Episode 115 - Matt who?

Episode details · 223 speaker turns · sound cues from audio analysis

00:00:00[intro theme playing]

00:00:15Scott Trickett: episode 115 yes you heard it right episode 115 of the parkrun adventurers podcast is here and now and welcome to my co-host melissa erbacher how are you going melissa i'm good thanks scotty how are you doing this week I'm feeling good. Damn, I'm feeling so fine.

00:00:34Melissa Erbacher: Good, because there was a slight pause there and I thought I'd lost you for a second.

00:00:39Scott Trickett: I don't know, I was just trying to think. So do you recognise those lyrics from a song? I'm feeling good. Damn, I'm feeling so fine. I'm living on a cloud above an island in my mind.

00:00:50Melissa Erbacher: No, I don't recognise those lyrics. It does spring to mind a different feel-good song that goes...

00:00:58Scott Trickett: No, I'm more current than that.

00:01:00Melissa Erbacher: This is possibly a little bit more catchy and going to get stuck in everyone else's heads. You're more current. Okay, well, educate me. What am I missing out on?

00:01:06Scott Trickett: So this week, parkrun has not taken over my life this week. Music has. Now, don't judge me. Don't judge me. Here's a lesson I've learned in life too, Mel. Don't judge people on their musical choice because I think you and I have vastly different choices. Okay. What's the word? We have vastly different tastes in music, but I still like you.

00:01:29Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Well, you can still judge me on my musical taste and be my friend.

00:01:33Scott Trickett: No, don't do that. Don't fall into the trap, because I'm setting myself up here. I'm setting myself up here. So, late last week, Father John Misty. Do you know the father?

00:01:43Melissa Erbacher: I do not know the father. Is he a priest?

00:01:46Scott Trickett: No, he's not. He's a brilliant musician.

00:01:48Melissa Erbacher: So how does he get to call himself father?

00:01:51Scott Trickett: Well, that's just his stage name, a persona he's taken on. He released his album, Let Me Continue, which just put me in musical nirvana, because I just think he's a genius, and I love everything he's ever done. Next day, Kanye drops his album. So back-to-back days, my number one and number two artists have released albums, and it's just put me in a happy place.

00:02:13Melissa Erbacher: Do you think that's a boink, you think?

00:02:15Scott Trickett: Do you think they did it for me?

00:02:16Melissa Erbacher: Are they related? Well, I don't know. Are they direct competitors? Does Father John do rap or I don't know. What would he even call what Kanye does?

00:02:28Scott Trickett: Kanye? Well, I think, I don't know. He does rap, hip hop. I don't know what he wants to call it these days. But what it did do, it cheered me up because I had a pretty crap parkrun experience on the weekend. Do you want me to share?

00:02:42Melissa Erbacher: Yes, I do. I don't understand how that could happen. But yes, please, please share.

00:02:46Scott Trickett: Me being the romantic that I am, I booked a weekend away for me and my wife. Remember I mentioned it at the end of last week's episode? And I was hoping she would come with me, and she accepted the invitation. So I had planned a weekend away, and so we took off on Friday night, and I actually said to my lovely wife, we don't have to go to parkrun tomorrow if you don't want to.

00:03:07Melissa Erbacher: Hmm. That's like loving someone enough to share a Tim Tam or something.

00:03:13Scott Trickett: I know, I know. We went away, but unfortunately, my little girl, Kasia, was sick. And we knew this before we were going away. But she was okay. Nanny was in town. Nanny was looking after her. We were confident she was going to be okay. We drive two hours away, get to our destination, check in. Me, Mr. Big Shot, pays for the upgrade to go to the top floor. Everything's happy. Check in with Kasia. She's got a temperature over 40. Mum and Dad then freak out, can't relax. Get back in the car on Friday night. Drive another two hours back home to be with our very, very sick daughter, who recovered, who was fine. But it wasn't the romantic weekend and wonderful parkrun experience that we could have had. I didn't get a new event up.

00:04:07Melissa Erbacher: Did you go back on the Saturday then afterwards?

00:04:10Scott Trickett: No.

00:04:11Melissa Erbacher: No?

00:04:11Scott Trickett: No, it was done. It was done. Because, you know, Kasia was still sick and... We'll save it for another day. Save it for another day. But I needed some cheering up. Hence, that's where the father came in. That's when Kanye came in and they did their job. So my question to you is, do you have a happy place? Do you have a music that takes you to a happy place? Or do you find it through other means?

00:04:41Melissa Erbacher: I think we've had a similar conversation before. I do have happy place music. But I also have to be in the right mood. And I think that's a contradiction because music can change your mood. However, I still need to be in the right mood to listen to some music. And case in point, one of my favourite bands has just released a new album, the first in seven years, and I'm really looking forward to enjoying it, but I haven't been in the right frame of mind to start listening to it either. So I don't want to ruin my getting to know the new music by not being in a good mood when I listen to it to start with because I'm scared it's going to colour my opinion of it.

00:05:31Scott Trickett: Do you not have enough faith in them that they will put you in the right mood?

00:05:36Melissa Erbacher: It's not about faith. I can't explain it. Yeah. Sorry. I'm not going to give you anything good here.

00:05:46Scott Trickett: That's okay. That might not get you in your happy place right now. But I've got something that will. Our number one fan, Melissa Ellis. We set her a challenge. Yes.

Channel 5 News Crew

00:05:57Melissa Erbacher: We did in episode 107.

00:05:59Scott Trickett: I got soft. I thought we made it too hard for her. But you had faith, Mel. You had the faith. I did. She was rising to the challenge and she rose to that challenge. Can you remind the listeners? Tell them, give us, fill us in.

