Episode 152 - RunWest

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Erbacher: It's the last episode before the podcast parkrun adventurers listeners meet up. Scotty, it's episode 152, making it an even episode and my turn to do the intro, which means you'll be introducing the live version, the live recorded version, I should say, of the podcast at The Beaches this coming weekend. How excited are you?

00:00:48Scott Trickett: Yeah, keeping up with tradition, Mel, because... I had the idea this week that we'd do another one of those, what do we call them, greatest hits episodes.

00:01:01Andy: You did.

00:01:02Scott Trickett: And I suggested let's go back to episode 105 and reminisce about the last listener meetup. And I introed that episode. So we're going to be 153, which means 48 episodes in between, if my maths is incorrect.

00:01:18Melissa Erbacher: If your maths is incorrect.

00:01:22Scott Trickett: That's not too bad.

00:01:25Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Now, that's roughly a year's worth. Yeah. Even with the break. So, there we go. Hey, how excited are you? I don't, I mean... I don't know what you're wearing as a costume on the weekend. However, I am sporting a fresh and pulsating welt on my finger from a hot glue gun injury that I sustained in the pursuit of making my new costume. My whole left index finger is swollen. I have never actually... Like I've accidentally touched the tip of the hot glue gun and things like that when it was on before, but I've never actually glued myself. So I actually had a big piece of glue that I had to wait till it sort of solidified before I could peel it off. And of course, while it's setting on your skin, it continues to burn because the temperature doesn't come down straight away. And I did a really good job.

00:02:23Scott Trickett: Good.

00:02:24Melissa Erbacher: It really hurts.

00:02:26Scott Trickett: You asked me there, I hope I've got a good costume. So do I. I'm leaving that in your trusty hands, I thought. There's no mystery to this. I'm not the creative genius behind our costumes. This is all your work.

00:02:49Melissa Erbacher: Well, last year you showed up with your own costume to the Saturday night do.

00:02:55Scott Trickett: I showed up in a wig.

00:02:56Melissa Erbacher: I did lend you a wig. This is true. But I did bring a variety of wigs for you to try on. So I'm not sure how much carry-on I'm going to have this year, whether or not I have the check baggage. I'll have to rifle through my costume cupboard because I'll bring some spare bits and pieces. I know there are other members of the Channel 5 News crew, for example, who might like a hand with some extra fancy dress. So I will bring some spare stuff and we'll see what we can do. I know it's not your favourite thing.

00:03:30Scott Trickett: This is all for this weekend coming up. But what did you do last weekend, Mel?

00:03:36Melissa Erbacher: Last weekend, I think I mentioned it in the podcast, last week's podcast, where I was headed, I travelled south to Lota. I got up really early in the morning and drove down to Manly or Manly West or wherever the the actual suburb is that Lota is in and um I volunteered as a Timekeeper at Lota while my brother and sister-in-law did their first ever stint as Run Directors which was very cool and a big privilege and you know what my niece Lani I mean Lani and Rowan they both volunteered as well which was nice Adam even volunteered you'll be happy to hear he didn't get a run in um So you'll be able to catch up to him, I'm sure. But they got Lani to do the Acknowledgement of Country, which was really good. She did such a great job. I don't, I guess they already had, like, the wording and stuff for her to practice ahead of time because she didn't read it off anything. She just recited it from memory, which was really sweet. So she did a great job as well. And as far as I'm aware, everything went off without a hitch. I was around to see the processing of results afterwards and they did a great job with all that as well. So kudos and congratulations to Nicholas and Michelle. For a great job. First time run directing. It was awesome.

00:05:04Scott Trickett: Well done. Score out of 10?

00:05:07Melissa Erbacher: Score out of 10, easily.

00:05:10Scott Trickett: 10. Well done. Yeah, nailed it. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. And well done, Lani, doing the acknowledgement. I think it's normalised for our younger generation. I think they're just used to it. They think it's part of everyday ceremony. What do you call it?

00:05:26Melissa Erbacher: Well, it's not really ceremony, is it? It's just...

00:05:30Scott Trickett: It just, it's a thing. It is.

00:05:32Melissa Erbacher: It happens. And look, she just, I was just so impressed that she wanted to get up in front of that many people and actually, you know, talk, use her voice, use her big outdoor voice to get the message across, which was really good. I wouldn't have had the confidence at her age to do that in front of that many people. Yeah.

00:05:54Scott Trickett: Nor I. I mean, I can't remember too many opportunities as a kid where you would address adults. A lot of the time, adults would supervise you at sport, but there weren't opportunities to volunteer even, like contribute back to the event or the sport. So parkrun is providing those opportunities.

00:06:13Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, forging ahead for the world in that respect, isn't it? Well done us. Well done us to parkrun. Gotti, I know you had an adventure on the weekend and I would like to hear about it, please.

00:06:29Scott Trickett: Well, why not? While we're here talking parkrun and adventuring, I headed to Sydney. I think, Mel, my second favourite city in Australia. I quite like it. Okay. And on this trip, I got to experience a whole different side, which really was a different side. But let me start off with Saturday morning. It was a bit wet, and it was a bit wet down in the great state in Melbourne. I know. I saw pictures, and my wife... I didn't attend parkrun because it was raining and pouring. And it was also raining and pouring at Centennial Park. And I adventured there to get my seat. And as you know, Centennial is probably the biggest and most famous park in Australia. Is that a thing? Like, does everybody know Centennial Park?

00:07:17Melissa Erbacher: I didn't know about it before parkrun.

00:07:20Scott Trickett: Oh, really?

00:07:20Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. So I guess having a parkrun event there is certainly broadened.

00:07:25Scott Trickett: the knowledge of ear tesser park yeah well anyway we finally got a parkrun in there and it was great to be able to to tick it off it was great to get my c so do you not have any c's a couple yeah okay so you're you're aiming for the pirate club here is what I'm well I wasn't and I am now now that I'm on my way now that you're one more closer Yeah, there were people there on Saturday who were celebrating joining the Pirate Club. I think that must be a pretty common thing for all these C parkruns.

00:07:56Melissa Erbacher: Yes, and the occasional R's.

00:07:59Scott Trickett: Let me tell you about the Centennial because it's a type of course that I really like because it's not a concrete path. It's not a bike path, you know, out and back sort of situation that we have a lot of events like that here. This was on grass and so running over some gnarly tree roots and nice and wet, big puddles. I wore my brand new white fancy shoes and they were a bit grey and brown by the end of the run and completely saturated.

