Episode 107

Episode details · 315 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:16Scott Trickett: For episode 107, I'm still in holiday mode. But that doesn't mean I'm going to take the episode off, Mel. I'm bringing my A-game to episode 107. I hope you are too.

00:00:29Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I bring my A game every week. What's your excuse?

00:00:31Scott Trickett: Well, I was on holidays last week, so it was about a C or a D game for me. Did you notice?

00:00:37Melissa Erbacher: It was a short episode. I didn't notice so much that you didn't bring a good game when we were recording.

00:00:45Scott Trickett: No, that's good. I haven't listened to it. So are you saying worst episode ever?

00:00:49Melissa Erbacher: No.

00:00:50Scott Trickett: No.

00:00:50Melissa Erbacher: How do you jump to that conclusion?

00:00:53Scott Trickett: I don't know. Just trying to be controversial.

00:00:58Melissa Erbacher: You are always controversial, aren't you, Scotty?

00:01:00Scott Trickett: I like to push the boundaries, Mel. I don't really. I don't. That's a lie as well. That's controversial. I just like to cruise through life, enjoy the good bits and try and ignore the bad bits.

00:01:14Melissa Erbacher: Be a contradiction from one sentence to the next.

00:01:19Scott Trickett: So episode 107 is off to a good start. I had a great weekend at parkrun Mill to change tact a little bit.

00:01:29Melissa Erbacher: Oh, and okay, so last week we spoke about 59-59s. Did you manage and the rest of Team Trickett manage to avoid the 59-59s? Hey, I'm a pro.

00:01:40Scott Trickett: I'm a pro. When I come in, things happen. Things happen smoothly and efficiently. And luckily enough, I managed to cobble things together and we got through with no errors on the timing or the stopwatch or the scanner. But it's more luck than anything else, really. So I shouldn't take too much credit. I was very conscious of it. So I was briefing. I think I briefed the timekeeper and the scanner a few times because we had – last week I mentioned that it was Team Trickett taking up all the roles and we were going to use the virtual volunteer app. Well, that all changed. Yes. Because we had some locals step up and they wanted to volunteer. And I'm the one who's never going to say no to an offer of a volunteer, even though we'd filled the roster. Yeah. If someone wants to volunteer, Mel, I'm going to say, yes, please, you can help me. So I shifted Team Trickett onto the scanning, and then I had a couple of locals on the stopwatch and the finish tokens. So we went back to the traditional method. So I still haven't got to use the virtual volunteer.

00:02:49Melissa Erbacher: But you had a good morning, and you met some new locals.

00:02:52Scott Trickett: So I had a good morning. So my tale from Saturday is that I had forgotten the joys of volunteering. I think I had become a little bit more focused on the run in parkrun.

00:03:05Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, you've been a bit slack this year. I have. About the whole volunteering aspect. I have.

00:03:10Scott Trickett: And because I'm not on any event teams at the moment. There's not the, you know, you're not, I wouldn't say forced, but it's just not, you don't pop up on a roster. It's not a regular thing for you to volunteer. You have to go out of your way to put your name down to volunteer.

00:03:27Melissa Erbacher: And so I had become... Is it so far out of your way to do that? Like seriously? Well... It's not like a massive detour.

00:03:35Scott Trickett: No, it isn't.

00:03:35Melissa Erbacher: But I do have... You're already going to be at the event.

00:03:37Scott Trickett: I do have more excuses than that. When you're traveling a lot, you're visiting events that you know you're not going to come back to the next week. Or if I'm going to... Other events that I have been to before, usually the roster's pretty full. Maybe. Is that an excuse?

00:03:52Melissa Erbacher: Good enough. These excuses are fairly weak, but please continue.

00:03:56Scott Trickett: I know it's hard to convince you. But anyway, so I had become a runner and enjoying parkrun for the run and had forgotten that the volunteering is just another world to... the running or walking at parkrun and so I had an opportunity to spend an hour with these locals and remember I'm in Bright I don't know anyone and so it was a great opportunity to get to know all these new people and there's that moment where you start the parkrun and all the runners go off and so the volunteers have this 15 to 20 minute window where you actually don't do anything other than talk to each other and I like it because it means people are forced to talk to me because naturally, you know, I might not be the most... I might not be the first person people want to talk to, Mel. I'm big and scary and... No, I don't know. But do you know what I mean? That... For 20 minutes. Like 20 minutes is a long time.

00:04:59Melissa Erbacher: You have a captive audience. Is that what you're saying? Yes, you have a captive audience. You know, the volunteers are standing around and they don't have any excuses to leave the conversation because they, okay.

00:05:10Scott Trickett: Yeah. And, you know, natural silence in a group of five or six of us. It's really awkward. So the conversation just flows and these people, they tell you about their lives or what's going on at the moment. And you feel at the end of the morning that you've got to know them pretty well. So if they come back next week, you've instantly got that connection. Oh, there's Michael or there's Emma. I know them now. And so I will naturally gravitate to them and ask them how their week has been or how they're feeling this morning. And naturally, that's how social friendships evolve.

00:05:45Melissa Erbacher: It starts with learning the names, doesn't it?

00:05:47Scott Trickett: It does. It does. And I noticed it with the runners. So when you run or walk, you come back. You go and find your barcode, you get it scanned, you might have a chat to someone in the scanning line, but there's this natural inclination for you to not seek out other people to talk to. For some people, not for all, but for some people, and I observed it on Saturday that some runners would come and go, and I just felt that they were missing out on so much. Whereas there were others, there were a couple of groups on Saturday that did stick around, but even then they still stuck around in their groups and they chatted in their groups. But whereas with volunteering, I got to speak to all these new people, and I was reinvigorated on the weekend by the whole parkrun concept. Well, that's awesome.

00:06:36Tim Oberg: Yeah.

00:06:38Scott Trickett: Yeah, I mean, I think it's awesome. I love it more than most. But sometimes you forget why you love things, and it was really nice to be reminded on Saturday.

00:06:48Melissa Erbacher: Do you think the runners not sort of engaging potentially as much has got something to do with, you know, they're tired or still trying to breathe, can't talk, or they're just all in their heads about their actual performance?

00:07:06Scott Trickett: I don't know. I guess when I finish a run and it's been a good run, like I've pushed myself or I've tried hard, I kind of want to talk about it. So I think that's the natural thing. I want to talk to the person who is around me.

00:07:22Melissa Erbacher: Well, personally, I mean, I get a lot more from volunteering as well because of the amount of time it takes me to finish the parkrun course, you know, a lot. A lot of other people have got an extra 20 minutes, half an hour to have conversations and things like that than I get because – and that's possibly why I'm so loud on the course. You've parkrun near or around me a couple of times and you may have noticed that I pretty much cheer on all the runners.

00:07:49Scott Trickett: You do.

00:07:49Melissa Erbacher: Especially – well, if it's an out and back course and the people are coming back, then it's a lot easier to cheer on the runners. Yeah. And, yeah, so maybe that's why I do it because I don't get a chance to see a lot of them after the run.

00:08:05Scott Trickett: No, I think it's a valid point, Mel, and I'm seeing it with my girls too. Yvonne often comments that if they walk and they come back in 40 or 50 minutes, it's all done. Sometimes it's all done or people are already in their conversations and it's really hard for her to connect. So you're probably similar. So I hear what you're saying, sister.

00:08:25Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, not to say that it's not still a sociable thing for those that finish at the tail end of the field. It's just a different experience. But I'm on board with you with the whole volunteering, obviously, because I do it quite a lot still. I am still on rosters and... Even when I travel, I still manage to get some volunteering in from time to time.

00:08:47Scott Trickett: So I think I'm going to try and do it a lot more this year, Mel. So I need you to keep me in check. Don't worry. I've got enough people checking in on me for my marathon training, which I love, by the way. Thank you, everyone. But I want you to keep me in check with my volunteering for the rest of the year. Can you do that? Okay.

00:09:04Melissa Erbacher: I can take that on board.

00:09:05Scott Trickett: Okay.

00:09:07Melissa Erbacher: You know, you've just pretty much given me a bone, like a dog.

00:09:12Scott Trickett: But that's fine. That's fine. That's why I asked you to do it. But enough about me. I want to hear about your trip to Coffs Harbour, an event that we don't know a lot about. We have never spoken to the crew down there. We don't have any adventurers from Coffs Harbour. So give us the rundown. What's it like?

00:09:33Melissa Erbacher: It is gorgeous. Really, really beautiful. We were lucky we had great weather. It was a little bit spitty when we first started. Adam had was in the pram, so the canopy was down, but it didn't. It didn't escalate into rain as such, so that was really good. We, as often is the case, made a spectacle of ourselves. I spend quite a bit of my time being a spectacle to other people, I've come to realize, but I'm okay with that. It's one of those things, I was running with my, well, walking, walk-running with my sister-in-law and my brother. And Michelle actually said to me, oh, I keep forgetting that I'm dressed like a pirate and everybody keeps looking at me funny and I'm like, what's going on? So we – but I'm just used to people looking at me funny. Please do.

