Episode 175 - Twinning

Welcome

00:00:23Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode 175 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. 175 is only 10 more podcast episodes than I have done actual physical parkruns, which is a little bit exciting. Maybe I can chase down the number of podcasts and equal them at some point in the future, though it's a bit of a battle at the moment because it's one-on-one and then I throw in all those volunteers. Yeah. It's probably not going to happen. However, Episode 175 is here, and I am joined this week with a new voice, or not a super new voice, because he is one of our amazing Channel 5 News crew. His name is Mark Scarborough. He is our newest recruit. However, he brings to the table a lot of talent and a lot of humour, and I'm sure you'll all agree.

Interview Mark Scarborough — Channel 5 News Crew roving reporter (Canberra); guest co-host for this episode

00:01:15Melissa Erbacher: Mark, welcome to the podcast. Hello.

00:01:18Mark Scarborough: Thanks, Mel. It's good to be here. And look, I think that there's got to be a strong commitment for you to be around for the podcast so you can catch up to the podcast episode numbers.

00:01:28Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, maybe I shouldn't commit to that, hey?

00:01:31Mark Scarborough: I think you might have to hold you to it.

00:01:33Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, well, we'll see. We'll see. What's it like? I mean, I know you've only been in the hot seat for about 30 seconds so far, but co-hosting, is it working out for you? Yeah.

00:01:44Mark Scarborough: Yeah, look, the first 30 seconds I think has gone extremely well. I'm quite pleased.

00:01:50Melissa Erbacher: Well, let's see how you go, whether or not you can keep it up for the rest of the way. But let's get started, Mark. I want to go back to when you first joined the Channel 5 news crew, not when you first submitted roving reports, though I am interested to hear what made you decide to to submit your very first roving report. But you entered the Channel 5 News crew in what I would describe as a bit of a blaze of glory, completely outwitted me and I will say it was me because Scotty is a lot more lenient than I have been. I've always been the bad cop or the difficult parent, the mean parent when it comes to letting people onto the Channel 5 News crew and try to make things a But you completely circumvented that and, you know, I literally had to bow my head in defeat and admit that you had bested me. Can you talk us through that?

00:02:49Mark Scarborough: Oh, look, it certainly was a gold medal performance for sure.

00:02:53Melissa Erbacher: Literally. Yeah.

00:02:55Mark Scarborough: Yeah, look, so it goes back to sometime last year when in our local Canberra parkrun group, Will Barlow actually put a post up, you know, talking about the parkrun adventurers and saying that, you know, it was a call out had gone out for some more roving reporters, particularly in the New South Wales area. And at that point I hadn't actually heard of the podcast. So straight away I jumped on Spotify and checked out the podcast and I thought, yeah, I can give this a go. You know, I think I'm all right with talking to people and interviewing people. And so, yeah, I started submitting the roving reports from there. And, you know, it was a couple of months later that the challenge went out.

00:03:34Melissa Erbacher: Yes. Yes, the challenge. Do you like a challenge?

00:03:38Mark Scarborough: Oh, yeah. Look, of course, everyone likes a challenge. Like, I think it's the accomplishment of the challenge that everybody loves. And that's what it was about for me is accomplishing a challenge.

00:03:49Melissa Erbacher: I'm not sure anyone has made me laugh so much when they have submitted their challenge and then their rebuke to the challenge. Yeah. Anyway, I think people need to go back and listen to the episode. Do you remember which episode it was exactly? Yeah.

00:04:07Mark Scarborough: Oh, gosh, no, I couldn't tell you.

00:04:09Melissa Erbacher: No, I should have done my research as well.

00:04:11Mark Scarborough: There's three episodes there for listeners to go back and listen to.

00:04:15Melissa Erbacher: Where it goes back and forward.

00:04:17Mark Scarborough: There's one where the challenge was usually where I had to go to an event number for the Wilson Index that neither you or Scotty had been to. Yes. And do a big dive on statistics for that event. Mm-hmm.

00:04:31Melissa Erbacher: Which seemed like such a hard thing. You know, this is completely my bad. I think it just shows how poorly I comprehended the Wilson Index at that stage. And I'm not even sure I still fully understand it, even though it should be a simple thing.

00:04:46Mark Scarborough: But yes. No, I think it was a pretty good challenge to set out. I think a lot of it came down to fortuitous luck for me that, you know, the next Wilson Index number four, my home parkrun at Gungahlin happened to line up with one that you guys hadn't done before. And being a home parkrun, it was easy for me to do some good statistics on it. So, you know, it was a challenge met, you know, the following week.

00:05:12Melissa Erbacher: Yes.

00:05:15Mark Scarborough: Mel wasn't happy with that at all and was just like, no, this is unacceptable. It has to be a Wilson Index under 100.

00:05:22Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, see, and that's where I really failed, basically, was that I tried to alter the rules after you'd already submitted your entry. And that's not cool.

00:05:33Mark Scarborough: Well, it kind of worked out well, though, because the week after that, I was able to go to Jindabyne and meet the challenge. So we were done and dusted within three weeks. Yeah.

00:05:46Melissa Erbacher: Yes. Well, it definitely has gone down in parkrun adventurers podcast history. I've learnt my lesson. We will be more careful in the future. We don't just let anybody in, but you definitely own your stripes and we're happy to have you on board.

00:06:01Mark Scarborough: It's good to be on board and, you know, to be part of the crew and, you know, support the parkrun adventurers and, you know, it's been a good excuse for us to get out and hit the road and visit different parkruns as well.

00:06:12Melissa Erbacher: Awesome. Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Now, you have had a bit of an unofficially awesome weekend. Where were you parkrunning last weekend, Mark?

00:06:21Mark Scarborough: Well, funnily enough, I was actually back at home at Gungahlin here in Canberra, and it was for my unofficial milestone, my 150th.

00:06:29Melissa Erbacher: Ooh, congratulations. That's not a small feat.

00:06:33Mark Scarborough: Yeah, no, it was good, you know, to be, you know, to have that milestone back at my home parkrun and with the family ran with me as well. And, you know, one of the other parkrunners there, you know, made a comment that it was good to see me back at home parkrun after being at different parkruns around. And, yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it. You know, it was a beautiful day here in Canberra. And for me, it is a big achievement, I think, to hit the 150 parkruns. It's been an amazing journey being involved with parkrun and proud of it and looking forward to getting to the 200th.

00:07:02Melissa Erbacher: Did you get a bit creative with your 50 and your 100 parkrun shirts and cut them up and re-sewed them together so they make a 150 or anything elaborate like that?