00:08:30Melissa Erbacher: Who has white running shoes anymore?

00:08:33Scott Trickett: I know. Exactly. Nobody. That's why they stand out.

00:08:37Melissa Erbacher: Well, they did for the first five minutes while you were standing around waiting to start the event.

00:08:43Scott Trickett: But I'm bringing them to the Beaches. Well, actually, I think I'm going to go barefoot on the beaches on Saturday.

00:08:48Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, barefoot? What shoes? Don't be ridiculous. You'll be laughed out of the beach, I think.

00:08:55Scott Trickett: Yeah. So anyway, so that was Centennial in the rain. Awesome event team. And also I went up to the Run Director because I was there with Tim, the CEO. I think it makes a few people, I don't know, nervous, but they introduced Tim. And so I guess for a Run Director, it could be a daunting proposition. And he absolutely nailed it. It was really good. He did an acknowledgement to country. So I went up and had a chat to him about that, thanked him for doing it. and asked him why he did it and how he felt doing it. And again, he said the same thing. It's natural. It's the right thing to do. So he doesn't have any issue doing it. So it was a great morning at Centennial. Then we adventured out to Western Sydney that I've never really been to. We hear about this mass of people that live out in the west of Sydney. It's quite different than along the beaches and the harbour. And Tim and I tried to immerse ourselves in that environment before we ran around it on Sunday for the inaugural Run West event.

00:10:00Melissa Erbacher: And how did Run West go? I understand you had a little bit of a, not a wager. I don't think you bet money on it. Perhaps you did. I'm not sure. But I understand there was a little bit of a competition going with our colleague, Carol.

00:10:15Scott Trickett: There was. We had a little competition. She talked it up. It's funny. Everyone's really confident having got my running ability within our team and my close friends. And I think it's hilarious that I'm a crap runner. And they like to make fun of it. At every opportunity. And Carol pounced on that opportunity. And we had a little bit of a showdown at Run West. Now, there is a little bit of a sad tale.

00:10:39Melissa Erbacher: Oh, yeah.

00:10:41Scott Trickett: Run on Sunday.

00:10:42Melissa Erbacher: Is this the part where the excuses come in? Did she whoop your butt?

00:10:45Scott Trickett: There are lots of excuses. No, well... I don't want to spoil it. I don't want to spoil it because what Tim did is he pulled out his phone while we were running and decided to get a bit of a, it's not a roving report.

00:10:59Melissa Erbacher: It's a running commentary.

00:11:01Scott Trickett: Running commentary report.

00:11:03Melissa Erbacher: Yeah.

00:11:04Scott Trickett: Yeah. So should we have a listen to that? Because it's pretty good. We had a chat out on the course and Tim ran and interviewed one of the fellow runners and then got some audio at the finish line. So should we have a listen to that?

00:11:17Tim Oberg: Yeah, go on then.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Tim Oberg — Run West

00:11:19Tim Oberg: Scott and Tim here reporting for the parkrun adventurers podcast. We are at the 7km mark of the inaugural 12km run west. Scotty, how are you coping?

00:11:32Scott Trickett: Yeah, loving it. Absolutely loving it. If it wasn't for a little bit of a twinge in the hammy, it'd be even better.

00:11:40Tim Oberg: You'd be giving it some. Yeah. So just to set the scene for the listeners, we're in a sea of 7,000 runners. Anyone who's wearing a green... uh bib with a c number on the front is in the parkrun wave there's about 1500 people in the parkrun wave so pretty much whenever we look around we're saying we're saying g'day to people there's an apricot shirt in front of me some fella so it's pretty impressive we've um we've just run through what is going to be called the Sydney zoo Um, no animals in there yet, but very impressive looking facility. And we've come out of the zoo onto what can only be described as an almost near perfect potential parkrun course. Scotty, would you agree? I would. So this is going to be the story.

00:12:36Scott Trickett: We're going to set up a parkrun coming out of this event. And every time I come here, I'm going to be reminded of the twinge in my hammy, every time I put my foot down but also reminded by uh doing a fun run surrounded by parkrunners so what do you reckon 10% of the shirts are parkrun related if not parkrun related they're running club related out of parkruns yeah so plenty of uh plenty of runners from The Ponds we're seeing here uh Rouse Hill obviously being the local parkrun here let's high five this volunteer

00:13:09Lionel: High five, mate.

00:13:13Tim Oberg: Good work. Scotty, let's not change the topic from your hamstring, though. A lot of people would argue that a hamstring injury could also be known as an old man injury. How do you feel about that?

00:13:27Scott Trickett: Absolutely. So I'll set the scene. We're standing around in the cold. No warm-up required. I think I did a jump. I think we did a couple of star jumps. 20 30 minutes into the run had to do a little bit of a sprint to the side Anyway, yeah, so the hammy went 20 metres into the run And uh 12k to go Loving it.

00:13:49Unidentified speaker: Should we go?

00:13:50Tim Oberg: Yeah, go on the apricot shirt. Should we go grab it? All right Let's he's got to be He's wearing an apricot shirt. So he must be a parkrun nutter Let's oh I'm in a puddle Let's go see Notice the extra deep breathing here. Hey, mate, love your shirt.

00:14:08Lionel: Thanks.

00:14:09Tim Oberg: What do you reckon? What do you reckon?

00:14:11Lionel: Great mindset.

00:14:13Tim Oberg: Mate, I'm actually recording right now for a parkrun podcast. I thought I'd come and interview you. What do you think? My name's Tim. Lionel. What's your name? Lionel. And what's your home run? Let's have a look.

00:14:25Lionel: Penrith Lakes.

00:14:26Tim Oberg: Penrith Lakes. Fantastic. Around the rowing lake out there.

00:14:31Lionel: Yeah, we've got three courses here.

00:14:33Tim Oberg: Yeah, the AB and the C. Yeah. Very good. And how are you going today?

00:14:37Lionel: Yeah, pretty good. Just having my last run before I do a race in Tamworth.

00:14:44Tim Oberg: Oh, fantastic. Yeah.

00:14:46Lionel: We've got a 30km cold road.

00:14:48Tim Oberg: Tamworth parkrun was flooded, was it? So you're there next weekend in Tamworth?

00:14:52Lionel: Yeah.

00:14:53Tim Oberg: Fantastic. How far are you on it?

00:14:54Lionel: 30km.