00:10:30Scott Trickett: Because I'm guessing that maybe the Pirate Club is not as well known in Coffs Harbour as it is at, you know, Kawana, for example. Is that true?

00:10:40Melissa Erbacher: Is that an assumption? I'm not sure the Pirate Club is very well known at Kawana at all because Kawana begins with a K. I would have thought that by now a lot of events that start with a C or an R have just learnt about the Pirate Club by, you know,

00:10:57Scott Trickett: People rocking up dressed as pirates.

00:10:59Melissa Erbacher: Yes, and people are visiting their events purely for that reason. But it's – and we've sort of jumped in and nobody necessarily knows that I joined the Pirate Club on the weekend. I chose the seventh anniversary of parkrun in Australia to sail my seventh sea, which was pretty cool. Yeah, we thought so. And we made the journey – Well, clever or coincidence? I'm going clever. Sorry. Very clever. Totally not something I realized after the fact on Saturday at all. We took a trip down on the – well, we made a long weekend. We left on Friday and came back on Sunday evening so that we could do a bit of adventuring. and adventuring with the extended family so it this is something we we have been working towards for a while and there were six of us who joined the pirate club i'm i'm yet to figure out whether or not wes has unofficially done it i think he might be lacking that one or two c still so he was he was only a semi-pirate uh but had great fun all in costumes a lot of people had no idea what the hell we were doing, why we were dressing pirates. And the run director actually said, would one of the pirates like to explain to the rest of the people here what you're doing? Because I'm sure there's a few people that have no idea. And so I think she was aware of the pirate club because it just seemed fairly obvious. Like after I mentioned it, she didn't go, oh, or anything like that. So I think... I think the event team knew about it, at least in terms of the fact that they're a sea event. And it was also nice. It's Coffs Harbour, so it was right on the beach. It was a beautiful place to become a pirate. I think a lot of the other runners had just as much fun with it as we did because we – you know, we would respond, but we got so many args and ahoy mateys and walk the planks. Just everybody had a pirate pun or something to yell out to us as they were coming past, which was really nice. They all got really involved. So this is what I mean about being a spectacle. Just, you know, people love someone in a costume because it gives them something to connect with that person about. Whereas if you're just a runner running around incognito in running clothes nobody's going to run out like the brand of your t-shirt or something like that um you know they might say go the person in the red shirt but they're less likely to say that than they are if you've got a pram that's another thing that people connect with you know i i know i always give extra kudos to people running with prams because that's you know extra resistance training and all that sort of thing but people want to connect with other people out on a run and do you do you find this when you're running on a non-parkrun day that you see other runners and you just you kind of like force them to have eye contact with you because you just you just what's the word track on their eyes until they look up and

00:14:18Scott Trickett: Absolutely. Absolutely. I get offended if you don't say hello to me when I'm out on the run normally. Like, what else are you doing? You're running. You've got another runner coming towards you. Say hi, mate.

00:14:31Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. There's a shared experience happening. Even if you've never met, you're never going to see each other again. But you, both of you, right then at that moment, you're out there and you're running and you're hardcore.

00:14:45Scott Trickett: I agree. So would you say the Coffs Harbour parkrunners are now hooked on the Pirate Club?

00:14:53Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't have a witty enough response to that pun, Scotty. But how many minutes did it take you of not listening to me actually telling the story for you to think that up?

00:15:05Scott Trickett: I can't remember what you said. I thought of that earlier and I just thought that's hilarious. I'm going to drop that one.

00:15:11Melissa Erbacher: But to the event, I've talked enough about the Pirates, fun as that was. To the event, gorgeous course, really, really beautiful. Obviously, I mentioned it was on the water, on the beach sort of front. You run along footpaths that run parallel to the beach and it's a, Double out and back, which is nice because you do get extra social aspect of seeing everybody again. The volunteers were super friendly. Can't fault the volunteers. Everything went really smoothly and it was just a really nice morning. I'd highly recommend it. People should go.

00:15:49Scott Trickett: Did you get to the Big Banana? That's pretty much all I know about Coffs Harbour.

00:15:55Melissa Erbacher: We did get to the big banana. We had been a couple of years ago when we were on a road trip with the dogs, but of course that was pre-Wes, and Wes had never seen the banana, so that was important. Giant fruit is always on the agenda if giant fruit is close.

00:16:12Scott Trickett: Is Wes a big banana fan?

00:16:14Melissa Erbacher: Well, he is now.

00:16:15Scott Trickett: Okay.

00:16:16Melissa Erbacher: He didn't know it was a thing before. He's a big pineapple fan, so now he's a big banana fan.

00:16:21Scott Trickett: He's collecting.

00:16:24Melissa Erbacher: He is collecting the giant fruit. So we went and got the selfie in front of the big banana, all the grandkids as well, because my mum came with us and we had a lovely weekend, a lovely family weekend with the whole crew. Music

00:16:38[music]

00:16:46Scott Trickett: I've got the fever. Mel's got like a sniffle, a comm game sniffle, but we're going to soldier on. We've got our man on the ground, literally on the ground. Robbo is joining us for a comms game update. Welcome back to the pod, Robbo.

00:17:04Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Thanks, Scott. G'day to you and Mel and to all the parkrun and comm games enthusiasts out there in podcast land.

00:17:11Scott Trickett: Now, we want to know, we're not 100% sure. We mentioned it on last week's pod. We've seen you in a blazer. We've seen you in an official lanyard hanging around your neck. What exactly are you doing at this Commonwealth Games? It looks a bit official.

00:17:25Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: It's a good question, mate, and it's one I've been asked, I think, near enough 100 times since I've been up here on the coast. And to answer directly, I have the privilege and good fortune to have been – on the Australian Comm Games team, not related to the sport of athletics, but in actual fact triathlon. And my role has been to assist a para-athlete, para-triathlete by the name of Lauren Parker, who some of your listeners may know of her story. She is from Newcastle, where I'm from. She was involved in a horrific cycling accident where her tyres broke exploded while she was on a training ride for an Ironman in Port Macquarie. And unfortunately, it resulted in her colliding with a guardrail on the side of the highway and just made an absolute mess of her body, breaking multiple bones and structures, including serious damage to her spinal cord. So she now has no use of her legs, as it turns out, as a T12 paraplegic. So she... has been dealing with that situation for only just under 12 months, would you believe, and only recently in the last sort of few months the opportunity has arisen for her to be named on the Australian Commonwealth Games team as part of the para-triathlon squad, and my role has been to assist her on game day as her handler, which is a person that helps a para-triathlete get from leg to leg, so from the swim leg to the bike leg, which is a hand cycle, and then from the bike leg to the run leg, which is completed in a racing wheelchair. So my role is only a small one in time, but just a support role assistant. Lauren calls me her slave, so I've been known to get her coffees on demand and whatever else she needs as well. So it's been a real honour, a real thrill, and I can report that on Saturday we raced and Lauren ended up winning the bronze medal. And so capping off, really a remarkable story. And again, I'm just pinching myself that I got to be there to support her. And along the way, it's an experience that I have as someone that I would love to be an elite athlete being named on the team. This is kind of the next best thing.

00:19:50Melissa Erbacher: I think you hit the nail on the head when you say an honour, Robbo. You must just like, what a surreal experience. Because you've been Lauren's handler, does that mean you're staying in the athlete's village?

00:20:04Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Yeah, that's correct. That's one of the privileges that I've been able to enjoy. So as a fully accredited member of the Australian team, I was able to sleep in the village and experience village life for the first time, which was amazing. And to roam around and see incredible athletes all around you from Australia and other countries and catch up with some of them for meals in the dining hall and knock about with them has just been an incredible experience and actually bumped into some royalty. leaving the village at one stage when I'm sure Prince Charles and Camilla, who we'd waved to at the opening ceremony, well, they wanted to get their photo with Lauren and we were happy to have lied and I managed to sneak in that photo myself. So yeah, I had a handshake with Prince Charles and Camilla in the village.

00:20:55Melissa Erbacher: Very cool. Give us the inside word. Is everyone in bed by like 7.30 in the Athletes' Village?

00:21:02Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Look, it was pretty tame. I was there for the first five nights of the games and I can't report any exclusive antics or any shenanigans that were too wild. I think there's a lot of athletes here hadn't even started their competition at that point. Others, you know, team sports, you'd see the teams coming back and forward, training, eating, getting up, going to play games. So it was all pretty businesslike while I was in there. There is, I can reveal there is a pub or a bar within the village and along with some of the other triathlon officials and coaches we did go and sample that a couple of times and that was a nice way just to relax and again catch up with some of the other athletes mostly lawn bowlers and shooters from other countries from British Isle countries were in there but that was probably about as rowdy as it got we had a game of trivia and there was a bit of karaoke one of the night that's quite distant from where a lot of people would be sleeping so No, it was all pretty sensible from what I could see, Mel. But all the athletes just keep telling me how great a facility it is. They're saying it's the best village they've ever stayed in. We were lucky enough to have a pool and a personal barista for the Australian team attached to our residence. So got looked after pretty nicely. And the food's been fantastic as well. Basically a buffet every night with, you know, options from all around the world. So, yeah, I could certainly get used to... village life and actually i did a little thing each morning weighing weighing in to see if i was putting on too much weight actually the weight dropped off me initially and then it caught up with me on my last morning adding a couple of kilos so got a got out of it not too bad too badly but yeah it's been great to sample that village life we've still got a few days to go robert so plenty of opportunities for the parties to fire up and the weight to pile on Yes. Well, unfortunately, I've switched roles now, Scotty. So I've had to renounce my village accreditation. And I've now moved into a role as accredited media and working with Athletics Australia, doing the social media updates and interviewing the athletes at the track. So I'm out with the commoners once again. But that's another great opportunity to get up close to the athletes out at the track. And that's keeping me pretty busy for this second week.

