bowel cancer early and it's going in the bin. And that is, again, I think back to our... you know, desire to not talk about poo and those sorts of things. And the test, obviously, you need a poo and you need to brush a little paintbrush over it and, you know, put it on a little bit of paper and send it back. But that's 50% of people that are getting this test that aren't taking the free opportunity afforded to them. So that really needs to change.

00:22:56Melissa Erbacher: And you've mentioned symptoms a lot, people showing symptoms. But to be honest, I don't actually know what the symptoms would be. Can you share a little list that you're aware of?

00:23:06Jenna Brook: Yeah, absolutely. So the thing with bowel cancer is they can be very, it could be a lot of things, obviously, but it's really important to know what the symptoms are so that when you go to see your doctor, you're a little bit more educated about it. So you're looking for things like a persistent change in your bowel habits. So whether, you know, you're constipated for a couple of weeks, you're not normally constipated or you've got diarrhea or you're switching between the two. You're looking for blood in your bowel movement, so blood in your poo or blood on the toilet paper, sore, pain, cramps in your abdomen, maybe even a lump in your belly, unexplained tiredness. You've also got things like low iron or anemia. Obviously, if you're bleeding internally, your levels of iron in your blood can go down significantly, which is generally what then causes a tiredness. So all of those sorts of things, as I said, they can mean a lot of things. It doesn't mean you have bowel cancer, but if you notice something that changes your for more than two weeks then it's so important that you just go and talk to your GP and even mention to them look you know I heard this person talking on the radio the other day had these symptoms for four months and I haven't done anything about it you know can we investigate this and talk to them about bowel cancer because we do hear stories unfortunately um of people going to their GP with symptoms of bowel cancer and being dismissed. And sometimes they're dismissed because they're female. And as female, we all know that our bowels and our guts can get messed up sometimes from hormones or periods or whatever it might be. They're getting dismissed because they maybe think they're too stressed or stress is causing it, or maybe they're depressed. And we also see a lot of people getting dismissed because the GP says they're too young for bowel cancer. And we all know with statistics that that's not a good enough reason to not do further investigations um so as you said a lot of people don't know the symptoms of bowel cancer um or they kind of know them but not really um so if you know the symptoms um hopefully you never experience them but if you do just in the back of your mind you've got oh i should go and get that checked out

00:25:15Scott Trickett: Okay, great advice. Can we turn to the fun stuff? Can we start talking about running 4,500 kilometres from one end of the country to the other? So explain that to us. You're starting at the southernmost point down in Tasmania. You're heading up through the middle of the country and you're finishing at the top at Cape York.

00:25:36Jenna Brook: Yes, that is the plan.

00:25:38Scott Trickett: Where did you get the idea for that, firstly?

00:25:41Jenna Brook: Oh, you know, I... I've always enjoyed adventure and being outside. And about, what are we in now, 2018? So six years ago, I walked across the Simpson Desert, which is about 430km into my hometown of Birdsville, crossing 1,000 dunes on the way and totally and utterly loved the experience of being relatively on my own. I had a small support crew and just getting out day after day and just, you know, moving forward. The run was really almost an extension of what I enjoy doing. I haven't been a runner very long. In fact, I'd only really been a runner a couple of months when I decided that this would be a good idea to do. And I sat down at the breakfast table with my parents one morning and I said, oh, I've got an idea. They both sort of looked at me as if to say, oh, no, what's this one going to be? And I said, oh, I think I'm going to run from Tassie to Cape York. And they were like, oh, hmm, all right then. And I thought Tassie to Cape York is probably the shorter of the three options that I had. One was to go up, one was to go across, and one was to go around. So I thought Tassie to Cape York, I can fit that in between the rainy seasons and still get home in time for the Birdsville races. So it was sort of, you know, the top of the three options.

00:27:09Melissa Erbacher: So fitting them in between the rainy seasons, you say, so obviously it's a little bit cool at the moment in Tassie, cooler in comparison to the rest of the country, I guess you could say, for this time of year. So I think you've organised it well weather-wise, but how do you plan something like this? How do you plan where to stay and how do you break it all down into digestible pieces that you can run?