00:14:55Tim Oberg: Oh, my God. You know, that can't be good for you. That's like six parkruns, man. So, anyway.

00:15:02Lionel: Oh, I bet. 1,800 metres elevation. Oh, my God. Good lung buster.

00:15:11Tim Oberg: So this is just a warm-up for you today.

00:15:13Lionel: Oh yeah. Basically.

00:15:14Tim Oberg: Brilliant. Well, Lionel, good to meet you, mate. Run hard, love the shirt. Good fashion. We'll see you at the end.

00:15:21Unidentified speaker: No worries.

00:15:23Tim Oberg: So there we go. That's Lionel, Scotty, from Penrith Lakes. So look, let's sign out and let's maybe pick this up again at the finish line. If we make it. If we make it. Okay, over and out. Okay, folks. Checking in. We've got some bad news. We're at the 8K mark. Scottie's hammy's gone. He's, uh, he's walking. Not sure we're going to see him again. So, we'll report back in at the finish. Coming in. We've got Dave Robbo on commentary.

00:16:05Unidentified speaker: We want Caitlin to take nangers. See if he gives me a shout out. Get the job done as well, great work. Four flamers coming across there from the nangers. A mix of smiles and grimaces, it's fair to say, here at the finish line. Ah, Tim Oberg from parkrun Australia. Well done, Timo. Thanks, Robbo. He hadn't had 11 degrees on his back for probably eight years. How was that, mate?

00:16:28Tim Oberg: Absolutely. Mate, what a great run. If that zoo, when it gets animals next year, that'll be unbelievable. No, you're right. There we go. Done. Good job, Robbo. All right, let's see how long till Scotty comes in. All right, so I found Glen Turner, health and wellbeing lead, parkrun Australia. Glen, how's your health and wellbeing? Not sure after that, mate. You came flying past me. Obviously, you started late.

00:17:04Unidentified speaker: I did. I'm guessing mum and dad with you today. Yeah, we got caught in a bit of traffic this morning. Yeah, here we are. So mum and dad and I started out together. Yep. And then I wound up a little bit towards the end.

00:17:15Tim Oberg: You came flying past me just as Scotty T pulled out with his hammy. Rumour has it a hammy injury like that's an old man injury. What do you got to say about that? Well, Scott's not fast enough to have a hamstring, mate.

00:17:29Unidentified speaker: So I think he just needed a drink.

00:17:31Tim Oberg: And he doesn't like running either. That's the thing. So, I mean, it serves him right. But he's a fantastic walker. He is, he is. As he's displaying for the final four Ks of the race. That's right. That's right. So we'll see how he is when he comes in. You know, you're aware that there's a battle to the death out there between Scotty and Carol Cunningham. There's a serious wager between the two of them. Carol was, you know, giving it to him all week saying, you're going down, Trickett. Then Carol was running with one of her mates, I think, and we just went flying past her. But, you know, obviously now there's going to be a tussle.

00:18:00Unidentified speaker: Well, I haven't seen Carol, but I did see two paramedics coming the other way. Ah, one for Carol, one for Scotty. I presume so, one each.

00:18:07Tim Oberg: Yeah, yeah, right. Okay, well, look, we'll report back soon, podcast. Let's see if Scott's actually not on the podcast this week. We'll know why. Anyway, okay, talk back soon. Okay, he's here. The great man, Scott Trickett. How are you, buddy?

00:18:23Scott Trickett: Really happy to finish.

00:18:25Tim Oberg: What a great event.

00:18:25Scott Trickett: What a great event. Oh, wasn't it a cracker?

00:18:27Tim Oberg: Yeah, no, I love the course. I came over there and Robbo asked me what I think. I said, if next year when they have animals in that zoo, that will be amazing. Running past all the African safari animals and whatnot. But I mean, the course was sensational.

00:18:42Scott Trickett: We did some parkland. There were lots of sights to see, including Mr. Glen Turner.

00:18:47Unidentified speaker: Glen Turner running past arrogantly. Dead flat apart from the hill at 12k or 11k.

00:18:51Scott Trickett: I was walking up there, so I didn't care.

00:18:54Tim Oberg: Robbo on commentary at the end, bringing it home. So, mate, you obviously didn't walk the whole way in because you'd still be out there.

00:19:00Scott Trickett: So, when I left you, I was run walking. And just, yeah. Anytime there was any sort of a bump in the road, there was enough. Going down or up.

00:19:08Tim Oberg: Just quietly, no sign of Carol Cunningham, the half-pint harrier.

00:19:13Scott Trickett: The thing is, when you're going to talk it up, you've got to back it up.

00:19:15Tim Oberg: You do.

00:19:16Scott Trickett: And she certainly hasn't.

00:19:17Tim Oberg: She's talked the talk, but she hasn't. But she's so small, you wouldn't have seen her, mate. She's talked the talk, but she hasn't walked the walk. All right, well, look, we'll hang about here until Carol crosses, and we'll find out what's really going on with Carol Cunningham. All right, all right, we've just heard on Robbo's commentary, Carol Cunningham. Here she is. Here she is. Here she is, live on the parkrun adventurers podcast, Carol Cunningham, welcome.

00:19:44Carol Cunningham: Yay! How's it going? Great, great. Finished with my mates. Had a great time, didn't we? Took some photos, met lots of parkrunners. It was a great time.

00:19:53Tim Oberg: Scotty Trickett's pretty hung up on claiming now that he's done you in this race, eh?

00:19:59Carol Cunningham: Maybe on this one, but the next one, mate.

00:20:01Tim Oberg: You'll get him next time?

00:20:01Carol Cunningham: Yeah, yeah. I've seen his pacing, but I'll have you, Scotty.

00:20:04Tim Oberg: You know what happened during the run? He did his hammy. Oh, did he? And he basically ran walks for the last 4K. But he basically ran through the pain to beat you. That was all he was saying to me the whole time. I've got to beat Carol. I've got to beat Carol. There he is.

00:20:18Carol Cunningham: Next time, mate. Next time.

00:20:20Tim Oberg: Okay, you've heard it here first. Next time. Next time, Carol Cunningham's going to get him. All right, well, that's Tim and Scott. We're going to sign out from the podcast. Run West, great success. You should all do it.

00:20:30Melissa Erbacher: Well, Scotty, I noticed the order that everybody crossed the finish line.