00:23:24Scott Trickett: Well, tell us about that because you're building a bit of a profile. You had your video series leading up to the Games. So surely all the athletes must know you now. So they want to have a meal and a drink with Robbo.

00:23:38Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Yes, some. Some. I'm sure others probably see me and head the other way. But no, I've got this accreditation pass around my neck at the moment. It says journalist on there and I don't really agree with that title. I don't. I classify myself as a journalist. I classify myself as a fan, fan of the sport and a huge fan of the Aussie athletes. And to be able to have that access is a very privileged thing. And sometimes what I've been, I guess, compelled to want to do is give an Aussie athlete a hug. We saw in the race walk the other day, very dramatic with the women's race and Claire Tallent getting disqualified right at the end. And I was one of the media sticking a phone in in her face, trying to get her reaction and the quotes for the stories for Athletics Australia. But at the end of it, I asked her for one more request. I said, would you mind if I can do one thing? Would I be able to give you a hug? Because she just seemed like she needed a hug. And she was happy for me to do that. And hopefully that helped comfort her. So hopefully what I'm doing can extend a little bit beyond just reporting what I'm saying, but also being in those athletes' corners and them knowing that there's a huge amount of support and I know there is from the community out there all around Australia so it's important that they know that it's a very lonely sport at times and yeah just doing whatever I can to get around them and help promote their stories and promote the sport.

00:25:07Melissa Erbacher: Robbo, you've got quite a bit of experience in terms of, you know, attending these level of events. You were at Glasgow Comm Games, you were at the Rio Olympics. What's it like having the Comm Games here at the Gold Coast? Like, it's on home soil. How has that differed from the previous events?

00:25:27Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Yeah, that's really, it's been brilliant, Mel. And, yeah, interesting to compare to those other overseas games, experiences. It's all those awesome things from them, but it's right here in our own backyard. And probably one of the things that stands out, you know, whatever sport you're at, be it swimming or cycling, netball, but at the athletics, I've been lucky enough to be at a few sessions already. And, you know, at Carrara Stadium, where it's usually an AFL ground with the Gold Coast Suns play, it's rare that you have an entire crowd cheering for one person at a time. That's what's sort of been happening. Any Aussie that's in a heat, in a final, in a field event, the crowd is just getting right behind them. And to hear that roar, it's not something that I've actually witnessed before. I didn't get to the Sydney Olympic Athletic Program. I didn't get to the Melbourne 2006 Games at all. That's the largest athletics crowd I've ever been a part of on Australian soil. And it's just a magical thing to see Aussie sports lovers getting around, you know, all the sports, but in particular athletics, and getting around our Aussie champions. many who they probably wouldn't even know who they are at the start of the session, but they leave knowing who that pole vaulter is and knowing who that long jumper is. And hopefully it's going to do a lot for, I guess, embedding those athletes and their achievements in the minds of Aussies all around the place and leave them with a, hopefully, attachment to those athletes and a desire to want to sort of follow their journey from here on in.

00:27:01Scott Trickett: One thing we witnessed the other night on the track for the women's 10,000, a really nice gesture by our three female athletes. They stayed around and they waited for the last finisher to cross the finish line. Now, we took notice of this and we really liked the gesture. So we're going to try and repeat that at parkrun on Saturday. And we're asking all our parkrunners to hang around and wait for the tail walker to come in. Do you like that idea, Robbo?

00:27:26Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: I absolutely love it, Scotty. I love it. I've been at parkruns. in the past where we've encouraged runners to do something kind of similar. In fact, once you're finished, scan your barcode, come back out to the finish area and actually have two lines and almost form an arch for those coming through and clap them on and make them have that Rockstar experience as they come through. And I love it and it was funny to see, not funny, but it was really powerful to see that happen very organically. It was actually Madeline Hills that kicked it off. She stood out there on her own for a while and then Celia... And Eloise joined her. And it's no surprise, mate. We know how good parkrunners are. They get it. And a very caring bunch. And the barcode-wielding Aussie 10,000-metre girls showing that they care. And just, yeah, in a time when, you know, all the stuff's clouding, the Aussie cricket team has come up and questions about our levels of sportsmanship. What an amazing gesture. And I'm so proud of all three of those girls for making that that statement and doing that. So, yeah, mate, I'll totally be up for supporting the parkrun attempt to replicate what they did. And one of the hashtags has been for the Australian Comm Games team has been greater together. So maybe that's something that we can feed off that theme as well and really have that unity across parkrun finish lines this weekend.

00:28:48Scott Trickett: It's a great opportunity for the athletics crew. They're in the limelight. They've got their opportunity to shine. And so far, it looks like they have been. There's been some great performances. So hopefully bigger and better things out of these con games.

00:29:03Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: I think, to be honest, Scotty, these two weeks are probably the two most important weeks that the sport has faced since the Sydney Olympics. And if I was, you know, if I'm an athlete, if I'm a coach, if I'm a anyone close with the scene of athletics in Australia, you know, I'm wanting to get the most exposure as possible out of this and share the stories. Um, I was at the track this morning. We watched the men's 800 meter heats, um, young fella by the name of Joseph Deng. He's only a teenager and there's just an amazing backstory, um, behind, behind him and many other athletes as well. And we want to get those stories out. And as you say, yeah, channel seven coverage, media coverage, um, is fantastic for the sport. And hopefully a lot of people are paying attention and getting to know these athletes. And then it's up to the sport now to really capitalize that once the games wraps up and, and, you know, put in place some strategies to, to keep that momentum going.

00:30:01Melissa Erbacher: Can you give us any personal highlights you've had from the games, Robbo, apart from obviously, you know, your participation with Lauren, et cetera.

00:30:09Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Yeah, that was certainly very special as, as I touched on to be part of that. But look, Personal highlights, just that thrill of walking into the stadium with the Australian team was amazing. I was right next to Celia Sullohern, a good friend of mine, and sat with her throughout the ceremony and got a photo in the middle. So what an amazing thing to be a part of with that. I guess watching some of the other sports, the mixed triathlon was really exciting. If you haven't Listeners haven't had a chance to see that in action. That's a really exciting new format for triathlon. So two guys and two girls, and they all just run small legs and tag off to the next person. And we won the gold medal in that, which was really exciting to come from behind win over the English. So that was a good one. And then down at the walks at Currumbin Beach, that was a lot of fun there as well. We won gold medals in the men's and women's walks there. And I was very lucky enough to bump into Vanessa Gibson, who Many parkrunners will know from Sandgate parkrunners, she was all decked out in her volunteers outfit. And we shared a selfie at the finish line of the walk. So a couple of old parkrunners catching up there in the middle of the action at the Comm Games. That was definitely a big highlight as well. But on the whole, I think just the vibe has been one that's full of warmth and friendliness. Volunteers, officials, athletes, anyone to do with it. I think they're all just, you know, putting off a really nice positive vibe across the whole, across the games. And so, yeah, I'm looking forward to that continuing. And I think what's going to happen, guys, is same as what I saw in Glasgow, the locals and those hosting it, maybe a little bit slow to get going with the games. But once it was on and then once it finished, they were totally on board and in love with it. And I think the Gold Coasters will really miss it once the big circus rolls out of town, you know, in a week or two.

00:32:09Melissa Erbacher: I know it's going to be a big sort of gaping hole slash come down afterwards when, you know, the Comm Games is all said and done. What's next for athletes when it's all finished, Robbo? Like where do they set their sights on after the Comm Games?

00:32:28Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Yeah, that's a good question, Mel. A lot of them will head overseas after this is all done. And the season in the northern hemisphere really is only just starting to get underway once their warmer months start to kick on. So, yeah, athletes will be looking for races in Europe, looking for races in America. It's different having the Comm Games or the major championships so early in the year. Usually it's held, you know, middle of the year, July, August, September. So to some, I reckon it'll just be, you know, call it done, have a few months off, recover. and then start building for next season and start looking at, you know, the big champs, the world championships that are on next year. Others, look, I think we'll, yeah, we'll look to stay local and just keep going through a winter season as well. So it's kind of different for all the athletes. But, yeah, it'll be a huge come down, no doubt, for all of them. There'll be some that won't want it to end, I'm sure, as well. And some of the athletes in the Aussie team I know are retiring. Kurt Fearnley is one of them. up here at the Gold Coast. So that's going to be very, very special to follow him, another Newcastle resident. And, yeah, you know, he's probably going to have some well-earned time off and catch up with the family as well. So a lot of them will be very different, Mel, what they do after the games. But, yeah, hopefully they all get a chance to just have at least a week or two off and just reflect on what they've been through and taking stock on it all and tuck away, hopefully, a number of great memories.