00:27:35Jenna Brook: Yeah, that's a very good question. Can I answer that in four months? You know, I have done so much planning for it. And to be honest, I think the running side of it is almost the easiest part. And, you know, I'm not an elite runner. As I said, I haven't been running for very long. And I have, you know, had a few niggles here and there in preparing for it. So, I'm under no illusions. I'm going to walk a lot of this. I'm certainly going to walk a lot of the first few weeks just to adjust my body to it and then hopefully build a really strong base and fitness to then be able to run most of the back end of it. But in terms of planning for it, you know, I think because of my history, I wanted to do bite-sized pieces, as bite-sized as a 4,500K run can be. So the average is about 40K a day or thereabouts, 40 to 45K. which for me is I feel like it's very manageable because I can do it in daylight hours. I've got all day to do it. And I think that's something which is unique about an experience like that is I won't be battling with all the other, you know, pressures that you have in your daily life. When you, you know, put your hand up and say, I'm going to go and do this, it's actually all I have to do every day is just cover that distance. You know, start in the morning, eat a bit of food along the way and finish at camp that night. So, yeah, for me, it was doing a distance that was realistic and that truly reflected probably my running ability, which, as I said, is only relatively new. And the planning side of it, I'm obviously going on an inland route. I'm not going along the coast, which means there's more distance between towns, which means Of the 100 or 120 nights that we're on the road, there's probably four weeks or five weeks where we're not in town. So we've actually hired a motorhome for the mainland section of it just for a little bit of comfort, I suppose, in some respects. So I'm not in a tent every single night, which will be in Tassie. Thankfully, Tassie is conducive to camping with the weather, so that's all right. But, yeah, it's, you know, I don't know how it's going to plan out. I'm, you know, going day one. We'll get through day one and then day two, I'll think about day two. And that's my way of approaching something that's so big that you can't, I can't wrap my head around it, you know, right now, but I can wrap my head around doing the first day.

00:30:09Scott Trickett: Jenna, there have been other people that have done similar sorts of things running vast distances. You know, one of the great parkrunners in this country, Pat Farmer, has done this many times. Have you reached out to any of these people for advice on what's in store for you and how to get through it?

00:30:26Jenna Brook: Probably not as much as I should have, to be honest. I think I've been a little bit insulated out here and just sort of focusing on my own progress and preparation and preparing for it. um, with the, with the ability that I, that I have, um, in saying that I have, you know, read one of Pat Farmer's books and followed, um, another runner, Samantha Gash, who's done a lot of these sorts of things. Um, and sort of, you know, been doing a bit of research about how bodies react to it. You know, how, how long, how long do you continually get tired for until you don't get any more tired? You know, is it a week? Is it four weeks? Is it two months? Um, And I think at the end of the day, you know, everybody's body wears differently. And for me, not being that accustomed to doing long distances day after day, you know, my best friend is going to be walking breaks. And I think, you know, in hindsight, I probably should have spoken to a lot more people probably before I decided to do this. But yeah, look, I think you have to... Take, you know, what you read from other people and adapt it to your own personal situation for sure.

00:31:40Melissa Erbacher: And if people catch you out there along the way, is there ways that people can join in and follow your progress?

00:31:47Jenna Brook: Yep, yep, absolutely. So as we spoke about before, it's all in aid of bowel cancer. So the more people that I can talk to, the more people that I can have involved in the run, the better that it's going to be for building that awareness. So if people see me out, absolutely, you know, jump out of your car and come for a run. If you know I'm coming through your town, get in touch, you know, give me a call, send me an email, however you want to get in touch. Yeah, just find me. I love talking to people and I love being able to do something that has the potential to save so many lives and, you know, I want as many people to be involved in that and to be a part of it. So absolutely come and run with me. If you run really fast, I tell all my friends because I'm probably the slowest runner of everybody that I tell them that if they're going to come, they have to put really heavy ankle weights on them just so they can slow down to my little shuffle that I do. So, yeah, and I think that's probably the only thing that people probably need to be mindful of is that I might be in, you know, I won't have fresh legs on me. So it might be a little bit slower than what some people are used to. But if they're happy to do that and happy to have a chat, then definitely please, please drop in. Even if you want to just drop in and have a cuppa at camp, it would be lovely.

00:32:59Scott Trickett: And are you planning, are you going to try and visit some parkruns on the way or is it just going to be dependent on your schedule? How are you going to work in parkrun to your journey?

00:33:09Jenna Brook: Yeah, so I would ideally love to do some parkruns. As we were talking about earlier, living in Birdsville, we obviously don't have a parkrun and I've never actually participated in one apart from, as I said, accidentally in Wynnum one morning when I was running along the foreshore and suddenly had hundreds and hundreds of people come past me and then back the other way. So I would love to be involved with them. Part of it is obviously dependent on the schedule. I know you guys run on Saturday mornings, so it's just a matter of where I am on my Saturdays and what towns I'm in. Do they have parkruns? Don't they have parkruns? But, I mean, I think the parkrun community is probably a lot larger than just your Saturday morning run. So if, you know, people from the parkrun community want to catch up when I'm in town, even if I'm in town on a Wednesday and there's a few people that want to, drop by and say hello or come and, you know, run the first 5k out of town or two and a half k so they can run back again. Absolutely. But yeah, I would, as you said, we'll have to register me for parkrun before I head off so that I can join in when I get to towns on Saturdays.

00:34:13Scott Trickett: Yeah, because we don't have a parkrun in Birdsville. Can I talk about Birdsville itself? Like that's going to be a hot place to run, I imagine, particularly this time of year. What's it like being a runner in Birdsville?