00:07:12Mark Scarborough: No, the thought had crossed my mind because I have seen other people do that, but I don't think it would be very handy to do anything. But I donned my 50, you know, to mark the occasion. I've been wearing the 100 for a while now, but, yeah, dug the red 50 out for that occasion.

00:07:27Melissa Erbacher: Cool. Yeah, I always get my red 50 shirt out around about Christmas time because, you know, red and green. Although now I don't need to do that anymore because I have an Ugly Christmas Singlet. Speaking of which, the new ones, the new ones are in the works. I'm a bit excited.

00:07:46Mark Scarborough: That is cool. When do we get a sneak peek?

00:07:48Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I don't want to commit to an episode number yet because if I do, I'll probably rue the day. Just my life at the moment has a habit of throwing me curveballs. So I'm not going to commit to an episode yet. But let's say sometime in October, I will definitely be letting everybody have a sneaky peek at what is in store for this year.

00:08:12Mark Scarborough: That will be cool. And how was your parkrun day?

00:08:15Melissa Erbacher: Mine was awesome. So I don't think you're streaking, Mark. Are you streaking?

00:08:22Mark Scarborough: No, look, and I apologise for that.

00:08:25Melissa Erbacher: Oh, you don't need to apologise. It's a free world.

00:08:29Mark Scarborough: Oh, yeah, but, you know, like I've – you know, listening to the previous episodes, I know it's been a big criteria for – Co-hosting. Co-host, you know, to be strict. But, look, I'm in the midst of marathon training at the moment, so I'm kind of having to stick to a bit of a regime for that.

00:08:47Melissa Erbacher: Serious, serious training.

00:08:51Mark Scarborough: Oh, yeah, you know, semi-serious. But having said that, there is a famous gnome here in Canberra that I'm going to try and get a selfie with for you, though.

00:09:00Melissa Erbacher: Oh, that would be awesome.

00:09:01Mark Scarborough: His name is Pink Floyd.

00:09:03Melissa Erbacher: Pink Floyd.

00:09:05Mark Scarborough: Pink Floyd.

00:09:06Melissa Erbacher: Okay. Is he a pink gnome?

00:09:08Mark Scarborough: He is a pink gnome, yes.

00:09:10Melissa Erbacher: Definitely. Go out and do it. I want to see a picture of you and Pink Floyd before the end of the month. But I bring it up because one of the tasks on Streaky Bingo, one of the other tasks, not the gnome selfie, is to have a parkrun adventure because obviously that's what the podcast is all about. And so I had an adventure in conjunction with one of our pod listeners, Pippa White, who will actually hear from a little bit later we made a bit of a deal a little sneaky deal that she would go to her home parkrun which is Queen Elizabeth parkrun in the UK and I would go to Queen Elizabeth parkrun Casino which obviously is here in Australia and so we thought we would do a bit of a twin thing and not only were we going to go to the same parkrun on the same week but we were going to go dressed as queens. And Pippa also had the idea that she would get their event to wave at us and we would get people at our event to wave at them. So, two sides of the globe, two queens at two Queen Elizabeth parkruns and everybody's waving at everybody else. And It was a great adventure. I had a wonderful morning. There were heaps and heaps of firsts. So one of the firsts was I have never actually been in costume on the course with a child in the carrier before. So that was a first. I have never been curtsied, to at a parkrun that I'm aware of and I got multiple curtsies on the weekend. Lots of people calling me Your Majesty, which, you know what, I actually quite enjoy. I think I might have to wear the Queen outfit a bit more often because who doesn't want to be called Your Majesty? Yeah. Also, the first costume that I've worn to parkrun was a full hoop skirt underneath. And that is actually a really good choice when you're thinking about costumes because your legs are free and unencumbered and comfortable, somebody did say, oh, please don't trip over in that skirt. And I said, don't worry, it's all good. I got a hoop underneath and it's keeping all the layers of fabric away from my feet. So yeah, lots of firsts. And what else, what else, what else? I mean, apart from the fact that the course was fabulous, the weather was perfect. It was like a misty morning. But if you're going to be in a full length dress with long sleeves and have an eight and a half kilo baby strapped to the front of you for five kilometres. You really don't want it to be a steamy hot day. Lots of adventurers were on the course. I bumped into Blair Happajam, who is co-ED at Capalaba parkrun, but he was down with the Redland Plotters, a whole bunch of them and some other show listeners as well. So howdy to all you guys. It was great to see you. And Errol Poole, who is actually – he's a South Australian parkrunner. He hails from Mount Barker. So, he's part of the PK and Greta crew. However, he's currently living in northern New South Wales at the moment for work and So I had the pleasure of bumping into Errol, who is also both Blair and Errol are both streaking this month and keeping the streak alive, doing a great job. And it's two years to the weekend that I bumped into Errol at Nuriootpa parkrun in South Australia. And that was the first time I met him. And if I recall correctly, Nuri was his 50th different event. And he's now done a ridiculous amount of different events all over the place. Yeah, but it was just the vibe. The vibe was awesome. Everybody was so friendly. The event team were great. Jason, the ED, and all the volunteers were really warm and welcoming. And we just had a wonderful morning. Totally worth the trip down. We stayed the night before locally and went for coffees and hot chocolates afterwards. Yeah, great morning. Great morning.

00:13:35Mark Scarborough: It's an impressive thing. You didn't feel you need to knight anybody while you're out there on the course?

00:13:41Melissa Erbacher: See, I didn't have any sword on me. So my queen costume is actually the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. And I took the liberty of dressing Emmett, who I had in the carrier, as the White Rabbit. So I was following the White Rabbit around the course. Though because he was in the carrier, it just probably looked like I just had this chubby baby with bunny ears on. So it could have been lost in translation that he was the White Rabbit and I was the Queen of Hearts there. I didn't take the opportunity to yell off with their heads at all. That's probably my only regret from the weekend.

00:14:19Mark Scarborough: For our listeners, jump on the parkrun adventurers Instagram page so you can see Mel in all her queen outfit.

00:14:27Melissa Erbacher: I had a royally good time.

00:14:29Mark Scarborough: You did. I love the comment there from Mel Ellis as well where she said you looked Maleficent.

00:14:38Melissa Erbacher: I think, yeah, that's a Gary-ism. I think he might refer to her like that often when she's in costume. And, of course, we hear from Mel Ellis a little bit later too. So looks like great weekends for Had All Round. Yeah.

00:14:52Mark Scarborough: Yeah, and I think the good thing, like, you know, you're just touching on bumping into people. How good is that for the parkrun community? That, you know, it could be, you know, just a random parkrun and bump into people that, you know, you've seen before or seen years ago. But, you know, that's the good thing about this parkrun community, isn't it?

