Episode 171 - The Butler Boys

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode 171 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. Traditionally speaking, the odd episodes were introduced by my co-host Scotty Trickett. However, Scotty is no longer the co-host of this episode, fine podcast um sadly enough so I am I'm running with it I'm taking on the odds and um that means that the evens will go to whoever will be co-hosting with me in the future We don't know who that will be yet. So in the meantime, the Channel 5 News crew have incredibly all put up their hands and said they're willing to support and be my co-hosts in the caretaker period. And to kick off with, we thought it would be, and when I say we, I'm talking also about Scotty because I had a chat about Scotty, you know, how things might work with him. And he is 100% in agreeance that it only makes sense that the very first person to be the co-host with me would be PK, Paul Kitching, who was also the first ever roving reporter to join the then Channel 4 news crew, which morphed into the Channel 5 news crew. So, PK, welcome to the parkrun adventurers.

00:01:48Paul Kitching: G'day, Mel. How are you?

00:01:50Melissa Erbacher: I want to say I'm good and I am good, but I'm still, you know, feeling my way here. It's going to be a bit of a transitionary period for me as we, you know... Forge into the future without Scotty. I thank you so much, PK, for joining me and holding my hand through this first episode. I really, really appreciate it.

00:02:13Paul Kitching: Well, can I just say it's an absolute honour. I feel like, I don't know, it's like, you know, the birth of my two girls, witnessing Sturt winning the grand final, appearing as the co-host on the parkrun adventurers podcast is out there with the highlights of my life. Let's... No, I'm serious. When you contacted me about it, I was like, wow. I remember the days when I would just send through the files and, you know, hope that I made sense as a roving reporter and I got pretty obsessed in that first year. I'm thinking back now, you're reminding me of some of the adventures that I had and I reported on. And it's been, what, three and a bit years, three and a half years now that I've been honoured. And thank you, you know. It's been... It's been a big journey and it's been a lot of fun and really, and I've got to thank both you and Scott for what you have created because, gosh, we are, what, years down the track now and it's evolved, hasn't it? It's evolved and I suppose some evolutions happen because they have to. Some evolutions happen because you're made to and I know this one, you know, you were pretty emotional in the last week and those who have listened to it, if you haven't, you should go back and have a listen because I think that in itself is a milestone episode, 170. If you haven't listened to it, people, and you're listening to this in the future, go back and listen to 170 because it really is a line in the sand, I believe, for the parkrun adventurers podcast.

00:03:52Melissa Erbacher: Yes, definitely a line and everything's going to be different from here and hopefully everyone sticks with us. I've had a lot of messages in the last week and I've spoken to a lot of people There was the parkrun Australia Ambassador Conference on the weekend. And so I saw a lot of people in person who are devout listeners of the pod. And, you know, many people messaged and said that there should have been a warning not to listen to it while driving because it was dangerous. Yeah. And yeah, it sounds like we weren't the only ones to get emotional. And I know what it's like. I'm one of those sympathetic criers. So if my friends get upset, I get upset. And yeah, it was real. It was real. It was real.

00:04:40Paul Kitching: And I reckon you must have had the mute on a bit because every time I could hear you listening back to it, like, you know, sniffling away. And it was beautiful. It was raw and real. And like Scotty said, he ripped the Band-Aid off, you know, which I think was really well done. And it was emotional times. There's so much love for Scott out there, as we know, and not just within the parkrun world but within the roving reporters world as well and all of us, reporters was very evident in the in our you know private group that we've got going on where we chat about everything that we're doing and um yeah that was very evident and um Scotty we missed you uh and we're gonna we're gonna forge forge on without you and uh And do our best. And as I said, it's an honour just to be one of the co-hosts. I look forward to hearing from all my fellow reporters and the different nuances and the different, I suppose, interests that they have that they can bring to this awesome world that you've created.

00:05:35Melissa Erbacher: It'll be fun. There will be fun to be had. That is for sure. And speaking of fun, PK, where were you at parkrun last weekend?

00:05:44Paul Kitching: Oh, well, look, I have to be honest. I was back home at Mount Barker. It's been a while. I've had a few weeks off with sport, but I was the RD at Mount Barker on the weekend. We had a great day. There were a few milestones. Yeah, as RD... You know, you hope everything goes well. And it did. It was a bit eventful. At one point, I did have to ride out on the course, borrow someone's bike with the defib, you know, in one hand. But it was all okay. I didn't even find what could have been an issue. It was obviously, it was all covered. But I did get to see the whole course on a bike. And it meant I got to enjoy the beautiful surrounds of the Laratinga Wetlands and hear the bird life, et cetera, et cetera. I got to see our course a little bit different, unplanned, but it was another awesome parkrun. How about you? Where were you? Well, I know where you were, but which parkrun did you do?

00:06:42Melissa Erbacher: Well, hold on. I need to go back to this. You had to bike a defib out to the course. Did somebody put a call in for the defib or you were just told that there was an accident or something? No.

00:06:53Paul Kitching: Young lads, actually, young Jackson, he came up to me. He actually, he came first. And by the time he came over the line, he ran up to me and he said, mate, there's someone, someone's collapsed out about a K out. And I went, oh, okay. So he actually had also done the course checker roll. So he'd actually had his bike there. He'd done the course checker roll on his bike. So I borrowed his bike and grabbed the defib, not knowing anything. and what was happening. And so madly got on the bike, rode out, and there's a photo of me on our Facebook, on the bike to find out what had happened. But of course, I was looking for someone on the ground and kept on riding and couldn't find anyone. And I wish I'd actually asked some of the people that were like I was madly riding past. But as it turns out, by the time I got like, I couldn't see anyone. I kept asking all these people. They hadn't seen anyone and clearly what had happened, someone had had an incident. I believe it was an asthma attack. I've since heard there was also an epileptic fit as well. So I had two potential incidences and Carol will be pleased to know I reported both of them. But they were both thankfully not real incidences, even though they were incidences. But they certainly did not require the D-fib. Although a few people did say to me they saw the look of fear in my eyes of, you know, the RD that has to deal with a major incident whilst riding with the D-fib in their hand.

00:08:14Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:08:15Melissa Erbacher: Well, and that's the thing, like, did you, with all that adrenaline, did you need the defib when you got over? Like, did you sort of come to a stop and say, all right, now this is for me?

00:08:25Paul Kitching: I did think that. And also because it was a little bit chilly up there. Mount Barker's up in the hills and I had my thermals on under jeans and three layers on my top and a vest and I was riding madly on the bike. I was a little bit warm when I got back, so...

00:08:41Melissa Erbacher: Far out. My goodness. Well done you anyway for responding so quickly. My parkrun day was nowhere near as eventful as that. I mean, it was a great morning. I was at Kirra parkrun on the, well, yeah, it is technically Gold Coast. It's just snuck into Queensland pretty much, Kirra. Yeah. Whereas we were staying in accommodation in New South Wales, but we walked to parkrun. So we crossed the border from New South Wales into Queensland to get to parkrun on Saturday morning. Only a 2K walk. So it was a nice gentle warm up for those that were doing the course. I have actually run at Kirra before. So I thought I would take the opportunity to volunteer this time, and see it from that perspective because everyone knows I love volunteering. So I was photographer, absolutely unnecessary because there were so many social media ambassadors who just, you know, they came for a run, but they also bought their five foot long lenses, et cetera, and all their fancy photography equipment. Whereas I just had my little phone that I was taking snaps out on the course with. So yeah, I'm not even sure if my photos have been uploaded yet because all the other ones were just so brilliant. It's like, well, I didn't really need mine. I still had a great morning, you know, after the event. The wonderful Gary Murphy who was up from Victoria for the weekend as well attending the conference. He was running around in his propeller hat and he came and... I saw the propeller hat.

00:10:15Paul Kitching: I saw William Barlow posted a great video that features the propeller hat working. So it's worth looking that one up on YouTube indeed.

00:10:25Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. He's a fine man, Will Barlow. I believe he's celebrating a milestone himself this coming weekend, PK.