00:34:28Jenna Brook: It's pretty unique. There's not many of us, that's for sure, certainly not in summer. I think it's just another challenge. Everybody faces challenges regardless of where they live or their own personal backstory. We've all got challenges that sometimes make it a bit difficult to get out of bed in the morning. I know for me, in January, we probably only had half a dozen days where the max temperature was below 41 degrees or 40 degrees. So You know, our nightly temps are only dropping down to 30, 32, 34, so quite often for my runs I'd be getting up at anywhere from 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock to do my one, two, three hours before the sun came up because once that sun comes up, for someone that was born and bred in the middle of a desert, I really don't do well in heat. Once that sun's on me, if I get too hot, I get frustrated, I get angry, I just want to, like, fall into a heap and cry and then I want to scream and it's just a horrible experience. So for me, it was about, it's always been about getting my runs done before the sun gets up. So I don't have to tolerate that. So yeah, like, as I said, it's, it's not easy, but you know, the flip side of that is my body is relatively accustomed to running in 30 plus degrees most days. And when I get Tassie, you know, it might only be 20 degrees or even less than that at times. So I think the benefit will definitely pay off when I get down there, that I will find it quite pleasant, I suspect.

00:36:00Melissa Erbacher: And alternatively, when you get to the Cape, there's going to be like crocodiles and things up there. So what contingencies have you got in place for dealing with like local predators?

00:36:12Jenna Brook: Well, I'm really hopeful that the rains will have stopped at least a few weeks before I get there. I have been told many times by many people that not to try and cross any creek crossings by foot. So I'm definitely not going to cross any creek crossings on foot, that's for sure. People have said, oh, you can swim in these falls and then someone else says you can't. So I'm thinking maybe I just won't. I don't particularly want to get chomped between crocodile jaws, that's for sure. We do have, I've actually got a great company that are going to provide my support in the Cape. So anywhere that I need to cross a creek, I'll be doing it in the vehicle, that's for sure. There's no doubt about that. I need to get to that Cape in one piece and preferably with all my limbs still attached.

00:36:55Scott Trickett: We hope that for you too, Jenna. You must have some great support along the way. We wish you all the best. And thanks for coming on the parkrun Adventurers podcast and sharing your story before you start off. Maybe you should come back when you're nearing the end and we can check in and see how you went.

00:37:15Jenna Brook: Sounds like a great plan. And yeah, thank you very much for having me. It's been great fun.

00:37:20[music]

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:37:26Scott Trickett: different, Mel, because you don't hear my voice enough. I'm going to intro our roving reports this week because we've got a debut performance from our... Madness Quiz champion, our very first and our number one fan, Melissa Ellis files an absolute cracking report from Lakes Entrance, as does TOC. So I'll let the listeners decide which one's better. And also we're going to Canada. One of our, another debut roving reporter, Gerard Corcoran or JC.

00:37:59Melissa Erbacher: GC. GC.

00:38:01Scott Trickett: Close enough. He was in Canada and he visited a couple of parkruns. And someone's calling me. So while I take that call, you guys have a listen to the reports.

00:38:08[other]

00:38:14Melissa Ellis: Good morning, adventurers. It's Melissa here coming to you from the Lakes Entrance parkrun launch. I thought I'd do a bit of a fashions on the field report for you here today. I've got with me Chantelle. Chantelle, what parkrun are you from? Leylo. And what are you wearing today, Chantelle?

00:38:33Chantelle: I've got a, well, I've got odd shoes on, but that's just reality. I've got a tutu on and the Apricot parkrun top.

00:38:41Melissa Ellis: And what colour is your tutu? Purple.

00:38:42Chantelle: Purple.

00:38:44Melissa Ellis: And I've noticed there's quite a few purple tutus around this morning. What is the idea behind the purple tutus?

00:38:51Chantelle: The idea about rang tutus for launchers, and particular purple ones. Purple ones respect the volunteers. And the tutus is at launchers. While we celebrate anniversaries, we're dressing up, so why would we not celebrate launchers? Yes, and you do a bit of touristing yourself, don't you, Chantelle? I do indeed. I've done about 30 something different events in Victoria.

00:39:16Melissa Ellis: Very good. And we've had these purple tutus now. I think this might be our ninth launch.

00:39:21Chantelle: Yes.

00:39:22Melissa Ellis: Since Newport. Yeah. Yes. So it's taking off. Okay. Thanks, Chantelle. Bye. Thanks, Mel. I've got Maxime here. Maxime, please tell me about the top you're wearing today.

00:39:36Maxine: Okay, my top is for cardiac athletes. It's a very small group of athletes that have been approved by their cardiologists or their doctors to go out and enjoy life, have fun, continue their running. From all walks of life, from cardiac arrests like myself to heart attacks to people born with heart diseases or defects. We're all there together. It's a worldwide organisation. Currently, I think we've got just over 100 members, but most of them are in the UK and America. So we're looking to get more Aussies on board. Well, that's great.