00:20:36Scott Trickett: Yes. So it was a victory. Sort of. Yeah, sort of. So sad tale is that we're – lining up before the event, and it was quite cold in Sydney on the weekend. And, of course, no warm-up. I think I did one jump. So no warm-up. So the body out of shape, freezing cold, and then the starter goes bang. Off we start running. I have to veer off to my left to throw my jacket up to the starter, Lindsay Rees. Hi, Lindsay, a future guest on the show. the podcast. And in that movement, I managed to, I think I might have just strained the hammy, maybe tore it a little bit.

00:21:19Melissa Erbacher: Do you often throw with your legs?

00:21:22Unidentified speaker: No.

00:21:23Scott Trickett: No, it was the explosiveness that I had to dart through the crowd.

00:21:26Melissa Erbacher: Oh, okay. To make sure I got over. Not the propulsion that you were like assisting your arms with leg power or anything. Okay.

00:21:36Scott Trickett: No, because it started on Eastern Creek Racetrack, which was really nice. The first kilometre was on this smooth, soft, bouncy racetrack. But I was in the middle of the racetrack, and then I realised that Lindsay was over on the side, and I had about two or three metres to make up the distance. And so it was in that moment that I quickly accelerated and popped. She went. But I continued on for a bit over 8K, as Tim alluded to in the audio. So I think that's an achievement in itself. So even Saw Hammy walking for the last 4K still managed to beat Carol.

00:22:13Melissa Erbacher: So you didn't, what you're trying to say is you didn't sustain the injury in your attempt to beat Carol.

00:22:23Scott Trickett: No, no, that was never in doubt. That was never in doubt.

00:22:28Melissa Erbacher: Was Lindsay expecting your jacket, your jumper?

00:22:31Scott Trickett: Yes, she was.

00:22:32Melissa Erbacher: Okay, good.

00:22:32Scott Trickett: We teed that up at the start, but then we thought, because we knew we'd be able to find her because she was at the start waving the flag.

00:22:38Mark Scarborough: Yes.

00:22:39Scott Trickett: Like she was a starter, so we thought we know where to find her. What we didn't really factor in is the fact that she was about 20 feet up in the air in a starter's booth.

00:22:49Melissa Erbacher: That's what I was going to say. Did you embarrass yourself? Like, did you have to do more than one attempt to get it up to her to throw the jacket? Yeah, okay. Well, that's something at least.

00:23:01Scott Trickett: But yeah, and you heard the audio from Run West. We both sort of, we all sort of reviewed it. It was a really good run. Highly recommend it. Hopefully we'll go back next year. I've been having some thoughts. It occurs at this time of the year. This is the time of year that we do the listener meetup. There's a parkrun wave at Run West. There were lots of parkrunners about on the morning, lots of podcast listeners about on the morning. I think maybe 2020 parkrun adventurers listeners meetup might have been determined already, Mel.

00:23:33Melissa Erbacher: Oh, you can't keep determining these things without me, Scotty. I'm one half of the podcast.

00:23:39Scott Trickett: Well, it's just an idea. It's just an idea. We've got 12 months to think about it.

00:23:43Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:23:44Scott Trickett: But it really was a good weekend. It's great.

00:23:45Melissa Erbacher: But another one in New South Wales as well. Are we always going to meet in the middle?

00:23:51Scott Trickett: Makes sense, doesn't it?

00:23:53Melissa Erbacher: Well, I don't know. I think it might be a nice opportunity for some South Aussies to have a bit of a look in or, I don't know, maybe some Northern Territorians.

00:24:03Scott Trickett: Maybe we have two.

00:24:04Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Well, next year might also.

00:24:07Scott Trickett: Is that what it is? Bi-annual? That's every two years. Twice a year. Let's get through the first one.

00:24:15Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Let's get through the first one this year.

00:24:19Scott Trickett: And make some commitments. Yeah. But that was my parkrun slash run west weekend.

00:24:24[13 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Jindabyne parkrun

00:24:37Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew and we're all in the car ready for our next parkrun adventure. Is everybody ready? Yeah! So if we punch in our destination for our parkrun adventure into the trusty GPS it tells me we have 195 kilometres to get there in 2 hours and 20 minutes. We'll be reporting back in soon. So we've arrived, and you may recall a couple weeks ago, I said one of the places I wanted to visit before it got too cold was Jindabyne. So here we are at Jindabyne parkrun. Jindabyne parkrun takes place at Banjo Paterson Park, Jindabyne, New South Wales, overlooks the beautiful Lake Jindabyne. Jindabyne is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning valley. Due to the proximity to the Snowy Mountains, Jindabyne is a popular holiday destination year-round. At the last census in 2016, Jindabyne had a population of 2,629. Noting the location, you may think that Jindabyne would be Australia's highest parkrun, but at 915 metres above sea level, it is trumped by Armidale which is at 980 metres. Jindabyne parkrun started on the 9th of June 2018. June was a brave time to start Jindabyne, being the month with the third lowest average minimum temperature of minus 0.8 degrees and an average maximum of 10.8 degrees. Regardless, Jindabyne parkrun debut event had 170 attendees on the day. The course record on debut was set by Paul Trumbull with a time of 19 minutes 58 for the men and 22 minutes for the women was set by Brianna Clayton. The average number of runners is at 35.6 with the most amount being on the first event and the lowest of 10 at event number 11 on the 18th of August 2018. 91 people did take part in the last event for 2018 on the 29th of December and another big number of 97 on the 23rd of February this year for their second largest attendance. This would have been due to the Snowys Ultra Trail Run Festival being held on Sunday that weekend. The male course record is held by Michael Daly with a time of 16 minutes 15 at event number 19 on the 13th of October 2018. Michael is the only male to go sub 17 at Jindabyne. Michael also holds a course record at Braidwood and Wangaratta. In 2017 Michael achieved a 3 minute 20 pb at Gold Coast Marathon with a time of 2 hours 30 minutes and 24 seconds. The female course record is held by Sarah Tapp with a time of 19 minutes 18 at event number 38 on the 2nd of March 2019. This is also Sarah's fastest parkrun time. Sarah is the only woman to go sub 20 at Jindabyne. Not bad for someone who has only completed three parkruns so far. Sarah does seem to prefer longer trail runs and recently took part in the six foot marathon. The average time for Jindabyne parkrun is 33 minutes and 18 seconds. Looking at the top 500 runners for Jindabyne so far, the slowest time is only 32.42. So if you think you can sneak under the course average, you may snag a top 500 finish. As I mentioned, Jindabyne is popular with the tourists, but Jindabyne parkrun is particularly popular for the parkrun adventurers, as J is a rare letter for the alphabet challenge. There are only two other Js in Australia, Jubilee parkrun in South Australia and Jells parkrun in Victoria. There are three other letters as rare as J with three options to run at and that is I, Q and V. U is a rarer letter with only two options and Z is a rarer letter with just one at Zillmere. David Messenger completed the alphabet challenge at Jindabyne on Australia Day this year. David is a true parkrun adventurer having completed 63 different parkrun events in a row. So not only has he completed the alphabet challenge but also the tourist challenge and is 14 away from completing the Cowell Club. He has also completed Pirates, Staying Alive and the Compass Club. In 2019, Jindabyne parkrun implemented parkrun Pickup Day. On the last Saturday of every month, the volunteer Tail Walker carries a plastic bag with them to pick up any rubbish they see on the course. So if you're looking for a new destination, looking to complete the alphabet challenge, I certainly recommend checking out Jindabyne to pick up your letter J. It's a beautiful area here in the Snowy Mountains, so check it out. And we're going to have a chat to a couple of people here. So we're now at the Red Door Cafe Jindabyne for the post parkrun breakfast and I'm here with Rosalie who is the Event Director. Good morning.