00:10:31Paul Kitching: Yes, go, Will. I believe you're doing your 250 this weekend at Ginninderra. Is that how I pronounce it? Yes. Go, Will.

00:10:38Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, but so after he had run, he came over and stood around near where I was and was cheering and giving high fives out and things like that. He actually got swooped by a magpie. A magpie felt threatened by his propeller, I'm guessing. And it was literally while he was standing right across from me. I thought, oh, it's magpie season already. It's not even September yet and they're already out. So... Fortunately, he was unharmed and untouched by said magpie, and no second attempt was made, which was good. But, yeah, I had a great morning. There was a wonderful vibe going on. Everybody was so happy. It was just – it was really good. Just warm, genuinely lovely parkrun day. And it's at the beach, you can't argue with the view from the beach.

00:11:24Paul Kitching: It looked gorgeous. I've seen the photos and the video, as I said. And the conference, for those playing at home, what was that all about?

00:11:31Melissa Erbacher: Well, once a year, parkrun Australia hosts an ambassador conference, which is an opportunity for ambassadors across the country to get together and discuss basically live and breathe parkrun for a couple of days and come away rejuvenated and inspired about the work that the volunteers do. Because, you know, we all get so much from volunteering. It's such a gaining experience. And And yeah, that's pretty much what conference is about. I had the privilege of being the emcee this year. Many thanks to Dave Robbo for being out of the country. So he couldn't do it. I was option number two or possibly further down the list, how I I don't know how many other names were on the list before they arrived at mine but I was very honoured and privileged to be there and do it and had a good time lots of fun um behind the mic I'm sure you nailed it Mel uh I've got serious fomo far out when I when I saw that uh

00:12:34Paul Kitching: Paul and Charlie Butler and Greta and others here from South Australia were heading off to the gold coast I'm like what where are you guys going what are you doing and then they told me and I'm like oh fomo far out but I've saw a few photos tell me more about I mean without I mean what goes on behind hey what goes on at conference that stays at conference I understand but um I did notice a bit of a dress up and I know you love a dress up tell me more about the dress ups

00:12:59Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, we had – there was a Hawaiian theme for the dress up. So, basically, it's just, you know, the dinner on Saturday night. It's not compulsory, but everybody or the majority of people really run with it. And the Hawaiian theme was lovely. I – Wanted to get my pineapple dress out from years and years ago, and I did get it out at home, and I definitely do not fit into it anymore. Becoming a mother has definitely changed my body in more ways than one. So I no longer fit into my pineapple dress, which is quite sad. I'm going to have to make some alterations. So I got my backup Hawaiian outfit, because everyone has a backup Hawaiian outfit somewhere in their cupboard, I'm sure, and just did the ordinary grass skirt and Hawaiian shirt with multiple leis of multiple rainbow-type colours. And, yeah, it was good fun. I also made a little costume for Emmett. This was his first time at conference. Wesley stayed at home and Emmett got dressed up as a little miniature pineapple. Oh, my God.

00:14:05Paul Kitching: Now tell me, by doing Kirra, did that add to one of these indexes that I keep hearing about? Yes, about did it um I don't know I know there are a number of indexes that did it uh register on one of those it would have contributed to the long game of my v index because I was volunteering as a photographer yeah right now again for those playing at home and this is me just tapping in as a uh as a casual listener I um I've got I've got a you know peel that peel the uh the curtain back here and admit but I haven't listened to every episode shock horror of the parkrun oh my I know, right?

00:14:46Melissa Erbacher: You're sacked, PK.

00:14:48Paul Kitching: That's it.

00:14:48Melissa Erbacher: That's it, yeah. You can leave now.

00:14:51Paul Kitching: Life gets tough. We missed the episode or episodes where you referred to these different indexes. I've heard of the V Index yet. There's another one, the Wilson Index, and I love that you guys refer to it every now and then, but I'm also thinking about those that might have just tuned in and gone, and I know the whole idea is there for you need to go back and listen to the episode where we talked about what the Wilson Index is. But can we just enlighten me and others as to what the Wilson Index is, for example?

00:15:18Melissa Erbacher: For those who haven't heard of the Wilson Index before – Every event has a number. So, for example, you will Run Director at Mount Barker on the weekend. It would have been event number, do you know what?

00:15:29Paul Kitching: 291.

00:15:31Melissa Erbacher: Okay, 291. So, if you had run at Mount Barker on the weekend, you would have earned a 291 for your Wilson Index. Right. So, the Wilson Index is the number of events starting at number one that you have attended across all the parkruns you've ever attended. So, if you've ever attended a launch, you've got a one. So if you went to the very first of a parkrun and then you ran there for 50 weeks in a row and never had a break, never volunteered, you would have a Wilson Index of 50. And so it's the number of events that you've got in a row. So, for example, my Wilson Index is currently three because I've never been to an event number four or five. But if I got a four and a five, my Wilson Index would actually jump to nine because the next number I'm missing is a ten.

00:16:23Paul Kitching: Yes, I love it. That's good. Now I totally get it and I totally get the fascination with it, yeah, because like with 291, obviously there's going to be a whole lot of different gaps there. I've done I don't know how many parkruns, 130-odd, whatever. But, yeah, there's obviously going to be a lot of gaps.

00:16:39Melissa Erbacher: Lots of people use it. Some people exclusively decide where they're going based on their Wilson Index. They don't need a brand-new event or anything like that.

00:16:48Paul Kitching: Well, I'm now totally enlightened. Thank you.

00:16:51Melissa Erbacher: My pleasure. My pleasure. And, yeah, I mean, the running challenges in general, big, big rabbit hole to fall down. But fun. Very fun.

00:17:02Paul Kitching: I love it. I love it. And it just adds to the fun that is parkrun, isn't it, really? Doesn't it? It does.

00:17:08[17 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Interview Paul Butler and Charlie Butler — parkrun Australia Photography & Video Ambassador; Mount Barker parkrun (SA)…

00:17:25Paul Kitching: Okay, now we're going to chat with some excellent parkrun ambassadors. They are a new form of ambassadors that have been added not long ago. They are parkrun ambassadors for photography and video. Sorry, parkrun photography and video ambassadors. I'm talking about Paul and Charlie Butler. Welcome, Paul and Charlie. How are you going?

00:17:47Paul Butler: How are we doing? Excellent. Thank you, PK.

00:17:49Paul Kitching: So Charlie and Paul, you guys have come on board recently as the parkrun photography and video ambassadors. I know you well because you are part of the Mount Barker team and you have done some fabulous work for our local parkrun. And, yeah, it's been noticed by the parkrun world and you guys have been elevated to this awesome role. How did it feel when you were contacted by parkrun and told that you were offered, I suppose, the role of ambassadors?

00:18:21Paul Butler: Yeah, thank you, PK. Fantastic. It was great. I got a call from Carol, at parkrun HQ and she talked to him. It must have been every time I speak with Carol, I end up feeling very excited and inspired. She's fantastic to talk to. But such an honour for us, for Charlie and I, to be given the opportunity to do something that we really enjoy doing and be able to contribute in this way. It's been really exciting so far and we're thoroughly enjoying it.

00:18:48Charlie Butler: To be honest, when it first sort of happening, I didn't really know what was going on because, well, that's how I usually am. I'm a teenage boy. I never really know what's happening. But then when we started talking about being ambassadors, I thought there was a pretty incredible opportunity and we were both really excited to be a part of something like that.

00:19:05Paul Kitching: Yeah. Well, I suppose you've been doing photography and video as well, Charlie. Awesome work for parkrun for a while now. What does it mean to be an ambassador? How does it change your role?

00:19:16Charlie Butler: It makes me feel more important. Yeah. Um, my, my, my favourite thing has been getting the, uh, parkrun email. Definitely getting Charlie.Butler@parkrun.com was the most important part for me because that felt pretty awesome, but mainly it's been being a part of something so much bigger. At Mount Barker, a lot of the videos are sort of for events coming up and small things like birthday celebrations. But then doing some of the video work for parkrun Australia, promoting things like Volunteer Week, it's just so exciting to be a part of something that's so much bigger and that means so much more.