00:06:14Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Well, Melissa Ellis has made an excellent case over the last however many months, handing in stellar roving reports from all over the country. The case has been to join the channel 5 news crew. However, we've made entry to the news crew a little bit more No, I don't want to say difficult. Challenging, perhaps. You know, we only want to take the cream of the crop in the news crew. I'm going to go so far as to say that. It's exclusive. These guys are dedicated and hardworking. And so we set her a level-up challenge. And if she rose to that challenge and was able to file that report, she guaranteed herself entry to the Channel 5 news crew. Where was she on the weekend, Scotty?

00:07:04Scott Trickett: She went down to... Sunny Inverloch. She did.

00:07:08Melissa Erbacher: And what was the challenge that we set her? Do you want me to explain that or?

00:07:12Scott Trickett: Her challenge was to find a Scott to interview and to find a Mel to interview.

00:07:19Melissa Ellis: Good morning, parkrun Adventurers. It's Melissa here coming to you from Inverloch where it's always sunny and the briefing hasn't started yet. The crowd's starting to build and I've found a couple of people to interview. So if I could just ask your names, please.

00:07:35guest: I'm Michael. No, not really. I'm Scott.

00:07:37Melissa Ellis: I'm Melissa. Wow, what a coincidence. Scott and Melissa. That's the same names as our hosts of our podcast. Could you tell me a bit about how you got into parkrun?

00:07:49guest: Well, I actually just started running myself and then I ended up finding parkrun as a sort of a little event and I came along to Inverloch here. It was my first parkrun and I haven't stopped since.

00:08:02Melissa Ellis: And I think I might have noticed, not that I did any research, that you've done a few parkruns.

00:08:07guest: I've done a few around the place. I've got a fair few over on Mornington Peninsula and most of the local ones around here. Still haven't got Phillip Island on there. And just recently went up to the Euroa launch.

00:08:22Melissa Ellis: Very good. I think you've done 11 different events.

00:08:25guest: Yeah, you probably know more than I do.

00:08:29guest: And Melissa, what about yourself? Yeah, I'm not into it as much as what Scott is. A friend that does Inverloch parkrun got me into it. So I think I started last year and started doing it as pre-season training for netball. so once the season starts I don't usually back up a 5k run and then do a netball game but yeah so it was more just a friend just saying coming along and yeah so I got into it as of last year but not not as many runs under my belt as what Scott's got. It's kind of hard when it clashes with the other sports to... And two kids and, yeah, that makes it a little bit harder.

00:09:08Melissa Ellis: Have the kids come along to parkrun yet? No, they haven't. A little bit too young. Have you heard about Junior parkrun?

00:09:14guest: No, I haven't. I haven't, no.

00:09:16Melissa Ellis: It launched last week.

00:09:17guest: Oh, there you go.

00:09:17Melissa Ellis: Over in Westerfolds Park in Victoria. So it might be something that... Might have to get along and bring the young ones out and have a go. And it might grow to...

00:09:28guest: I'm spread.

00:09:29Melissa Ellis: Yes. These things tend to happen. TOC might even start one up in Gippsland area in the future. Who knows? Well, I'd like to thank you very much for speaking to me today. And I have a little gift for each of you.

00:09:42guest: Thank you very much.

00:09:43Melissa Ellis: Here's your pineapple chocolate, Melissa. And Scott, here's your donuts. Cinnamon donuts. Your favorite, right? Yeah. Thank you very much, guys. Thanks. Have a good run. Cheers.

00:09:48[crosstalk]

00:09:57Scott Trickett: And that's all it takes, people, to be a member of the Channel 5 News crew. Melissa, welcome.

00:10:03Melissa Erbacher: So are we setting, I mean, that was a brilliant job and well done to the Scott and Melissa for stepping up to the challenge and agreeing to be interviewed as well. Is that going to be the standard entry-level report that people need now? Is they have to find a Mel and a Scott or are we just going to find different challenges for everyone?

00:10:19[crosstalk]

00:10:22Scott Trickett: We need to keep it fresh. We need to keep it moving all the time. So there'll be different challenges. I'm confident that we've got more than one trick up our sleeves. More than one idea to call on. I'm worried are we being stereotyped though, Mel? You know, the donuts and the pineapple chocolate.

00:10:41Melissa Erbacher: Well, I think what you mean is we are stereotyping Melissa and Scott's across the world. I would take that as a massive compliment. Okay. We are the stereo. No. We are the types and they're the stereotypes because they are, yeah, the stereo versions.

00:11:00Scott Trickett: Hey, we need it back to music again.

00:11:04Melissa Erbacher: I would like to say welcome to Melissa Ellis. From number one fan to Channel 5 News crew, you're in, honey. You did a good job and we'll add you to the secret Facebook group later.

00:11:15Scott Trickett: And there's more coming later in the episode. We've got Lyndell back. She went visiting St. Lucia. And we've got the rest of the reports that Melissa grabbed from Inverloch. So just get through this next interview and more roving reports await. It's the return of... of the event director interview. It's been missing, it's been in hibernation, let's say that, because we always intended to bring it back, and who better to bring it back than the current event director of Bright parkrun. Welcome to the parkrun Adventurers, Mr. Matt Fullerton.

00:11:25[background music]

Meet the ED

00:12:01Matt Fullerton: G'day guys, how are you going?

00:12:03Scott Trickett: We're fantastic, we're fantastic. How are you, and how is Bright? Because as those listeners of the podcast will know that I spend a bit of time in Bright,

00:12:13Matt Fullerton: um full disclosure you and i are mates aren't we matt you're one of my best mates in parkrun yeah look i'll put it publicly yeah okay yeah oh well that's good put it out there but um those that aren't aware is that uh scott has many talents um one of them the podcast and uh and what have you but he's also very good at house sitting and uh looking after your animals so um Just putting it out there. Anybody that, you know, in the parkrun world that needs their event taken care of, just give Scott a call.

00:12:46Scott Trickett: Well, this has started well. This is much better than I expected. But how's Bright at the moment? Because when we were there, it was beautiful. The weather was beautiful. But just the last couple of days, it started to turn. And I think that's what you're heading into.