00:29:03Rosalie: Good morning.

00:29:05Mark Scarborough: Thank you for hosting us today. We were a little bit nervous about the weather, but it was fine.

00:29:10Rosalie: Yeah, absolutely. I actually have amazing luck with weather when I'm an RD. I'm yet to have a bad weather day. So fingers crossed. I thought today was going to be my first, but it cleared up for me.

00:29:23Mark Scarborough: Yeah, and the temperature was on point, I think. It was about 12 degrees, I think, so it was cool, but not too cold here for Jindabyne. How have you found Jindabyne parkrun in its first year?

00:29:39Rosalie: It's been really good. I think obviously it's very different in Jindabyne. We started over winter, which was a little bit tough, I think. But because we are a tourist destination, at least half of every one of our parkruns is made up of tourists. So the big fluctuation in numbers that we get are always around big tourist events or so forth. So we've managed to build about, you know, a kind of local following, a loyal following of about 20. And then we kind of every week... We have tourists on top of that, which has been amazing because I think it's part of what really showcases Jindabyne.

00:30:16Mark Scarborough: You are adding another tourism aspect to the area as well because J is a rare number in the alphabet challenge. So you guys are boosting the tourism economy in Jindabyne.

00:30:30Rosalie: We have had some really interesting stories from people trying to get their J. We had one gentleman who's been riding up the coast who stopped in Jindabyne. We've had people coming down from Queensland and from everywhere across the state. So it's been very interesting. They're all coming here to get their J. So I like to hear their stories when they come about how long it's taken them or about where they've come from.

00:30:57Mark Scarborough: And what prompted you to start parkrun in Jindabyne?

00:31:02Rosalie: So I used to live in Canberra with my family and I started Jindabyne, sorry, parkrun at Tuggeranong parkrun. And I ran initially by myself and then I made my husband come along and then the kids came along and we volunteered, we went for breakfast. And for me, it was the perfect start to any weekend. You get up, you're active, you're with your family, you're with an amazing community of people and that you get to know and that support you. And yeah, I really, really loved that about parkrun. And then when we moved here initially, I unfortunately worked weekends as is quite common in the area. And we really missed that. And so as soon as I changed roles and was in a job where that it kind of allowed that weekend, I looked into whether we would be able to bring parkrun here.

00:31:51Mark Scarborough: And you said that there are locals that have adopted it. I've got my coffee order coming out now. So you've got some regulars that do attend?

00:32:02Rosalie: Yeah, absolutely. We've got an amazing little local following. We are constantly trying to build it and we are somewhat inhibited by the fact we are a tourist town. So a lot of people, they work weekends or that's their busiest time, particularly over winter, but even in summer we've found that it's getting busier and busier in Jindabyne. So although we do have a couple of people who are in retail and hospitality and stuff, predominantly it's those people that work for parks or council or the jobs where they have weekends off who are able to come down and commit to that job. every weekend. We've used the notice boards, shopfronts are happy to put things out, but we're still finding that a good deal of locals just don't even know that we exist.

00:32:51Mark Scarborough: Alright, so we're going to talk to Erin now, who's one of the most prolific volunteers, I believe. So, how did you start with parkrun?

00:33:01Erin: My very good friend Derek from Curl Curl parkrun, he actually... begged me, not begged me, he demanded that I get involved with parkrun and I swore many, many times that never in a million years would I ever, ever do parkrun. So then on the, our inaugural one on the 9th of June last year, he actually came down from Curl Curl for the event and so he dragged me along. And then the rest is history really. I don't really want to give him credit for it but I do have to give Derek credit for that because he certainly got me involved. So I volunteered on that day and so I've just been volunteering ever since. I've got a few runs in but I prefer the volunteering side.

00:33:49Mark Scarborough: What do you get out of volunteering?

00:33:52Erin: I find that I, well, it started to get me up in the morning on a Saturday morning. It got me out of the house. You know, our little, we've got quite a small volunteer crew, I would say, in Jindabyne. And, you know, we all have become quite close knit. And, you know, I just... I think my favourite aspect is probably making people laugh at some point of the run. You know, I like to comment on their shoes or, you know, the way all their outfit matches from top to bottom or something like that. You know, it just sort of gives them a little bit of a boost on the way. And, yeah, that's certainly my favourite aspect is just giving a little bit of joy, I suppose, a little bit of laughter along the way.

00:34:36Mark Scarborough: And you've already hit 25 milestone for volunteering, I believe.

00:34:40Erin: That's right, yep. So I think I'm up to 28 or 29 now, yep.

00:34:43Mark Scarborough: You got the shirt on order?

00:34:46Erin: I have received my shirt in the mail. Yep, I've received it already. Yep, so Rosalie and I, we match every now and then. Yeah, we're the purple power. Yeah, good.

00:34:58Mark Scarborough: Well, thank you for volunteering, contributing to the parkrun community. It's really good to see.

00:35:04Erin: My absolute pleasure. I look forward to many, many more.

00:35:07Mark Scarborough: Excellent. So, Rosalie, it's an amazing course here. Thank you again for hosting us. We've had a great time. I got my highest ever position in finishing today, which was exciting, and I think it was also maybe my fastest run this year so far, so really happy. Out of interest, what event number was today?