00:19:52Melissa Erbacher: It's a wonderful role that you guys are both very talented at doing. I know I've seen your work over the previous years. Can you each give us a little bit of a back history into how you first came to know about parkrun, how you got involved, how you started volunteering?

00:20:09Paul Butler: Yeah, I saw about it in our local paper. I saw that it was coming to Mount Barker, which is a town in the Adelaide Hills, not very far away from where we live. And at the time I'd been playing indoor soccer and getting a bit too old to be playing indoor soccer. We were getting thrashed and I thought it's only a matter of time before I get injured. So I was looking for something else to try. And so I saw that this thing called parkrun was coming and that was in 2014. And I decided to go along and give it a go. And I took Charlie with me and Tilly, my daughter, as well. And off we went and had no idea at the time just how much it was going to change my life, just how significant and enjoyable and what a huge thing it was going to become for me. The first time I went, it was good. I enjoyed it. Charlie probably wasn't quite so enthusiastic about the whole idea, were you, Charlie?

00:21:07Charlie Butler: I didn't really enjoy it. I was a chubby 11-year-old. Taking them along to a five-kilometre run is really not a good idea. I remember, though, Dad brought himself a backpack with a drink bottle and some bananas just in case the distance was too long, which I thought was great.

00:21:23Melissa Erbacher: Were they for you, Charlie, or were they for Paul?

00:21:26Charlie Butler: I think they were just for him, to be honest.

00:21:31Paul Kitching: And when did you guys discover the joy of volunteering?

00:21:36Charlie Butler: I first used volunteering as a way to get out of running because when I first found out that I could take photos, I thought, hey, this is a great opportunity to go along to parkrun and then not have to do any of the hard work of actually running. That soon turned into me realising what a great community it is and then I started actually running. But it was really just an excuse at first because I felt guilty for not wanting to go along.

00:22:01Paul Butler: And for me, I thought... I'd probably been going for about a year and been going along to parkrun and enjoying it. And I'd finished my run and pack up and go home. But a friend of mine said one time that he was going to volunteer. And I thought, yeah, I should probably do the same. And given the fact that I had an interest in photography, it was naturally that I would do the photography role. But I just remember turning up and the Event Director at the time came over and had a chat and said, you must be Paul. And she made Facebook friends with me so that I could upload the photos. And I think it was pretty much from that day onwards that it all really changed because then I really felt like I was part of the group, started to learn people's names, find out how it all worked. And I think that the best thing for me was just that people were really appreciative of what I did. And I enjoyed taking photos anyway. So it just really encouraged that and became a really supportive and encouraging thing. And then, of course, Charlie became interested in photography as well. And so he started to take on the role too.

00:23:08Melissa Erbacher: You've gone to parkrun together as a family to start with, albeit Charlie a little bit reluctantly, but that's burgeoned into an obvious love for the community that's there. How has that impacted your relationship, both of you getting into the photography and enjoying your time at parkrun?

00:23:25Paul Butler: It's been great. So it's been really good to have something that we share a real interest in. And initially we would photograph together the first couple of times. And what always fascinates me is that we could go along to the same parkrun on the same day with the same people and come away with different photos, different looking photos. And it's really interesting to see the different take. And Charlie's got a really creative flair about him and his photography. And then subsequently, when he got into videos as well, he would just try things that I hadn't even thought of doing, which I found really quite fascinating. So it's been an opportunity for us in terms of the way that We relate to each other to have something important and significant that we can talk about and probably balances out all the other stupid stuff that we talk about on the way to and from parkrun as well.

00:24:18Charlie Butler: Yeah, I think it's really helpful also to have that sort of barrier. That's why we first did it both together, because I was so nervous about not being able to get those extra shots that I needed. So it's really good that we can rely on each other. And so when I get terrible photos, I'm able to use some of his and then it looks like we did a decent job when really he did all the work.

00:24:40Paul Kitching: Yeah, your dedication to the craft of photography and videography, both of you, is stunning and congratulations to you both because you both create awesome work that is well admired by everyone and you're doing it in a volunteer role for free and the work lives on forever in perpetuity, um but look I think it's awesome the stuff that you're doing uh I'm intrigued to know Charlie as to your interest in video um uh I'd like to I suppose ask um how that has uh evolved um you've obviously we've done a little bit of work and probably the highlight of your video world is uh video life has been when um when you and I did uh the first parkrun adventurers uh vodcast yeah for news that the news they double anyway that's available on the parkrun adventurers Facebook page for any of those who haven't seen it um but then when you brought out the awesome work for the uh Mount Barker birthday celebrations which was a lot of fun but in all seriousness um for those um who are unaware you've gone on to do some great stuff with Tropfest uh tell us a little bit more about that and how and has parkrun helped that did or did that help parkrun

00:25:52Charlie Butler: Well, it's been pretty awesome with parkrun because everyone in the community has been so supportive. So when I first got into it, I thought it was a great opportunity to do my first sort of video. So I remember probably when around parkrun, Mount Barker parkrun's second birthday, I did a little video for them. And then ever since then, I kept doing more and more videos. And the great thing about it was it didn't matter if the videos weren't good enough. It wasn't a paid client. So it was just such a relaxed opportunity for me to develop my skills. So, yeah, even I can see my work has definitely improved over the past four or so years. And that was to the point where I was comfortable enough to be able to do a short film for Tropfest. So that was one that involved all of our family, which was an interesting process because no one in our family is really actors except for my sister. And that was really about the main, yeah, that was the main challenge, trying to get good content out of dad. Not to be mean to dad. Actually, funnily enough, he won best actor at the competition, which was really strange.

00:27:01Melissa Erbacher: Well, Charlie, actors are only as good as their directors.

00:27:05Charlie Butler: I like that. I'm going to start saying that. That's basically my trophy then.

00:27:11Paul Butler: And we'll note that the trophy has ended up in Charlie's bedroom, by the way, but, you know, we're not talking about that.

00:27:18Charlie Butler: It was a bit rough. I mean, I spent eight months on the film. It was my pride and joy. And then Dad goes away with the award.

00:27:27Paul Butler: It really wasn't fair. He should have won.

00:27:30Charlie Butler: I should have won.

00:27:31Paul Butler: You should have won.

00:27:31Charlie Butler: No, but yeah, it was a really exciting project to work on and definitely challenging, but really enjoyed that one.

00:27:37Paul Butler: Yeah, in terms of parkrun diets, One of the things that's fantastic about the particular community that we've got at Mount Barker is that people are very used to having their photo taken or being on film. And so it's just become part of the norm. People know that they turn up there and the photographer doesn't really have to do a lot to talk people into it. People are jumping in front of a lens to get their picture taken. And so because people are so used to that, um, because we've had, you know, such a quite an investment in photography and videography that, um, It means that Charlie's been able to get lots of really good practice in there with lots of people who are always willing to do their bit and be in front of the camera.

00:28:20Charlie Butler: That's actually how I got comfortable enough to be able to go up and talk to people because I do a lot of event photography now where you need to ask people to get your photos taken. And it's so challenging to go up to a stranger and ask them if you can take a photo of them. That's like a weird thing to do. But at Mount Barker, I don't think anyone's ever actually said no to me. So that was just such a good way to build my confidence. Everyone's so willing. Everyone's so used to it. And everyone's so supportive there of what we do.

00:28:47Melissa Erbacher: Do you have any tips for any burgeoning photographers out there or any just, I mean, volunteers who take on the role? I know it's a role that is traditionally really difficult to fill at a lot of events because people have this fear of not taking good photos or perhaps it's that interaction with people and asking if they can take their photos. Have you got any tips for those people?