00:34:01Scott Trickett: Can you leave us, Robbo, with a tip for the final day? The marathons are on the final day. We've got some good representation by the Aussies. Have you got a prediction or some form guide for Sunday's race?

00:34:14Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Yeah, well, I'll have a crack, mate, and I think let's go with the men's wheelchair marathon to start with. We'll pencil Kurt Fearnley in there for a gold medal and maybe Madison De Rosario in the women's wheelchair race. So we'll get an Aussie double gold there and then, The men's able-bodied marathon. Unfortunately, we're a man down there with Chris Hamer, who's not been able to get to the start line healthy. He's had an injury which has ruled him out of starting, which is a great shame. So we're going to have just the two boys. Michael Shelley defending his gold medal from Glasgow, and he's on home turf. He'll be pretty fired up to give it a good crack. And Liam Adams joins him as well, the current Australian record holder for parkruns. So those two boys could do anything, and they both had a good crack in Glasgow. Let's give them a medal each. Let's give Shelley the gold medal defending his title, and I'll put Liam in for a bronze. And then the women's marathon, well, that's probably going to be one of the highlights of the whole competition because any one of them could do some damage too. And I think especially Lisa Weightman and Jess Trengove, Between them, I can't split them. I'm not sure who's going to finish fastest out of those two. And then Virginia Moloney, who had such a great race on the Gold Coast last year, Gold Coast Marathon. So I'm going to put it out there. I actually reckon Jess Trengove might just get a medal again. I'm going to put her down for... Let's give her a gold and let's give Lisa Weightman the silver medal in the women's race as well. I'm pretty optimistic, as you can tell there. But... We're going to be out there cheering them on and anything can happen in these big championship races. So I think we're going to see a pretty awesome day. Regardless of whether they get medals or not, hopefully they can all run and be happy with their performances, some PBs maybe. But yeah, it's going to be a hell of a ride cheering them on there up and down the streets of the Gold Coast on Sunday.

00:36:14Scott Trickett: It's going to be massive. I've got massive FOMO missing out. I was at Melbourne for the 2006 Games and that was a great two weeks and I'm very jealous of what you're going through this week. So thanks for giving us an update, Robbo, and make sure you try and enjoy yourself for the remaining few days.

00:36:35Dave 'Robbo' Robertson: Thanks, Scotty. Thanks, Mel. Great to have a chat with you and, yeah, look, I'm living this dream on behalf of of many, many people out there, including yourself, mate. So, yeah, can't wait for the next few days to unfold and we'll chat again soon. Thanks, guys.

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:37:05Greta: Hi parkrun Adventurers, it's Greta here and I'm visiting today. I am at the Main Beach parkrun and it's a pretty exciting day today because it's Main Beach's 7th anniversary. And for the uninitiated, Main Beach was the start of parkrun in Australia. So we're actually expecting a bit of a crowd today because it's also Commonwealth Games on at the Gold Coast at the moment. So... We've got a few more minutes to go and there's a lot of people arriving, so we'll go and do our run and we'll find some people to chat to afterwards. Okay, so I'm now here with Nikki and we've just done the main beach parkrun. How did you find it today?

00:37:42Nikki: It was great. It's a bit warm out there and a horribly early start for me. It is, isn't it?

00:37:48Greta: So you're not from the Gold Coast like me. No.

00:37:50Nikki: Where are you from? I'm from Wollongong, which is south of Sydney. We've got Shore Harbour, parkrun. North Wollongong parkrun and Sandham Point parkrun, where I live. Awesome. And so you're up here for the games? I am, yes. Yeah, yeah. And what have you been to see so far? I haven't actually been to anything yet. I just arrived last night. So today I'm going to go and look at the triathlon teams, which I'm excited about. And I've got some hockey tickets through the week and athletics tickets, a closing ceremony. Oh, fantastic.

00:38:18Greta: There'll be lots to see and do, I imagine. Yep. Yeah. And so you thought you'd come along to the parkrun today for the anniversary? I'm here. How could you not? So the seventh anniversary, big crowd. So it was good. Great. Yeah. Good atmosphere.

00:38:30Nikki: And have you ever done this course before? I have once. We come up here for the Gold Coast Marathon each year. So I've done it. I think it was a Freedom Run though because it was on the evening before. Yeah. Yeah. From memory. Yeah.

00:38:41Greta: And there was a lot of people.

00:38:43Nikki: There are heaps of people. What do we know? I know my position was 400 and something. Do I have it? Yeah. And I think I would probably be back in the middle. So they must be close to 800. They're looking for finished tokens.

00:38:58Greta: Good job.

00:38:59Nikki: What numbers are you up to? 600. 600. Wow.

00:39:04Greta: Congratulations. Yeah, yeah. So we run there. So I don't know the final figure yet. Okay, but they're looking like great numbers.

00:39:10Unidentified speaker: It's various.

00:39:10Melissa Ellis: Exciting. It is such a good buzz here. I am just pumped.

00:39:14Greta: It's amazing, isn't it? And we're talking to Rhonda, and you've been volunteering today? I have been, yeah.

00:39:20Melissa Ellis: That's your volunteer shirt, isn't it, Rhonda?

00:39:22Greta: Yes. A personalised volunteer shirt. That is amazing. You must be a regular volunteer. Yes, well, our event director, Paul, he actually made them up for us, so we're feeling very special, very loved.

00:39:36Nikki: Very special for today.

00:39:37Greta: Yeah, yeah.

00:39:38Nikki: That's nice.

00:39:40Greta: Well, we love you at parkrun because if it wasn't for volunteers, we couldn't parkrun. Correct. Correct. That's it. So thank you so much. That's all right. Thanks, Rhonda. Thanks, Nikki. Thanks for coming up for parkrun. Oh, pleasure. I wouldn't miss it. Yeah, it's good, isn't it? It is. It's great. All right. See you. See you. Okay, so we're at Main Beach parkrun and I'm with...

00:40:03Carl: Carl.

00:40:04Greta: And Paula. And Ethan. Ethan. And you guys are a little bit famous because I think you are one of the first families that started running at Main Beach. Is that right?

00:40:13Meredith: Yeah. So seven years ago, I'd heard that council was going to support parkrun in Australia at Main Beach. And I thought, what a great way to introduce my kids to an active and healthy lifestyle. Perfect. Yeah, it was. I didn't expect ever to run parkrun. I had two girls in a pram and my son, who was six. And at the first event, he started to run, much to my joy, with a pram and two girls, because I'm not a runner. And it was lovely to see how many people were there to watch and said, oh, he can be with us, and supported him through. And when I got home, I said to Carl, he was on shift that day, I said, you've got to come from now on. Your son wants to run. And that started that journey. And all I wanted to do was say to the kids, with a pair of shoes, you can get out and be active and meet people and have some great friendships and good times. And then I've noticed at parkrun you don't even need shoes. There are people that will run barefoot.

00:41:07Melissa Ellis: I'm like, there you go.

00:41:08Greta: Yeah, isn't that great? And so you came along for the second run, Carl?

00:41:13Carl: Yeah, I've been here ever since then. So, yeah, on and off. I work shift work so some weekends I can't come but all that time there was always people that would run with Ethan and he sort of progressed through the crowd he got faster and faster and people had different people that pick him up and run with him so there's always been somebody to run with him but now he's on his own because he's down around 21 minutes and he can go by himself.

00:41:37Greta: Fantastic so you've been running parkrun for seven years Ethan? Yeah, about that much.

00:41:43Nikki: About that.

00:41:43Greta: Yeah. And you're not little anymore. I know they can't see this on the parkrun podcast, but you're not little anymore.

00:41:51Ethan: No, I'm not as little as I used to be, which is good, which means I can extend my strides more and get more pace.

00:41:56Greta: Yeah, so you really enjoy your running?

00:41:58Ethan: Yeah, I enjoy running a lot. Do you do other sort of running, little athletics or anything at school? I run cross country at school but that's just it. I don't really train with any group. My dad taught me how to run and that's just it.

00:42:14Meredith: So Ethan through parkrun has met some other events and he's been able to run the Lamington Eco Challenge, which is up in O'Reilly's, so Lamington National Park. And they run a two-day event where you've got to run, there's a friendly family type run, which is eight Ks and then...

00:42:33Carl: 8.5 and it's not friendly family Meredith it's horrible hilly and beautiful run but yeah but so there's the two 21s the two 42s and the two 8.5s and you've got to run both events on both days and Ethan started doing that Four years ago, the 8.5s, and he's won it every year so far.

00:42:55Greta: Oh, well done, Ethan. Over the two days. And is that a bit of a trail run?

00:42:59Carl: Trail run, and it's just open, so there's no graded age groups. So he's gone in that, and he's won that 8.5.