00:35:29Rosalie: Today was number 42, I believe.

00:35:34Mark Scarborough: Oh, snap. Number 42 for the Wilson Index. Scotty and Mel, just check your Wilson Index for me. That's Mark out from Jindabyne. We'll talk to you soon.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Lyndell Murray — East End parkrun

00:35:44Lyndell Murray: G'day Scotty, g'day Mel and good morning to all the parkrun adventurers. It's Lyndell and I am on location in New Plymouth in New Zealand. Now my attempts to get to parkrun here are a little bit foiled I think. So some of you might recall a couple of years ago I hosted a pop-up parkrun of one myself and interviewed just random strangers for the podcast about why there wasn't a parkrun in New Plymouth. So that was fun. And I'm back in New Plymouth, and there is a parkrun. And I've found the flag, and I think I've found the start. I am 15 minutes late, so, you know, to be fair, there may not be anyone here. I've found a lady just holding a phone. I'm wondering if she's volunteering. Look, I'm just going to go and do a little bit of adventuring and see what I can... Hey, I found a finish chute. This is looking promising. Let me see what I can find and I'll be back with you shortly. Well, success. I just had to walk around the corner from the flag and here's the finish chute. And I found Andy, who's volunteering today. How are you going, Andy?

00:36:58Andy: I'm good, thank you. Always good on a Saturday morning for parkrun.

00:37:00Lyndell Murray: Absolutely. Now, I'm detecting an accent there. I figure you might have an interesting parkrun story.

00:37:07Andy: Yep, all the way from Manchester, just near the UK. My family and I came here to New Plymouth just under a year ago. We're absolutely loving life here. The only thing we could complain about, there was no parkrun.

00:37:20Lyndell Murray: Well, that's quite a complaint. I've had that complaint myself.

00:37:24Andy: But due to Trevor Masters and Erin Vaughan, wonderful people have set up parkruns. September the 22nd, it got going here and we've got a fabulous route here.

00:37:34Lyndell Murray: And it's because of my roving reports, right?

00:37:36Andy: Definitely.

00:37:40Lyndell Murray: Now, you've done a little bit of adventuring around since you've been in New Zealand?

00:37:44Andy: Yeah, we've travelled around New Zealand. Six months before we came to live here, we travelled around and clocked up a few parkruns, made fabulous friends that we stay in touch with. It's such a great way of life. You meet people for 20 minutes and they become lifetime friends.

00:37:59Lyndell Murray: Yes. And they've visited you here at New Plymouth?

00:38:03Andy: They have, yeah. We're the foster family from Lower Hutt, Dew Chandler. We're getting people from all around New Zealand coming here because it's quite an iconic course with fabulous views of the Monga, Mount Taranaki on a clear day.

00:38:16Lyndell Murray: On a clear day, which we don't have today, unfortunately, but there's always tomorrow, right?

00:38:21Andy: Always next Saturday.

00:38:23Lyndell Murray: All right, well, thank you so much for talking to me, Andy. You're very welcome. I might just go for a bit of a walk and see if I can, you know, catch up with the Tail Walker on the way back.

00:38:33Andy: They're a friendly bunch here.

00:38:35Lyndell Murray: Oh, I wouldn't have picked it. It's parkrun and it's New Zealand, so how is it not friendly? All right, now due to a late start, I've been turned around early. I've run into the Tail Walker. How are you going today? What's your name? Good thanks. My name is Erica Perry. Erica, now you're walking today. I've had it on good authority that you're a bit of a celebrity around these parts.

00:38:58Erica Perry: Yeah, I'm pretty well known. I've been all over the newspaper. TV, there's an interview of me for a half an hour interview on YouTube called Erica Takes Control and I just ran my very first half marathon two weeks ago and it took me four hours but considering my feet are the size of a five-year-old's size 12 child and I've got missing toes I do pretty well, I feel.

00:39:28Lyndell Murray: I reckon. So what's inspired you to take up parkrunning and marathon running?

00:39:34Erica Perry: Just basically to keep fit, healthy and active. And it's one thing I can do without anyone having to help me because of my physical limitations. And it just keeps my mind and soul happy and healthy. And I just love it. The family atmosphere of parkrun is just amazing. I'm super social. And I just love the... atmosphere of the running and the people and everything else. Excellent and so you volunteer here as well? Yeah I try and volunteer at least once a month and then I run it if I'm trying to get a PB my PB is 41 minutes for 5ks. Yep. But I can also run it without stopping in about 45 minutes.

00:40:19Lyndell Murray: Well, that sounds pretty impressive to me. And have you been coming to this parkrun since it started?

00:40:25Erica Perry: Yeah, I was here on the first day it started and I think I've only missed once.

00:40:29Lyndell Murray: Now, terrific. Now, I've got a question for you. Last time I was in New Plymouth, I did a roving report and there was no parkrun. And so I was asking people whether they'd heard of parkrun when I was as I walked along the coastal walkway. So my question for you today, Erica, is have you ever heard of the parkrun adventurers podcast? no I've never heard of it at all well you're going to be on it well I better start listening you better well thank you for walking with me today thanks for the contribution you make to to runners and being a role model for other people um with physical limitations thank you no it's absolutely fine I'm really I love it and I love being

00:41:11Erica Perry: in the public eye and just getting the word out there that no matter what you can do anything you choose to do.

00:41:17Lyndell Murray: That's fantastic thank you have a great day. Okay now I've found Trevor who is the Run Director how are you today?

00:41:26Trevor Masters: I'm really good nice relaxing day being a Marshal on the course for the first time I'm normally running around here but today it was great to just relax out on the course and say hi to everybody and give words of encouragement.

00:41:40Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Now it's your 28th event, is that correct?

00:41:43Trevor Masters: I believe so. Yeah, you've put me on the spot there. It must be about 28, yeah.

00:41:47Lyndell Murray: Well, that's what Andy told me, so we'll just trust Andy, all right?

00:41:50Trevor Masters: We'll go with that.

00:41:52Lyndell Murray: So you're still, as you said, it's your first time being out on the course and not having to marshal the troops back here at home base. So you're getting established.