00:15:09Melissa Erbacher: 100% agree. And I think it's the adventurer community which makes every parkrun feel like home away from home.

00:15:16[20 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Harris Avenue

00:15:37Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew from Harris Avenue parkrun. A bit of a newcomer on the parkrun scene. This is event number four, so I'm here for my four for my Wilson Index. And look, just checking out the new course. I had a soft launch a few weeks ago. I'm going to just get in, see what the course is like, see what the community is like. I'll talk to you after the run. Alrighty, post-parkrun, I've found Katie and her family. What's your names and how are you going? Hi, my name's Charlie. My name is Robbie. I'm Freya.

00:16:12Stefan: Stefan.

00:16:14Lyndell Murray: All right. Now, families, parkrun is like, you know, a haven for families. And I've found that Harris Avenue is no different. Lots of families, lots of parents out with prams. How did you guys get involved with Harris Avenue parkrun?

00:16:29Katie: Well, with parkrun as a whole, my daughter decided, aged 14 at the time, that she wanted... for a New Year's resolution, wanted to start running. So I said, well, we'll all start running. So I enrolled everybody. And we initially started off at North Harbour parkrun. And then we do alternate between Harris Avenue now. But Harris Avenue is open. So it's great. And we're local. We live in Narangba. So it's ideal.

00:16:54Lyndell Murray: Yep. So you've got a local now. Sorry? You've got a local parkrun now.

00:16:59Katie: Yeah, and we are thrilled to have a local parkrun. Yes, yes, definitely.

00:17:04Lyndell Murray: And so the mum of the family got everybody into running and how was that? Was everybody excited?

00:17:10Freya: Not really, but it got better. It got better? Yeah. It's kind of a thing you just do in the morning and then you're going to get used to it over time. And have you gotten fitter? I'd say, yeah. I beat my PBs many times.

00:17:27Lyndell Murray: Well, that's good. Now, the instigator Freya, isn't it? Yes. And how do you feel to have so much power over your family?

00:17:36Freya: Well, it wasn't really me. It was mainly mum who forced us to come.

00:17:42Katie: You said your New Year's resolution was to get fit.

00:17:46Freya: It does make us all fit, so it's good.

00:17:48Lyndell Murray: So you've gotten fitter?

00:17:49Freya: Yes.

00:17:50Lyndell Murray: And was it your New Year's resolution this year?

00:17:54Freya: Yeah.

00:17:55Lyndell Murray: And we're now in September.

00:17:58Freya: Yeah, so it's been, we kept it up, so that's good. That's fantastic. Yeah. That's really great. And it's parkrun that makes us keep doing it because there's people who encourage us to come, so it's good.

00:18:13Lyndell Murray: And it's every week.

00:18:14Freya: Yeah, every single week.

00:18:15Lyndell Murray: And it's just up the road now.

00:18:17Freya: Yeah, we can walk here if we want. Yeah. But we do.

00:18:21Unidentified speaker: No.

00:18:23Lyndell Murray: And what about you, Dad? You know, have you been just dragged along or are you loving parkrun too?

00:18:28Stefan: I wouldn't say I love it, but I think it's more of a necessary evil. So because we come as a family, I can't really say no, can I? But I've got fitter, so it's doing me good. Yeah. Certainly.

00:18:42Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:18:43Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. And what about the community here? Have you met people through parkrun?

00:18:47Katie: We generally know a few people here, so we talk to them. So it's really good. Like we've just been sat talking to our neighbours because they both do it as well. And they didn't start doing parkrun until this opened, until Harris Avenue opened. They'd never done one before.

00:19:04Lyndell Murray: And now they come here every Saturday. So it's great. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for telling me your parkrun story. Well done for keeping up your New Year's resolution for nine months, may it continue yeah yeah fantastic thanks very much and keep enjoying your parkrunning now I've found a couple of people after the parkrun adventurers own heart parkrun adventurers themselves what's your name and um how are you going today um my name is Erica and I'm going fabulous and my name is Ryan and I'm excellent too Now, we've divided and conquered today. We're at Harris Avenue, but one of you did a different one today. You've done North Harbour Ryan.

00:19:46Ryan: Yeah, that's right, yep.

00:19:48Lyndell Murray: And there was a tactic to that.

00:19:49Ryan: Yeah, I'm on a tourist streak at the moment and I'm actually planning on coming to Harris Avenue next week for my 300th parkrun.

00:19:58Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And you came today for a particular reason?

00:20:01Erica: Also streaking, but losing the streak next week because I'll be here again because we're doing a number four at a Wilson Index and next week a number five.

00:20:08Lyndell Murray: Hey, snap, I'm here for my number four too. High five. Now, adventure is all round. You were saying as well, how many different parkruns have you guys done?

00:20:19Erica: I've done 51 different ones. Today is my 51st.

00:20:23Ryan: And 84 for me.

00:20:24Lyndell Murray: Okay, so you're both half Cowells. Is that the right one, half Cowell? Yes. I get my cobs mixed up.

00:20:31Ryan: Or three quarters for me.

00:20:32Lyndell Murray: Three quarters, yeah, yeah, yeah. And any plans to keep going?

00:20:36Ryan: Yeah, my goal is to do all the Queensland parkruns.

00:20:40Erica: Statesman, here we come. Yeah. No goal, just to get that Wilson index higher than his. Yeah.

00:20:47Lyndell Murray: So what's yours then, Ryan?

00:20:49Ryan: Well, at the moment, ours is both on two because we're missing the three.

00:20:52Lyndell Murray: You're missing the three.

00:20:54Ryan: So we'll be going to Ross Granger Trail parkrun next month, I think it is, for their third. Perfect. Excellent.

00:21:03Lyndell Murray: And how did you get into parkrun and all this crazy adventuring?

00:21:08Erica: That's a tricky one. I started forever ago but didn't like it my first go and was scared of going because I didn't know anyone. So it took me a long time to go again. And when I did, I finally got addicted and couldn't stop. Yep. Never miss a parkrun.

00:21:25Lyndell Murray: No, you find a way to fit it in, don't you? How about you, Ryan?

00:21:29Ryan: Um, yeah, I started back in 2013, um, just trying to train for a triathlon. So my, the guys that I ran with, they, they told me about parkrun and, and I got hooked and now I've got a huge passion for running and parkrun.

00:21:43Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. Well, thank you for talking to me today. Thanks for being long-time listeners of the podcast too. Well, high five again.

00:21:51Erica: You've made my day.

00:21:55Lyndell Murray: Well, you've made my day. You've been such a great story to tell.

00:21:58Ryan: The last few weeks we've been driving long distances to do our parkruns and so on the way there we're listening to the podcast.

