Episode 120 - UK Conference

Episode details · 292 speaker turns · sound cues from context

00:00:08Melissa Erbacher: It's episode 120 of the parkrun Adventurers and we are still split.

00:00:27Scott Trickett: by a globe this week scotty is somewhere in the northern hemisphere and i am in the southern hemisphere i'm in australia scotty where are you i'm in nottingham not nottingham nottingham make sure you get that right nottingham on our way down to london but we have we have been in uk for almost a week now so i've climatized I've seen lots of the country this time, so let's go back to the very beginning. Annual parkrun Conference. I'm very privileged to get sent over here to just absorb as much information as I can. And this year's conference was in Coventry. And then from Coventry, I've been over to Hull. Ever been to Hull, Mel?

00:01:15Melissa Erbacher: I have not been to Hull. I do read good things about it.

00:01:18Scott Trickett: Okay, so my work colleague Carol is from Hull, so we thought we'd go and visit her hometown. Now, here's a tip for Carol. She built it up a bit too much. She said it was this wonderful, magical, mythical place that we're just going to have the best time in. Now, we did have a good time, and the town itself was fine, but it was just fine. It wasn't magical, it wasn't mythical, and... There's a tip for everyone moving forward. Don't oversell. And we do this on the podcast a bit, Mel. Never oversell, undersell. Overpromise, underdeliver.

00:01:53Melissa Erbacher: Underdeliver. No. Underdeliver. Underpromise, overdeliver. That's what we should be doing.

00:01:57Scott Trickett: Yeah. So, unfortunately, Carol probably overpromised and Hull underlevered just a fraction. But it was a nice little town. Interesting fact about Hull, the phone booths are white, not red.

00:02:11Melissa Erbacher: Instead of red. Yes.

00:02:12Scott Trickett: Yes.

00:02:13Melissa Erbacher: What's up with that?

00:02:14Scott Trickett: That was my big takeaway. Well, because it's not British Telecom.

00:02:18Melissa Erbacher: Ah, okay. So they've gone rogue. So British Telecom are red.

00:02:22Scott Trickett: Yep.

00:02:22Melissa Erbacher: That's interesting.

00:02:23Scott Trickett: So this small pocket of England, someone in Hull decided, no, we don't need your phone system. We're going alone. But we're going to copy everything about it. We're going to have the phone booth. It's going to look identical, but we're going white.

00:02:36Melissa Erbacher: Like iPhones. Exactly. Hull phones are the iPhones of the country.

00:02:42Scott Trickett: So from Hull, we went to Leeds. So parkrun Global office and parkrun UK office is in Leeds. So we spent a few days there. And then the other office is down in London. So we're halfway in between. Now you may ask yourself, Mel, why are we halfway in between?

00:02:58Melissa Erbacher: I'm not going to ask you that because I think Notts is a beautiful place and who wouldn't want to go see where, you know, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood are from?

00:03:07Scott Trickett: This is true. This is something I've learnt not until I arrived that that's the connection.

00:03:13Melissa Erbacher: Have you had a selfie taken with the statue?

00:03:15Scott Trickett: No, because we got straight into town and last night there was a soccer match on or a football match as they want to call it over here.

00:03:23Melissa Erbacher: Oh, really?

00:03:24Scott Trickett: Yeah.

00:03:25Melissa Erbacher: In town? Yeah.

00:03:26Scott Trickett: Well, no, not in town, but the town was very interested in the result of this football match. Have you heard this song, Mel?

00:03:33[music]

00:03:33Unidentified speaker: Football's coming home. It's coming home. It's coming home. It's coming. Football's coming home.

00:03:47Melissa Erbacher: I have heard that song, Scotty, a couple of times actually. I'm hearing it on Facebook mostly, accompanied by a lot of red and white and St George flags.

00:03:59Scott Trickett: How many times a day do you reckon you've heard it?

00:04:01Melissa Erbacher: Oh, look, I muted pretty early on in the piece. I don't think listening to it over and over is good for anybody's health.

00:04:08Scott Trickett: Now, this is not an over-exaggeration, and I think I'm being conservative. I reckon you hear it about three or four times an hour over here, whether it's on the radio or someone driving by in a car or someone just randomly breaks into song. Actually, actually, somebody randomly breaks into song about three or four times an hour.

00:04:28Melissa Erbacher: Okay, but you're hearing it more than that, obviously.

00:04:31Scott Trickett: Yes, yep. But I don't think I'm going to be hearing it anymore.

00:04:38Melissa Erbacher: No? What song has it been replaced with?

00:04:41Scott Trickett: Well, it's too early to tell. But so for those not following along, England made the semi-finals of the World Cup. So we had to get to Nottingham. So again, my work colleague, Carol, who is from Hull, from England, was very interested. So we had to stop and watch this game. And Renee and I went to the pub to watch it. And we've got some audio just to make sure that's an authentic experience.

00:05:01[other]

00:05:27Melissa Erbacher: Sounds like a rollicking good time, Scotty.

00:05:29Scott Trickett: Yeah, well, so that was the audio before Croatia scored the winning goal in extra time. This is the audio after.

00:05:35[other]

00:05:40Melissa Erbacher: Not crying? Like the sound of Ironman crying?

00:05:43Scott Trickett: Well, you know, sport brings out all passions and emotions. And there was this young man. He wasn't actually that young. He was probably about my age. And he was all kitted up in his English soccer top. And he was all pumped up. He was all ready to go. And then they scored. And then I looked over in the corner five minutes later and he was just slumped. And he was really, really upset. I don't know if there were actual tears. But I've never seen dejection and just misery in a grown man as much as I saw it in this human being. They've taken it pretty hard, Mel. So Renee and I, as soon as the game finished, we kind of made a quick exit.

00:06:27Melissa Erbacher: Especially since I believe you've got Croatia in the sweepstakes at work.

00:06:33Scott Trickett: There's always a silver lining, isn't there?

00:06:35Melissa Erbacher: So yes, you're right.

00:06:36Scott Trickett: I am through to the final in the parkrun sweep. I've managed to get there with Croatia. I wasn't confident when I pulled Croatia, but I'm pretty bloody happy now.

00:06:47Melissa Erbacher: Those bragging rights that are on offer as the prize may very well be yours.

00:06:51Scott Trickett: Yes. So that's been the focus of my time over here, as well as lots of parkrun goodies that we picked up at the conference that I might share over the coming weeks. Mel, it's all pretty fresh and raw in my mind. So we might just eat that out over the coming months.

00:07:10Melissa Erbacher: Well, you're still there for a few more days yet, aren't you? So there's plenty more stories to be had, I'm sure.

00:07:17Scott Trickett: I am. Should I tell you about my parkrun adventures? Yes.

00:07:22Melissa Erbacher: Well, no, you haven't mentioned them yet, but please, if you've got time, fill us in.