00:13:03Matt Fullerton: We've had some fantastic weather. So obviously Bright is known for being a tourist destination for all year round. I think there's actually only two weekends out of the whole calendar that there is not an event on in Bright. So there's always something happening. One of them has been the largest ones is the Autumn Festival. So Bright's known for its Autumn Festival and the changing colours of the region. That's great. That's when the weather was still nice, but the last couple of weeks have been, it's been a bit chilly. So we set out last Saturday to put our turnaround flag in. So we're out and back course, put our turnaround flag in, jump back in the car to look at the temperature. This was a quarter past seven and it was minus two. So... Gloves are on, thermals, jacket, ready to volunteer for another week.

00:14:10Melissa Erbacher: Matt, I feel like Bright isn't a year old yet, so correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't done any research prior to this interview. Have you done a winter of Bright parkruns yet?

00:14:20Matt Fullerton: No. No, not yet. So we launched the Australia Day weekend of this year. So January 27th, I think it was, was what it fell on. So no, we haven't done a winter. So we'll see how we go. I'm sure we'll survive. But as to how many keen runners we get out there on a Saturday morning, we'll just see how committed everybody is.

00:14:51Melissa Erbacher: And I know I've been to the area, I've stayed up in Dinner Plain during the snowy periods. Does it actually snow in Bright?

00:15:00Matt Fullerton: Look, no. Well, I say no, but it has. So we actually have a picture of our house, which I think was taken back in 2010 or with it actually covered in snow. And we are just out of town. So it has before, but it's not common and it doesn't stick around long enough. It just sort of hits the ground and melts away. But yeah, definitely up on the hills, it certainly does.

00:15:29Scott Trickett: And how are your numbers looking at the moment as we head into the colder months? We always say that's not an indicator of a successful parkrun, but how's it going?

00:15:40Matt Fullerton: Yeah, they're going well. As I mentioned, Bright being a destination for a lot of tourists is that in most weeks we tend to have tourists outnumber the locals, where this week, last Saturday, it was the locals outnumbered the tourists. we only had nine people. So it wasn't too hard. But look, our numbers leading up before that, before that minus two sort of weekend, you know, depending on what's happening in town, it can go from sort of 30 to 50 and they sort of settled around that number, which is, you know, like you say, parkrun, as long as one person turns up, it's worth doing it, you know, because you don't know why that person is coming along to parkrun and the effect that your actions, you know, the impact that your actions are making, you know, standing out there minus two degrees a day could be doing to that person. So I always say, you know, and like we do in the parkrun world, it's not about the numbers. But, you know, we had nine people last Saturday and I said to my wife after the event was that, it was probably one of the best parkruns that we've had because there were eight locals, there were five other volunteers and it just had a good feeling. Yeah, it was great.

00:17:15Scott Trickett: And how did you come about, why did you bring parkrun to Bright? We should also mention that you were the establishing event director at Lilydale Lake that we'll ask you about a bit later, but why did you bring parkrun to Bright?

00:17:28Matt Fullerton: So December last year, was uh my wife and i and and our three kids we relocated from melbourne up the hume to uh to bright so you know we thought how do we how do we connect with a with a new community where we know nobody and yeah and we thought well there's no better way to do that than to than to start a parkrun parkrun's all about the community and connecting with the community and you know making friendships and what have you so Well, you know, our closest one was either Wangaratta, an hour up the road, or Mount Beauty, sort of 40 minutes over the Tawonga Gap. But, you know, those communities, you know, it wouldn't have given us the opportunity to connect with our neighbours because they weren't making that trip. We thought... let's do it. Let's start one sooner rather than later. And we were lucky enough with the Embracing 2018 funding to be able to successfully get that to launch the event because that's another thing in small communities and small regional towns, it's always very hard to get funding. Yeah, so that's how Bright parkrun was formed, and I'm pleased to say it's worked. We've connected with people in our community. We've got a handful of core people, coffees afterwards, all that sort of stuff, so catching up for runs outside of that. Yeah, it's been fantastic.

00:19:13Melissa Erbacher: Sounds magic. I would like to come back to Scotty's visit and the Team Trickett's visit, Matt. So when that happened, he actually mentioned on the podcast that you were going to run with him or at least he had the expectation that you were going to run at parkrun together and then you took off. I would like to hear your side of that story, please.

00:19:37Matt Fullerton: Oh, did you participate that day, Scott? No. You're quite the joker.

00:19:42Scott Trickett: I was there. Yeah. I'm not surprised you don't remember.

00:19:48Matt Fullerton: Yeah. Yep. You know, yeah, well, we ran in the same event together, didn't we? Is that – were you – yeah. Yeah, we've established that.

00:20:01Scott Trickett: Did we – I think we high-fived, didn't we? Did we high-five? No, you fresh-aired me on that too. See, Mel, my version was true. He barely even remembers it.

00:20:15Matt Fullerton: Yeah. No. Okay, then. Yep.

00:20:21Melissa Erbacher: Good mates, obviously. Very good mates.

00:20:23Matt Fullerton: Yeah, no, no, we are. Yep. But how good is it when we catch up for a run, Scott?

00:20:31Scott Trickett: Once every four years, I really enjoy it.

00:20:33Matt Fullerton: Yeah.

00:20:34Scott Trickett: It's great. It's great. Let's go back then, Matt. Let's go back to how you got involved in parkrun to begin with, because that's a good story too. So let's take us back to how you discovered parkrun and why you wanted to set up Lillydale Lake parkrun.