00:43:08Greta: Oh, well done, Ethan. I love a bit of a trail.

00:43:10Carl: And we do a fair few of the Spartan race series, so the 21Ks and the 14Ks, so we do a fair bit of running, but that all started from parkrun, so... Yeah, it was good.

00:43:23Greta: So parkrun's kind of triggered a healthy, active lifestyle just, you know, as part of your everyday life.

00:43:29Carl: Yeah, yeah, it's great.

00:43:30Julie: Oh, it's fantastic.

00:43:31Greta: Well, thank you so much for talking to me today and congratulations on being, you know, one of the first families that were running parkrun in Australia.

00:43:39Meredith: How fabulous is that? Thank you very much. It is, and I think for anyone listening and... and thinking, oh, I'm not sure if it's for me. Just have a go. My intention was never to run. I was quite happy to walk. And watching my kids and then losing the pram, I actually had to buy a pair of joggers because it was no good in thongs anymore. And now you're a runner. I wouldn't go that far, but I can run part of parkrun, yes.

00:44:03Greta: Well, congratulations, and thanks for coming today. So I'm here with Julie, and Julie, you were the run director at Main Beach parkrun today. Well done. That was a big crowd that you managed.

00:44:14Julie: Yeah, thanks for that. Yeah, it was really big, but actually it doesn't matter to me if there's one here or 700 here. I just say the same thing every week, and hopefully they listen.

00:44:21Greta: Oh, exactly. Exactly.

00:44:22Julie: Exactly, and I thought you did a great job with the speech. It was fabulous. Oh, thank you. I was actually wanting Prince Charles and Camilla to be here today, but they've slept in, so they couldn't make it. Staying up the road, so I thought they just might pop in from the UK.

00:44:34Meredith: Yeah, that's right.

00:44:36Julie: And so how long have you been RD at Main Beach for? Probably six years, but I've been here from day one.

00:44:42Greta: So you were one of the originals?

00:44:43Julie: Yes, there was about 10 or so of us here today and I ran on the first day and then probably about the third or fourth week I started volunteering.

00:44:51Greta: Oh great, and so how many did you have on that very first day when you started here at Main Beach? How many runners would you have? We had about...

00:44:56Julie: Runners and walkers? Runners and walkers, and we did have walkers because we had Ron Clarke, who was the Mayor of the Gold Coast, he walked that day, and we had just over 100. Wow, they're great numbers for the very first parkrun in Australia. Well, we were really pleased with the hundred, because I didn't think there'd be a few here, and I actually got onto it through, I work at the City of Gold Coast, and they promoted it through there, and it was a lot of council employees that were here, and then it just, people, word of mouth, got out. And everyone that came that day came the next few days, and there's a lady here that's one of our local sponsors, and she actually was here the first day and didn't even know it was the first day. She didn't know until she saw the photos this week. Oh, really? Yeah. she's like oh I was there and I said oh I didn't even recognise you but yeah so she was here the first day and a little family that I brought up this morning and made a little chat about they were in prams and now they run it on their own yes I was talking to them before and they were telling me about how Ethan now does some trail runs and all sorts so it's just it's just been fabulous for their whole family yeah and that's what I like about parkrun it's not it's the fast runners it's great for them for their training I think but it's the person that comes across the line with the biggest smile to think that they ran for 5k's or they ran a bit more than they did the week before and they made it to the finish line.

00:46:09Greta: Yeah, they got out there and they did it.

00:46:10Julie: Yeah, so we've got some of our volunteers and our runners are recovering from different types of illnesses and that. And even when they've been sick, they come down and volunteer and then they get excited because then they can get back and start running. And one of our barcode scanners today, she's undergoing chemo at the moment. but she's got herself out of bed and come down, and mainly now she does mainly volunteering, but when she does walk, she really enjoys it.

00:46:32Greta: Oh, that's fabulous, isn't it? And now you mentioned Ron Clarke earlier, and that's the other thing that happened today. There was an unveiling of a sign.

00:46:40Julie: Yes, so the City of Gold Coast has put a, commemorative sign up here in the park it's up quite high that I'd never be able to reach it and it's just letting people know this is the home of parkrun in Australia and this is where we meet each Saturday it's on the roadside at the moment but we're getting some new park benches and that put in they'll be moving it closer so that everyone can see it but I actually noticed it the other day walking past and I thought that's a new sign so hopefully other people that don't know about parkrun they'll see it and it's amazing that you say to someone about parkrun and you think everyone knows about it but there's still a lot of people out there that need to get involved. It's a fabulous community that forms around parkrun isn't it? It's like a lot of people don't have a lot of family if they're from overseas and it gives them a family here and You're meeting new people and then you'll see them out running together. I know just on, we do a run here on Christmas Day and we had some people here that had no one for Christmas. And that's why I said I'll do it every year because it gives them something to look forward to. And then one of our run directors, anyone that was left here at the end that didn't have anywhere to go, he took them to his house. And they had people from different parts of the world and different cultures and religious beliefs and that all at his house for Christmas Day. And yet we had fruit and everything here for them. So it all started off nice. And a lot of the kids don't like to come on Christmas Day because they want to be at home with their presents. But maybe they've got new shoes from The Athlete's Foot. Oh yeah, that was a good drop there. So yeah, it's just a great community. There's just so many lovely people that you meet through running here. I think running has picked up in Australia since parkrun started. There's just so many more people out there now running. There was always a lot, but now there's more and there's groups of people and so many running groups. Just here at Main Beach on a Thursday at the front of the surf club, there's four running groups that start at 5.30pm. There's another running group on Wednesday and I live 100 metres from here and we just see runners just all day, you know, all day and into the night and we worry about some of them that run up to the spit during the night but there's just all the time there's someone running. It's great to see people out being fit, healthy and active. Yeah and not only, you know, the running and the walking and the mums with the prams and the older people, they're all, it's just getting out there and having a go.

00:48:51Greta: Well, thank you so much for having us at parkrun today and thank you so much for welcoming us all to your parkrun family at Main Beach. Thank you for being part of my parkrun family. So I'm now here with Tim.

00:49:04Tim Oberg: How was your run this morning, Tim? Hi, Greta. It was great. I just weaved around and chatted to people. But for me, it was really special to be back here at Main Beach because I still remember before we launched here, before there was parkrun Australia, that we were out here with surveyor's wheels and GPS watches trying to find a five kilometer track that was going to be suitable and to you know to come back here seven years later and be running on almost exactly the same path that we mapped out right back in day one is so thrilling and then to see so many familiar faces you know again people who are here right back in event one and certainly in the very early days uh yeah fantastic

00:49:41Greta: So many people I spoke to this morning were here at that very first parkrun, seven years ago. Can you believe it?

00:49:48Tim Oberg: You know, it's amazing. It's just been such an incredible journey. I know it sounds quite clichéd, but to go from what we did back then on that first event where there was, you know, I'm not going to lie and say I had this grand vision that parkrun was going to be this thing and there was going to be 200... 89 events and all that sort of stuff. Because I didn't. Not at all. We just wanted to set up one parkrun and see what happened. And so to come from that morning where we really had no idea what was going to happen, I didn't even know how to use the technology then. We'd never even had a practice event. We didn't do a trial.

00:50:21Greta: No trial.

00:50:22Tim Oberg: There was no trial. She'll be right. Yeah, exactly. We just thought we'll just wing it. And, you know, so we had no trial and then, you know, it all sort of worked out for the first event and kind of just went from there. So, yeah, it's, you know, as I say, so great to see all the people, familiar faces here at Main Beach.

00:50:39Greta: And for those who don't know, you had spent, before you opened Main Beach, you'd spent some time in the UK and kind of discovered parkrun there and then decided that Australia needs parkrun.

00:50:50Tim Oberg: That's it, yeah. So I lived in London for 10 years and just got into recreational running, as we call it these days. Got into a bit of that over there just to sort of try and keep a bit of fitness and and have a bit of fun with my mates, go running and so on. And it wasn't until the last year that I was living there, 2010, that someone said to me, oh, there's this free 5K run you can go and do. And I used to do all my running with my little dog, Clarence, and said, you can actually take your dog. And I thought, oh, wow, that's cool. So I went up to Wimbledon Common and did my first parkrun there. And then I think I didn't have my barcode on that day. No. Because I did two. And only one's registered on my profile. So I can't remember if it was the first one or the second one that I didn't have my barcode. You can't forget your barcode. No, apparently not. Apparently you need your barcode. So I did a couple of parkruns there and then just sent a quite random email through to Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder. And I met with Paul. We went out for coffee in Wimbledon. And then about four or five weeks later, I met him again. And we, yeah, we just basically agreed to make it happen and I was planning to move back to the Gold Coast. So, you know, just by default, Gold Coast was where the first event was going to be. And what better place to have had it? You know, Ron Clarke was the mayor of the Gold Coast at the time. So obviously being an incredible runner himself, he was a huge advocate for parkrun and became our patron. So it was just such a natural thing to launch the first event here at Main Beach. And, you know, the course here is incredible. It's always been a great course and there's always been great people involved. So, as I say, it's such a thrill to be back here for the seventh birthday or seventh anniversary.