00:07:26Scott Trickett: So we did a freedom run. Carol and I did a freedom run at Coventry parkrun, which was a nice little park in Coventry. We did two laps. Nothing spectacular, but I can imagine it would be a great parkrun. And then on Saturday, actual parkrun day, we headed to Leamington parkrun. Not Lamington. They didn't try to make us feel at home by renaming it. It was Limington, and it was very similar to the parkrun I ran last year when I was here, which was Tring. So it's One Big Lap, which I like, you know, Westerfolds. It's keeping with the theme of the One Big Lap parkrun, and it's through fields, green fields, and there's cows about, and it's very warm.

00:08:13Melissa Erbacher: You're getting beautiful weather over there at the moment too, aren't you?

00:08:16Scott Trickett: It's hot milk. It's not warm.

00:08:18Melissa Erbacher: It's hot. It's shorts weather. That's your favorite.

00:08:22Scott Trickett: It's short. It's shorts. I haven't been in pants. Even when we had a formal sort of do, I kept up my shorts appreciation society rule and went in shorts. And yeah, Lamington parkrun with 700 people, lots of experienced parkrunners in the crowd. And it was not surprisingly a great morning. 700 people we just don't really have a lot of events that bring those kind of numbers on a regular basis is that a normal turnout for them or is that because they had however many um ambassadors attending the conference well i think they do okay i think they have about 400 to 500 each week but add in 200 ambassadors and hangers on like um myself renee and carol and you've got 700 odd parkrunners but it didn't feel like it like even when you got there We were milling around the shed or not sure what it is, clubhouse. It didn't feel like 700 and because it's such an open, wide parkrun, you wouldn't know. And because I'm so fast, Mel, I'm just up the front and not many people get in my way.

00:09:31Melissa Erbacher: Okay. What kind of time did you get then?

00:09:34Scott Trickett: About 26 minutes, I think.

00:09:37Melissa Erbacher: And what position token gets attached to that? Oh, that's a good question.

00:09:41Scott Trickett: I didn't even look. Maybe, honest to God, I didn't even look. So I don't know. But this is one thing I have adopted. So I've adopted at the moment in my newfound hatred for running and training during the week is that I'm just enjoying parkrun. I'm not pushing it at all. So it's just a leisurely cruise around, taking in all the sights, having some chats to people on the run. And that's what I did.

00:10:08Melissa Erbacher: That sounds like a good way to enjoy parkrun to me.

00:10:11Scott Trickett: And then Sunday we had our inaugural run of the Backwoods Hat Club. Do you remember our old mate Rowan Ardill from episode 101?

00:10:25Melissa Erbacher: How could I forget? Rowan landed me in some deep trouble with his ideas. So that's deeply ingrained on my psyche and my calves.

00:10:39Scott Trickett: Yes. Well, we have a mutual love of running in caps, but they have to be backwards. So we formed the inaugural Backwards Hat Run Club and went for a run on Sunday.

00:10:50Melissa Erbacher: Were there just the two of you?

00:10:51Scott Trickett: We had four.

00:10:52Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:10:53Scott Trickett: We might have made two guys turn their cap around, but we had four.

00:10:58Melissa Erbacher: Well, that's totally legit if there's four.

00:11:02Scott Trickett: Yep. So look out for that trending on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and Strava over the next coming months.

00:11:07Melissa Erbacher: All the social medias. Mm-hmm.

Roving Adventurers (roving reporter crossovers)

00:11:16Scott Trickett: have a treat with a bunch of roving reports and remember Martin and Svenja from our episode where our love episode where they told us the story about how they got engaged at Jells parkrun well Martin and Svenja moved over to Germany true to their word and they've got involved in starting and bringing parkrun to that country. So we tapped Martin on the shoulder and despite him telling us that his interview with us was the most nervous and stressful moment of his life, he's backed it up and he's got some roving reports from us and a bit of an update on how parkrun's going in Germany.

00:11:52Martin: So take it away! Hello Mel, hello Scotty, hello parkrun Adventurers. It's 7.30 a.m. and it's parkrun Day in Germany. Today I'd like to take you along to my home parkrun, Neckarau parkrun in southwest Germany and we'd like to tell you a little bit more about parkrun Deutschland, parkrun Germany. My wife Svenja, who is sitting next to me right now and myself, lived the last couple of years in Melbourne and called the beautiful Jells parkrun our home parkrun. In October, we moved back to Germany and in December, Neckarau parkrun started here together with two other parkruns in Leipzig and Hannover. So Svenja, I guess the story how our parkrun RD team in Neckarau was formed is quite typical to a lot of other parkruns in Germany. Can you give us a quick recap?

00:12:44Svenja: When we were on the parkrun adventures podcast, Scotty was kind enough to put us in touch with Jakub, who was the country manager for Poland and was also looking into expanding parkrun to Germany. He put us in touch with David, Michelle and Martin, locals in Mannheim who loved the idea of parkrun and together we formed our event team and it was and still is a great combination. We had done several parkruns before and the others had the local expertise. This way everyone brought something else to the table and we quickly agreed on lots of things what parkruns should be like. As in have a tail walker, be very supportive and put an emphasis on the social side and the breakfast afterwards.

00:13:30Martin: Do you see any other similarities between parkrun in Germany and the parkruns in Australia?

00:13:36Svenja: What I really love is seeing people get infected with the parkrun bug. That they come just to cheer when they are injured. They are still there. Everyone talks about it and is very active. And people are just in love with parkrun. And for the breakfast, nearly every runner joins us for breakfast afterwards, which is right next to the Rhine. And it's really nice. We love that about Jells parkrun in Melbourne. And we're really glad that we helped create something beautiful here too.

00:14:06Martin: Alrighty, now we have to hurry up to do the course setup and afterwards I will try to catch up with Michelle and her husband and event director David. David, what motivated you to bring parkrun to Germany and to Mannheim?

00:14:22David: Well, it was about this time last year, actually. I was sitting on a sun lounger in Croatia on holiday with my wife, Michelle, and I was telling her about how much I wanted to always join a running club here in Germany, but because of my work commitments... I never really could find the time to do it because I commute an hour to work each day so by the time I got back it was always too late and I wanted to join a running club to meet new locals. Being an expat it was quite difficult to meet local people but I thought through running we could. And so Michelle said to me, why don't you start parkrun? I'll start a parkrun in our hometown. And I said, what is parkrun? I didn't know it because I've been in Germany so long. And so from the lounger, the sun lounger there, I actually got on Google and Googled it. And I actually emailed parkrun that there and then. And as it turns out, there was a movement trying to get parkrun going in Germany. So I joined this community of people trying to get parkrun going. And as luck would have it, about a month after that, they were a team of people, including Paul Sinton-Hewitt and our country manager, Jakub, that were coming to Mannheim in Germany to check it out. So we met with them, had a chat, showed them the route that we thought would be good. That was in the middle of September. And by December, we'd had our first parkrun. December 2nd, we launched it.