00:22:04Erica: Our weekly tradition is to run and then drive there and catch up on the whole way. I think we did Hervey Bay the other week, so like three and a half hours or something. And, yeah, just listening the whole time.

00:22:15Lyndell Murray: It's a great ritual, isn't it, on a Saturday morning, listening to the parkrun adventurers on your way to parkrun. It is. Yeah, awesome. It's our thing. Well, thanks, guys, and lots more happy adventuring to all of us. Thank you.

00:22:27Ryan: Thank you.

00:22:29Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, I have tracked down Tony, today's Run Director and the Event Director. How are you going today?

00:22:34Tony: Very well, thank you, Lyndell. Excellent.

00:22:36Lyndell Murray: That's great. Run number four here at Harris Avenue?

00:22:38Tony: It is, yes. Been successful, another one. Yes, definitely.

00:22:41Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. Now, you had a soft launch here four weeks ago. How did that all go?

00:22:46Tony: Yeah, despite being a soft launch, 342 people turned up, thanks to probably Facebook and a few leakages here and there with tourist parkruns. But yes, it was very good.

00:22:56Lyndell Murray: Yep.

00:22:56Tony: Excellent.

00:22:57Lyndell Murray: Excellent. No hitches?

00:22:58Tony: No, no, there was a couple of incidents, but just people with grazed knees, that sort of thing. But yeah, it's a plan.

00:23:04Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. And the course here, how did you go about finding the course and setting up a parkrun here at Harris Avenue? I should say Harris Avenue is in Narangba, which is a northern suburb, just north of Brisbane, basically, in the, I'm not sure what Shire Council it is.

00:23:19Tony: Moreton Bay. Yes. Yes, Moreton Bay. Yeah, it was pretty tough, sort of a regular run around this park anyway, and sort of it dawned on me after a while that this is probably about five kilometres if I go twice round. It took a while to get the actual route worked out because we've had to add a dog leg on to make it to 5km, but now we've got that going and we've measured it out with a wheel and it's worked out perfectly.

00:23:42Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And what brought you to parkrun?

00:23:46Tony: Uh, parkrun. Uh, I, I probably got a few friends that did it and it sort of irks me for a while that I did this thing called parkrun on, on the Facebook page. And, uh, I just, just wanted to go and have a look one day and see what it was all about. And I, I've never missed one since two years ago. Yeah. It does that deed, doesn't it?

00:24:05Lyndell Murray: It does. It really does. It gets into your blood almost.

00:24:08Tony: Yes, it does. Yeah. Yeah. It's very, uh, contagious. Yes. Yeah, definitely. Definitely.

00:24:13Lyndell Murray: And the inspiration to start one here was just because you liked running here?

00:24:18Tony: Yeah, I used to go to the local ones, Caboolture and North Harbour and North Lakes. And I just sort of thought, well, Narangba should have one. It's a really good community. And it's a really good way of the community getting together on a Saturday morning before the weekend really begins. And people can get together and enjoy some exercise, get into the community spirit. And yeah, it was just that we needed one.

00:24:40Lyndell Murray: Yeah.

00:24:41Tony: Yeah.

00:24:42Lyndell Murray: And did you find that you've drawn some people from the other parkruns around or that you have actually got a lot of Narangba people into parkrun and into running?

00:24:53Tony: It's a bit of a mix. There's a lot of people here that live in Narangba, used to have to travel to other parkruns to do the event. So some have come back to here because it means they can just stay in bed a few more minutes.

00:25:06Lyndell Murray: Yes, a bit of a sleep in and walk up the road.

00:25:08Tony: And there are people through the Facebook page and the website that have been tagged by other people that have done it and they've wanted to come and try it themselves. Some of them people have come back as well, so that's really good.

00:25:21Lyndell Murray: That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for talking to me today, Tony. Is there anything else you'd like to add about Harris Avenue parkrun?

00:25:29Tony: If anyone's after getting their alphabet done and they don't want to go to Hervey Bay or Hamilton, then come and get your H done at Harris Avenue.

00:25:37Lyndell Murray: Yes. I was going to mention that myself. I did go to Hamilton. Oh, you did? Oh, well. A little while ago, but that's okay. It's all right. It's all part of the adventure, right?

00:25:46Tony: No, that's right. It's fantastic, yes. Tourists welcome now.

00:25:49Lyndell Murray: Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you so much, and thank you for the contribution you've made to parkrun and to your local community here in Narangba.

00:25:56Tony: Thank you very much, Lyndell. Good to see you.

00:25:59Lyndell Murray: All righty, parkrun adventures. That's a wrap from me from Harris Avenue parkrun. What a great little event. It's another H on the map, which is particularly great for southeast Queenslanders who used to have to travel, as Tony said, to Hervey Bay, which is basically central Queensland. It's a fantastic little community here which will grow over time. If you're close to the area and you're looking for an opportunity to step up as a Run Director, Tony would love to hear from you. You'll get great support here. It's a lovely, lovely community here and a fantastic course. So that's it. That's it from me. This is Lyndell over and out from Harris Avenue parkrun for the parkrun adventurers Channel 5 News Crew.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Steve Marston — Wangaratta

00:26:43Steve Marston: Hello parkrunner adventurers, it's Steve Marston here and today I've ventured down to the beautiful North East of Victoria and done Wangaratta parkrun. I think today's my third or fourth time doing Wangaratta but today was special. I ran it with two young first timers. What's your name?

00:26:58Eliza: Eliza.

00:26:59Steve Marston: And how old are you Eliza?

00:27:00Lexi: [age removed].

00:27:01Steve Marston: [age removed]. And what about you? What's your name?

00:27:03Lexi: Lex and I'm eight.

00:27:05Steve Marston: You're eight. And today was your first ever parkrun as participants wasn't it?

00:27:09Lexi: Yeah.

00:27:11Steve Marston: Wangaratta parkrun is a beautiful parkrun along the banks of the which river?

00:27:15Lexi: Ovens River.

00:27:16Steve Marston: The Ovens River. And what's special about the Wangaratta parkrun course, Lexi?

00:27:21Lexi: That we get to run past this really cool fairy garden. Yeah. We get to, like, run across the river and there's heaps of bridges.

00:27:30Steve Marston: Yeah, there is. For Scotty Trickett, there's a couple of bridges in there, isn't there? There's a beautiful suspension bridge and then we run underneath the historic train bridge.

00:27:39Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:27:39Steve Marston: And what... It was a pretty eventful parkrun today. What happened during parkrun today, girls?

00:27:45Eliza: It started hailing.

00:27:49Steve Marston: It did, didn't we? Had a little thunderstorm.

00:27:51Eliza: It had lightning and rain and thunder.