00:40:12Melissa Ellis: There's plenty out there.

00:40:13Maxine: And what park are you from, Maxine? I'm from Point Cook in Melbourne. And you're a bit of a tourist too, aren't you? Just a little bit of a tourist, yes.

00:40:20Melissa Ellis: One of the Victorian statesmen?

00:40:22Maxine: One of, yes. Today is our 32nd launch and I think about 167 parkruns. And what did you think of the course? Today's course is beautiful. Really lovely. Double out and back. A little bit busy at some spots, but yeah, awesome course. Really nice.

00:40:36Melissa Ellis: All right. Thank you very much, Maxine. You're welcome. Thanks for talking to me. Thank you. See you around. Okay, I've got Michelle here. Michelle, tell me about what you're wearing.

00:40:45Michelle: Okay, I'm wearing the Australian Run Down Under top. What you're seeing here is the 2007 version of the top. I've been involved in the Rundown Under since 2006, and you'll actually see that there are 2006, sorry, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Rundown Under tops featured here at the Lakes Entrance parkrun. And what Rundown Under is, is a virtual run around Australia. So what you do is you track yourself on various apps, like Strava, for example, and it plots your journey around Australia. And how far have you got? I couldn't actually tell you that. I'm somewhere in Queensland at the moment. That's awesome. However, one of my friends from Traralgon is just about to complete her circumnavigation of Australia and she's planning to do that before Easter.

00:41:45Melissa Ellis: Fantastic.

00:41:45Michelle: And she's here today.

00:41:47Melissa Ellis: Ah, I have to find her. And what parkrun are you from? I'm from Taralgon parkrun.

00:41:51Michelle: And do you travel a lot? Not an awful lot. However, I have done all the local ones around Taralgon. So Taralgon, Newborough, Warragul. Churchill sale I've also done I've also done Coonwara parkrun when they did their launch I was there too and I went across to South Australia's parkrun in Clare and that was hilarious because there was a group of five of us and we attended the Clare parkrun and we doubled the patronage for Clare parkrun that's awesome so there were only 10 people in total so we all got places in our age categories wasn't that great that's great are you trying to become a Gippslander

00:42:33Melissa Ellis: I don't know what that means that means that you've done all the parkruns in the Gippsland region oh well certainly I can aspire to that all right thank you very much for talking to me this lady here you need to talk to okay now I'm here with Mandy Mandy Mandy has just come she's actually running for a run down under as well and what's special about today Mandy

00:42:54Mandy: Today I'm actually running virtually and literally running through Lakes Entrance on my tour. So I've started in Canberra and I've worked my way up through New South Wales, Queensland, across Northern Territory, down Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, down to Tassie, back into Victoria and now in Lakes Entrance on my way back to Canberra.

00:43:12Melissa Ellis: Wow, so you're nearly finished.

00:43:14Mandy: Yes, due to finish in April, about the 19th of April, back to Canberra.

00:43:20Melissa Ellis: And what's your local parkrun?

00:43:22Mandy: I'm registered as Tarelgan. I live in Churchill, so I split my time between Churchill and Tarelgan.

00:43:27Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's fantastic. And what did you think of the course today?

00:43:29Mandy: It was really good. It was nice and flat, beautiful water, got a bit of breeze. Yeah, I really liked it. The path with the out and back when you got the fast runners going out and the three lanes was a bit tight, but without these many people today, it would be good.

00:43:45Melissa Ellis: How many do you think we've got here? I think about maybe about 250? Yeah.

00:43:48Mandy: Yeah, there's a lot.

00:43:50Melissa Ellis: All right, well, thanks very much for talking to me, Mandy. No worries. And that's a wrap from me from beautiful, sunny Lakes Entrance parkrun launch. Ticked off one of my goals for the year to do a roving report. See you next time.

Channel 5 News Crew

00:44:03Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, Toc reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew at the launch of the Lakes Entrance parkrun. We're just here, just pre-briefing. We're down at the lovely town of Lakes Entrance. Lakes Entrance is a fishing and a tourism community about three hours east of Melbourne, set back from the main beach with an inlet with a bridge across it from the main drag. The parkrun runs along the inlet It's a double out and back course set right on the water's edge. It's a beautiful day down here. Numbers are growing and as usual for the Victorian launches, there's a sea of purple tutus out here as well. Great crowd, I'll report in after we've had our run. Cheers parkrunners. Howdy parkrunners, we're here at the Lakes Entrance finish line. I'm here with Nigel. Nigel's the event ambassador for Lakes Entrance. Nigel, really great turnout today.

00:44:55Nigel: Oh, I couldn't have asked for any better. We've got great conditions. Beautiful swans in there with the rainbows in behind. Everybody's stopping to take photos. And we've got better numbers than we expected, so it's great.