00:15:42Martin: Are you happy with the results, how parkrun is going? Do you think you're achieving the goals of bringing people together, of getting to know new people?

00:15:50David: Absolutely, absolutely. We've met a lot of friends now, including yourself, including some people that were sitting around here today, that we wouldn't have known if it wasn't for parkrun. And so, yeah, I do believe that we're doing very well in bringing people together. There are people that we didn't know before parkrun that come every week now that we consider good friends.

00:16:10Martin: Michelle, you are social media ambassador for parkrun Deutschland, parkrun Germany. Can you tell us a little bit more about what this role involves?

00:16:19Michelle: Basically, I coordinate all of our social media posts with, there's actually a couple of us that help do this. So I have a partner, Lena, that helps to make sure that my German isn't too Denglish, as we say over here. So we're quite active on Facebook, Twitter, and now Instagram for Parkland Deutschland. And that's all part of helping to spread the word, share the message and get more people interested in either joining parkrun on Saturday morning, their local one, or starting parkrun in their local area too. [German (portmanteau): ""Denglish" is the German portmanteau of Deutsch + English, meaning German unhelpfully padded out with English words."]

00:16:52Martin: Can you describe to us what your expectations are in terms of where parkrun Germany is going and also the status quo? Where are we at the moment?

00:17:02Michelle: Sure. Well, as of this morning, we have eight parkrun locations live in Germany. And as of last week, we have 26 parkruns in the planning, which I think is pretty impressive growth considering that we launched less than a year ago. So we actually started parkrun Germany in December of 2017. So we are doing pretty well, I think. And we posted on social media a few days ago that we've got these new 26 locations being planned and that we're keen to get even more going. And I can tell you from that post, which is probably the most popular social media post we've ever created, we've had more inquiries from more people that either want to start a parkrun in their local area, or would like to support an existing parkrun in their local area, or would like to support a team of people that are already starting a parkrun in their local area. so the interest for parkrun in germany is starting to grow exponentially and i think it's going to be a really really big part of the running community in the country within the next year

00:18:20Martin: We just completed the run briefing. The runners are about to start. Today we have prepared a special starting signal for the parkrun adventurers in Australia. Now we are in the finish area. The first runners have already come in. I'm standing next to Svante. She's volunteering with us today. She's scanning the barcodes. How did you learn about parkrun, particularly in Germany? Have you done parkrun before?

00:18:23[other]

00:18:50Unidentified speaker: No, I've never done parkrun before, so I saw it in the forest because this is my home running area here. And then I saw it on Facebook and I decided to come along.

00:19:02Martin: Fantastic, and we wouldn't want to miss you. Thank you very much, Vandir.

00:19:06Unidentified speaker: You're welcome.

00:19:07Martin: All right, now I'm with Matze and Maja. Both of them were running today, but they are also two of our most important volunteers.

00:19:16Unidentified speaker: Thank you.

00:19:18Martin: What's your favorite volunteer position? Timekeeper.

00:19:24Unidentified speaker: I also love doing the tail walker with my seven month pregnant friend Jana. So that was pretty cool as well. So I just love the experience with all the volunteers. It's pretty great.

00:19:37Martin: Now I'm standing next to Martin. You're one of our run directors from the very first minute. You helped finding the course, measuring the course. You are one of the most important people at our parkrun. But as far as I know, you never did a parkrun before?

00:19:56Martin: No, never before coming here, no. Before I moved to Germany, it wasn't in Ireland. So it's only since I've moved to Germany that it started up.

00:20:04Martin: You were asked, do you want to help with parkrun, and you said yes without even knowing what you were going to do.

00:20:09Martin: Yeah, I mean, I knew, obviously because I'm from Ireland and I read English running magazines, parkrun was always mentioned in it, so I knew what the theory of it was. I figured, why not give something back, you know?

00:20:19Martin: Good on you, good on you. Okay, today's parkrun has been wrapped up. We had about 50, 60 runners today, and I would say at least half of them are sitting with us in the cafe now.

00:20:31Karen: We had actually 50 runners today.

00:20:33Martin: We had 50 runners. Thanks, Karen. You're very welcome, Martin.

00:20:36Karen: Always glad to correct you.

00:20:38Martin: Karen is sitting next to me. And you've got quite a reputation as a marshal, isn't that right?

00:20:43Karen: I don't know what reputation you'd be talking about, but Damien over there is making a hand movement for me and my very large jaws. I'm very loud. I'm very supportive. I like to play my music. I like my hip-hop. I like my Drake. I like my Kendrick Lamar. If you don't like hip-hop, just keep on running. You don't have to smile, but I like to take pictures, and I like to pump the crowd up.

00:21:09Martin: Okay, let's pretend I'm running past you as a parkrunner. Can you give us an example? What would I be exposed to?

00:21:15Karen: Okay, hang on. Let me cue up the music here.

00:21:18Martin: You're getting out the music?

00:21:19Karen: I'm getting out the music. I'm going to get out the music. I'm going to get you some Kendrick. I am going to... And I'll see you come around the corner, Martin. I'll be like, Martin! Martin Beck, you're looking good, Martin! Oh my god, Martin! You know Danny just came by me about four minutes ago. You gotta go faster! Faster! Looking good! Smile, Martin! Woo! And that's what I usually do for almost every person that passes me. Yes.

00:21:22[music]

00:21:52Martin: We don't have avo on toast, and the coffee might not be Melbourne standard, but the company is fantastic. Wouldn't you agree, Julie?

00:22:00Unidentified speaker: Yes, and we don't have Vegemite.

00:22:04Martin: Is that a good or a bad thing?

00:22:05Unidentified speaker: I don't know, they just have Vegemite.

00:22:07Martin: So how was your run today, Julie?

00:22:09Unidentified speaker: I wasn't as fast as I wanted to, but not too bad, because it's very, very humid here today.

00:22:16Martin: When we started in December, we had a lot of ice and snow. Was that more the conditions of your preference?

00:22:23Unidentified speaker: No, because I was worried about falling over in the snow. No, I like it just as it would be in spring or autumn, so pleasant, not too hot, not too cold, or icy.

00:22:35Martin: And truly, when you are not running, you are one of our most important volunteers. Do you have a favorite volunteering position?

00:22:42Unidentified speaker: Schlossbegleitung, tail walker, because then I can get two credits. One for running, one for... One for as a volunteer, high-vis hero. I do anything. I just like helping. It's good.

00:23:00Martin: You do everything. That's what an RV likes to hear. All right, that was another amazing parkrun day in Germany. Mel, Scotty, thank you very much for having Neckarau parkrun on the pod and for giving us the chance to update everyone on the, in my view, tremendous success of parkrun in Germany. And with that, back to you.