00:29:10Charlie Butler: Well, the strategy that we usually use is if someone's really new to doing photography and I'll go along and I'll take photos as their backup. So that's what I did with dad. And that's pretty much the only reason that I was ever comfortable enough to go and take photos is because I knew that if everything did fail, I'd have a backup. But I think the main thing in terms of getting group photos is just to be loud and to be confident. PK knows a lot about that. I don't think he has any issues with doing that. But I found that waiting around sort of to politely ask for a photo is, quite challenging sometimes because people are focused on their conversations and just having the confidence to know what you're doing and just go up to someone and talk to them is the main thing to be able to get good shots, I reckon.

00:29:56Paul Butler: That's right. I think just being willing to jump in and do it. And the fact is that people really appreciate when someone volunteers as a photographer. And I found it quite fascinating. There's not many events where people get a pretty much a weekly photograph of themselves. And sometimes when we look back over the, you know, to get someone's milestones pictures together, it's really interesting to see how much people have changed in the last, you know, two or three years. It's pretty, it is quite unique to get community photographs like that and people really appreciate it. And I'm sometimes reminded of that when, you know, I've gone to post a photograph and it hasn't quite worked and I thought, oh, should I put that one in or not? And someone, you know, afterwards said, oh, where's my picture? So people like to see their pictures.

00:30:43Paul Kitching: Totally, and talking of the way people have changed, certainly I look back at some of your photos, Charlie, and the 11-year-old versus the current late teen. Yeah, it's certainly an evolution there, and I'm not just talking about your awesome hairstyle either.

00:31:01Charlie Butler: Yeah, that's changed a lot actually. About two, three years ago I just didn't get a haircut and decided let's just go for it. Let's just see how long it goes.

00:31:10Paul Kitching: Well, it was great to see the Afro out in the pics that I've seen from the awesome conference that you guys have just been at. So you guys are obviously fresh from the parkrun Ambassadors Conference. How was that for you both?

00:31:20Charlie Butler: Exciting. Exciting times.

00:31:23Paul Butler: The conference was just brilliant. To have such a group of inspiring, enthusiastic people there, it was fantastic. It was one of the best conferences I've ever been to. Thoroughly loved it. There were so many good things to take away from that. But one of the main things I came away with is the line that was used a few times, that parkrun is changing people's lives. To be part of that, just inspired and totally glad to be on board. It's fantastic.

00:31:53Charlie Butler: Yeah, that's why I was so excited to be an ambassador is that it is being a part of something that huge. And doing media content can really promote parkrun. And the idea is that if we get someone inspired to go and try out parkrun, it really is changing lives, which is just such an incredible thing to be a part of, I reckon.

00:32:14Paul Butler: And the fact is that parkrun wouldn't have the buzz that it has if there weren't photos recording the event. Yeah.

00:32:20Melissa Erbacher: I would agree 100%. So that brings me to the next thing. What exciting projects have you got in the pipeline for future photography or video things that we might be able to see in the parkrun world? Anything that's not secret?

00:32:37Paul Butler: We've got a few plans, yeah. One of the things we want to get out is just get out and visit more places. So we do tend to do a lot of stuff at Mount Barker, our home one, but we want to go out and find other ones, which would be great. We are also thinking of doing another advert. We did an advert for the fifth birthday for Mount Barker. We're thinking of doing an advert for the New Year's Day Double. coming up this year.

00:33:06Paul Kitching: Great idea. That's a great idea. Only if you pay double what you paid me last year, I'm happy to be in it.

00:33:15Paul Butler: Don't forget New Year's, we get two parkruns for the price of one PK. So you're ahead on that one already.

00:33:22Paul Kitching: your script the script that you and Charlie and this is another seriously you guys reckon you don't have good content seriously the script that you guys have rolled out the last two years leading up to to the double it has to be seen to be believed and um anyway that's just yeah you're very funny I love your the combination of wit and youthful exuberance is just is phenomenal and it's It's so refreshing to have you both do what you do at Mount Barker, but also now unleashed on the world. And I think it's a fabulous thing that parkrun has done this for, you know, and I suppose embraced. And as Mel said, you know, who knows where it's going to lead and the opportunities that it's going to bring.

00:34:08Melissa Erbacher: Thank you very much for joining us this week, Butler gentlemen. It has been delightful having you on. You did a fabulous job at the conference with the projects that you were doing on site and buzzing around. You were always there, often very close in people's faces, but I'm sure nobody took it personally. Cannot wait to see what wonderful creative things come out of the parkrun event. universe in terms of photography and video in the future from you guys so thank you very much for joining us this week on the pod thank you for having us thank you very much indeed pleasure

00:34:42[16 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Chermside parkrun

00:34:58Lyndell Murray: Good morning, parkrun adventurers, and g'day Mel. It's Lyndell, and this week I'm reporting in from Chermside parkrun for their fourth birthday. They have a theme. I'm yet to find out if they have cake, but I'll be on the lookout for that, I assure you. Their theme is bright and shiny, so I have shown up in a pair of bright gold tights that, quite frankly, aren't designed for running in, so this is gonna be interesting. It is a bit of fun. I have got my Channel 5 News crew press card on me. So maybe that will give me a bit of respect because I'll tell you what, these tights are utterly ridiculous. On the flip side, hopefully I'm not bringing the Channel 5 News crew into disrepute by wearing these things. Now, so it sounds like there's a bit of a hush and the briefing's about to start. So I'll get going and catch up after the run. So today at Chermside parkrun, the theme, as I said before, was shiny and bright. And we're all shining today for Eva. So I'm here with Eva's parents. It was a fundraiser today and they'll tell us all about it. So how are you today? What's your name? Hi, my name's Alicia.

00:36:14Alicia: I'm Eva's mum. And yeah, it was a really good day. We had a great turnout.

00:36:18Lyndell Murray: Excellent. It did look like a great turnout today.

00:36:21Dan: Yeah, hi, I'm Dan, Eva's dad, and we've had a good fun run this morning, and now we're just feeding Eva.

00:36:28Lyndell Murray: Yeah. Life goes on, doesn't it? Now, today was a fundraiser for a particular charity that you guys are involved with. Would you like to tell me a little bit about that?

00:36:38Alicia: Yeah, so the charity's called Amy and Friends Cockayne Syndrome Charity. It's actually a UK-based charity. There's not one based in Australia just because it's such a rare condition. There's only seven children in Australia with the condition. So there's a large charity in the UK called Amy and Friends and also one in the States called... Care and... Care and... Share and Care. Yeah. So they support, I guess, worldwide families with Cockayne Syndrome. So it's called Amy and Friends because the lady that started it, her daughter has Cockayne Syndrome and her name's Amy. So it's just about Amy and her friends. So I guess the reason for the charity is to raise awareness, I guess, primarily for Cockayne Syndrome and also, I guess, any genetic rare diseases because there's so many of them that don't really exist. a lot of people don't know about. It also is to raise money for research and I guess largely as well it's to provide a lot of family and connectivity to the sorry, support and connectivity to the families with it. So we know people all over the world with it now and we were lucky enough to go to the conference a couple of years ago in the UK to meet all of them and to meet a lot of the doctors that are doing the research into it as well.

00:37:56Lyndell Murray: It must be really comforting with a child. I can't imagine what that's like to have a child that has such a rare condition. It must be hard to understand sometimes what's going on. So having that support across the world must be really comforting.

00:38:08Dan: It is, yeah, definitely. And there's a Facebook group that we all are a part of and any questions that someone has is always answered by everyone who's been through that experience or knows something about it. Yeah, so definitely it helps a lot.

00:38:22Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. And that connectivity, I guess, is something that you've also got from parkrun here at Chermside?

00:38:27Alicia: Absolutely. I think probably when Eva was diagnosed, when she was born three years ago and diagnosed two years ago, having some normalcy in our life, I guess, was really important and having such a great parkrun experience, community at Chermside really I guess assisted us to continue that so we've got a lot of friends that we brought to parkrun but also made at parkrun and they have been a huge factor in helping us feel that normalcy I suppose yeah that's fantastic yeah anything else you'd like to add

00:39:00Dan: Well, we've been just partaking in parkrun for a little while now, for a few years. And when we went over to England for the conference, we did a few parkruns over there. It was really interesting to get around and see some of the different parkruns. It's always a friendly atmosphere and very welcoming. So running seems to be a community of friendly people. That's a nice thing.