00:45:07Tony O'Connell: It's been a really funny course. I haven't seen too many people stopping on courses before to take photos mid-run, but today there were people stopping everywhere to take photos. It's a lovely course out there.

00:45:17Nigel: Yeah, it's good. Nice and flat, so it was probably a bit tricky for people wanting to run some fast times there, weaving in and out because there's so many people on the course, but that's a great thing.

00:45:26Tony O'Connell: So it'll be a good fast course come week three or four when the numbers thin out a little?

00:45:30Nigel: Definitely, yeah. Nice and flat and concrete path all the way except a little bit of grass finish here.

00:45:34Tony O'Connell: Well, congrats on a fantastic launch. Great speech there at the start. Yeah, onwards and upwards. Thanks, Toc. Cheers. I'm here with Hayley. Hayley's the ED of the Lakes Entrance parkrun that launched today. Hayley, what sort of numbers did you end up with today?

00:45:49Hayley: We had a large crowd today. We had over 250. I didn't see the final number, did you?

00:45:54Tony O'Connell: Oh, I think it might have been 254.

00:45:56Hayley: Perfect. So great crowd, at least 100 extra than what we expected. So here, Lakes Entrance, we had a sunny day. Rainbow behind the swans on the water here. It was beautiful.

00:46:07Tony O'Connell: Yep, and your course. What made you select the course down along the inlet other than the fact that it's absolutely stunning and beautiful and a great course?

00:46:14Hayley: Exactly. Well, we're so lucky to have a big rotunda here, so nice shade. We've got the toilets just up from us, drink fountains, and it's flat. Nice concrete path and safe for everyone. Yep.

00:46:25Tony O'Connell: I met you, Hayley, about a year ago when you were starting to look at parkrun. It's been a fair bit of a journey over the year to get it up and running. But what made you think about establishing parkrun in Lakes Entrance?

00:46:36Hayley: Yeah, good question, Tony. So I found out about parkrun at our neighbouring parkrun in Bairnsdale over a year ago, and I thought, what a great concept for our community and to get people out meeting new people and active. So Bairnsdale parkrun inspired me.

00:46:52Tony O'Connell: Well done. It's been an amazing day, an amazing event. The volunteers were, as always, fantastic. Yes. It was so smooth and professional. You look like you've been doing it forever. So well done. Great day.

00:47:02Hayley: Thanks, mate. Yeah. Thank you for everyone jumping in and helping out Tony. That was great.

00:47:07Tony O'Connell: No worries. Cheers.

00:47:08Hayley: Good on you.

00:47:09Gerard Corcoran: G'day Adventurers, it's G-Train here doing a roving report from Whitby parkrun in Canada, where I've just done my second run. And I'm here with the event director, Anise. How are you, Anise? I'm doing very well. Can you tell us a bit about Whitby parkrun, how long it's been going and so forth?

00:47:26Anis: Yeah, so Whippy parkrun, we started April 1st of 2017. So we're just going under a year now. And I used to run in England in Basingstoke. That was my home parkrun. And I was running that from about, I think, 2012. and we moved back to Canada and I thought it was a great idea, let's see if we can get something started where we are. So I got in touch with Ewan, who is the event director for all of Canada, and parkrun Canada started in 2016. Yeah, I think 2016. So I started speaking with him, got in touch with the local council people, got some funding in place, and yeah, we were ready to go in April 2017.

00:48:15Gerard Corcoran: And yours is the first parkrun in Ontario, and there are now four, but they're quite far apart. Do you get many people who have done all four parkruns?

00:48:23Anis: We have had people that have done all four parkruns. A few of our Whitby runners, have gone up to Kanata, down to Beach Strip, which is maybe about an hour's drive from here, and there's one in Bellevue, which is in Sault Ste. Marie, which is a bit more of a trek, about four or five hours drive away. Interestingly, we had a couple that were visiting from England, I think they're on a gap year, and they were on holiday in Canada and they were making it part of their holiday was to visit every parkrun in Canada over two or three months span. So it was quite interesting because they have photos of every parkrun not just in Ontario but all across Canada and it'd be interesting to see as parkrun grows if they'll be back to to check off on the list that they've still done all the runs in Canada.

00:49:13Gerard Corcoran: We have a concept in Australia of statesmen, so these are people who have done all of the parkruns within their state, which is like doing it all in a province. So I guess you'd call them countrymen or something along those lines.

00:49:25Anis: Yeah, well, with only 12 at the moment in Canada, it's a little bit easier to accomplish, although you would have to travel a couple thousand kilometres to do the ones from Montreal all the way over to Vancouver.

00:49:37Gerard Corcoran: And what are the prospects for growth in Canada, do you know?