00:23:23Gary Murphy: We're here at Coombs parkrun in the ACT this morning. I think it's event number 17 and it's windy and cold, but it's still great fun. And I found Gary, what's your surname again, Gary? Gary Griffin Bowen. Gary Griffin Bowen, who's a regular Canberran parkrunner. I noticed Gary because he's got a beautiful parkrun 250 shirt on. It's one of the new ones too, I've just noticed. Welcome to the podcast, Gary. Which is your home parkrun?

00:23:50Gary Griffin Bowen: Burley Griffin.

00:23:51Gary Murphy: Burley Griffin. So have you done the majority of your parkruns at Burley Griffin?

00:23:55Gary Griffin Bowen: I think I've done about 70. So I try to average them out over a whole host of them. I'm up to 42 different parkruns throughout the world, so... Yeah, I think average them.

00:24:10Gary Murphy: Yeah. And I suppose you've done all the Canberran parkruns. Yep. I'm a Territorian. Yeah, Territorian for the ACT. That's a good thing. And so of all the parkruns that you've done, do you have a top three?

00:24:23Gary Griffin Bowen: Top three? More than likely, and I'm sorry, Australia, Frimley Lodge in the UK. You run along a canal path, which is absolutely fabulous. And it's like going back 120 years. It's just brilliant. And I've got some friends over there that introduced me to that one. So that's number one. Burley Griffin, probably number two. And I'd say more than likely... because that's where I started parkrun from. So that's my sort of spiritual home run. And it was fabulous. And I met all the people that started parkrun up in Australia in that time. One in particular, a couple in particular, Russell and Jess from the UK, they came over and they... That's Jeffrey's. Oh, great. They started it up in Ginandera and seduced me into running it because I was just plodding around a lake with an injury and they... They got me to do it.

00:25:20Gary Murphy: So we have them to thank for introducing you to parkrun?

00:25:21Gary Griffin Bowen: Absolutely, yeah. Because I thought, no, I'm not going to do parkrun. Because it had been going for about six months, maybe eight months. I thought, no, no, I'm a bit too much of a serious runner, you know, chasing personal goals. Then I spoke to these two guys, Jess and Russ, and they were fabulous. And I was hooked. And so now 286 runs later, yeah, I'm looking forward to a stepping stone to the 300.

00:25:44Gary Murphy: What's your favourite thing about the parkrun concept then? What do you love about it the most?

00:25:49Gary Griffin Bowen: Cheering people on, whether you're a runner, spectator or volunteer. And I take my hat off to all the volunteers. I am... a 25 club member so good on you mate I love it you know I've got the purple t-shirt yep I love it and just just the friendliness everyone is there to make friends to have a good time whether it's for fitness for health for fun who knows they're all there and everyone's got the same kudos and they just want to be

00:26:19Gary Murphy: out there yeah yeah so it's good i love it good on you guys thanks for talking to the parkland adventurers and all the best for your future parkrunning adventures appreciate it it's been awesome okay so we're we've found some more parkrunners parkrun adventurers the ponders from the ponds parkrun in sydney and i have with me glenn moffett sandy shay and charles and i i noticed you guys today because of your shirts and we've got the rocket yes have you guys got nicknames uncle chuck chuck and chuck and so what's brought you down to canberra today for your parkrun i've got a family get together this afternoon and thought that we'd find a parkrun that's trail and it's worked out really nicely it's a beautiful spot And do you guys do this much go around to different parkruns together or is this just a good opportunity today? Yeah, this is about my 28th or 29th different parkrun across Australia. Yeah. And one in Canada as well. Oh, excellent. Which one in Canada? Richmond Olympic. Wow. How was that? Very cold. It was minus two when we started. Yeah. And sleet and ice on the path as well. Yeah. Oh, wow. And what about you, Rocket? Do you get around a lot?

00:27:21Unidentified speaker: The same. We travel together.

00:27:23Gary Murphy: Yeah. And so what other parkruns have you... Oh, you've done... We've done pretty much the same.

00:27:29Unidentified speaker: Pretty much the same.

00:27:30Gary Murphy: I'm two ahead of her. Oh, really? Not that it's a competition. It's not a competition. Mel and Scott wouldn't know anything about having competition. No, they're pretty even at the moment.

00:27:38Unidentified speaker: Yeah, yeah, but don't listen to them. There's a lot of competition everywhere. LAUGHTER

00:27:41[laughter]

00:27:44Gary Murphy: And so how did you find the course today, Ang?

00:27:46Unidentified speaker: I enjoyed it. It'll be cold, but it's a beautiful course. And when it's not so cold, it'll probably even be better. But actually, I'd come here again. I really enjoyed it.

00:27:55Gary Murphy: Yeah. And I know you said you're avid parkrun adventurer listeners. So are you at any of the clubs, the Pirate Club or the Alphabet Club or anything like that? No, I haven't joined any of those clubs. I think we've got... We had Hobart as the southernmost point of the compass, but that was it and it's been taken over, I've heard.

00:28:12David: Another one down there that's southernmost.

00:28:14Unidentified speaker: This is my 43rd different parkrun. 43rd different parkrun? And my 222nd parkrun.

00:28:19Gary Murphy: Wow. Close to the 250 shirt. Close. I'm aiming for that. Terrific.

00:28:24David: I saw a green one this morning. I saw one, yeah.

00:28:26Gary Murphy: I was just talking to Gary then on the podcast, and he's just left. And he was the 43. He'd done 43 different parkruns, like you said.

00:28:33Unidentified speaker: Same as you. We, again, not so much coincidental at all. all at Surfers Paradise parkrun last weekend. Ah, right. So now we're down in Canberra, which seems to be a habit every year. I'll do the Gold Coast Marathon and then come down and do a cold run the following week.

00:28:47Gary Murphy: So one extreme to the other? Yeah, absolutely. How'd you all go last week? Really good?

00:28:52Unidentified speaker: I didn't run last week.

00:28:52Gary Murphy: It was just a walk for me because I had the marathon the next day. Yeah.

00:28:56Unidentified speaker: Yeah. But he did his first marathon. He did really, really well. Oh, congratulations. Thank you.

00:29:01Gary Murphy: Well done.

00:29:02Unidentified speaker: And I did my third at the Gold Coast. Oh, good. And last. I say that. That's an ongoing joke. Every year is my last marathon. I think it is the last. But we'll see next year.

00:29:12Gary Murphy: All right, guys. Well, thanks for talking to me. And all the best with your upcoming adventures, whatever you do. And can we say shout out to Sharina and Peter and Robert, who are avid listeners of the podcast, and also to Scotty and Mel. G'day. Good on you guys. Well done. Thank you.