00:20:51Matt Fullerton: Yeah, so going back, how long is Lilydale Lake parkrun? Four years now. They've just recently, not too long ago, had their fourth anniversary. Okay. I suppose I've got a similar story to a lot of PDs is that, you know, I was on holidays. I was on holidays in Merimbula actually out for a run. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't too into running back then but, you know, just did it fairly casually and then saw a whole group of people and this parkrun flag. So we were staying there over two weekends. I went back and said, oh, yeah, Merimbula, fun run, and all this sort of stuff, trying to work out what this thing was. And, you know, I discovered parkrun, registered, attended the following Saturday before we took off on our way home, and it was fantastic. I loved it. I thought, hey, good six, this is free. You know, there's... You know, you're involved with other people and, you know, it's all about feeding your own time and everything like that. So I thought, how good is this? So I arrived back home after the holiday and just sort of had a bit more of a think about it and had a look to see where other nearby events were. And that was, you know, based in Lillydale. At that stage, there was Albert Melbourne and there was Berwick. And Berwick, they were my closest sort of events. And I thought, well, you know, why – This is great, you know, but I wonder if we could start our own one. Yeah, so contacted, followed the link on the website, contacted parkrun and was contacted with a whole heap of information and what have you. But, you know, one of the other reasons was being a father of three young kids is that I wanted my kids to be able to have access to something like that, get outdoors, be active, you know, get off... devices and what have you, and just get outdoors and be active and have some fun. So that's how Lillydale Lake parkrun was established as a result of a holiday away in New South Wales at Merimbula.

00:23:13Melissa Erbacher: You mentioned your three kids. That's quite a tribe to have, Matt. Have they embraced parkrun? I mean, I imagine you drag them along or you encourage them along each week. Do they all participate happily?

00:23:29Matt Fullerton: Happily. I would say. It's whatever that you like.

00:23:36Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:23:37Matt Fullerton: We've got. each one likes or doesn't like parkrun for different reasons so i've got my uh my son bryce who who go he can't i suppose he kind of fades in and fades out of if he likes parkrun i suppose that that depends on if his mates are going and uh and how he feels at that at the time so he you know his big aim was to was to achieve his 50 parkruns which which he did and and what have you, and that was his focus, and now the 100's too far away, he thinks, so he's kind of, he's in that stage of fading back out of parkrun. Where we've got my daughter, Takesha, she's, you know, one day she'll make it to her junior 10, but she's volunteered a whole heap more than she's ever ran. So, you know, but she still, when we had Lilydale Lake, she'd come along and, Not to participate, but to either volunteer or to catch up with her friends. And my youngest, Macy, is absolutely just – she's six and probably couldn't make the distance. She is registered but still yet to scan that barcode for the first time. So maybe Junior parkruns the – the nice platform for Macy to get a parkrunning underway.

00:25:07Scott Trickett: Well, what a nice segue you've set me up there because you have been instrumental. You won't acknowledge it, but you've been instrumental in getting Junior parkrun up and going in this country, and that's part of your role on the board. So you're also on the board of parkrun Australia. Have you been following the progress of Junior parkrun, and is there one day a chance we're going to have a bright Junior parkrun?

00:25:29Matt Fullerton: Oh, I'd love for that day to happen. I'd love for, you know, a junior parkrun to be in, you know, every town, you know, because I think it's just, it's fantastic. You know, it's something for kids, just for kids. And once again, just like the 5K series is that, you know, it's totally accessible, you know, and it can be whatever you want it to be. I just think it's great and it would be fantastic to have one in Bright or anywhere around this area to get kids outdoors and get them active.

00:26:06Scott Trickett: So you mentioned Macy there, so 5K is just a bit too much of a stretch, but do you reckon if you said to her 2K, she'd be up for that?

00:26:14Matt Fullerton: Absolutely, yeah. I remember, you know, even remember, you know, a lot of these running events and things like that are doing, you know, the kiddies dash and, you know, a 1K or a 2K event thing just just for kids as well and you see just how popular that is and i'll never forget sort of um 18 months ago when we uh all went traveled to tassie as a family and we all took part in in a uh in a in a distance so there was a marathon half marathon 10k 5k and and there was a 2k kitty dash and i'll never forget i i'd finished the the marathon and and timed it uh timed it that we had actually all sort of come in at similar times. And then I had to quickly grab Macy because that was the start of the kiddies dash, the 2K. And I had just finished a marathon, you know, just about dying. And then Macy's got my hand and we're running the 2K kiddie dash. And the look on her face when she comes through the finishing chute and everything like that was just amazing. And if you could replicate that every Sunday, you know, we're on a winner. for sure.

00:27:29Scott Trickett: Well, I can vouch for that. We're on a winner two weeks in. I've seen it happen for two weeks and it's fantastic. I also mentioned you're part of the board. How have you enjoyed that involvement in helping shape the strategic direction of Parker and Australia?

00:27:47Matt Fullerton: I thoroughly enjoy it. I think the what the board and who the board is made up of, speaking of myself, you know, but I feel as though that everybody that's on the board brings something different. You know, we're all from different professions outside of parkrun and bringing those, our strengths into help with the strategic direction of parkrun and different things that we're working on. like Junior parkrun and what have you, I think it's been fantastic and it's only going to get better and stronger as we go forward for sure. So, you know, it's great to be involved on a different level outside of a Saturday morning and it really does give you a great insight into the workings of parkrun and our reach and especially some of the strategic uh choices that we're making at the moment on where where events should be and the impact and and and things like that taking more of a a proactive approach to to launching new events looking at how parkrun can impact a community yeah i suppose and reverse engineering it you know reversing it going into a town looking for looking for opportunities building an event team rather than the usual organic approach

00:29:13Melissa Erbacher: Well, Matt, you certainly have your fingers in lots of parkrun pie. And as part of that, I'm sure you've travelled around quite a bit and experienced a few different places. What are the top three of your favourite events, and they can't include Lilydale or Bright?

00:29:30Matt Fullerton: Oh, I forgot that you asked this question. Okay, I'm not prepared.

00:29:36Melissa Erbacher: Then you'll give us an honest answer.