00:49:41Anis: I know that there are a lot of opportunities. we are looking at trying to get one started in toronto there are a couple of hurdles with the city in toronto in particular which we're trying to trying to overcome anyone that starts doing a parkrun the concept is still a bit new in canada it's only been going like i said just over a year now but once people start to do it they think oh this is like a really great concept and In Whitby parkrun, almost every week since we've started, we've had tourists from Australia, from England, from Ireland, Scotland, South Africa. And when they see that there are people traveling from all over the world to be in Whitby to do the parkrun, they kind of understand the concept of what it is. And they start thinking about, oh, I can contact so-and-so in this city and get them, you know, encourage them. So when we started last year in Whitby, I think we were the fifth in Canada. Now there is about 12 in Canada. There's 12 in the US as well, where there's probably a lot more growth opportunity. So I think we're getting some traction here. And I see that there's growth opportunities. There's always inquiries coming through to the parkrun Canada event director, and he'll put out a message saying, can we get support in this city or that city? If anyone knows anyone in the council or anyone that can help with fundraising, please let us know. So I know that there are some things underway.

00:51:17Gerard Corcoran: Yeah, back home in Australia in the last weekend, temperatures were quite high, and so that was posing a bit of a challenge for some of the runs back home. You had your own environmental challenges here over the last couple of weeks. Would you like to talk about those?

00:51:28Anis: Yeah, for sure. So we get more extreme weather here. So in the summers, you know, it can get quite hot. One of the parkruns in Beech Strip, they start a bit earlier in the summertime at 8 o'clock just to avoid the heat. We still start at 9 o'clock over here. In the wintertime, there are several different challenges, not just with the cold. So last week we had to cancel the parkrun because... So was it last week? Yeah, we had to cancel the parkrun last week because it was minus 25 before any windchill was taken into account. And for your listeners who are unfamiliar with the windchill, this is the added cold that it feels like. So minus 25, the windchill will probably add another 10 to that. So we're looking at minus 35. For the runners, it's probably a bit chilly, but there's more concern around the volunteers who are standing at the finish line processing the results. Sometimes at that temperature, the equipment doesn't work. So then you're worried about volunteers with their bare hands trying to process results or write down barcode numbers and that type of thing. So take that into account. We had our New Year's Day run where it was minus 18. We had eight runners out that day, and that wasn't too bad. There was no wind chill to take into account, and that's actually not so bad standing outside. Today's run, I think the air temperature was a bit warmer than minus 18. It was being reported at about minus 12. But with the windchill out there, it must have been over minus 20. And we have had rain over the last 24 hours, which has made the path that we run along very icy, as you know. And so this morning I was kind of debating whether or not to still have the run go just for safety reasons. I didn't realize with the windchill exactly how cold it was going to be for the volunteers. So those are a couple of challenges. Everyone made it around the course today safe and sound. Obviously at the beginning of the run, we make sure that everyone knows where the trail is and everyone is aware of the icy conditions and let them know you don't have to run, but if you choose to run, be aware of the conditions. So those are a couple of the challenges. We have run in the rain, we've run in the snow. We had to actually cancel a couple of the runs the summer because the original course that we were running on got too saturated and it wasn't in a runnable condition because of the rain. So there's another challenge that we didn't really think of at the time when we started because we thought that the grounds that it was held on would be sufficient even if it did rain. So there you go.

00:54:23Gerard Corcoran: Now my home parkrun is Berwick Springs, Victoria and we do two laps around the lake there. How many laps around Lake Ontario would we be doing with your parkrun? You wouldn't even be doing, you wouldn't even register as any lap.

00:54:38Anis: So our parkrun here is along the waterfront trail on Lake Ontario and we do a two and a half kilometer out and back along the waterfront trail. The Beach Strip parkrun also are along a waterfront trail further down because it's an hour's drive away, still along the lake. You can probably fit hundreds of parkruns around Lake Ontario.

00:55:03Gerard Corcoran: I think that would probably be an interesting goal to have a parkrun in each city along the lakefront.

00:55:08Anis: That would be a good concept. And there you go, you would have another tourist option or another goal, the Lake Ontario Circle.

00:55:18Gerard Corcoran: I think that probably wraps it up for now and thanks very much for the run today and last weekend on New Year's Day. It's been great running here. And I hope all the parkrun adventurers who are heading over to Canada come along to Whitby parkrun and check it out and meet Anis and his loyal band of volunteers.

00:55:35Anis: Yeah, well, it's been great having you and I hope to see more visitors and everyone is invited. Thank you. Thanks, Anis.

00:55:42Gerard Corcoran: I've just finished doing a trail walker at Beach Trip parkrun in Hamilton, Canada. And I'm here at the moment with Stefan, who is the run director today, and Ella, who is the timekeeper. So, first to you, Stefan. Can you tell me a little bit about Beach Trip parkrun?