00:29:28Unidentified speaker: Thank you.

00:29:29Emily Field: Awesome. Thank you.

00:29:31Gary Murphy: Now, we've got Emily Field here and Hugo.

00:29:33Emily Field: He's my very reluctant parkrun dog.

00:29:36Gary Murphy: He's done a terrific job today. He's very relaxed and chilled out.

00:29:38Emily Field: Yeah, when he's moving.

00:29:40Gary Murphy: He's hugging up to mum to keep warm. Now, Emily's on a kind of adventure. You've moved down to Canberra. Emily, from where?

00:29:46Emily Field: Queensland, just north of Brisbane, yep.

00:29:48Gary Murphy: And what was your home parkrun back home?

00:29:50Emily Field: So it was Petrie originally, and then recently a new parkrun started up called Ocean View, so yeah, we moved over to that one as our local, yeah.

00:29:57Gary Murphy: And so how have you found the change from one parkrun to a different parkrun?

00:30:01Emily Field: Cold, for a start. Really nice, I like this one because it's trails, and the one I was running on at home was trails, so that's been nice. My local parkrun at home was through a vineyard, so it's a bit different running through, I guess, different scenery. um but i think it's the same you know the world over isn't it parkrun community is just the same everyone's so friendly yeah um and it's been nice yeah and so have you done all the parkruns here in Canberra no it's my first one oh today's your first day i came last week as well yeah bought the other dog last week oh that's right yeah yeah um and then this is my second here so we've been here for two and a half weeks oh great yeah and did you do many um different parkruns in queensland No, I'm a bit close-minded. I did three. So I did Petrie, Ocean View, and then Sandgate. So Sandgate is the super fast one that gets really busy. But it's awesome if you want to try and get a PB. Sandgate is the one to go to.

00:30:47Gary Murphy: So that'll be your top three because you've only done three there. Yeah.

00:30:51Emily Field: But I did one in London as well and one in Auckland.

00:30:53Gary Murphy: Oh, where in London?

00:30:55Emily Field: I feel like it's called Brockwell Park maybe. Yeah, near Brixton. Okay. And then I did the Auckland Zoo. Sorry, he's moving away.

00:31:02Unidentified speaker: Yeah, and then the Auckland Zoo parkrun. Okay. Yeah.

00:31:05Emily Field: Sorry, he's really friendly. He just sniffs everyone.

00:31:09Gary Murphy: Yeah. And how did you get involved in parkrunning?

00:31:12Emily Field: So my brother-in-law is a really keen runner, so he was doing parkrunning in Sandgate, and then I initially started going once a week to Sandgate, and then I got really into parkrunning, so I joined a local running club, the Dober Runners and Walkers. Got really into running, did my first half. actually got really fast and then had a baby so this is like my comeback now so congratulations yeah so still trying to get back into running we like that new parkrun babies yeah yeah she hasn't been yet but i'm planning on bringing her yeah she's got just a bit more neck control yeah yeah yeah yeah thanks for talking to me m no worries all the best of your parkrun adventuring yeah and nice to meet you yeah lovely to meet you as well thanks now i'm with the volunteers and i have andrew chapman sarah cooper

00:31:59Unidentified speaker: I think it's the rain and the wind. It's freezing.

00:32:03Gary Murphy: Yeah, it wasn't emotional. It was just the scanner was directly into the wind. It's cold and it looked like it was an emotional parkrun, but it wasn't. It was just the atmospheric conditions.

00:32:14Unidentified speaker: It was. It was the ambience, they call it, isn't it?

00:32:18Gary Murphy: Good job today. Well done. Thanks for volunteering.

00:32:20Unidentified speaker: No, thank you for coming.

00:32:21Gary Murphy: Have you done it many times before? I have.

00:32:23Unidentified speaker: I think I've done about about 40 now, 40 volunteers. 75 runs. I'm trying to cram the 50 and 100 together.

00:32:30Gary Murphy: Oh, great. Do a tail walk for 50 and 100, right? Yes. Very good. And what would be your favourite role of volunteering?

00:32:39Unidentified speaker: I don't mind scanning, except in these cold conditions, my thumbs stop working. Otherwise, I don't actually mind doing the directing. The processing is really satisfying.

00:32:51Gary Murphy: And speaking of directing, today is your first day. Yeah, I'm learning directing today. That's good. How did it go? Fairly well, because I didn't have to do anything. I just stood here and watched what Andrew, the actual run director, did. Do you reckon you found it easier than you thought? Or harder than you thought? Hopefully it should be alright. Thankfully this is a reasonably small parkrun, so it shouldn't be too much, too stressful.

00:33:14Unidentified speaker: Thanks, last words. I've just got to give someone their trailer.

00:33:15Gary Murphy: Yeah, yeah. See, look at that. Dedicated, on the job. And what about you? What's your parkrun story?

00:33:22Unidentified speaker: This is my second time volunteering.

00:33:24Gary Murphy: Oh, good on you.

00:33:25Unidentified speaker: And I've done about eight runs. Oh, terrific.

00:33:27Gary Murphy: And all here at? All at Coombs, yeah. At Coombs, yeah? Yeah. Oh, good. I think there's four now. Four? There's six. Yes.

00:33:34Unidentified speaker: They're growing. Yeah. Wow. There's Coombs, Tuggeranong, Burley Griffin, Queanbeyan, Ginninderra, and Mount Ainslie now.

00:33:44Gary Murphy: Okay. As well.

00:33:44Unidentified speaker: So six, is it? Is that right? Oh.

00:33:48Gary Murphy: And is Ainsley, is Ainsley a, that's a trail one too, isn't it?

00:33:53Unidentified speaker: Yes, it's a trail as well.

00:33:55Gary Murphy: Yeah. Well, thanks for today, guys.

00:33:58Unidentified speaker: No, thank you for coming.

00:33:59Gary Murphy: Now I've found Andrew, the event director and ridiculously good-looking Zoolander. That was awesome today, mate. Well done.

00:34:07Andrew Chapman: How long have you been event director here for? I run director, so just, oh, this is my second or third, I think. Okay. So not too many. Yeah. So how long have you been coming here for? I've set Coombs as my home, so our 17th event since the start of Coombs.

00:34:25Gary Murphy: I've touristed a little bit in between. So where was your original parkrun before here?

00:34:30Andrew Chapman: Tuggeranong, further south. So I've taken Tuggeranong for the last few years. So how did you get started in parkrun? My wife, actually. We both started running after we turned 40. Yeah. And she came across parkrunning and started running at Tuggeranong, so I followed her from that. She's a far more disciplined runner than I am, but she... Yeah, she is quite a regular attendee, has been. And I think today was event 17 here? Number 17 for this one, yeah. We launched middle of March. They're about 17th of March. And it's a good turnout, really good turnout this morning for such a cold, windy morning. That's right, yeah. We're still learning the numbers. We haven't had four seasons yet, of course, to find out what our ebbs and tides are. But we launched with about 260 or so. Oh, wow. 270. 270. We've been down as low as 30 or 40. But last week we had 70 and 63 or 4 for this week. So quite a good turnout.