00:42:00Trevor Masters: Yeah, definitely. I mean, yeah, no, we've got a really good core group now that, you know, we can rely on. And it's, you know, like Andy today, I think it's his second time being run coordinator. And, you know, he's very confident. And there are plenty of people like him that are here at the moment who are just... um you know here every week familiar faces and it's been you know you just build up that camaraderie yeah yeah and how did you go setting up the parkrun here in New Plymouth oh okay well I remember about four or five years ago doing parkrun for the first time ever in petersham and no it wasn't petersham what's the name of the course it's in Sydney and I can't remember now I should do might be st peter's and I just thought it was a great run a great idea I'd love the concept came back here and initially thought oh I could set that up but I think it was too early because in New Zealand I don't think there were any other runs set up even then. So five, four, five years ago. And then last year I teamed up with Erin Vaughan who was already in talks with parkrun New Zealand and she was well down the track of getting it established. So we just teamed up and after a couple of false starts we ended up with this particular course. We had other courses in mind but you know for whatever reason they weren't suitable for parkrun. And yeah, so the rest is history as they say.

00:43:22Lyndell Murray: Well in terms of courses, I reckon you've probably hit the jackpot.

00:43:26Trevor Masters: Oh, it's a beautiful course, yeah. I enjoy being by the sea and, you know, in the mountain. I think that's what makes Taranaki very, quite unique and possibly, you know, there won't be too many other runs in the world where you have that experience. Yeah.

00:43:38Lyndell Murray: And the bridge, it's a beautiful bridge.

00:43:40Trevor Masters: It is, it is. It's a lovely bridge, yeah. It's quite iconic and the way it frames the mountain, if you're lucky enough to be here when the mountain is visible, then you get to see that view as you run across that bridge.

00:43:51Lyndell Murray: Yep, yep, yep. This is my third time to New Plymouth and I finally saw it the other day when it was clear.

00:43:57Trevor Masters: Oh, wow. Well, I've had friends from the UK. She came over four times before she finally saw the mountain. Yeah.

00:44:07Lyndell Murray: It's mysterious. Yeah. Now, I have to ask you, and maybe Erin might know the answer to this. Now, I was here a couple of years ago and there was no parkrun. I was very disappointed.

00:44:18Erin: Yeah.

00:44:19Lyndell Murray: I did a pop-up parkrun. No one showed up. Oh. I interviewed people on the coastal walkway about why there was no parkrun in New Plymouth and nobody knew the answer. Yeah. So, now there is one. I have to ask, have you heard of the parkrun adventurers podcast? Yes.

00:44:37Trevor Masters: No, I haven't. Until today. I'm sorry. No, I haven't. But I'll be looking up now when I get back.

00:44:47Lyndell Murray: Yes. It's a fun podcast. You won't regret it.

00:44:50Trevor Masters: Okay.

00:44:53Lyndell Murray: Now, next week you'll be back to run directing, or will you have a run next week?

00:44:57Trevor Masters: Oh, I don't know. Well, I'm sort of always, you know, in between injuries, so next week, hey, who knows, I'll get the running shoes back on and see how we go. I haven't had a run here for several weeks, so I've only had one run on our own course, but I did get a run over in Napier about two or three weeks ago, which was, yeah, that was great.

00:45:16Lyndell Murray: I think it's the perils of being a start-up Run Director, you don't get a lot of running in.

00:45:21Trevor Masters: Yeah, and also it's just part of letting go, you know, because it's your little baby that you're wanting to manage and hold and after a while you've just got to go let the reins go and rely on your volunteers because they are all doing a fantastic job anyway.

00:45:36Lyndell Murray: It looks like it. Great team here. Beautiful course. Thank you, Trevor, for talking to me today.

00:45:43Trevor Masters: Thank you.

00:45:43Lyndell Murray: And thank you for setting up a parkrun in New Plymouth.

00:45:48Trevor Masters: It's great. A lot of people have said that.

00:45:51Lyndell Murray: It's a beautiful spot. So well done. Now, the name of the parkrun isn't New Plymouth parkrun. It is actually East End parkrun.

00:45:58Trevor Masters: Correct, yeah, because East End is actually the beach that's just in front of you here. So East End is just along from Fitzroy Beach to the east. And so, yeah, I guess the naming convention sticks for East End, you know, now that we may have more than one parkrun in New Plymouth one day, I guess.

00:46:16Lyndell Murray: Yes, I'll have to come back.

00:46:18Trevor Masters: Yeah, because there's lots of great places that run around New Plymouth and Taranaki in general.

00:46:26Lyndell Murray: awesome well thank you Trevor okay have a great day you too thanks very much thank you All righty, Scotty, Mel, that's a wrap. The beautiful East End parkrun here in New Plymouth along the coastal walkway on a good day, views of Mount Taranaki and a fantastic bridge, beautiful bridge, Scotty, you'd love it. No parkrun for me today. I was late and only completed half of the course, but worth the visit just to check in with the people of East End parkrun. This is Lyndell checking out from the Channel 5 News crew on the parkrun adventurers.

00:47:04Scott Trickett: Mark is our newest entry into the Channel 5 News crew. Lyndell is an old favourite, so thanks, guys. We're still accepting reports from non-Channel 5 News crew members. That's how Mark got in. He just stepped up and started doing some. Tim's put an entry in today, earlier in the episode, so anyone can do it.

00:47:25Melissa Erbacher: And we welcome them from all states and territories. Not sure. I think we've had one from the Northern Territory before, but it must have been a while.

00:47:36Scott Trickett: It has been a while. You're right. And WA, very, very quiet from WA. Love to hear more out of that great state. Not the greatest, but right up there.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

00:47:48Scott Trickett: Now, speaking of the great state, we've got a new event down here on the weekend. Lawn Beach is launching next.

00:47:57Melissa Erbacher: You do, but there's also another one launching in South Australia this weekend at Naracoorte Lake. Pretty exciting, two launches in a weekend. It's just like when you're waiting for a bus, you know, no buses for a long time and then two come along at once.

00:48:12Scott Trickett: Yeah, and I reckon they'll be two great events too. Lawn Beach will be popular. There is a community down there, I think, that Loves a bit of outdoor active lifestyle, so that will be good. And Naracoorte, there's a little pocket now building around Mount Gambier and Portland, and so they've got events nearby that aren't too far to travel to.

00:48:34Melissa Erbacher: And this one's been in the works for a long time, so it's great to see it finally up and on its way.

00:48:40Scott Trickett: Yeah, well done to all involved. Superb effort.

00:48:44Melissa Erbacher: We also have some annies this weekend, Scotty.