00:27:58Steve Marston: Yeah, we had a little thunderstorm during parkrun, didn't we? Did you enjoy parkrun?

00:28:03Eliza: Yes.

00:28:03Steve Marston: Yeah? Do you feel like you did a good time?

00:28:08Lexi: Yeah. Yeah? It's quite hard.

00:28:10Steve Marston: Yeah. Well, it's only your first.

00:28:13Lexi: Yeah.

00:28:14Steve Marston: Will you be back next week?

00:28:16Lexi: Yeah, probably.

00:28:17Steve Marston: Yeah. All right, parkrun adventurers, we'll wrap it up here from Wangaratta. Hope everyone had a great parkrun day today and we're off to grab some coffee and milkshakes.

Roving report Melissa Ellis — Studley

00:28:26Melissa Ellis: Good morning parkrun adventurers, it's Melissa here and I'm coming to you from Studley parkrun in Victoria. I've come down here to join friends in a celebration today and I think you might know of this person, it's the woman behind the man, Jacqui O'Connell. Good morning. Good morning Mel, good morning parkrunners. Now Jacqui, tell us this celebration that you and Tony were doing today. Today was our hundredth different parkrun event. And has that taken you overseas?

00:28:59Jacqui O'Connell: Have you got international? Yes, we've actually done four different countries. As well as Australia, we've done New Zealand, some in the North Island, and we've been to Singapore and Malaysia.

00:29:16Melissa Ellis: Oh, okay. Excellent now I happen to know Tony gets all the attention doesn't he but I think you're the one that does all the planning and gives him the ideas of where you might go is that right?

00:29:28Jacqui O'Connell: Oh I think it's a bit of a joint effort you know we're both sort of like doing things like today it was sort of like all of a sudden we were sort of thinking oh next week. It might have been our 100th because we had planned to go and do a Lorne parkrun next week and all of a sudden we were like, oh, we could do one closer and maybe then a few of our parkrunning friends that we've met along the way through different parkruns could join us. So that's what we ended up doing, heading down to Studley and having a great turnout of different people to come and join us for our 100th different event. It is. It is. You've pulled a crowd. Yeah, it's been great. We've got a rainbow of tutus here for Streaky September. We have indeed. That was my fault because I forgot to wear my tutu to our Inverloch anniversary and I'm going, oh damn, I need another excuse to wear a tutu to parkrun and today was a great one.

00:30:22Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and speaking of which, of course the tutu is for the streaky September and you have been streaking since last September.

00:30:33Jacqui O'Connell: Yes, I have. It's become a great habit to make sure I get out every day, at least do a 2k walk or run just depending on how I'm going and yeah it's been great to try to challenge myself to do more of the 5k each day but sometimes weather-wise it's not happened but yeah it's been a great thing to keep doing I don't know how long I'll go for I'll attempt to do it each day and keep going but that was going to be my next question how long

00:31:03Melissa Ellis: Very good. Okay, so you are going around trying to do all the Victorian parkruns. I know that for a fact.

00:31:10Jacqui O'Connell: Yes. And you must be nearly there. Oh, we're getting close, although we're going to have a few more launches in Victoria, so that's going to set us back because our ones left to do are like Bright and Mount Beauty and Lancefield and Portarlington is another one, so that one's not too far away, but... Yeah, with a couple of launches coming up and unfortunately we'll miss one of the launches because we're busy at home doing volunteer duties. So that's all part of the fun.

00:31:43Melissa Ellis: Yeah, well, I think looking back, the launches, they just make the joy of the journey continue. It sort of drags it out that bit longer, all the fun. So that's what I like about that. And so of the parkruns you've done, have you got a top three?

00:32:02Jacqui O'Connell: I would think, I've done many. I like, what would I say? I like the uniqueness of going and doing Puarenga in New Zealand, going through the geothermal area. That was a fun thing to do. And that's one that I actually got to do and Tony didn't. So we've actually in our 100 events have... a separate one he did one at a parkrun ambassadors conference that I didn't get to do and while he was running his uh run at tarawera I snuck off and did parkrun before joining to crew for him after the fact after I'd got parkrun um that's one that I've actually got on my top three I'd really like to do because of that geothermal it's interesting it's not the most pleasant smell in the area when you sort of got that rotten egg gas smell but it was just a really nice parkrun and yeah like all parkruns I think uh I I like Lakes Entrance because that's my all-time PB I did a really good run there I think on their launch was really great you know with a a lot of friends that I've met through parkrun that were there that day and it just was a really nice run and I suppose it reminds me a bit of home along the water's edge and I suppose the other one is possibly Geographe Bay is a bit like home It was a really nice run out along the coast and with dolphins in the ocean as you're sort of running along was really special too.

00:33:36Melissa Ellis: Oh, that's good. So they're all with water. Yes. I like the events with water as well. And today at Studley Park, so this is your first time here at Studley. Yes. It is.

00:33:49Jacqui O'Connell: It was really nice by the river and lots of birds about, so it was really nice.

00:33:55Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so I'll just sort of give a brief description. The course starts at the very well-known Studley Park Boathouse and it goes out and does a bit of a loop of a little bush area. Then it crosses the Yarra over a historic bridge and heads down for an out-and-back along the river um and yeah ends back near the boathouse so it's probably been well described in the past I think when the podcast started Scott was the Studley ED I think he might have been yeah so I guess it would have been all covered back then but anyway it's It is one of, I think, one of Victoria's premier locations just with the river and the boathouse here. So, yeah. All right. Enjoy the rest of your morning, Jackie. Congratulations on Streaky September, Streaky 365 and your Cowell today. Thank you. And look forward to hearing both your names called out next week on With Me Now.

00:35:01Jacqui O'Connell: Let's hope so.

00:35:03Melissa Ellis: All right. See you.

00:35:04Jacqui O'Connell: Thank you.

Roving report Paul Kitching — Pakapakanthi

00:35:06Paul Kitching: G'day parkrun adventurers. It's PK checking in for another roving report from another adventure. Far out. I'm actually getting out of the house to parkrun and it's not at Mount Barker for a change.

00:35:19Unidentified speaker: Ha!

00:35:20Paul Kitching: um even though I did mention it mention artists anyway um we're at Pakapakanthi today because it is nearby and uh easy to get to all parkruns are easy to get to I know but anyway car long story short they also had a visit from the fire the local fire station the mfs which was awesome and they got on board and helped volunteer and ran and everything uh but um the the other reason I'm here is I believe packer I'll get these guys to tell me I believe there's a big milestone about to happen anyway let's wander over and have a chat g'day guys how we going how are you Ben uh yeah not too bad pk yourself I'm awesome mate you are the uh you are the rd not were you still you're still on uh you're still on still have that awesome uh vest going well done mate um how's today going

00:36:07Ben: Yeah, very well. A bit of rain around, but we certainly had very good numbers. It's probably our fourth biggest, which, considering the weather, yeah.