00:35:30Gary Murphy: It looks like a popular run for the trail runners because everyone had their trail running shoes on. So everyone was prepared and knew what they were up for.

00:35:37Andrew Chapman: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we're the first, ACT's first trail run. Okay. The Mount Ainslie course launched in April. Okay. They're our second trail course, which is terrific to have that variety. Yeah. And do you get many people coming through trying to chase their pirate club status? Yes. We had a pirate completion last week, which is very exciting. We've had several at times. So we had three on launch day, I think, three doing their pirate club.

00:36:06Gary Murphy: Okay.

00:36:07Andrew Chapman: Terrific to be part of that.

00:36:09Gary Murphy: Yeah, absolutely.

00:36:09Andrew Chapman: Yeah, yeah. I also suggest that, you know, you can come here and do a Pirate Club and a Peel Club, which is the one in every state. Yeah, that's... That's you? Yeah, that's what I'm doing today. You're a Peel Runner? Yeah. Yeah, very important to tick off the accolades. Yeah, yeah. That's good. And we had our second Milestoner. I was our first Milestoner. Ah, right. During my 50, but we had a 50 today, so that was really good. Ah, terrific. He came here and it's his home run, so...

00:36:33Gary Murphy: ah good ah so that was that was the first that was excellent our first legit kind of non-volunteer yeah yeah yeah oh that's really nice so pretty pretty happy with that for our 17th event it's um what would you call it out out and back wouldn't you yeah it's an out and back it is yeah um slightly curvy we call it undulating undulating of the uh the slight hills we have here yeah serious trial runners don't really consider it that it's a It's pretty good here for the volunteers at the start line. You can see probably nearly a third of the course, I suppose. Yeah. You can see people out and back and then not quite the last bit.

00:37:06Andrew Chapman: Yeah, there's a bit of a dip after the first kilometre, but... Yeah, we get quite a good sense of where people are at. It makes it quite nice to be sitting here in between that brilliant kind of 18 minutes before the first runner comes home. You're entertained by seeing them run. Yeah, it's a good course. I quite like it. And it's probably Canberra's sunniest course. We've got the most exposure to the sun.

00:37:28Gary Murphy: Ah, okay.

00:37:29Andrew Chapman: yeah yeah that'd be our claim first trail run and sunniest it's a good claim to have especially when there's not much sun about yeah that's right yeah indeed it's just that northwesterly wind is the a little bit brutal and it's it's worse when we get a southerly or south southwesterly because it'll come off the alpine area yeah oh yeah down to the yeah off the snow fields but It can be quite nice. We had a few weeks ago on the ranges on the horizon, we had snow.

00:37:58Gary Murphy: Oh, yeah? Snowcapped mountains. And tell me about your Zoolander week when all the volunteers were Zoolanders.

00:38:06Andrew Chapman: Yeah, we stacked the volunteer roster. So we've got a healthy collection of Zoolanders locally. Yeah. We had a couple, the cranes who came down from Gungahlin, were run directors up there, event directors up there. So they came down and a few of our other locals. Amy Harney is one of our other run directors. She's a Zoolander and an RMA. Yeah, we all represented last week, which is good.

00:38:31Gary Murphy: A few Blue Steels and Le Tigres. Yeah, that's right. How do you find the course for Ambiturners? It's not too bad?

00:38:38Andrew Chapman: No, it's not too bad. You might have to do a bit of a three-yard turn if you turn left. That's always a challenge for zoos. Andy, thanks for today, mate.

00:38:49Alan: Yeah, thanks very much. Great to see you. Hello parkrun adventurers, it's Alan here from the event director of Portland parkrun down there in southwest Victoria. Currently on a bit of vacation up here in northern New South Wales and I'm at a place called Narrabri, just completing their parkrun course as we speak, as you can hear by my voice getting all puffy. A great out and back course. Great community vibe about the course as well. We'll get back to the finish and see the run director, Gavin. He's also the event director up here at Narrabri and we'll have a chat to him. So I'm here with Gavin, the event director from Narrabri parkrun. How are you going, mate?

00:39:28Gavin: Yeah, going well, thank you. Well, beautiful little parkrun. Yeah, yeah, it's a fantastic spot. We could do with a little bit of water in the lake, but apart from that, we've got a nice parved course. It's got a little bit of a hill in it, but generally quite flat.

00:39:45Alan: That's a nice mixture of, like, your gravel and your bitumen and concrete as well.

00:39:49Gavin: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, we've got all three surfaces and... A recent upgrade on the tarred surface has certainly brought us up to speed with some other events.

00:40:03Alan: It looks like the council have obviously spent a bit of money as well with the new playground equipment up there, the new gym equipment and all that sort of stuff. They're obviously supporting parkrun really well?

00:40:12Gavin: Yeah, they are. We get good support from the council. You know, it's like anything, we would, you know, solely rely on their access to this facility. And, yeah, it's been very forthcoming.

00:40:29Alan: And your numbers today would be a little bit down on what you normally get, but still a great community feel.

00:40:35Gavin: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, we've got a good core group of parkrunners that are here regardless of the weather. You know, I think it was about four degrees this morning just before we started. Yeah. But normally our spring and autumn time is when things are the biggest, but we turn up regardless. So what would be the maximum amount of people you've had here? We've had 100 people on our very first birthday. Oh, okay. Yeah, so that was good. But in spring and autumn, we sort of average somewhere between 40 and 60 people. But in the middle of winter, we're anywhere from sort of 20 to 40 people.

00:41:15Alan: What would be the population of Narrabri?

00:41:17Gavin: Roughly... Gee, you got me here, Rob. I think we're somewhere around 8,500 people. 8,500 people. In town.

00:41:24Phil: Yeah.

00:41:25Gavin: You know, but in the wider community, the Shire is about 13,500 people.

00:41:30Alan: Obviously, I'm mainly a farming area around here, obviously, with a lot of farms, big farms.

00:41:36Gavin: Yeah, we're farming and mining. Mining, yeah. Yeah, and all the auxiliary, you know, industries that go with those. Yep, yep. Yeah.

00:41:47Alan: I love a little course, and I recommend everyone get down to Narrabri. It's beautiful weather. I'm from Portland, as you all know, and it's icy down there at the moment. I think they had ice on the bridges down there in Portland. But up here, I'm in my shorts, T-shirt. These guys are still dressing their pants and their jumpers. They reckon it's cold. They look at me going, you idiot. All right. Well, thanks, Gab. Thanks for seeing us today, mate. No worries at all.