00:29:37Scott Trickett: You can never think about it.

00:29:39Matt Fullerton: Yeah, yeah. I really enjoy probably Wilson Botanic is one of my favourites. Absolutely. It's in Berwick. But if you weren't really from the area, you would not even know it's there. It's in the Botanic Gardens. I think an old quarry has been turned into a gardens and it's two laps. It's challenging. It's hilly. It's in great views. It's fantastic. So definitely Wilson Botanic. Also like Coburg. Coburg is one of my favourites. You know, when you're running out, you sort of get one view and when you run back and you get another of the, I think it's the spillway there and the trees and everything like that. It's really, really nice. What would be another one? Good question. Two is good, right?

00:30:44Melissa Erbacher: Starts with W. Perhaps to add to the – no, well, no, you can't do that. That's not allowed. That's being led. Yeah. He's putting words in your mouth. How about for your third one, you give us the event that if money and time were no object, you would like to go to?

00:30:44[crosstalk]

00:31:03Matt Fullerton: Yeah. I think somewhere, you know, that's hard to get to, I think, I think – Somewhere in WA would be nice. Yeah, I think maybe Kalgoorlie or, you know, something like that, I think, would be fantastic.

00:31:25Melissa Erbacher: Nice choice. Kalgoorlie is on my list as well of one of those little bit harder to get to type adventures.

00:31:32Matt Fullerton: I think because Kalgoorlie is the one that has, is it, did I have the kilometre markers marked on rocks or something? They do, on the red soil. Yeah.

00:31:37[crosstalk]

00:31:41Melissa Erbacher: So you really just want to get out there to see their kilometre markers.

00:31:45Matt Fullerton: Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

00:31:48Melissa Erbacher: You're a rock enthusiast. Well, we're learning all sorts of things about you this week, Matt. Thank you for joining us on the parkrun Adventurers podcast. It has been lovely hearing all about Bright and Lilydale Lake and exploring the Matt Who.

00:32:03Matt Fullerton: The Matt Who. Thanks, guys. Well, yeah, keep up the banter. We love it and great work on the pod as always.

00:32:05[background music]

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:32:23Melissa Ellis: Here we are now. I've got Rhianna with me. Rhianna, congratulations on finally achieving your goal to become a Victorian Statesperson. Oh, thank you, Mel. It's a wonderful feeling. Yes, it's quite an achievement. There's 66 current events in Victoria and you're from the country of Victoria, is that right? Yeah, in Bendigo. So that's a lot of travelling to all the different parts of the state and have you enjoyed all that travel?

00:32:49guest: Yeah, most of the time. I've been to a few places I've never even heard of before, so that's good.

00:32:54Melissa Ellis: It definitely gets you out and about and it gets you to meet a lot of new people. What parkruns have been your favourite?

00:33:02guest: Probably Lakes Entrance is pretty nice and I like Cobram and yeah, that's it.

00:33:11Melissa Ellis: Has there been any particular challenges in getting to the events? Have you had any issues driving to places or anything like that that stood out?

00:33:22guest: Not particularly, just sometimes just not wanting to get up in the morning and just like thinking, I could just drive like five minutes to Bendigo. But yeah, other than that, no.

00:33:31Melissa Ellis: Yeah, that is an issue. We have a lot of early starts, don't we? And what would you say is the most memorable event that you've been to?

00:33:38guest: I like going to the launchers the best. I've met a lot of people through parkrun and, yeah, it's been really good.

00:33:47Melissa Ellis: It definitely brings us together, doesn't it? Because we've met and become friends through parkrun and there's a real community feel with the tourists that travel around to the launchers, which I know I really enjoy, so... Me too, yeah, I really like it. And you have your sister that comes along, keeps you company on the trips. She's pretty good in doing that. Yeah, yeah, she's pretty good, yeah.

00:34:09guest: Keeps me awake while driving in the early morning.

00:34:12Melissa Ellis: Yes, because we've got to be safe when we're travelling, get plenty of sleep. Hi, horse and parkrun people. Hi, TOC. Well, thanks for talking to me, Rhianna. What's the next challenge? Have you got anything in mind?

00:34:25guest: I want to try and finish the alphabet. Of the parkruns, yeah.

00:34:29Melissa Ellis: Do you know how many you've got to go?

00:34:31guest: How many? A few letters, but yeah.

00:34:35Melissa Ellis: That Z, that's the tricky one, isn't it?

00:34:37guest: All right, thanks for that, Rhi. Okay. Bye.

00:34:40Melissa Ellis: Okay, we're here now at brunch. Paul the Pyman, I think it's called, and I've got Addie with me. Addie was the RD today. Hi, Addie. How are you going? I'm good. How are you? You're very young for an RD, is that right? Yes, I was 16. How long have you been doing it for?

00:34:59guest: This is my second year now doing RDing. I started when I was 14 with the takeover day, the junior takeover day at Inverloch, and from there we've just kept going.

00:35:14Melissa Ellis: That's really good. So I know that you have, there's another adult that is on standby, is that right?

00:35:22guest: Yeah, so I have to still have someone around the course as I'm under 18, but I make sure I try and do all the stuff and they're really helpful to make sure that I'm still on the right track and everything goes smoothly.

00:35:37Melissa Ellis: You're definitely very impressive. It's my second time when I've been to Inverloch that you've been the RD and you're very confident and you do a really good job. Do you get to go around and do a bit of touring as well?

00:35:48guest: Yeah, I go out with Tony a fair bit. We go to the footy afterwards so we get to tour us wherever we kind of feel like. Last week was Highlands for their birthday and we start quite early often. So last week was 5 o'clock but... We can do anything. We go up to Kahuna sometimes and, yeah, we go everywhere. And do you get some learner hours as well? Oh, yeah. I'm always in the driver's seat these days. I'm sure Aunty Jackie and Aunty Tony love it, but it's always good. Mum appreciates it.