00:39:25Lyndell Murray: And any highlights from parkrun in England for you?

00:39:29Alicia: Well, we did Edinburgh parkrun, which was freezing, wasn't it? But, um, it was beautiful. It was like along the water and it was just absolutely amazing. So we really loved that one. Um, but I think they were all really good for their own reasons. It was just lovely seeing the different scenery and yeah, definitely had to dress up nice and warm though. We went in the middle of winter.

00:39:50Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for talking to me and for sharing your story with Eva and the connections that you've had with parkrun. I think all of us have that for some level anyway with parkrun, but I'm sure it must be really special to you with the life that you have. So thank you for sharing. Thank you. Thanks very much. Now, I've just caught up with Henry, a vision impaired runner and his guide. How are you guys going today?

00:40:17Robert: Doing really well, thanks. Henry did better than I did. It was a fun run.

00:40:25Henry: There's a soft tether that sort of goes between our wrists and I think Robert crossed the line marginally ahead of me.

00:40:35Lyndell Murray: That's against the rules officially, isn't it?

00:40:37Henry: Yeah, something like that. There aren't any rules at this point, but, yeah.

00:40:43Lyndell Murray: Not at parkrun, there's not.

00:40:45Robert: It's all about smiling and having a good time. Yeah.

00:40:48Lyndell Murray: That's it. And this is your first parkrun together, I hear. Yeah.

00:40:53Henry: This is our first parkrun together. Robert signed up to guide the bridge to Brisbane, which is tomorrow. So we went for our first training run last week. That went well. We both survived and all the important bits and pieces attached. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to many more runs with him, if he can put up with me.

00:41:18Lyndell Murray: It is a bit of a partnership, isn't it? So, Robert, what's it like for you guiding runners in general and Henry?

00:41:23Robert: I think it's your payback to the community. I enjoy contributing back, but it does highlight when you do your workshop and you get blindfolded. what it means to lose one of your senses and how important communication and trust is and that means a lot of talking and trust and building a relationship so it's like anything in life and doing that you both enjoy it and you know but it's it can be stressful with all the runners especially on an out and back course where you've got runners coming both ways to make sure that you're keeping aware and giving a notice and you know passing people and making sure there's no accidents But I feel proud to be doing it, and Henry, is a pretty quick runner. But I got into it as well as a way of also recovering from Achilles tendon injury where I couldn't run much and I wanted to just tool do parkruns and contribute to the running community. And so some of the people I've guided, you know, take 50 minutes, others take, you know, like Henry and we did just over 30 minutes today. So it's a fun experience. Yeah, yeah, it is.

00:42:38Lyndell Murray: What does it mean to you, Henry, to have someone guide you to be able to run?

00:42:42Henry: Basically, it facilitates getting out and doing an exercise that I was previously not able to do. I'm passionate about fitness and I'm passionate about getting out and also promoting exercise and fitness amongst others who... might find it more challenging than most to do these things. So for me, it gets me out and it keeps me fit, keeps me honest. And, you know, I'm a very goal-orientated person, so, you know, betting a PB or, you know, training for a half marathon or something is... something that's phenomenal for just focus and sort of questioning the limits that you put on yourself. So it's part of my role with the Achilles Running Club here in Brisbane. That's what they're all about. They get people out. They encourage and support people to just become more active in the local community. So it's something that I'm really passionate about.

00:43:56Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. And look, it's a really nice connection with parkrun because parkrun is not just about the running, it's about the connections that you make.

00:44:04Henry: Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. And it's setting good routines. You know, it's so easy to sleep in. For me, the more exercise I do, the more energy I have. It's sort of... You know, you obviously reach a point where that benefit rubs off if you exercise too much, but it really gives you the energy you need, I think, to do all the things that you need to do as part of a pretty busy life.

00:44:38Lyndell Murray: 100%. Now, you've got an involvement with the Achilles Club here in Brisbane, you said? Yeah.

00:44:43Henry: That's right. I'm one of the two co-presidents. So they're looking to grow and encourage people both to come and run with any form of visual impairment or other challenge and also to volunteer as running guides. So they're looking for people all the time and they've also got chapters in Sydney and Melbourne as well. So it's a global thing. And I think since parkrun has started, they've really tried to become more involved with parkruns as well. So I think it's great.

00:45:32Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. And that's how you got involved, Robert, you were saying? You came to a session at a parkrun?

00:45:38Robert: I used to live in Malaysia and I finished a half marathon over there and I saw a guy leading someone over. And they weren't from Achilles, but they were leading a visually impaired runner over the finish line. I thought, that'd be great. Our family's had a history of macular degeneration, so my mum is suffering from lack of eyesight now and fading. So it's my thing of getting involved, and I thought, how could I do it? I saw it at Sydney Half Marathon last year, a group of Achilles runners guiding someone past me, going a million miles an hour faster than I am. I thought, wow, that's amazing. And then through my running club Intraining, they had a workshop at Rocks Riverside parkrun, and I did that, came home, and as soon as I got home, I went on the website and signed up for it. And it's just been a good journey there. And wearing the Achilles t-shirt with the guide on it and the runner with their Achilles t-shirt going by, everyone gives you so much respect. And I think it helps a lot with the public awareness of not only what visually impaired people can do, and how, okay, they might have an impairment, but they can still participate in a lot of the same sports that we do and still enjoy it and have fun. And the number of people who say hello and come up and cheer you on and get to know you, it's great.

00:46:55Lyndell Murray: Fantastic.

00:46:55Robert: And there's always volunteers. People have their guide dogs as well. And there's other parkrunners who'll come and take the guide dog for a walk while the runner's doing the run. And that's great because that helps a lot in building the community experience.

00:47:11Henry: There are nearly fights over who gets to walk the... The guide dogs.

00:47:16Lyndell Murray: Yeah, let someone do the hard work of running with the human and I'll have the fun job of patting the dog.

00:47:21Robert: Pretty much. And then there's always the traditional parkrun, go for the coffee and breakfast after it.

00:47:27Lyndell Murray: It's all part of it, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Look, thank you guys. Thank you to both of you for talking to me and well done on being such great ambassadors for the Achilles Club. For anyone that's interested, there is an information session here at Chermside parkrun in just a few weeks' time.

00:47:43Robert: It's on the 8th of September.

00:47:45Lyndell Murray: 28th of September. So if you're interested, have a look or contact the Achilles Foundation directly. Get involved.

00:47:54Henry: Thank you.

00:47:56Lyndell Murray: Now, after all that talk about looking not very appropriate in my gold tights, I've found someone else in the same tights and happens to be the Event Director, Bradley. How are you today?

00:48:08Bradley: I'm feeling fabulous. How are you?

00:48:10Lyndell Murray: Oh, look, how can you not be fabulous in tights like ours, hey?

00:48:13Bradley: Yes, it's great. I was glad that I was not the only one wearing them today.

00:48:17Lyndell Murray: So was I. Now, how was your day today?

00:48:21Bradley: Pretty stress-free. We have a great Run Director team and we're very organised, so it went off pretty much without a hitch today.

00:48:30Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And I saw that you took the option to volunteer today instead of running in your gold tights. That was a good choice.

00:48:38Bradley: Very much so. I wouldn't want to be out there in this. I ran in a cow onesie a few years ago and that was a big mistake.

00:48:45Lyndell Murray: You see, you've learnt from your mistakes. I have not yet. So, and now your fourth anniversary here at Chermside. Have you been involved in Chermside for the whole time?

00:48:55Bradley: Yes, first as a runner and then as a volunteer and now as an Event Director.

00:49:00Lyndell Murray: And how did you first get involved in parkrun?

00:49:02Bradley: My mum told me about it. She heard an interview on ABC Radio and she told me about it. She knew I was interested in running, so I went along to Mitchelton. And then when Chermside started, I came over here.

00:49:12Lyndell Murray: Yeah. And what do you like most about parkrun?