00:42:08Gavin: Thanks for coming and joining us. No worries, mate. We hope you enjoyed Narrabri parkrun. Good on you. Thanks, mate.

Channel 5 News Crew

00:42:14Lyndell Murray: Alrighty parkrun Adventurers, G'day Scotty, G'day Mel, it's Lyndell and I'm here reporting for the Channel 5 News crew and I'm at home at Bunyaville today and I'm at home because we've got a couple of milestones today so I thought I'd track down the two milestones. First up I've got our 100th milestone, what's your name?

00:42:34Xander Hawthorne: Xander Hawthorne.

00:42:36Lyndell Murray: And how did you go today on your 100th? Pretty good, I've been doing, it's alright. Alright, this is a pretty tough one here, isn't it? Did you have fun today?

00:42:47Xander Hawthorne: Yep, definitely. And what's so great about doing your 100th? That I feel accomplished and that it was really good to be doing 100.

00:42:58Lyndell Murray: And I noticed you took on the Bunyaville tradition of wearing a tutu.

00:43:04Xander Hawthorne: Oh, yeah, I did. It was pretty fun. Every time you go up another 50, you wear a t-shirt. It's a bit of fun we have here at Bunyaville, isn't it?

00:43:14Lyndell Murray: Now, you've done most of your running here at Bunyaville. Have you been to any other parkruns to do some adventuring somewhere else?

00:43:20Xander Hawthorne: Yep, I've been at Petrie. I've been at Ocean View parkrun. That one is very long. Well, it's still 5km, but it's pretty hilly, right?

00:43:33Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:43:34Xander Hawthorne: Pretty hilly, very hilly. There's lots of bits where you think you're finished but then they make you keep on going around. It's pretty annoying though.

00:43:44Lyndell Murray: They're the worst kind, aren't they? Yeah. Alright, now you've been obviously parkrunning for a little while.

00:43:50Xander Hawthorne: What do you like most about parkrunning? At the end of the day, I feel like that I've done healthy and that I've accomplished something and that I've been keeping fit and also I love doing it because I get some pretty sweet leg muscles.

00:44:09Lyndell Murray: Some good leg muscles. Alright. So does that impress the girls, does it? No. Not interested in impressing girls? No, not yet.

00:44:18Xander Hawthorne: I'm only 11.

00:44:19Lyndell Murray: Oh, you're only 11. Alrighty. Well, thanks for talking to me today, Xander. Enjoy the rest of your day and big congratulations on your 100th partner. Thank you.

00:44:30Xander Hawthorne: Hope you have a good day too.

00:44:33Lyndell Murray: I've tracked down the other half of today's dynamic duo. It's Phil. Phil, you've done your 250th today. How does that feel?

00:44:40Phil: Yeah, look, it's pretty special. But, look, I've never ever classed myself as being a runner. But it's seven years on Monday that we got hooked on parkrun in the UK. And so it's been a labour of love. And, you know, I just keep turning up every Saturday. And it's... and eventually you get that green shirt now it's a pretty select club i think i i'm not basing that on anything scientific apart from my scientific observation that you don't see many green milestone shirts oh i suppose like um we were day one here in in brisbane uh in 2011 when it started uh like schultzy you know he's done 300 but like um and we just keep turning up and then we do some international ones which is always good and um And then like 60 volunteers on top of that, so there's sort of 300 odd attendances at parkrun. So yeah, and look, the people that we meet, and like Paul Sinton Hewitt, the guy who founded parkrun, said it's never about the run, it's about the coffee afterwards. And that's the sort of philosophy I sort of go. And look, we've met some lovely people all over the world and firm friends out of it. So it's just keep getting fit, yeah. So yeah, it's all good.

00:45:47Lyndell Murray: Now, you're being a bit shy there, Phil. Your history with parkrun is pretty well known. You and your wife Claire founded Bunyaville parkrun back in the day. Tell us a little bit about how you got, you've touched on it, that you got hooked on it in London. Just tell us a little bit more about how you got involved and what that's been like.

00:46:04Phil: Well, it was actually down at Exeter in the southwest of England, actually, and we were just staying with Claire's mum at one time back in 2011, and we went into Exeter one day, and Claire can't go past a running shot without having to find out what's going on, and they go inside, she says, oh, is there any fun runs? And they go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's a long way out of town. We go, where is it? And when they told us, it was about 15km out of Exeter, but it was 2km down the road from where we were staying.

00:46:29Lyndell Murray: Oh, perfect.

00:46:29Phil: And it was one of these, it's called Killerton parkrun, and it was a big estate, one of those big English estates. And it was just a run around through the bush over there, and it was just fabulous. And what was really funny, though, is the guy goes, oh, thank you so much for coming out so early on a Saturday morning. It was 9 o'clock.

00:46:48Lyndell Murray: It is one of the funny things, isn't it? Like Queensland, even the people in the southern states think we're a bit nuts for doing that at 7 o'clock. But 9 o'clock, half your day is gone.

00:46:55Phil: Well, that's right. And up here too, it gets, yeah, absolutely. But also it gets hot, you know. People complain about being hot at 7. Well, you wait until 9 o'clock. And, yeah. So, yeah, we just keep turning up and slowly it ticks away.

00:47:10Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And you were also involved with New Farm when it started, is that correct?

00:47:14Phil: Yeah, that's right. Well, we were there day one, because once we got hooked on the UK, we started looking, you know, and it went parkrun, you know, Australia, and then narrowed down and went Brisbane, and this is like, as I said, 9th of July when we did our one, so in the UK, and then we started looking, and then just saying, yeah, New Farm was kicking off on the 17th of September, so we were there day one, and there was 42 of us or something. Yeah. And yeah, the rest is history, as they say.

00:47:40Lyndell Murray: Excellent.

00:47:40Phil: Yeah, so we became, got invited to become one of the run directors there. And Claire started, she's more the runner in the family and was running with some guys here and said, well, why don't we start one out here? And she likes running in the bush, so why don't we do an all-trail run? And as far as we know, it was the first in Australia, as far as we know. I could be wrong, but I thought, yeah, and all... All trail, no bitumen, no concrete. Yeah, and that's our sort of bit of a claim to fame, I suppose, so yeah.

00:48:09Lyndell Murray: Yep, and look, personally, I'm very thankful for that. I love running in the bush. I love Bunyaville. And look, to be honest, I say this all the time on the podcast and when I visit other parkruns, Bunyaville is a real community. That's why it's my home parkrun.

00:48:23Phil: Yeah, well, that was one thing we wanted to foster too, is the community spirit. And we never thought we'd get any more than about 20 or 30 here, but see, when we sort of average, I don't know what it is, say 100, plus my 80 to 100, that's good. And get around and see a lot of the core people, of course, but what the other legacy, which... we're really grateful and thankful for is that you come here each week and there's different faces. And I thought it would be very sad if you come back after four years and see the same people. And, yeah, we see so many different people.