00:36:20Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it's very good for getting the hours up. I did the same with some of my kids. And what would you say is your favourite thing about parkrun?

00:36:27guest: I just love the social aspect. I'm very big for talking. That's why I don't mind getting up on the stump at all. But I just love meeting new people and seeing where their story is and where they've come from and what brought them to Inverloch. That's great. Thanks very much for talking to me, Addie. Thanks for interviewing me. I loved it. Great.

00:36:48Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell here and I'm checking in this morning from my Nendi. I've finally gotten to St Lucia parkrun which launched just a couple of months ago in March this year. St Lucia is a inner western suburb of Brisbane and is home to the University of Queensland which is where the parkrun is based. So I'm going to get into it, we're not far off starting so I'll chat to a few people after the run. Okay, so I've tracked down this bunch of blokes. They've got cute koalas on their shirts. They're the Brisbane 5K Koalas. What's your name?

00:37:25Unidentified speaker: Ben. I'm Jimmy. Washington. Armin. Don. I'm Reno.

00:37:31Lyndell Murray: All right, now, here we are at St. Lucia parkrun. What is the story with the 5K Koalas? Armin.

00:37:39Unidentified speaker: Well we started just like obviously friends hanging out on weekends and then we just kind of like have a chat with each other say what do you guys want to create a sort of a running club or something it all started oh it's just a joke and all this and eventually it was like last year 2017 end of last year it sort of started to go okay we might as well you know and we obviously are into all the running and then we eventually venture out and now the koalas themselves are doing all the marathons all over brisbane and we even even go to sydney for the Blackmores and all this and then as well as spartan races all right now we're gonna be doing in two three weeks we'll be doing the 100k uh bc dubai cycling as well so it's kind of like yeah we're everywhere kind of thing so

00:38:30Lyndell Murray: I've never seen a koala riding a bike before. Now, you were telling me about your little emblem, the one that you started with, is about free hugs. Who wants to talk to me about free hugs?

00:38:40Unidentified speaker: It's not actually my idea, but, you know, koalas, they like hugging trees. And it's like, you know, it's a good feeling when you hug someone. So, you know, it's a feeling of being together or something like that.

00:38:57Lyndell Murray: Well, that sounds delightful. And now it's winter. Koalas don't like getting out of bed in the cold. Is it hard for you guys to get up for parkrun?

00:39:06Unidentified speaker: I think we're getting much more and more enthused to run our personal best every week. So, yeah, we're really loving parkruns. And we've done Chermside. We're doing, obviously, St Lucia today, but our home base is in South Bank. But it's great to get around. And the next level we're doing is trying to fundraise. We're going to start doing some events to fundraise for Beyond Blue.

00:39:30Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Beyond Blue, obviously, being a charity about depression, is that correct?

00:39:35Unidentified speaker: That's exactly right. So it goes really nice with our hugs. We want to make people happy and we want to really contribute to the community.

00:39:44Lyndell Murray: Well, that sounds absolutely wonderful. Thank you, guys. Is there anything else you'd like to add about the 5K koalas?

00:39:51Unidentified speaker: Lloyd, remember?

00:39:52Unidentified speaker: Pretty much, he's supposed to be the CEO of this one. He started it. Oh, the CEO. He's supposed to be. I'm the brain.

00:39:56[crosstalk]

00:39:59Unidentified speaker: I'm the brain of this 5K koala.

00:40:01Lyndell Murray: So you've got the brain. That's why you've got all your spokespeople. You don't need to do the talking because everyone else wants to talk.

00:40:07Unidentified speaker: That's why I let them do the talk because they are my... Workers. They are my workers. I am the executive, okay? Chief Executive Officer. The director and the president at the same time. Anyway, yeah, thank you.

00:40:09[crosstalk]

00:40:21Lyndell Murray: All right, well, thanks, guys. Thanks for talking to me.

00:40:25Unidentified speaker: I mean, we're on Facebook, obviously. If you can follow the 5K Koalas on Facebook, that'd be great.

00:40:30Lyndell Murray: And get free hugs anytime we like.

00:40:32Unidentified speaker: Anytime that you like, yeah.

00:40:33Lyndell Murray: Wonderful. Well, thank you, guys. Thanks for talking to me. See you later.

00:40:37Unidentified speaker: See you later.

00:40:39Lyndell Murray: We should have... Alrighty, I've tracked down Paul, who's the event director here at St Lucia. How are you going today?

00:40:46guest: Yeah, very good, thanks. A bit cold, but getting there.

00:40:49Lyndell Murray: It was a bit cool. Do you think it's like the first cold weekend that Brisbane's had? Do you reckon that affected your numbers? Or is this about normally what you get here at St Lucia?

00:40:57guest: No, this is normal. We're somewhere between 80 to 120, so it's really to be quiet for a parkrun, but it's a great little community and building every week, so loving it.

00:41:07Lyndell Murray: Excellent, and that is nice numbers. You've got neighbouring parkruns of, is it South Bank in the city?

00:41:14guest: Yeah, South Bank in the city, Rocks Riverside to the south, and straight across the river at Stones Corner.

00:41:19Lyndell Murray: Excellent. So this is great about Brisbane. There's so many parkruns to get around to. Now, Paul, I spotted you. I knew you were the run director today and the event director because you were spinning around in a little buggy. Must be the best gig in run directing in parkrun.

00:41:35guest: Yeah, we've been really lucky because I used to work here at UQ Sport on the campus. So not only did we not have to get permission from the council to set up parkrun, UQ very kindly gave us all the support we needed. We've got facilities here like a storage shed and a golf buggy that we can help set up with. So yeah, we're really quite lucky.

00:41:55Lyndell Murray: So UQ being the University of Queensland here in St Lucia. And you've got all of your turnarounds and kilometre markers permanent on the track?