00:49:16Bradley: The fact that everyone gets cheered across the line, no matter how fast, no matter how slow you are, there's something for everyone.

00:49:23Lyndell Murray: Even gold tights.

00:49:25Bradley: Well, I'll leave that up to you.

00:49:27Lyndell Murray: All right. Well, thanks for talking to me today. And thank you so much for the contribution that you've made to parkrun over the years, first at Mitchelton and now here at Chermside. Thanks so much.

00:49:37Bradley: It's my pleasure. Thank you.

00:49:40Lyndell Murray: Alrighty then, parkrun adventurers, I think I will call out a wrap from Chermside parkrun. Plenty of sparkly things, lots of really goodwill here today with the Achilles runners and shining for Eva. So this is Lyndell signing off for the Channel 5 News crew from Chermside parkrun in Brisbane.

Roving report Tony O'Connell — Nhill parkrun

00:49:58Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, it's TOC reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. Today, Jack and I ventured over to the western Victorian town of Nhill. We're out in a lovely park and Mel, you've got to bring the kids here. This park has everything, it is awesome. We're about to go for a run out. I think we run out around a swamp and around a lake or across a boardwalk by the looks of things where the course is marked out. So we'll check in a little bit later, but the day cannot see a cloud in the sky. It is beautiful out here. A little frosty, but it's a beautiful day. We'll check in later. Cheers. Howdy parkrunners, we've finished the Nhill parkrun. I'm here with the young fella, Zane. Zane, about a K, you were running in front of me and you just disappeared from sight. What happened?

00:50:45Zane: I tripped over a rock.

00:50:47Tony O'Connell: Yeah, it took a bit of a stack, face planted, but you bounced up pretty quick.

00:50:50Zane: Yeah, tried to not let it affect my run.

00:50:54Tony O'Connell: No, you still finished pretty well. You finished second, so you finished pretty strongly too at the end there. You were running really well.

00:50:59Zane: Mm-hmm.

00:51:00Tony O'Connell: And is this your home parkrun?

00:51:03Zane: No, we live in Geelong, but we come up here a lot because we do renovations on houses, so I love doing this every Saturday.

00:51:10Tony O'Connell: Cool. It's a lovely little course out there, isn't it, around the lake?

00:51:13Zane: Yeah, it is. Nice and sunny.

00:51:14Tony O'Connell: Yeah. And it was pretty dry today, is it? Has it been a bit damp over winter out here?

00:51:19Zane: Yeah, it has a few times, but mostly sunny.

00:51:23Tony O'Connell: I kitted up in my trail shoes thinking it was going to be a bit wet and muddy, and yeah, probably could have done it in a pair of road shoes. Yeah, oh yeah you're all right a little bit of claret there so you've joined the stack club the parkrun stack club well done and uh yeah enjoy it thanks a lot thank you cheers parkrunners I'm here with Bev bevzy founding ed at Nhill uh Bev we've just been out for a run around your course it's a beautiful course out there can you give us a bit of a description of your course

00:51:51Bev: Well, it's a great way to run, walk. We have a lake, you have to go out round the lake. It's very pretty, especially on a cold, frosty morning when nobody wants to come. But the mist over the lake is just beautiful. Yes, the people just love. I think I've had one person who hasn't liked our course.

00:52:08Tony O'Connell: An amazing amount of water birds out there today. There's birds, bird life everywhere.

00:52:12Bev: Yeah, we're a bit lucky. We've had a good rain recently and it's really lovely.

00:52:17Tony O'Connell: Nhill's a fairly small town. What made you want to bring parkrun to Nhill?

00:52:23Bev: Well, originally I'd been up with my daughter and son-in-law up at the top of New South Wales, Kingscliff, and I went out with them a few times and just thought how wonderful it was and thought how good it would be to bring it to Nhill.

00:52:34Tony O'Connell: yeah and uh look I've been to a lot of different parkruns and this is the first time I've seen people turn up with urns and plates of cake other than at anniversaries this looks like a bit of a normal thing because there was a few people turning up with urns today

00:52:47Bev: Yeah, we don't do it all the time. Every now and then we do it because the thing that we find hard, there's no coffee shop close by. We've got to go away back down the street and we like to pick the people together. So every now and then we have a morning coffee. They never know when it's going to be.

00:53:02Tony O'Connell: A great little sense of community. I got here this morning and look, there wasn't too many people here, but everyone was just out having a chat. And as you walked up, very welcoming, which I love to see at a parkrun. You know, we had so many people come up and introduce themselves. It's a really great feel about the parkrun.

00:53:17Bev: Yes we're only small here but I think perhaps our advantage is we can talk to people when they come and make them feel welcome and it's our benefit because we get to know lots of people and I met Tony here at Wangaratta and it was lovely to see him come to our parkrun this morning and yeah it's just a friendly place to be on a Saturday morning.

00:53:37Tony O'Connell: Yeah, well done. Look, you've created a great little thing here and I really did enjoy your course out there. As I said, I just can't get over how many birds were flying around the wetlands. Obviously, over summer, probably don't have as much water out in the lake, but at the moment, it's beautiful out there.

00:53:52Bev: Yeah, no, we do. Sometimes they put water into it for us and so, yeah, it's usually pretty good.

00:53:58Tony O'Connell: And for facilities at your parkrun, I see you've got the toilets just up. I said in my intro, I did a little intro, you've got a great playground here for kids too.

00:54:06Bev: Yes, it is good, yes. You know, we're very fortunate and we've got the town, like the town, people come through the town. We haven't been bypassed yet. Yep. So that's fortunate. Yep.

00:54:19Tony O'Connell: All right, we might wrap it up there. I might have to go and jump on the big slide over there and have a go.

00:54:23Bev: Are you going to quickly have a coffee before you go? I will do, yeah. All right, thank you, Tony. Lovely talking to you.

00:54:27Tony O'Connell: Thanks, Bev. Great parkrun.

00:54:29Bev: Bye.

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Dubbo parkrun

00:54:30Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers. This is Mark reporting in from Dubbo parkrun. We're out here for the Dubbo Stampede which is being held tomorrow and also collecting our D for the Alphabet Challenge. So Dubbo is northwest of Sydney by approximately 400 kilometres. The major industry here is really based around agriculture but tourism is also quite a big industry with the Taronga Zoo that we mentioned before. Dubbo parkrun is based along the Macquarie River. We're about to have our briefing session and we'll catch up with a few other parkrun adventurers. We've just finished Dubbo parkrun. That's a beautiful course, actually. And I'm with Simon from the Ponds. How are you, Simon?

00:55:15Simon: G'day, Mark. Yes. Yeah.

00:55:18Mark Scarborough: And is this your first time at Dubbo?

00:55:19Simon: First time at Dubbo? Absolutely loved it. Out and back course, around the river. Looks beautiful. Friendly crowd. Yeah.

00:55:29Mark Scarborough: So good, yeah. It's a big crowd here. Obviously a lot of people coming out to the Dubbo Stampede tomorrow. You taking part?

00:55:35Simon: Yep, doing the Zebra Zoom, which is the half tomorrow. It's part of the New South Wales Regional, Western Regional Running Championship. So I've done Bathurst and Orange, and last week, I can't even remember, was Mudgee? Mudgee last week, Dubbo this week, and then we've got Forbes and Carcoar.

00:55:59Mark Scarborough: Yeah, wow. That's pretty cool. And what kind of time are you aiming for tomorrow?

00:56:06Simon: Anything under 2.15 would be fantastic. Cool. Yeah.

00:56:10Mark Scarborough: Well, you've probably seen me around that pace as well. Get out much and do much parkrun and adventuring?

00:56:17Simon: Try to. That's why this New South Wales regional running is so good because we've been able to do the parkrun. We go away for the weekend, live in Sydney, come up, go to a country parkrun that you've never done before like today. Absolutely fantastic. Yeah.

00:56:31Mark Scarborough: Yeah. And you were saying before that you've come and visited Canberra where I'm from.