00:48:55Lyndell Murray: But still some of the same people.

00:48:56Phil: Oh, absolutely, yeah. Absolutely. And, look, it wouldn't run without the core group of people. And we left them in good hands. And, yeah, and it's just... Just one of the things that, looking at people who are standing around, like this guy, an English guy, came out to Australia and he was going to do four different parkruns. But he said we made him so welcome he just never did any of that one. Just did all four here. So it sort of speaks for itself.

00:49:24Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Well, Phil, thank you for talking to me today on the podcast. Thank you so much for the contribution you and your wife, Claire, have made to parkrun here in Brisbane. And well done on your 250. I can't wait to see you in your green shirt.

00:49:37Phil: Yeah, as soon as it comes, I'll be wearing it for sure.

00:49:40Lyndell Murray: Well done, mate. Alrighty, that's enough from me, I reckon. We'll just let our milestone runners do the talking today from Bunyaville parkrun. This is Lyndell signing off for the Channel 5 News crew on the parkrun Adventurers.

00:49:52Melissa Erbacher: Well, it's been a big week all over the shop with roving reports in from New South Wales, Queensland and ACT this week. And how awesome is it to have some new, well, not some new and some new to this year voices on the pod?

00:50:11Scott Trickett: Yes, Gary Murphy's back is what you're alluding to, first time this year. And Alan, joining us from Narrabri, never heard much or anything on this podcast about Narrabri. So thanks, Alan.

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

00:50:23Melissa Erbacher: So we've got a whole bunch of anniversaries again this weekend. Only one launch, which is at Cormorant Bay in Queensland. I'm assuming you know where the anniversaries are, Scotty?

00:50:35Scott Trickett: I do. Heading along to Cormorant Bay, Mel, it's in Queensland.

00:50:39Melissa Erbacher: No, I won't be. I am staying at home quite a little bit for the next couple of months. So you've got an opportunity here, Scotty, to start catching up slash getting ahead of me. If you so choose to participate in this, not a competition that we're not having anymore.

00:50:56Scott Trickett: But anniversaries.

00:50:57Melissa Erbacher: Anniversaries.

00:50:58Scott Trickett: Let's go. We've got Bendigo, Dubbo, Gatton, Gawler, Noosa, Phillip Island and...

00:51:07Melissa Erbacher: War Hope, our favourite. Or Wachoppy. Or Wachoppy. All going to have a great weekend, so happy anniversary to those events. Now, we've got more stuff coming in for the Poem Zone all the time and loving it, so I thought it might be a good idea for us to do two poems this week. Do we have time for two, Scotty, or would you just like to cut it back to the one? I know you're on the deadline because you're halfway between the Leeds office and the London office.

Poem Zone

00:51:41Scott Trickett: I said one a week. We wanted to drag this out as long as possible.

00:51:46Melissa Erbacher: All right. But you know I don't follow rules very well.

00:51:49Scott Trickett: Do two. Be quick, though. Be quick.

00:51:51Melissa Erbacher: Oh, and I have to read them both? Is that what's happening here?

00:51:56Scott Trickett: You're better at it than me.

00:51:58Melissa Erbacher: Well, if we did two, then we could do one each. But how about we just do one as per your previous advice, and I'll read it out.

00:52:05Scott Trickett: Okay.

00:52:07Melissa Erbacher: All right. So this one's from Chris Fraser. He has given us a rhyming poem, and it goes a little something like this. parkrun on Saturday is the place to be. There's definitely not a sleep in for me. Whether I run or stroll, it's worthy of a sausage roll. parkrun Saturday, happy as can be.

00:52:26Scott Trickett: Oh, nice one. Nice one, Chris. And a reference to his favourite sausage roll. So I think Chris is driven by adventuring, by finding and discovering new parkruns, but also new sausage rolls.

00:52:39Melissa Erbacher: Yes, it is his post-parkrun snack of choice.

00:52:43Scott Trickett: Speaking of, Mel, what's yours?

00:52:45Melissa Erbacher: My post-parkrun snack of choice? Oh, it varies from week to week. I'm lucky, though, if I get to have breakfast after parkrun these days. So I don't probably have one that's specific. Do you have a specific one? We're not going back to donuts, are we?

00:53:00Scott Trickett: No, we're not going back to donuts. No, I don't. I don't have a post-parkrun ritual because we are adventuring so often, Mel. But I do like to partake in a coffee and breakfast if it's on offer. And this is something we never did at Westerfolds. And it's, yeah, I'm a little bit sad about that. We do have a post-parkrun catch-up, but coffee is not generally involved. It's just hanging around, which is also fun. But I quite like coffee.

00:53:31Melissa Erbacher: And you're getting quite attached to the new standard.

00:53:35Scott Trickett: It's not an addiction, but I do enjoy it. Well, that's fine.

00:53:41Melissa Erbacher: There's plenty of places that offer coffee after parkrun, Scotty.

00:53:44Scott Trickett: One thing I have picked up in the UK is they do love coffee. There's a Costa pretty much on every corner. But I haven't quite perfected how to make coffee just yet.

00:53:54Melissa Erbacher: No, that's the general consensus that I hear from a lot of coffee drinkers. But that's okay. You're not going to be there forever. You'll come back to good coffee.

00:54:02Scott Trickett: No, and I'm still on my search. I've transitioned to a bit of moccas while I've been over here because the coffee is a bit rank. I might as well add in a bit of chocolate so it's like I'm on holidays.

00:54:14Melissa Erbacher: Well, yeah, you're not on holidays, but yeah. I get where you're coming from. Well, we might let you get back to having some adventures, Scotty, so that you can join us all fresh next week with more tales. We will have a guest on next week that's not just us having a bit of a ramble and a whole bunch of roving reports.

00:54:31Scott Trickett: Sorry it was a short one, but we did make a commitment to have a podcast a week, so that's what this is.

00:54:37Melissa Erbacher: We did and what people don't realise is we've, what, is this the fourth time we've arranged to actually meet to record before we actually managed to get our gear together with the time zones and our commitments. So we made it. And we will be back.

00:54:53Scott Trickett: But let's share the love, Mel, because our mate Robbo has got a new podcast out. Look that up. Our mates, there's a whisper. Danny and Nicola might be putting a podcast out.

00:55:04Melissa Erbacher: Danny and Nicola, yeah. Hopefully that's going to be out soon.

00:55:06Scott Trickett: I'm excited about that. And our mate Vassos over at Free Weekly Timed, he hosted the conference. There is a podcast.

00:55:14Melissa Erbacher: Podcasts happening everywhere.

00:55:15Scott Trickett: But I'll speak to you next week, Mel. I'll be back in... australia australia mate so i'll see you and speak to you then