00:55:59Stefan: Well, Beech Strip parkrun is one of the first parkruns here in Ontario, and it's situated right beside Lake Ontario, and it gets the name Beech Strip because it runs along the lake shore. And it's a very nice route and in a pretty part of Hamilton.

00:56:12Gerard Corcoran: And how long has it been going?

00:56:15Stefan: We're going to have our first year anniversary will be in April, I believe, so we're just under a year, so it's still growing.

00:56:23Gerard Corcoran: And what can you tell me about the course itself?

00:56:25Stefan: So the course is an out and back course. It's along a wide sort of multi-use path that runs along the lake. So in the summer, we have to compete with cyclists and dog walkers and so on. But in the winter, we pretty much have the course to ourself. And it's very flat. It can be a little bit open and breezy because of the lake, but tends to be a fast course.

00:56:46Gerard Corcoran: Thanks for that. And now Ella, you get asked, I guess asked the same question that I get asked over here. Where's your accent from?

00:56:53Ella: Australia.

00:56:56Gerard Corcoran: And what are you doing as part of the event team at Beach Trip?

00:57:01Ella: I reached out to parkrun Canada when I moved here to help start a parkrun because I missed it so much. It was a part of my regular life in Australia. And yeah, I moved here to spend time with friends in Canada and it's been a really great part of my life here in Canada. And I'm moving back to Australia soon and I'll return to my home parkrun in Newey.

00:57:23Gerard Corcoran: And I guess it's been an exciting time being part of not only a new parkrun but a new parkrun in a country where it's just beginning.

00:57:30Ella: Yes, definitely. It's been a very new experience, but something I've been great to be a part of.

00:57:38Gerard Corcoran: And have you done any of the other parkruns in Canada?

00:57:41Ella: I've done Whitby parkrun, which is also a very nice course with a friendly group of volunteers.

00:57:47Melissa Erbacher: So that was the fun that was had in last week and recent weeks. What fun have we got on the agenda for this week, Scotty?

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

00:57:56Scott Trickett: Well there's usually lots of fun at launches. So we're launching two new events this week. One in Goulburn, which I've done a Freedom Run at, so I'm quite the expert in that course. If you've got any questions about that event, feel free to fire them at me. And also Nil in Victoria. which is an interesting one. Neil's not a big town, I've got to tell you. It's the old breeding ground for my football club. That's why I know where it is. All the great Essendon footballers that I grew up with came from that area, and now they've got a parkrun, so I might have to go and visit. I can't make the launch, but...

00:58:36Melissa Erbacher: Breeding ground for your football club is a very interesting description. Is it? Yes.

00:58:43Scott Trickett: Well, back in the day... The AFL, they used to zone parts of the country. So if you were born or playing football in the northwest parts of Victoria, you were zoned to play for Essendon. Or if you were from central north, you were zoned to play for Melbourne, for example. It was a really weird way of deciding which players would play for whatever. They've scrapped that, and now they go for a traditional draft system. But back in the day when I was growing up – yes, I am old – When Essendon were winning premierships in the 80s, all our players came from Dimboola and Nill and Horsham. And that's why I know where Nill is.

00:59:25Melissa Erbacher: Well, there's a fact that I've learned today.

00:59:27Scott Trickett: There you go.

00:59:29Melissa Erbacher: Also fun, though, is anniversaries. And we've got a bunch of those this weekend as well. We've got three of them in Queensland. It's the triple threat of Bundaberg, Golden Beach and Ipswich. And then we've got one in New South Wales and one in WA with Lake Mac and Moora having their anniversaries as well. So happy anniversary to all those events. Hope you guys have a wonderful time. Enjoy lots of cake and donuts and costumes.

00:59:56Scott Trickett: Now give us a fun fact about Golden Beach. I'll make it easy for you.

01:00:02Melissa Erbacher: A fun fact about it? Well, this week it's going to be a pea party. So I am in the midst of creating costumes for myself and my husband and my son that begin with P. I'm not going to tell you what they are, though. They're going to be very cute. Adam is not 100% impressed that I'm dragging him into this one.

01:00:26Scott Trickett: This is a theme that's developing with Adam. He's getting less and less interested in your costume.

Word of the week

01:00:33Melissa Erbacher: creations as time goes on or has this always been the way and he's just not as creative as hiding it anymore he always comes around by the end but you know what i um costumes aside last week we uh put a question out to our listeners and this is the first week where the word of the week has not been messaged to me or texted to me with the answer so i had to go looking for my own answer. Do you remember what the question was, Scotty?

01:01:01Scott Trickett: Yes, the underpants that the sumo wrestlers wear. I didn't know the name, you didn't know the name, and neither did our listeners, so that's comfort on some level.