00:52:23Greta: Well, thank you for bringing parkrun to Australia. I, on behalf of Australia, thank you. You also made a really special announcement this morning. Do you want to tell us about that?

00:52:33Tim Oberg: I did. I did. I guess when we were doing the brief this morning, I talked a little bit about the history. But of course, you know, as all things happen, we're looking to the future as well. And I announced the launch of Junior parkrun. It's something we've been talking about for a long, long time. Lots of people very excited about it. That's it, yeah. So the first event is actually going to launch here on the Gold Coast in Southport on April the 22nd. So only two weeks and one day from today. The second event is going to be in Eltham in northeast Melbourne. And what date did we say? That was May 27th?

00:53:11Greta: Yeah, that's right. Was it?

00:53:12Tim Oberg: And then the third event is going to be up where I live in the Whitsundays in Cannonvale. So Cannonvale Junior parkrun will be launching on June the 9th, I think we said. So look, it's really exciting. It's going to be a whole new dimension of parkrun, two kilometres for four to 14 year olds. And look, we're not setting this up so all the fast fit kids who do 5K parkrun can come and just bash out 2K. You know, from what we see in the UK, the kids who do Junior parkrun are not the kids who do 5k parkrun you know junior juniors is about kids who can't do 5k it's about kids who are um you know young and just want to get out and be active with their mums and dads and uh or kids who are unfit and and want to try and improve their fitness and their health so we're really looking forward to creating a whole new community around junior parkrun um these three events are going to run for 12 months uh and then we're going to assess it at the end of that to see if it's i guess if the concept is something that we can roll out um nationally so Yeah, so unfortunately we're not going to be able to put events in the first 12 months in any other parts of Australia. We have to have them where our staff are based, so hence the Gold Coast, Cannonvale and also Melbourne.

00:54:20Greta: Because we've got to look after our kids.

00:54:21Tim Oberg: That's it. And look, there's a whole minefield of stuff that we have to do, which are layers of safety checking and things like that, and rightly so, that we have to do for Junior parkrun. So we're really, really, really excited. It's going to be really, really hard work. But we also think it's going to be a complete game changer in terms of kids being able to get out and be active for free with their families.

00:54:44Greta: That is fantastic news for parkrun in Australia.

00:54:46Tim Oberg: Yeah, it is. I think we've already had great success with parkrun. It's getting big, over 700,000 registered people here. But I think the fact that Junior parkrun is specifically for children is going to open us up to a whole new world of people and families. And I think it's going to generate a lot of interest with the press and with government and things like that. So, yeah, look, it's really, really exciting. So, you know, let's see what happens.

00:55:13Greta: Yeah, well, congratulations. And congratulations on seven years of parkrun in Australia.

00:55:18Tim Oberg: Thanks, Greta. And look, like I said this morning in the brief, you know, parkrun, you know, the story of parkrun's seven years in Australia is not my story. You know, it's the story of the thousands and thousands of people who volunteer. It's about our event directors and the run directors and their teams and our event ambassadors and all those people who make it. Our parkrun family. Exactly, the parkrun family. And it's... it really is just a, you know, social phenomenon. And, and so, um, I guess parkrun started because of me, but pretty much from there, you know, the, the life of, of the whole thing has been everyone else. So, you know, so it's a great time to pay tribute to all our volunteers on a, on a, on a special day like today. So for everyone who's listening, I dare say, you know, being the parkrun adventurers podcast, most people who listen to this would also volunteer at their, at their run. So, so thank you to, to everybody for,

00:56:11Greta: I love the volunteers.

00:56:12Tim Oberg: Exactly. So thank you, too, for your participation as runners and walkers, but more importantly, your participation in parkrun as volunteers.

00:56:20Greta: Thank you, Tim.

00:56:21Tim Oberg: Thank you, Greta. Over and out.

00:56:23Greta: So we're now having coffee after our lovely parkrun at Main Beach, and I'm here with Paul, who's the event director. How are you going, Paul?

00:56:30Paul: I'm excellent. I'm excellent now that we can sit down and have a rest after that big day.

00:56:34Greta: The pressure's off.

00:56:35Paul: It certainly is. It certainly is. But I had a great team around me, so I shouldn't have had any pressure, really.

00:56:39Greta: You've got a fantastic group of volunteers there, haven't you?

00:56:42Paul: Yep, I've got seven RDs that do most of the work for me so very fortunate there, great team.

00:56:48Greta: And you made them all personalised shirts for today?

00:56:51Paul: Yeah, it was just something I wanted to give back to them. I've had some of those volunteers have been RDs for seven years and I just wanted to give something back to them so out of my own pocket and yeah, I had to iron the transfer on so that was a bit interesting but yeah, just thought it'd be nice for them.

00:57:07Greta: How lovely, they were a bit thrilled. I spoke to a few of them and they were pretty happy about that.

00:57:11Paul: Yeah, Wendy came up and said, this is the first shirt that I've ever been given that fits. So that was a bit of luck, I'll say.

00:57:19Greta: And so we are in the, is it the Main Beach Pavilion here?

00:57:22Paul: Yeah. It's the coffee shop? It's part of the surf club, so just to the north of the surf club, the pavilion. They're sort of like our go-to coffee shop after we do our parkrun. Another reason we come here is they let us store our gear here, so that's pretty good.

00:57:36Greta: That's amazing, isn't it?

00:57:37Paul: Saves traipse look between one car to another over the week, so yeah. Yeah.

00:57:42Greta: Well it was a lovely course and you were telling me before that this is actually the original course for Main Beach parkrun but it hasn't been the course that has been used all of the time.

00:57:51Paul: No, so originally we had this course and then they weren't getting the numbers so after about 12 months we moved to the start line down 200 metres so we actually ran past the surf club and after a couple of years we got so busy that we had to move back because we were just in everybody's road at the surf club.

00:58:07Greta: Now what's your parkrun story? How did you get involved in parkrun?

00:58:11Paul: That's a bit funny. I'm a runner from back but I stopped as I got older and my wife loves the gym and she wanted me to go to the gym and I said I'll go to the gym if you start running with me and then somewhere we just heard about parkrun and turned up to main beach and that was a deal. My wife ran and now I go to the gym three times a week and she runs parkrun with me. Last year, because I've done a handful of marathons, but my wife ran her first marathon and I ran the whole way with her. So that was interesting, husband and wife. And another good one too is the year before, I ran a marathon with my 19-year-old daughter at the time.

00:58:46Greta: Oh, well done.

00:58:48Paul: Gold Coast Marathon, but the funniest thing was in the training, she'd go out clubbing, she'd get home at 3.30, I'd knock on the door at 4 o'clock and say, all right, Bianca, we're going for a run. So we'd start our long run.

00:59:02Greta: That's my breakfast.

00:59:04Paul: We do our long run and end up at the start of parkrun to do an extra 5k. But yeah, so she was still a bit under the weather.

00:59:12Greta: It shows a bit of commitment from her, doesn't it?

00:59:14Paul: Yeah, it does.

00:59:15Greta: It does. Well, look, thank you so much for everything that you do for parkrun. And thank you for having us all at Main Beach today. It was an absolutely glorious morning. Well done.

00:59:25Paul: Excellent. Thank you. I'm glad everybody came and I'm glad you came to enjoy our parkrun. Thank you.

Channel 5 News Crew

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:59:29Melissa Ellis: Thanks. Good morning adventurers, it's Melissa here with yet another audition for the Channel 5 News crew. I'm not over the line yet but I'm nothing if not persistent. I'm going to keep having a crack at it until I either get a rose or I get voted out of the jungle. Where are you today, Melissa? Well, thank you for asking. I've travelled a mega 40 kilometres this morning to come to the home of parkrun in the greatest state, Albert, Melbourne. There's a little celebration happening here today to rival all the hoo-ha up north, so I'm on the job bringing you the news as it happens. Okay, so we've run the beautiful Albert parkrun this morning and I've found Cathy Ray. Hi, Cathy. Hi, Melissa. And you've got a club, an adventure club named after you, don't you?

01:00:19Cathy Ray: Yes, the Rayfarer Club for anybody that does all of the Sydney parkruns. That's fabulous. And what's brought you down to Melbourne this morning? To celebrate Brendan Peel's 250th parkrun. You've obviously met Brendan around? Yes, in our travels I've met him at multiple places and I normally come down for the city to see, which I'm sad was announced it's cancelled this week. Oh, that's a shame. Yeah, I heard that. So you've been doing parkrun for quite a while then? I've been doing it since the same time as Brendan, January 2012, but I started the first one in New South Wales at St Peter's.

01:00:52Melissa Ellis: Okay. All right. And so do you know the total of different events you've been to? 70. That's really good.