00:48:47Scott Trickett: Yep, anniversaries.

00:48:49Melissa Erbacher: So I'll start off. Kedron in Queensland.

00:48:53Scott Trickett: Lismore in New South Wales.

00:48:55Melissa Erbacher: Main Beach in Queensland.

00:48:58Scott Trickett: And Traralgon in Victoria.

00:49:06Melissa Erbacher: Did Lismore have, Lismore didn't have their anniversary last weekend, did they? Did they? I feel like they did. I feel like I saw costumes.

00:49:17Scott Trickett: Does anybody pay attention to what we say or print?

00:49:20Melissa Erbacher: I'm not sure. But hey, Main Beach having their anniversary, you know what that means. It's the anniversary of parkrun in Australia.

00:49:28Scott Trickett: Crazy. Eight years.

00:49:30Melissa Erbacher: Eight years.

00:49:31Scott Trickett: It's a long time now, isn't it?

00:49:34Melissa Erbacher: It is. It's, that's, yeah. Wow. Eight years. It's gone fast.

00:49:40Scott Trickett: There is another launch. There is another launch on Saturday. We are launching Japan. Where's the first event in Japan, Mel?

00:49:48Melissa Erbacher: It's in Futako, Tamagawa.

00:49:50Scott Trickett: Oh, you're such a show-off. Do you know how many times I've written and tried to say that? I couldn't get anywhere close to it. There you go.

00:49:58Melissa Erbacher: Well, the Japanese native speakers might go where and still have a different pronunciation for it. But, yeah, I have also spent a lot of time saying it and moving around paperwork and things like that around so I've had some practice I've certainly I can spell it for you backwards practically if you want to though I'm not going to do it out loud because it won't work but what I have learned is that they actually the japanese don't call it what you just said they call it niko niko fatu watu gawa whatever

00:50:37Scott Trickett: So they put a Niko in front of the... Yeah, or Niki, Niko, something like that.

00:50:42Melissa Erbacher: Niko Futakotamagawa.

00:50:46Scott Trickett: Yeah, yeah, showing my complete ignorance to the naming conventions of the Japanese culture, but that's what happens.

00:50:53Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Well, are you sure Niko doesn't mean park?

00:50:57Scott Trickett: I think it might, yes.

00:50:59Melissa Erbacher: because I'm pretty sure that's the park that it's in. But I might be making it up as well. So based on you calling it Nikko, and that might be completely wrong.

00:51:09Scott Trickett: Hey, well, let's all get the answers to these next week. It'd be great if we have a roving report from the first parkrun in Japan.

00:51:18Melissa Erbacher: Yes, it would be great to have a roving report, but congrats to Japan for joining the parkrun family. You know, a new country in the world, that's not a little deal. That's a big deal. Very exciting times.

Sign-off

00:51:32Scott Trickett: Yeah, a lot of excitement about it. It's going to be great. Now that wraps up this, the parkrun portion of the episode, the parkrun, what are we doing? The parkrun adventurers podcast.

00:51:47Melissa Erbacher: Have you got a lot of other podcasts you record, Scotty, that you get confused with or?

00:51:52Scott Trickett: No, no, I don't. No, I don't. But it's budget week, Mel. You've been analysing the budget that was handed down. Was there anything in there for parkrun?

00:52:03Melissa Erbacher: Have I been analysing what? The budget. The budget. No, Scotty, I have not been analysing a budget. Like the only budget I'm worried about at the moment is for my time in making costumes, et cetera, for the weekend and other things that I'm creatively pursuing. Have you been analysing budgets?

00:52:31Scott Trickett: No. No, I thought I was going to leave that up to you and you were going to fill me all in.

00:52:35Melissa Erbacher: Oh, sorry.

00:52:36Scott Trickett: I'll have to go off and do that before we catch up so we can have that in-depth chat while we freedom run around Newy parkrun on Friday night.

00:52:46Melissa Erbacher: Oh, see, now here's the thing. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make the freedom run. What? Well, like, I'll be there, but... 10 kilometres within the space of about 15 hours might not be doable for me. And it might mean that if I did Newy on Friday afternoon, that my beaches experience on Saturday is a very long one, which means it would be a very long one for everybody.

00:53:15Scott Trickett: Well, you know what just dawned on me as well? I've actually got a torn hamstring. I'm not sure how I'm going to go either.

00:53:25Melissa Erbacher: We're going to be like the walking wounded. I've got piriformis issues. My pillow fort is not cutting it for the way I'm sleeping at the moment. It's all happening.

00:53:37Scott Trickett: Okay. It could be messy. But there will be something happening at Newy on Friday night, whether Mel and I run or not.

00:53:44Melissa Erbacher: Oh, well, we'll be there.

00:53:45Scott Trickett: We'll be there.

00:53:46Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:53:47Melissa Erbacher: At the finish line, at the very least, to encourage people across the finish line. But, yeah, it's going to be a fun weekend, Scotty. I can't tell you how excited I am about going to Newcastle. Like, yeah, Japan's pretty cool, but Newcastle, come on, the beaches. This is one of your bucket list parkrun events and has been for a very long time.

00:54:08Scott Trickett: This is number one. Yeah, this is number one. I think I've gone on record as saying ever since beaches launches, I've wanted to get there. And experience it. And I've been following the Facebook page the last couple of months. And it looks like fun every week. And I've only ever really been to Newcastle itself once.

00:54:29Melissa Erbacher: I've never been.

00:54:30Scott Trickett: Really?

00:54:31Melissa Erbacher: Really. This is a completely new experience for me.

00:54:33Scott Trickett: Yeah, Yvonne and I drove through it like 20 years ago. When we first got together, we went on a road trip down the east coast of Australia. And we didn't stop. Like, I don't recall stopping. I remember us driving in and going, oh, this is Newcastle. And that was it.

00:54:49Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

00:54:50Scott Trickett: So we got a whole weekend to explore something new.

00:54:52Melissa Erbacher: We do.

00:54:53Scott Trickett: Robbo's pumped it up enough over the years that I've got high expectations. So, gee, I hope it delivers.

00:54:59Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I'm sure it won't disappoint.

00:55:02Scott Trickett: So let's leave it there, Mel. Let's wrap it up. It's getting late. People want to start planning and packing for the meetup. That means you and me. So I'll chat to you in a couple of days' time, live, in person.

00:55:16Melissa Erbacher: Oh, scary. I'll see you there.