00:36:14Paul Kitching: Oh, we're lucky to have the fireys here, mate, too, because they dampen, you know, if needed.

00:36:20Ben: Yeah, definitely. I don't think people came here to see me, so, yeah.

00:36:23Paul Kitching: So how did that all come about with the fireys? Was it Alicia or?

00:36:27Ben: You probably need to ask Kate that one. Kate, that's right.

00:36:29Paul Kitching: What is it? Because she's just obsessed with firemen maybe?

00:36:31Ben: And parkrun.

00:36:33Paul Kitching: And parkrun. Sorry, it's all about parkrun, of course. But yeah, there are a lot of fit fire people here, firemen and women. I think there were some girls. Yeah, there were. Which is awesome. So we celebrate that there are fireys, not just firemen. But I believe that there could be, sorry, g'day Tori.

00:36:49Tori: Hi, PK. How are you doing?

00:36:50Paul Kitching: All right, mate. You were the timer today. I am. And you still are the timer, sorry. I'm going. We've still got... So, now, is there something happening? Are you expecting a milestone today?

00:37:00Tori: Oh, I've heard. Very exciting. Yeah. 10,000 might be cracked total. Really? Pakapakanthi participants.

00:37:05Paul Kitching: That's pretty amazing, isn't it? Gosh. Well, I got 275. I was walking today. So, I reckon, what number are you up to now, do you reckon? Do we know?

00:37:13Tori: 287 for today, which is... That would have been 10,000.

00:37:16Paul Kitching: Oh, wow. That's pretty exciting. And how many more people are out on the course?

00:37:21Ben: We don't think that many, unfortunately. No. There's a good chance that one of our fabulous volunteers doing the tail walking. Ah, wow.

00:37:27Paul Kitching: That would be perfect. Yeah, that would be amazing. Congrats. So 10,000 in how long has Packer been going?

00:37:32Ben: Just over a year now.

00:37:32Paul Kitching: Yeah, over a year.

00:37:33Tori: So that's... This would be the 14th month.

00:37:36Paul Kitching: Yes.

00:37:37Tori: Doing my counting.

00:37:38Paul Kitching: So what average numbers do you get here then? it's around about 165 yeah so that's pretty healthy isn't it I mean and it's certainly I'm I'm sure it's been it's been great it's a beautiful course and it's um it's been good I reckon for parkrun all around because it's you know alleviated um there's you know Torrens has helped out with Torrens not having um as many people there as well I think as well um do you think people prefer to do packer I don't know because of how different it is to Torrens or

00:38:06Tori: I certainly like that it's really flat. Yeah. And I like that the parking's a bit easier. Yeah. And I like that it's not so crowded.

00:38:12Paul Kitching: Sure, sure. Yeah. Absolutely. To be fair. Yeah, absolutely. And it was my first time today doing the new course as well. I thought that was really good.

00:38:18Tori: The fish hook.

00:38:19Paul Kitching: Yeah, the fish hook. But it also means you get to see people twice, don't you? You do. I think.

00:38:24Tori: Lots of high fives.

00:38:25Paul Kitching: Yeah, lots of high fives. Really good. Well, well done, guys. And also, I believe there's a... I might go and have a chat to Kate. There's some training going on later as well today.

00:38:35Tori: Visual impaired.

00:38:37Paul Kitching: Visual impaired training.

00:38:38Tori: Yeah, so that we can help act as guides as needed, isn't it? Yes.

00:38:43Paul Kitching: Which is awesome, isn't it? And that's a volunteer role in itself, isn't it? I hear a lot about it. I know we have talked about it on the podcast. So it's brilliant that we're offering that opportunity. that service to people who want to train as that. So good on you, Packer, you know, leading the way and doing great things. Well done, Ben. All the best for a successful day. I can see the Tail Walkers coming just now, I reckon.

00:39:05Ben: Yeah, we won't quite get there, but our number one volunteer is RD next week. She's done more volunteering here than anyone else, so it's going to be perfect that she welcomes the 10,000th.

00:39:15Paul Kitching: Awesome. Well, that will be a big event. So for those people out there listening who may not have checked out Packer or may... may think it's time to come to Packer. Come along next week or this week, according to the podcast, and you may get to meet the 10,000th person that does Packer, or it could be you. Awesome. That's right. No pressure. All right. Good on you, Tori. Thanks. Good on you, Ben. Well done, guys. Thanks, guys. Paul, how are you going, mate? Having fun? Awesome. Paul Butler, who's a photographer. Yeah, well done. Paul Butler, for those who obviously listen to the podcast, this is the man who we chatted to, the Butler boys, the other day. And you're out here with your long lens getting some happy snaps. Had a good day?

00:39:54Mark Scarborough: Yeah, really good. Yeah, Packer's great. It's a great course. Beautiful, isn't it? Yeah, and just interesting to have the fire trucks here as well. Yeah, wasn't it? That was a good bit of fun.

00:40:00Paul Kitching: Yeah, did you get a few happy snaps of them? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:40:03Mark Scarborough: Kids love it. I love it.

00:40:04Paul Kitching: I love it. Well, mate, speaking of kids, my kids have already walked over to the cafe, and they're probably wondering why I'm not with them, so I'm going to go. Good on you, mate. Thank you. See you soon. Good on you. Cheers, Paul. Yeah, this is PK signing off from an impromptu... roving report, uh, for the channel five news team. Uh, great to see, uh, the podcast still rolling. Haven't had a chance to listen to last week's yet with you Greta, but I'm sure it's awesome. And, um, yeah, just keep, uh, keep doing great things. Everyone keep loving parkrun. If this is the first time you've heard the podcast, I, uh, advise uh well you know don't advise I recommend nicely um that you go back and listen to some of the other other episodes because there's so much gold in there so many really good chats and really inspirational stories that um this awesome podcast has shared over many years so go go back and get amongst it tell more people about parkrun as you know once you start talking about parkrun you can't can't stop and but right about now I better There's the cafe. I'm on my way. PK signing off. See you guys.