01:01:04Cathy Ray: And Cathy, how did you first start getting into parkrun? Sadly, I came to parkrun after the death of my husband at 50. So wanting to lead a healthier life for myself and my sons, I've come to parkrun and done all of them in New South Wales over the last three years until recently because parkrun's becoming so popular that I just have a few to catch up on at the moment. That's the challenge, isn't it? That's what makes us keep coming back so we can catch up on all those events. And meet tourism friends and meet people in different suburbs and towns. That's great. All right. It was really lovely to meet you. Thank you very much for talking to me. Thank you.

01:01:38Melissa Ellis: Okay, now I'm here with Margie Olsen. Hi, Margie. Hi, how are you? I'm good, thank you. And welcome to Albert, Melbourne.

01:01:46Margie Olsen: Have you been here before? Yeah, I have. First time I came here, I walked it. And today I was a photographer, volunteer. And so now I can tick my A off on my alphabet list for the day. Of Ollie's.

01:02:01Melissa Ellis: Oh, you're doing an alphabet for volunteering as well. Yeah. Because you've got a club named after you, don't you?

01:02:06Margie Olsen: I do, yeah.

01:02:07Melissa Ellis: And tell us what that's about.

01:02:08Margie Olsen: That's Ollie Volley because I'm the only person that's done a volunteer in every state and territory in Australia. And I've been a photographer at every one of those.

01:02:18Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's fabulous. You must get good photos then.

01:02:20Margie Olsen: I hope I do. Sometimes I get disappointed with them, but, yeah. I meet a lot of people behind the camera.

01:02:26Melissa Ellis: It's a very important job. It is, it is. I always wait for my photos eagerly.

01:02:31Margie Olsen: I'm very eager. I really hate it when you go through and you can't find them. So, yeah, I really try very hard to make sure I take everybody at least once.

01:02:41Melissa Ellis: So, and obviously you're down here for the great man.

01:02:44Margie Olsen: For the great man, yeah. I think... I think I first met Brendan in Newcastle in 2012. And so we've been friends ever since. And so, yeah, so we followed him or whatever. And so we've met up several times at different parkruns throughout Australia. And so, yeah, couldn't have missed this one.

01:03:06Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's brilliant. Really nice. It was nice to meet you too.

01:03:08Margie Olsen: So thank you for volunteering. Thank you.

01:03:10Melissa Ellis: Nice to meet you. Okay, so I'm here with Brendan Peel. Brendan, congratulations on your 250th run today.

01:03:16Brendan Peel: Thanks very much, Mel. I knew it was going to be a good day, but it just kept getting better and better. There's just so many people, not just from Albert Park itself, but from all parkrunners around Victoria and even a couple of interstate people, namely Cathy Ray and Margie Olsen. Huge surprise to see them both, but just so many people and just so much encouragement. It's just one of those lovely days you never want to end.

01:03:41Melissa Ellis: Now, 250 is a pretty impressive amount of parkruns, so clearly you've had a lot of different experiences. So do you have three standout experiences, things that have occurred at a parkrun that might be a little bit memorable that you could share with us?

01:03:58Brendan Peel: Yeah, there's all sorts of things. Say, for example, my very first parkrun was at Albert Park in 2012, I believe. I did that with Vin Martin, and today I... did my 250th with Vin Martin. So that was, you know, like probably a bookend of my parkrun story. Then it comes down to milestones. Like my 50th was Albury Wodonga, which was a big deal for the day because hardly anyone had ever done a 50 different parkruns. And now, you know, red shirts, we see them all over the place. My 100th was here as well, a great milestone. The Peel Club itself, the day that got formed at Logan River, that was, you know, I got treated like a rock star that day too. they were really significant milestones. And amongst that, there's even more significant milestones or just great experiences. Like even last week, I ran into the Braglias, the family of three from Mount Barker. And that was the week after the parkrun Adventurers meetup. It just seems to be the the gift that keeps on giving. Just so many people from all over the country who just share, not so much the run, but the social component of just everyone getting together and enjoying each other's company and having a run together.

01:05:13Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that's exactly right. I don't think the social side of it can be underestimated and we make so many good friends all around the country and people travel to come and see us and it's just brilliant. And you've met your partner through parkrun or no, she's joined parkrun?

01:05:30Brendan Peel: Yeah, Michelle Taylor there, not through parkrun, the normal way nowadays, the internet, but she got radicalised, if you could call it that, very soon in the piece and, you know, she's actually got a milestone run, she'll be doing a, 50th different event out of 56 at Bannockburn next week. So milestones, there is always someone chalking up a milestone and all the more reason to celebrate in whatever way we see fit.

01:05:55Melissa Ellis: Thanks, Brendan. Great to speak to you. Great to see you again. And can I just have one more question for you? Can you please tell me, do you think that they should let me be a roving reporter?

01:06:05Brendan Peel: You're the best. You've got the most beautiful voice, softly spoken, but yet thoughtful, excellent elocution. You're the only one I listen to religiously now.

01:06:15Melissa Ellis: Well, thank you very much, Brendan. See you.

01:06:17Brendan Peel: See you.

01:06:18Melissa Ellis: So that's it from me from the beautiful Albert Melbourne parkrun. Happy birthday, happy anniversary parkrun Australia and Main Beach to Paul Ralph, who I coincidentally happened to meet at a parkrun adventure in St. Peter's a few years ago. Hope you had a fabulous day, guys, and that everything went smoothly. I look forward to seeing all the photos on social media. Scott and Mel, how'd I go? Am I in? See you again soon.

01:06:48Melissa Erbacher: Big thanks to Greta for travelling interstate this week to give us everything that was happening at Main Beach. Massive weekend, huge announcements. Very exciting times, Junior parkrun Australia and the three locations, Scotty. I think you may be involved in one of those locations.

01:07:09Scott Trickett: Very much so. So we're doing Southport in a couple of weeks' time, followed by Eltham in Melbourne a month later, and then a month after that, Cannonvale up in the Whitsundays, where Tim is from. So he'll be looking after that one for us.

01:07:26Melissa Erbacher: Very cool. And long awaited and much anticipated. I'm sure it's going to be huge. Absolutely huge.

01:07:34Scott Trickett: And let's deal with the topic at hand. Melissa Ellis.

01:07:38Melissa Erbacher: The topic at hand.

01:07:39Scott Trickett: Melissa Ellis. She's put us on the spot. She's asked us the direct question.

01:07:44Melissa Erbacher: A couple of times in a couple of different ways. This was a very serious application. I'm glad to see that she's given it some thought. She structured her reports very well this week. There was a nice theme running through, which is always good. Adventurers and unofficial parkrun clubs was the theme. I don't know. What do you reckon, Scotty?

01:08:07Scott Trickett: Couple of factual errors.

01:08:09Melissa Erbacher: True.

01:08:10Scott Trickett: I mean, you know, some might argue that that makes her a perfect candidate for our crew. But am I a stickler for rules, facts? I don't know.

01:08:24Melissa Erbacher: Well, can we just point out what we believe are the factual errors because other people may not be following? Yeah.

01:08:32Scott Trickett: your train of thought with that okay well is is albert the home of the great estate i think the great estate is factually correct but i'm not sure if albert is the home i'm not sure we have a home the home of parkrun in in the great estate in victoria yeah yeah could there be two homes is it the home away from home given that main beach truly is the home yeah Yeah, too many questions for me.

01:09:01Melissa Erbacher: I don't know what you're thinking, but... Well, perhaps it's time that we set her one final proper challenge, and if she can rise to this challenge, she's in.

01:09:14Scott Trickett: Yeah, and we're not being hard on her, because we did the same for Toc. We set him a challenge, and I think for Gary Murphy as well. They were given final challenges, so what have we got for Melissa?

01:09:25Melissa Erbacher: Well, since this podcast is all about you and me. Yes, absolutely.

01:09:30Scott Trickett: I think you're changing the name. But that's for another time.

01:09:34Melissa Erbacher: Oh, yeah, to the Mel and Scotty show or the Scotty and Mel show. Yes, am I that. That would be funny. I think we need to task Melissa to find some more Mel's and Scotty's. And to interview them for the podcast.

01:09:56Scott Trickett: Love it. Do it. That's it.

01:09:59Melissa Erbacher: Okay, and now we need to put a little disclaimer in here, Melissa Ellis, Mel Ellis, you cannot be the Mel. We need to find a third-party Mel.

01:10:09Scott Trickett: And we're saying at the same weekend, at the same parkrun. It can't be spaced out over multiple weeks.

01:10:15Melissa Erbacher: These two people have to be at the same event.

01:10:19Scott Trickett: That's a level up challenge and we know she likes those.

01:10:22Melissa Erbacher: We do. Yes. She likes to rise to the challenge and I reckon this is the perfect challenge for her. Yes.

01:10:29Scott Trickett: You could have twisted my arm to stretch it out because, you know, Scott's not that common. It was big in the 70s, so there's lots of people around my age, but I've never met a Scott under 30.

01:10:41Melissa Erbacher: Have you not? No.

01:10:42Scott Trickett: No, it's just one of those names that's faded out over time, which is a shame because it's a cool name.

01:10:49Melissa Erbacher: It's the greatest name. There's probably, in the last two years, there's probably been multitudes of them since there's been a podcast with a Scotty.