00:42:05guest: That's right. The university provided the funds. I made the signs in the garage at home and they installed them for us. So it's all set up and they widened the path in several places for the turns and for the finish. So yeah, they've been really helpful.

00:42:19Lyndell Murray: That's excellent. You made those signs. They're awesome. Well done. Yeah, thanks.

00:42:22guest: Thanks, yeah. Wanted to try and do something that we could have permanently on the course, but they didn't really stand out from the local foraging fauna. So, yeah, we're quite pleased with them.

00:42:32Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And, Paul, how did you get into parkrun yourself?

00:42:36guest: I came back from the States overweight last year in September, so wanted to lose some weight. So we joined Rocks Riverside parkrun. And it struck me that St Lucia is a pocket, a whole area out to Indooroopilly, Chapel Hill, that area that is not really serviced. So as I worked here, I thought this is something we could get set up. So we started through the process. I had a massive accident on a skateboard, which stopped me running. But we've carried on the process throughout that and we were ready for our launch in March, which was madness.

00:43:07Lyndell Murray: Yes, it's a bit legendary around Brisbane. A lot of our launches have just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. And St Lucia was the one that took the cake, really.

00:43:15guest: That's right. 800 exactly to the last person. And listen, if people are listening, what I would say is come back and try us again because it was a mental weekend. It was lots of fun. Lots of people came and experienced it and were part of what was Australia's largest launch ever. um but i'm sure it will have put a few people off because it was just it was so congested and obviously being our first real run we weren't sure of everything so there was some delays putting people's numbers and i spent all weekend putting the numbers right on on the online but we got there in the end and um yeah so we're quite proud of that but um it's settled down now we've got a regular community and it's yeah it's we're really enjoying it

00:43:55Lyndell Murray: And it is a great spot. And in a real hub, as you say, there's lots of cyclists here doing what's known in Brisbane as the River Loop. That's right. Lots of runners as well as parkrunners. So great spot for it.

00:44:06guest: Yeah, absolutely. We get people come through every week and see the signs and see the people running and think, oh, you do a parkrun here now. And like I say, it's growing. No, it's just such a sensational spot. And the trees provide us a lot of shade as well. So come the summer, it should still be a good place to run alongside the river.

00:44:23Lyndell Murray: Absolutely. Well, thank you, Paul, for talking to me. Thank you for all the work that you've done in setting up St Lucia parkrun and well done and I hope it continues to grow for you.

00:44:35guest: It's our absolute pleasure, it really is. Thanks very much.

00:44:37Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, Scotty and Mel, that's just about a wrap. Everyone has dispersed fairly quickly today. I don't know whether they're just taking a leaf out of the koalas' books and gone somewhere for a hug or whether the cool weather has scared everybody off. Before I do go, let me just describe the course here at St Lucia for you. It is an out and back, out and back, out and back on hard packed sand. So it's soft on your joints but not too hectic in terms of obstacles and trip hazards and things like that. It's a beautiful, beautiful surface. As I said, out and back, out and back, out and back. Look... I'm not going to lie to you, it does mess with your head a little bit to have to pass the finish line twice before you get to actually finish. But look, what I always say about that kind of course design is that there's plenty of chances for high fives, cheering on your fellow parkrunners and just lots of smiles and waves. And look, there's a bit of that here at St Lucia. Great spot for it, as Paul said, there's plenty of shade here, lots of trees, the birds are chirping, and we're surrounded by lots of like-minded people. There are tennis courts here, there's the aquatic centre with the swimmers and triathletes training, and lots of cyclists heading past. Not on a shared path. We have our own path to ourselves for pedestrians only, but cyclists passing by as well. So, look, a great spot for it. If you did come to the launch, as Paul said, and you just thought it was all a bit too much, give St Lucia another go. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what a lovely community it is here. Well, that's it. Thanks, Scotty and Mel. Thanks, Park One Adventurers. This is Lyndell signing off for the Channel 5 News crew.

00:46:22Scott Trickett: Great work, ladies. Out and about. Roving reporters. Both official members of the Channel 5 News crew.

00:46:29Melissa Erbacher: But you don't have to be an official member to send us a roving report. And it doesn't have to be an anniversary, and it doesn't have to be a launch, as evidenced by Lyndell, who's just been to St Lucia, in the middle of having a normal parkrun. We like all reports, don't we, Scotty?

00:46:45Scott Trickett: Yep, we encourage it. We encourage it more. And I want to see some iTunes reviews. Mel, we haven't put a call out for iTunes reviews in a while. So if getting a roving report is too much of a challenge, get on iTunes and review us. Happy with four stars, one star, five stars, whatever you want, just review us.

00:47:07Melissa Erbacher: I reckon if you've listened to more than 10 episodes of this podcast, it's your duty to go give us a review. You can say, have listened to 10 episodes. It's rubbish. I stopped right there, but do it.

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

00:47:21Scott Trickett: Now, some launches and anniversaries that we need to deal with. We have one launch this week. It is in New South Wales. It is in a town called Jindabyne.

00:47:31Melissa Erbacher: It is indeed. And, well, that's one 5K event launching this week, but we've also got our sneaky little third junior parkrun coming on board this weekend. Where's that going to be held, Scotty?

00:47:44Scott Trickett: That's going to be held, and it's called Cannonvale Junior parkrun up in Cannonvale, which is in the Whitsundays, which is where our CEO lives, and he's going to be in charge. So if you're in the area, get along on Sunday morning. I'm sure you'll have a blast.

00:48:01Melissa Erbacher: And that's in Queensland for those who are playing at home. Anniversaries-wise, we've got them in a whole bunch of different states, mostly Queensland. But the first one we'll say kicks off at Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.

00:48:15Scott Trickett: In the greater state, we're not going without. Frog Hollow are celebrating their anniversary.

00:48:21Melissa Erbacher: Then we've got Goondiwindi in Queensland.