Roving report Pippa White — Queen Elizabeth

00:41:12Pippa White: Hi, I'm Pippa and this is my very first international roving report for the parkrun adventurers. I'm UK based and I really enjoyed both the With Me Now parkrun podcast as well as parkrun adventurers, which I got to from With Me Now. I'm joining you guys for Streaky September as you're getting excited for spring and sadly we're getting more and more towards autumn. Today I am completing my parkrun adventure bingo tile and both Mel and I are doing the same one because we're both doing the Queen Elizabeth parkrun. Me doing the one in the UK, Mel doing the one closer to home, and we're both running it in Queen costumes and we persuaded both of our event teams to take pictures of our parkrunners waving to each other. This was event 337 here in Hampshire, though I guess it's a much better 13 for those Wilson Index chasing in Australia. It was a really fun morning, we had 167 runners, sadly a couple of fallers but that's partly off-road, There's quite a lot of chalk and clay at the moment. With me is the TAME volunteer who's just going to briefly tell you about what she is up to at the moment.

00:42:30Harriet White: Hello, so I'm the TAME volunteer. I've been volunteering at parkrun since 2015, though because of everything which was happening I was only able to do it in school holidays for a while. My favourite role is finish tokens, however today I was doing Timekeeper as another young volunteer taking that spot today. I'm working towards my 50th different parkrun, which will be completed on my 150th day of volunteering. That has caused us to do a lot of touring in the last few months, so it's been great to be home again after these two months I think it's been. At Hanley's it's the last day of sun. I forgot how shady our finish is, so I was there thinking next time I'm here I need to bring at least five more jumpers.

00:43:11Pippa White: yes it was a little bit chilly as we're there cheering in the last people one of our later runners is 36 weeks pregnant that did an awesome route round so that was brilliant anyway so it is the last day of of the sun we're going to go and enjoy the rest of the day a shout out to everybody still streaking bye from the UK bye hello David here and we're at the Eden Project parkrun and I'm with Jane Williams and Andy Chase

Roving report David Moss — The Eden Project

00:43:41David Moss: And Tom Eadie. Okay, and we've just run the parkrun, which I've got to admit is very good. The sun's faded a little bit, but it was a superb start. Tell me, how did you get a parkrun starting in the Eden Project?

00:43:57Andy Chase: That's a difficult one, because none of us actually set it up. Wendy originally set it up as a great venue to have a parkrun, really. I actually probably appreciate it from running it yourself. Brilliant to bring the community down here.

00:44:11David Moss: How long's the run been going for?

00:44:14Andy Chase: Just under two years now so we've nearly had a hundred events so we're on number 92 I think today was so yeah going strong.

00:44:22David Moss: So I should come back in about eight weeks for the cake is the usual story. Okay and how did you all get into parkrun?

00:44:33Jane Williams: I started it, somebody persuaded me to go along and do another local parkrun, which was horrible, really, really horrible. And I just liked the idea of trying this one, local running club, various people talking about it, started doing it, but I got into the volunteering side of it when I had an injury. And actually, when I hurt my ankle and I started coming and marshalling every week and actually started to realise that actually I quite enjoy that side of it as well and realised that I was missing the social side of running as well as just actually being able to go out and run. And from there on in, I was here every week anyway, either running or volunteering, so I thought I may as well... try and take go be a Run Director and that's yeah went from there oh very good and your daughter was here today as well she was yes 14th birthday and 10th parkrun so she's very excited now about being able to get a t-shirt um so yeah she's um really taking to it as well she's got a friend that comes does it with her my husband was marshalling so what else would you do on a Saturday morning no comment okay

00:45:35Andy Chase: again I started as part of a running club getting into running on a Saturday morning started running and then from there started doing a bit of pre-event setups marshalling and supporting out as a volunteer then because it's best to give something back as well as taking from parkrun it wouldn't happen without all the volunteers that were there and from doing that I got asked to become a Run Director I've been a Run Director now for two and a half years and I'm now also the Event Director at Eden.

00:46:08Unidentified speaker: Very good and? Well I started running a couple of years ago never thought it was a good idea and then started on the Couch to 5K app and then this was the natural progression and then on to 10Ks and half marathons and I'm starting my run directing post in a couple of weeks time, thanks to Andy! Looking forward to it! On my birthday so I'll be baking! Come along 12th of October for some great running and hopefully some baking!

00:46:37David Moss: There you are, a bit of advertising for anyone, the Eden Project parkrun. Okay, the other bonus here is since most people listening probably don't know about the Eden Project, I better go over here. Could you explain, could anyone here explain a little bit about the Eden Project?

00:46:55Jane Williams: It used to be a clay pit, didn't it? It just used clay pit. And Tim Smit is the person that runs Eden Project and essentially just built it up. It's been going now for. How long have I been down here? I'm going to go for probably about 19 years, to be fair.

00:47:16Unidentified speaker: Yeah, I think it was in the millennia that it started.

00:47:18Jane Williams: Yeah, very much so. And to start off with, obviously I remember people, I actually came in the first week it was open. I remember thinking, hmm, not a lot really, because of course everything was quite small and not growing and... They have lots and lots of things going on here now. And even being here on a weekly basis, things change, looking at different plants. They run events in all the holidays for the children. My kids have loved coming here and just running around. And it's just a really lovely place to do a parkrun on a Saturday morning. But it's a nice place to come and visit as well. and if you do park when you get to see them for free.

00:47:52David Moss: Ah, which is a little bonus since I would have been coming to this place anyway. It does seem like quite a tourist destination. I haven't had a chance to look around it until in about five minutes time I think I'll be wandering. The listener should also say that as you run around, there's a hell of a lot to look at. And I'll actually be doing another lap of it just to take as much in as I can. The place is made up of a number of very large, what, geodesic domes. And the plants look absolutely fantastic. So I would thoroughly recommend it. Look, other things I should ask. Do you get a large amount of tourists coming through here?

00:48:32Andy Chase: Yeah, about 75% of our runners are actually tourists and visitors to the Eden project. Our base local parkrunners is a small fraction of our runners here, people who take part, so yeah, we do welcome tourists and it is a great venue to have.

00:48:50David Moss: It is. Cornwall itself is probably quite a tourist destination as well, but I think with the Eden Project, that probably boosts it even more.

00:48:58Andy Chase: It does. For Cornish parkruns, they are very popular with the tourists, but Eden Project is definitely the biggest one to come to. I think the free entry to Eden Project for runners and marshals as well does pull people in, so yeah.

00:49:12David Moss: Look, I tried getting here last year and just failed and this year it was high on my list and it didn't disappoint. I've got to say, look, thank you very much for everyone here. The people I met have all been extremely friendly. It's not the easiest of courses. But... We are the fifth fastest in the UK. Quick as a corn roll.

00:49:34Jane Williams: There's only one hill, you just have to climb it three times.

00:49:38David Moss: Okay, we've all heard this before, we'll leave it on that. Otherwise, I'll leave it back to you, Mel. Thank you.