01:01:12Melissa Erbacher: Obviously, we're not big in Japan. But, so I had to look it up, and there were a couple of different things. There's traditional Japanese undergarments for adult males, and that they wore before World War II, which was called fundoshi. But that's not the same. It's very similar to what the Sumos wear. But what the Sumos wear is called Mawashi. And did you know, here's a fun fact, the garment can weigh more than eight pounds and be up to two feet wide before it is wrapped around the Sumo wrestler. And contrary to popular belief, it is not a nappy. It's a loincloth described as a form of fundoshi, or Japanese underwear. There's like a whole way that you have to like, it's got 12 pictures of how you have to wrap this thing around to get it on. That's a bit more involved than how I would put on my undies. It certainly is not a 12-step process. There you have it. Anyway, so I'm a little bit disappointed in all our listeners that nobody helped us out this week on the word of the week. And I've got a crying baby down the other end of the house that I'm going to have to go get. Oh, really? Yeah, before he crawls himself out of the cot. Hold on a second.

01:02:28Scott Trickett: You go get him. We've already had the phone call, so let's have the crying baby as well.

01:02:33Melissa Erbacher: Let's go for the double. All right, hold on. I'll bring him in.

01:02:36Scott Trickett: Okay.

01:02:54Melissa Erbacher: Of course, he stops crying as soon as I pick him up. Wes, are you going to say hello to the parkrun adventurers? Are you thinking about it?

01:03:03Scott Trickett: How long have we got with Wes before he completely cracks it?

01:03:09Melissa Erbacher: Well, he shouldn't crack it now. He's up.

01:03:12Scott Trickett: Okay, let's put a timer on it. Let's just keep talking. So this podcast could be a two-hour episode if Wes performs.

01:03:22Melissa Erbacher: He'll be the arbiter of when we finish.

01:03:25Scott Trickett: Yep.

01:03:27Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

01:03:28Scott Trickett: So we don't have a word of the week this week because, well, our listeners failed the challenge.

01:03:34Melissa Erbacher: So that segment... And it looks like I've remembered everything I meant to tell you. So that's also a good thing.

Social Adventurers

01:03:41Scott Trickett: But one thing we did have from last week is we were social adventuring this weekend. We posted on Instagram... And we wanted you, our listeners, to post along with us. And they did. And so we said we'd give a shout-out to those people that did. And so here's your shout-out to... Running Guy Ryan. Now, technically, he posted from a few weeks ago, but he put it on this weekend, so he just snuck in. Barefoot Mike, 77. Ready Debbie Run. Mboto.

01:04:14Melissa Erbacher: Hold on, hold on. I've had to relocate to the floor, so I'll just look at my computer.

01:04:22Scott Trickett: What do you want me to do? No, no, no. It's all good.

01:04:24Melissa Erbacher: I'm almost there. Diamond Creek Runners. Will parkrunner. Be Like Mel. Mama of Hope. Misspelt. Wendy Glenn, Big Running Bear and Sandy Shell's Life.

01:04:38Scott Trickett: You got it wrong this time.

01:04:40Melissa Erbacher: Great. Yes, I knew you were going to give me the difficult ones. See, Wes is laughing too.

01:04:44[laughter]

01:04:46Scott Trickett: It's funny, Wes, because she gave me crap about getting that wrong. Plenty of times, so it was good to see you get it wrong this time. The other takeaway I wanted to do from Instagram is that I posted that I was at Mernda, which a couple of people guessed, and I got 86 likes, and you posted with my daughter, and you posted with Wes at Kiwana, which I don't think anybody got, did they?

01:05:13Melissa Erbacher: We did have one person guess it. Okay. That person...

01:05:21Scott Trickett: Sorry I got that wrong, Wes.

01:05:23Melissa Erbacher: Oh, dear.

01:05:25Scott Trickett: But, okay, we get it, Wes. We're going to wrap up now. You got 120 likes. So we can put that debate to bed.

01:05:32Melissa Erbacher: It's not a popularity.

01:05:33Scott Trickett: But you are the favorite. You are the people's champion.

01:05:36Melissa Erbacher: No, I think it's either the extremely chubby cheeks of my eight-month-old son or it's completely about the time. You posted earlier. So I posted second, which means that mine would have come up in people's news feed a little bit later. And you probably posted while they were still at parkrun.

01:05:56Scott Trickett: I'm not buying it. I had ducks as well.

01:05:59Melissa Erbacher: You had ducks. Ducks are cute.

01:06:01Scott Trickett: Ducks were cute. But no, still one. So that's life. I've dealt with it. And I'm moving on.

01:06:10Melissa Erbacher: It's not a competition, Scotty. We're a team. Yeah.

01:06:15[other]

01:06:15Scott Trickett: Oh, there it is. Okay, we get it, Wes. We get it. It's time to wrap it up. Mel, thanks for another stellar week. Back for episode 99 next week. It's going to be a fast one. It's going to be a goodie. Yeah, it's going to be a good one next week. Looking forward to it already.

01:06:33Melissa Erbacher: Ah, my microphone, my headphones, my headset, they're being ripped off my head. So over and out, Scotty.