00:56:36Simon: Yep, we did Burley Griffin, again, when there was a Canberra running festival on. Again, a beautiful course. Kangaroos everywhere. And minus three degrees, I think it was. That's ideal running weather. One would think so, but when you get there and your fingers are almost falling off, I don't know about that, but this morning, for instance, cold to begin with, and now it's absolutely beautiful.

00:56:58Mark Scarborough: Yeah, well, hopefully similar conditions tomorrow. Fantastic, yes, hope so. Cool, thanks, Alan. Thanks, Mark. We're with a couple of other parkrunners, and we've got some people here from Queens Domain, I believe. Yeah, Queens Domain. What's your name? Glenn. And we've got...

00:57:12Unidentified speaker: Bethany. And Lisa from Dubbo.

00:57:15Mark Scarborough: Dubbo. So we've actually got a local here amongst all these runners here. There's a high proportion of tourists. I'm related to one of the Dubboers.

00:57:25Glenn: And what brought you to Dubbo today? The stampede that's on tomorrow. The half marathon for tomorrow. So I'm up here doing the warm-up today and then the half marathon tomorrow. Excellent.

00:57:33Mark Scarborough: And got a time in mind for tomorrow? Finishing. Finishing.

00:57:36Glenn: Upright.

00:57:37Mark Scarborough: I'm hoping to break 2:20. Yeah, excellent.

00:57:41Glenn: And have you been to Dubbo parkrun before? Yes, this is my third Dubbo parkrun. Okay. PB today, I can brag, yes. Excellent, well done.

00:57:49Mark Scarborough: So you were meant to take it easy today though for tomorrow.

00:57:51Unidentified speaker: Yeah, I wasn't aiming for PB but it slipped out.

00:57:56Mark Scarborough: Well, you must be feeling pretty good and pretty loose then too.

00:58:00Glenn: Yeah, loose except for the knee, the back, the hips. But other than that, the rest is loose, yes. All right. Do you do much parkrun adventuring? I've done 13 different ones. Okay. What are your highlights? My home parkrun at Queens Domain is one of my favourite ones. I just like getting out and meeting people and being part of different communities and seeing different places in the country. Yep.

00:58:22Mark Scarborough: And as a Dubbo local, how many Dubbo parkruns have you done?

00:58:26Unidentified speaker: I think I'm up to 31. 31? Yep. I think I'll do 72. 72?

00:58:30Mark Scarborough: Yes. So you've been here for about half the time that it's been running?

00:58:36Unidentified speaker: Yep. I started two years ago last week, actually.

00:58:39Mark Scarborough: Okay. Happy birthday!

00:58:40Unidentified speaker: Well, thank you. Yay! This is the week you put the stampede. Two years ago I started parkrunning.

00:58:45Mark Scarborough: And what got you into parkrunning?

00:58:47Unidentified speaker: The community, I guess getting out, doing the exercise really, doing the 5K run, and then it was the community that kept me here. The motivation. The motivation, the support, the enjoyment out of it, really. It doesn't matter what pace you're doing. There's someone that'll walk with you. There's someone that'll push you if you're going for a PB. There's always someone there that will either be like, yep, walk with me, or yeah, go faster.

00:59:10Charlie Butler: It's good.

00:59:11Mark Scarborough: Are you both doing the stampede tomorrow as well?

00:59:14Unidentified speaker: No. I am. I'm doing the half with Dad.

00:59:17Mark Scarborough: Very good. And how many halves have you done?

00:59:20Unidentified speaker: This will be my second stampede half. Okay.

00:59:23Mark Scarborough: Cool. Is it a good course?

00:59:26Glenn: Yes. Yeah? Yeah, this is a good course, the stampede course. It's relatively flat except for the last four kilometres around the zoo, but the rest is relatively flat.

00:59:33Unidentified speaker: The zoo's a killer. There's good hills in it.

00:59:36Glenn: Right at the end.

00:59:36Unidentified speaker: Right at the end.

00:59:37Mark Scarborough: Awesome. Someone thought it was a great joke. All right, well, thanks very much and best of luck for tomorrow.

00:59:43Glenn: Thank you. Thank you.

00:59:46Mark Scarborough: I'm with Tim now, who's one of the Run Directors here. Good morning, Tim. How are you? Good, thanks, mate. How are you? Good, thank you. So event number 211 at Dubbo parkrun. Yes. Recently celebrated a birthday. The fourth birthday, yes. How did all that go?

00:59:58Tim: It was fantastic. Pyjamas was the theme, and we had a very good crowd. The weather was good for the day, because our birthday's in the middle of winter. Last year it was minus seven. This year it was in the positive numbers.

01:00:11Mark Scarborough: Oh, good. Coming from Canberra, minus seven, that does hurt. I do appreciate that. And I did notice when you had your fourth birthday, there was a lot of chalk art out on the footpath, a bit of motivation and celebration. Who does that?

01:00:25Tim: We're very lucky to have a couple of locals who are here today. Doug and Debbie Elders and Karen Pello also helps out, and they just volunteer their time and come down here the day before and do the unbelievable artwork. One benefit of it being so dry is that the artwork doesn't get washed off. But I would like to see it get washed off with a big dumping of rain.

01:00:50Mark Scarborough: So there's a lot of tourists here today. A lot. A lot. And it's going to spike your numbers a bit. So you reckon about an extra 100 over the normal numbers?

01:01:00Tim: Not quite sure. The amount of tourists that come this weekend usually outweigh the locals who are holding off from running because of the stampede tomorrow. But we should comfortably get over 300 today.

01:01:14Mark Scarborough: Yeah, so the average is about 271, I think it was. So, yeah, some good numbers and a lot of tourists here from all parts of New South Wales and a bit further abroad as well. Yep.

01:01:25Tim: How have you found Dubbo parkrun? How long have you been involved? I've been involved since the start. Miriam Tan, who is the Event Director here, came up to me in a pub one night and asked if I owned a trundle wheel. And that's how my involvement in parkrun started. And I've really enjoyed the role and didn't think I would enjoy and get as much as I would out of it being volunteering so much. Yeah. And what's been some of your highlights over the four years? Seeing people who didn't think that they could do 5Ks coming weekly now. Yeah, I love seeing when the record's broken, but I love seeing when people achieve what they've been setting out to achieve, whether that's a 25-minute PB, a 30-minute PB, or an hour PB. I really enjoy that. Yeah, good. Now, one of the things that you got me excited about in the run briefing was breakfast. Tell me about that. So we're very lucky we've got a cafe in town that supports us and they do a deal for us afterwards. They're called The Deaf Chef. They do a $10 bacon and egg roll and coffee for us. They've got a really good set up there for us. We don't interrupt their normal daily Saturday business. It's well supported. We get about 20 people there every week and it's just a great place to debrief afterwards and talk shop.

01:02:45Mark Scarborough: You had me at egg and bacon roll.

01:02:47Tim: Yeah. I'll see you there.

01:02:49Mark Scarborough: Thanks, mate. All right, thanks for your time. Thank you. Well, parkrun adventurers, we're done here at Dubbo. We've had breakfast. It's at Dubbo parkrun. It's an out-and-back course, bit of mixture of path and a bit of trail along the river. It's a stunning course and a very friendly crowd. I recommend that you're out this way to check out Dubbo parkrun. We'll catch you next time on the parkrun adventurers.

01:03:11Paul Kitching: How good were those reports? Awesome to hear my fellow roving reporters step up to the plate and some great content in there from Lyndell, Toc and Mark. Yeah.

01:03:23Melissa Erbacher: As always, as always. And, you know, the fact that Lyndell was sporting her gold tights for the shiny and bright theme at Chermside too, you know, that's extra level dedication right there.

01:03:35Paul Kitching: I've seen those tights and I'm, again, a bit of FOMO, a bit envious of them. I do like a dress-up. Lyndell, you look great. Well done. And Toc was getting amongst it.