00:48:23Scott Trickett: Mitchelton in Queensland.

00:48:26Melissa Erbacher: Newy in New South Wales.

00:48:28Scott Trickett: And Redland Bay also in Queensland.

00:48:31Melissa Erbacher: Are you heading off to Frog Hollow for their anniversary this weekend, Scotty?

00:48:34Scott Trickett: No, I'm not. No, I'm not. Frog Hollow has a reputation of being a bit of a PB course, Mel. That's where everyone goes if you want to run fast.

00:48:43Melissa Erbacher: Interesting.

00:48:44Scott Trickett: But I'm not heading there.

00:48:46Melissa Erbacher: I'm...

00:48:47Scott Trickett: Well, hopefully, hopefully I'm heading back to the regional areas of the greater state if everything lines up. It's cold in Melbourne at the moment, so I'm going to the coldest place in Victoria just to embrace the cold.

00:48:59Melissa Erbacher: That seems like a logical thing to do. Yep.

00:49:02Scott Trickett: A week after an anniversary too. So everyone gets excited, goes to the anniversary. No, not Scotty. He's there the week after.

00:49:09Melissa Erbacher: Okay. That could be a new thing. Yep. Hit the events a week later after their anniversary. It's not after they've launched, but anniversaries. See if the event teams are having post-party blues.

00:49:24Scott Trickett: So you had no adventures this or last weekend. Have we got some adventures this weekend?

00:49:29Melissa Erbacher: I am undecided about where I'm going to be this weekend. So that's a bit of an adventure in and of itself. Possibly and most probably I'll end up at home because I haven't been there for a very long time. So that's almost like an adventure. But we'll just have to wait and see. Speaking of parties, though, I want to go back to this. This week, a very special parkrun person celebrated her 18th birthday party. So we wanted to give a shout out to M. Scholarly for your sweet 18th. M., happy birthday. We hope you had a wonderful day with your family and your friends.

00:50:05Scott Trickett: our special guest from episode 105, which also happened to be our listener meetup. So happy birthday, Em.

00:50:12Melissa Erbacher: And another shout out, we'd also like to congratulate a member of our Channel 5 News crew, PK, on joining the 100 Club. I think it goes without saying that PK is a very passionate parkrunner and amongst the Reaching his 100 milestone, he's volunteered a lot. He's become a run director. He's obviously contributed a lot to our podcast for which we're very grateful. So we're very appreciative and wish him all the best on joining the wonderful Illustrious 100 Club.

00:50:44Scott Trickett: A legend of parkrun. And I'm a bit jealous because now he gets to order his black 100. Black's my favorite top. But he gets one of the new tops, Mel.

00:50:54Melissa Erbacher: One of the super new ones. Do you have one of like the original incarnation, Scotty, from the original supplier? No. No, you've got one from the previous supplier. Yeah.

00:51:05Scott Trickett: Yeah, I think if you go back far enough, well, I think only in Australia we only ever had the Adidas tops, and I was right on the edge, so I missed out on Adidas, so I had to get a Tribe Sports. So all my milestone tops are Tribe Sports tops.

00:51:18Melissa Erbacher: Mine too.

00:51:19Scott Trickett: Yep. And I'm a long way away from a 250, so I'm going to be looking on with envy at a lot of people now.

00:51:27Melissa Erbacher: think I'm further away from 250 than you are it's one of those things the green top will be a long time coming didn't we we figure out at one point that it was going to take me 10 years I think so yeah and I've only been parkrunning for five so I've got another good five to go well another awesome episode if I do say so myself a surprising guest um what's his name again oh

00:51:54Scott Trickett: What is it?

00:51:54Melissa Erbacher: Learn some good things about a couple of good parkruns, Bright and Lilydale Lake anyway. So thank you. Thank you to all the guests that we ever have. We really do appreciate people joining us on the show.

00:52:06Scott Trickett: Hey, but did you enjoy the return of the ED interview? Hearing a bit more about one event in particular? We used to do it every week.

00:52:14Melissa Erbacher: I did. We did it a little bit differently than we used to. So we didn't even ask course descriptions exactly or anything like that. Or, I mean, yeah, I think we did a little bit differently than we used to do it. Maybe people should let us know whether or not they want us to bring the EDs back full time in terms of more regularly anyway than we have been doing them. Certainly not every week.

00:52:36Scott Trickett: Comment. Get back to us. Write us a poem.

00:52:39Melissa Erbacher: Write us a poem.

00:52:40Scott Trickett: Yep.

00:52:41Melissa Erbacher: Make it a haiku because those are nice and short.

00:52:44Scott Trickett: whichever way you choose to communicate with us. Do it. Give us some feedback. iTunes reviews or poems. We accept both.

The Poem Zone (parkrun haiku competition)

00:52:52Melissa Erbacher: You know what, Scotty? I think we should make that a thing. I think we should have a haiku parkrun adventurers competition. We should give a prize to the winner of a haiku. It has to be a parkrun haiku, though.

00:53:04Scott Trickett: Okay. And you know what? This links it back to our very first conversation about music and me quoting lyrics because there's a lyric in a song that says, last night I wrote a poem. I guess I was in the poem zone. So can we call the new segment The Poem Zone?

00:53:18Melissa Erbacher: Yes, it can be called the poem zone. And we will read out these poems, maybe one a week because we might only get four or we might only get one. So we'll see how we go with that and we'll start reading out a poem in that outro, a haiku.

00:53:35Scott Trickett: Awesome. In the poem zone.

00:53:37Melissa Erbacher: In the poem zone. Yeah. Great.

00:53:40[outro theme playing]

00:53:40Scott Trickett: This is a great idea. All our best ideas come at the very end, Mel. Thank you again. Speak next week.

00:53:46Melissa Erbacher: No worries, Scotty. Thank you. I'll talk to you then.