01:10:56Scott Trickett: Lots of dogs called Scotty.

01:10:58Melissa Erbacher: Well, there are Scotty dogs called Scotty.

01:11:00Scott Trickett: Yeah. Sometimes I'm going for a run and someone will call out, Scotty, here's Scotty, and then I realize it's their dog.

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

01:11:08Melissa Erbacher: I'm not sure I've ever met a dog named Mel.

01:11:11Unidentified speaker: No.

01:11:13Scott Trickett: But there we go. So, Mel Ellis, you're not in just yet, but getting close, getting close. Now, this week, Mel, this coming Saturday, there are no launches in Australia.

01:11:26Melissa Erbacher: No, right? What happened there? I think this is the first one for the year where it's just nothing.

01:11:32Scott Trickett: Well, to fill the void, to fill the gap, we're launching an entire country this weekend. Do you know which one?

01:11:41Melissa Erbacher: That sounds like an excellent plan. I do know which one. Do you know which one?

01:11:46Scott Trickett: I do, yeah.

01:11:47Melissa Erbacher: Do you think we should tell the adventurers? Those that don't already know?

01:11:50Scott Trickett: Or leave it as another tease?

01:11:53Melissa Erbacher: I think we can tell them.

01:11:54Scott Trickett: Okay.

01:11:55Melissa Erbacher: It's pretty exciting. A whole new country.

01:11:57Scott Trickett: So, no launches in Australia, but we're launching Malaysia this weekend. And what's the name of the event, Mel?

01:12:03Melissa Erbacher: The event is called Taman Pudu Ulu. Well done. And I'm probably... terribly pronouncing that name. You know what? How about I go to Malaysia and I hear it from the horse's mouth, the event team's mouth, about how they pronounce their parkrun?

01:12:22Scott Trickett: Yep. I think we need to do that. I think if there's nothing that we do more on this program is get names of towns right when we pronounce them. So I want you to go straight to the source.

01:12:36Melissa Erbacher: Can you do that? Is there a timeline on it? Like how soon I should do that?

01:12:42Scott Trickett: Well, I want it this weekend. I don't want to wait. I would have forgotten about it if we waited a couple more weeks. This weekend.

01:12:49Melissa Erbacher: Okay, I'll see what I can do. Okay.

01:12:53Scott Trickett: See if there are any flights going to Malaysia this weekend.

01:12:58Melissa Erbacher: I'll be on to it as soon as we finish recording.

01:13:00Scott Trickett: Well, you do that.

01:13:01Melissa Erbacher: However, yes.

01:13:04Scott Trickett: And... Anniversaries this week. We've got one at Fingal Bay in New South Wales, another at George Town in Tasmania.

01:13:14Melissa Erbacher: And one in the not necessarily greatest state, though it's often said by Scotties, Warragul in Victoria.

01:13:24Scott Trickett: There we go. You know, I'm off for another adventure. I'm still in Bright, but we're heading off before Saturday. And the main reason we're leaving is to do an event that we haven't done before.

01:13:39Melissa Erbacher: Ooh, are you going to divulge?

01:13:42Scott Trickett: No, no. That'll be my tease for next week. But I'm looking forward to doing this event.

01:13:49Melissa Erbacher: You've got to get the listeners coming back.

01:13:51Scott Trickett: Yeah, we're a long way from Melbourne, so we're making the most of it, and we're going to an event that is a long way from Melbourne. So we have an excuse to go. And it's going to be quite a contrast to what we've been. We've been two weeks in the mountains and the rivers, so we're all looking forward to it.

01:14:09Paul: Yeah, it's going to be good fun.

01:14:11Scott Trickett: You know how last week I was complaining also about running by myself and not enjoying it much?

01:14:20Melissa Erbacher: Yes, I do know that. And I saw your long run the other day and I thought, oh, I wonder if he was by himself because that was a good time for a long distance.

01:14:29Scott Trickett: I was by myself. Thanks for noticing how quickly I run. You're welcome. Again, I've rediscovered volunteering and I've rediscovered running by myself. I've really enjoyed it after a slow start this week because I get to run at my own pace. I get to think all these things in my head. I'm thinking. I'm being retrospective. I'm analyzing my life choices and I've actually really enjoyed it. That sounds very deep. Well, your mind wanders on a two-hour run or a 40-minute run, whatever it is. And it's not football season or it's Australian football season, but it's out of football season, so my head's got space for other stuff. to think of, and I have really enjoyed solo running these past couple of weeks.

01:15:23Melissa Erbacher: Well, I'm glad to hear you're embracing it, Scotty.

01:15:25Scott Trickett: I'm embracing it. I haven't listened to music or podcasts. It's just been birds and creeks and rivers.

01:15:32Melissa Erbacher: And whatever's going on in that noggin of yours. Yeah, yeah. Well, well done you. I'm impressed.

01:15:38Scott Trickett: Thank you. Thank you. Have you been for a run since Run the Date My Way finished up?

01:15:46Melissa Erbacher: Uh, not exactly. I obviously was at parkrun on Saturday. And I showed up with every intention of running and to see if perhaps I could run the whole course. And then it turns out that because Nick and Shell weren't running, I was like, oh, well, I want to spend time with them. And their costumes, and to be honest, my costume as well, was not really conducive enough. to a comfortable run. I had a couple of wardrobe malfunctions just at our own pace. We did run the last kilometre in, so that was a little bit of a run, but I actually have intentions of heading out today or tomorrow. No, let's not say that. I don't intend to do that. I've got to... I mean, I did intend to do it when I said it in a sentence about two seconds ago. And then I remembered that you set me a task to find a flight to Malaysia. And if I'm going to fly to Malaysia, I'm probably going to have to wash some clothes and do some packing and all those sorts of things. So I might not have time to squeeze a run in. See how we go.

01:16:57Scott Trickett: See how we go.

01:16:59Melissa Erbacher: I'm enjoying the no pressure of not having to try and find time every day.

01:17:05Tim Oberg: Well, that's good. That's good.

01:17:07Scott Trickett: Are you going to take Wes to Malaysia? Yeah.

01:17:10Melissa Erbacher: Yeah? He's not big enough for me to travel without him yet. Okay. So, adventures he must have.

01:17:18Scott Trickett: He's going to be the most well-travelled kid by the age of two going around, I reckon. Because aren't you heading to America in a couple of weeks as well?

01:17:27Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, there will be a US trip on the cards very soon. It's, yeah, wish me luck with all these long-haul flights. Yeah.

01:17:34Scott Trickett: It's a shame he's not going to be able to remember any of them. But he'll have the photos. He'll have the memories of photos.

01:17:40Melissa Erbacher: And he'll have the stamps in his passport.

01:17:42Scott Trickett: Yeah. And that's it for Episode 107, Mel. Before we go, I wanted to welcome one of our listeners who has been suffering the last few weeks or months, binge-listening to every single episode back-to-back. And she's up to date. And she was an adventurer who joined us at Shellharbour. So welcome, Caroline. Welcome to the joy of waiting a whole week for the next episode to be released. What are you going to fill your time with? I don't know. But I know my favourite podcast. My favourite podcast is three a week, usually. But every time one finishes, I'm like, I just want more. I want another one. And you've got to wait a couple of days.

01:18:24Melissa Erbacher: Three a week? Three a week. Have they got the same hosts for each episode?

01:18:28Scott Trickett: They do. They do. But there's a whole group. It's a professional unit. So, that's what they do. That sounds exhausting. Like, I think it's their job.

01:18:37Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay. Yeah. That's all they do. Well, I don't know. Whereas for us, it's a labor of love.

01:18:44Scott Trickett: Yes. Yep. But anyway, so welcome, Caroline, to... To being up to date.

01:18:48Melissa Erbacher: Welcome.

01:18:49Scott Trickett: And thank you as always, Mel. I'll speak to you next week, hopefully, from Malaysia, if you get stuck there or not. Who knows? If you even make it.

01:19:01Melissa Erbacher: Oh, let's not. Oh, now you're making me feel... No, don't say things like that.

01:19:06Scott Trickett: No, I'm saying you've got to find a flight and all that sort of stuff.

01:19:11Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay.

01:19:11Scott Trickett: Yeah.

01:19:12Melissa Erbacher: Hmm. All righty. Well, thank you, Scotty, for joining me this week. If I don't make it to episode 108, you might be able to find somebody else to be a co-host.

01:19:25Scott Trickett: That's not what I'm saying. Like, we can record when you're stuck in the Malaysian airport. That'd be great.

01:19:31Carl: Would it? Yeah.

01:19:33Scott Trickett: Well, for us listening in. Okay. Well, the acoustics airports have got really high ceilings. And generally lots of people, so maybe not.

01:19:45Melissa Erbacher: Yes, maybe not so much. I'm not planning on taking my headset with me. I've got, yeah, anyway. I think this all got very messy.

01:19:59Scott Trickett: Perfect. What a great way to end. Speak to you next week.

01:20:03Melissa Erbacher: See ya.