01:03:46Melissa Erbacher: He was. Meanwhile, like, yeah, TOC, that interview with Zane wearing more claret, I don't know what it is, whether or not TOC is the person responsible for people stacking because that's two roving reports in a row on separate weeks where he's spoken to someone who's stacked at parkrun. So either he's causing it or he's just bad luck and perhaps if you're running at the same event as TOC, you need to make sure you look out for sticks and rocks because somebody's going down and it could be you.

01:04:17Paul Kitching: I also want to give a shout out to Toc as well, mate. I know that you were doing roving reports well before I was and it's an honour to follow in your footsteps and to now be part of the team along with you, mate. So, yeah, keep doing awesome stuff, mate.

01:04:32Melissa Erbacher: And thanks also to Mark at Dubbo with all the Stampede stuff going on. It's a big deal, the Dubbo Stampede. Have you ever done it?

01:04:40Paul Kitching: Oh, me? No way. I've heard about it, though.

01:04:42Melissa Erbacher: It's one of those events that's on my to-do list. But getting out to Dubbo in August is not necessarily easy. Who knows? Maybe one day, hopefully.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

01:04:51Melissa Erbacher: Speaking of getting out to New South Wales, we have one launch on the calendar this week, and that is in Scone at Bill Rose Sports Complex parkrun. So that's a bit exciting, New South Wales getting a new event.

01:05:06Paul Kitching: The Bill Rose Sports Complex. So that's because that's where the actual event is. Because that's the whole idea now, isn't it? That events are named after the place that they are actually held at or in.

01:05:18Melissa Erbacher: Yes. Yeah, the park effectively or location that they start and finish in.

01:05:23Paul Kitching: So hopefully there'll be lots of scones at Scone for people to enjoy after they go to the Bill Rose Sports Complex parkrun launch.

01:05:32Melissa Erbacher: I do like myself a goods. Well, I pronounce it scone. The town's not pronounced scone, is it?

01:05:39Paul Kitching: I don't think so. I'm hoping no one has a stack and falls on their scone or scone.

01:05:46Melissa Erbacher: Well, hopefully TOC stays away. But you know what's going to happen this weekend, PK?

Streaky September

01:05:52Paul Kitching: I reckon Sunday is the beginning of September.

01:05:56Melissa Erbacher: It is. Well, not only is it Father's Day, and happy Father's Day to all the dads out there in parkrun land, it is the first day of streaky September. Woo!

01:06:07Paul Kitching: It's back.

01:06:08Melissa Erbacher: Oh, and I need it. I need it big time because my mileage, my kilometreage, if that's a thing, it's non-existent or has been non-existent. And this is the shiny beacon every year that gets me moving again, if not temporarily. But it's a start. It's a good start. And look, you know, we've still got people streaking who started streaking on the 1st of September last year and they're still streaking now, which is an awesome, awesome legacy of this little idea that we had a couple of years ago on the pod.

01:06:42Paul Kitching: For those who are tuning in who may not have actually heard about Streaky September, we just want to clarify you don't have to run naked.

01:06:49Melissa Erbacher: No, no. Clothing on is actually preferred.

01:06:53Paul Kitching: We can if you want.

01:06:54Melissa Erbacher: We don't discriminate. Yeah, we don't discriminate. If you want to run without any clothes on, that is your prerogative. I would suggest not doing it in public because I believe the police have a different perspective on whether or not that's appropriate.

01:07:07Paul Kitching: So Streaky September is running or getting out and being active every day of the month.

01:07:13Melissa Erbacher: It's a 2K. It's a walk or a run or we do actually have some people who streak with swimming. You know, they're trying to keep off the legs for whatever reason. They've had injuries and so they either mix it up with swimming or cycling or, Yeah, it's like you say, it's being active every day. For us, streaky September has always been minimum 2K. You can do more if you want to, but it's at your own pace. It's wherever you want to do it, whatever time of day you want to do it, as long as it's before that midnight striking pumpkin hour. And it's every day in September if you can manage it.

01:07:48Paul Kitching: I do have memories, yeah, of listening in to this time last year or maybe the year prior where Scott was talking about getting out with the family at like 11.29 p.m. after they've got home from the night out or whatever.

01:08:01Unidentified speaker: Yes.

01:08:01Paul Kitching: So are we doing streaky September bingo? That is the big question.

01:08:06Melissa Erbacher: Yes, there will be streaky bingo. We do love to throw in some extra challenges for those who – get a bit bored with just doing the minimum 2K every day and they want to, you know, or they need some extra motivation to get out there and do different fun things.

01:08:23Paul Kitching: Great. I love it. Another thing, you know, another thing to get amongst. It's awesome and I think it's a bit of fun. And if they want to get involved, obviously they don't have to, but if they want to, they can post about it and put hashtag Streaky September up. And maybe if they also use the handle, the parkrun adventurers handle, and also put in hashtag Streaky September, then my future fellow co-hosts and yourself will be able to note people doing it.

01:08:51Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, we're more likely to see it if they use both hashtags. Streaky September and parkrun adventurers. And one last thing about Streaky September, there is an online open group on Facebook called Streak Your Way Every Day. So if any participants would like to head on over and join the group, you'll be able to get lots of motivation and share stories and inspiration from other streakers who are taking part of the fun. This group was actually started as the Streaky September group last year on the 1st of September and And there's a lot of people who've continued on, but they're more than happy to have everyone join them this year, which is awesome.

01:09:30Paul Kitching: Sounds great. I love it.

Sign-off

01:09:32Melissa Erbacher: Have you got any adventures planned or are you planning on being back at Mount Barker this weekend, PK?

01:09:37Paul Kitching: I might go and check out Pakapakanthi. They've got a new course there. They've had to change the course a bit, I think because of the tree roots, something to do with too much running over tree roots that needed a bit of TLC. Or I might head out maybe Jubilee Way. I don't know. There's a few things that I've got to work around. So, yeah, I've got a few other adventures planned for later in the month. So, yeah, we'll see. What about you? Do you know where you're going to be or is it going to be a surprise?

01:10:08Melissa Erbacher: No, this weekend I'm rostered on to run direct at Kawana. So I'll be at home for the first time in a few weeks, which will be nice because I have back-to-back-to-back-to-back adventures planned for the whole month of September.

01:10:22Paul Kitching: You're going to rock way ahead of Scotty. Not that it's a competition. No. Oh, it's a competition. But did I realise you guys were 77 each or something? Was that right? I don't know, along those lines?

01:10:35Melissa Erbacher: Well, we were as at his last episode. However, he also ran at Kirra on the weekend and I believe that was the first time he'd run there. So he's probably snuck up to 78. Yeah.

01:10:48Paul Kitching: oh, well, we'll keep an eye on what he's up to. And who knows, maybe he'll turn up as a roving reporter one of these days. Clearly there's going to be big criteria for him to become a roving reporter.

01:10:58Melissa Erbacher: Oh, yeah, and look, I think this time I should let you guys set the criteria. As the current crew, you know, you should come up with the challenges that the new reporters have to do.

01:11:08Paul Kitching: I think each of us maybe need to have a different element.

01:11:11Melissa Erbacher: There'll be a PK challenge, a Lyndell challenge, a TOC challenge, et cetera, et cetera.

01:11:16Paul Kitching: Let's do it. Let's do it.

01:11:18Melissa Erbacher: I like that idea. PK, thank you. It has been a wonderful first episode without Scotty, dare I say it. I really appreciate it, as I said right in the intro, having you along for the ride. It's been awesome having you here to chat all things parkrun with me this week and I look forward to doing it again.

01:11:44Paul Kitching: I can't wait. It's been an honour, as I said at the very beginning, an honour to be part of the parkrun world, a small part. and to be able to help spread the word. We all know and love parkrun, or know how much we all love parkrun, and we want more people to hear about it. And thank you, and thanks for everything, and thanks for keeping the parkrun adventurers podcast alive. You know, you could have easily said, no, I'm having a break. So much kudos goes to you, Mel. Busy, you know, busy working in the parkrun world, a mum of two. Just, yeah, good on you. And I suppose we want to make sure that it stays alive and so we'll do all we can as the co-hosts to make your job as easy as possible. So, yeah, let's continue it on its new evolution.