00:49:54Mark Scarborough: A big thank you to our Channel 5 News crew for submitting their roving reports this week. And first up, we heard from Lyndell, who was at Harris Avenue for their fourth parkrun.

00:50:06Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, chasing a Wilson index number. And, you know, it's funny. I'm headed to Harris Avenue next week because I need my number five. I also actually need my number four, but I wasn't going to go there for two weeks in a row. And you know why not?

00:50:20Mark Scarborough: Why not?

00:50:20Melissa Erbacher: Because I thought it would break my tourism streak. So one of the running challenges is your longest tourism streak, which is, for me, currently sitting at 18 parkruns. And I thought that if I did the same event two weeks in a row, that that would break my streak. Because in my head, a tourism streak is the amount of different parkruns you've done in a row, not doubling up on any of the same ones. But when Lyndell was talking to Erica and Ryan, I noticed Ryan said, oh, well, no, he wasn't there. He dropped Erica off and went away, to North Harbour parkrun himself, which he's already done, but he didn't want to break his tourism streak. And I thought, but if you've already done it, you're breaking your tourism streak. But then it dawned on me, probably not, and he probably is a lot more savvy about this than I am. I guess the tourism streak is how many events you've done that aren't your home parkrun. Maybe your home parkrun is the one that breaks it.

00:51:29Mark Scarborough: See, as the resident statistician on this show today.

00:51:32Melissa Erbacher: Yes, I'm listening.

00:51:36Mark Scarborough: The parkrun challenges page says the longest tourism streak is the highest number of consecutive different events attended. So if he's attended one twice in that streak, it's not a streak.

00:51:51Melissa Erbacher: Well, no, but I don't think he's attended North Harbour twice in that streak, but he has previously attended North Harbour. So maybe he attended them in a previous streak.

00:52:02Mark Scarborough: Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So, like, I think that, yeah, that would be right.

00:52:06Melissa Erbacher: Oh, this makes my brain hurt. Yeah. See, by that rationale then, I could do one event at my home parkrun during the streak and it wouldn't break my streak.

00:52:18Unidentified speaker: That's right.

00:52:19Melissa Erbacher: That's right. I might have to reach out to Andy and Laura and ask them to clarify this for me because I don't want to break my streak. No. But great, great roving reports as per usual, Lyndell, and lovely that she managed to catch up with Erica and Ryan, among other people, because I do know they're avid listeners. And so, hi, guys. Great having you on the pod this week and good luck.

00:52:42Lyndell Murray: I'll probably, yeah, I'll see you at Harris Avenue next week because I'll be there for my number five.

00:52:48Melissa Erbacher: But it wasn't just Channel 5 News crew we had on the roving reports this week. We had Steve Marston who was checking in from Wangaratta parkrun with a couple of special interviewees doing their first parkrun. That's always, always awesome. Eliza, age 6, and Lexi, age 8. Congratulations, young ladies.

00:53:10Mark Scarborough: And Melissa was at Studley in Victoria.

00:53:14Melissa Erbacher: I'm so pleased that Melissa spoke to Jacqui because Jacqui, she is just the loveliest person you'll ever meet. And she has been on this adventure just as much as Toc. But you know what? I really love the fact that when they were in New Zealand and he was there for, you know, whatever ridiculous ultra it was this week. Jacqui snuck off and did parkrun before she went back to the event to do her, what's it called, support crew duties.

00:53:44Mark Scarborough: That is awesome. And what an achievement, though. I'd like to get up to that. Well done to both of them. And Paul was at Pakapakanthi. They were chasing a bit of a milestone there themselves for the event with 10,000 people. parkrunners to cross the finish line and they just fell short by seven people.

00:54:03Melissa Erbacher: They did. They did. But, you know, that just means they get to celebrate again next week.

00:54:09Mark Scarborough: It'll be an interesting tackle for the finish line. Maybe there'll be some people that'll be holding back rather than pushing forward to be the seventh person.

00:54:16Melissa Erbacher: I don't know about you, but personally I don't have that kind of control over how fast or slow I run.

00:54:22Mark Scarborough: Yeah, look, I don't think I'll be fast enough to be worried about being the seventh finisher across the line, so that's all right. I'll let somebody else have that one.

00:54:29Melissa Erbacher: And then, of course, we had some foreign correspondents this week. We had Pippa, who I mentioned earlier on, reporting in from Queen Elizabeth parkrun and her daughter Harriet doing a great job on your first roving report. Ladies, love to hear the voices of listeners from overseas. It's very cool to put voices to names. and faces. So thank you very much for reporting in, ladies and Pippa. Thank you for being my twin. It was a lot of fun.

00:54:59Mark Scarborough: And you guys, between the two of you, hit up two of the seven Q parkruns that are around globally. That's a pretty good success rate too.

00:55:07Melissa Erbacher: Yes. Yeah, I didn't realise there were so few of them in the world. We're pretty lucky. I think we've got how many in Australia? At least three, four.

00:55:15Mark Scarborough: I'm not going to scramble board. They're pretty rare. Yes, we had Dave Moss reporting in from the Eden Project in the UK, which is an interesting little project happening over there.

00:55:26Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, if you check out the website for the Eden Project too, did you see the before and after photos, Mark, of like the big clay pit quarry that it was and then the beautiful utopia that it's become now? It's just incredible.

00:55:40Mark Scarborough: Yeah, basically gone from an open-cut mine to, yeah, like you said, utopia. It's amazing. And parkrunners get free entry into the Eden Project, which is a bit of saving there. Like the entry cost is around $50 Australian to get in. So get a parkrunner and, yeah, check out the project.

00:55:59Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, definitely one for my bucket list when I head over. So many places in the world to travel and so little time.

00:56:06Mark Scarborough: Look, your bucket list is just getting longer and longer every week I listen to the podcast.

00:56:11Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, I know. It's terrible. I never hear about a parkrun that I go, you know what? I'm not interested. So this is the problem. I mean, it's a good problem to have, but yeah, what can you do? I think we all need to buy a lotto ticket basically.

00:56:27Mark Scarborough: Yes, keep buying those Powerball tickets.

Tribute

00:56:30Melissa Erbacher: So we're going to head back to Aussie shores from overseas now for a bit of news, which isn't as happy as the rest of the pod has been thus far. Our parkrun family in Victoria, specifically Hamilton parkrun and Portland parkrun, They've lost two very special people in recent weeks in their parkrun communities. And we just wanted to pay tribute to them as part of our parkrun family. Naomi Phillips, who is parkrunner A2023488, passed away a few weeks ago and Hamilton parkrun had an event in her honour on the 21st of September where participants wore red, which was an acknowledgement of the pride that she had in joining the 50 Club. As they mentioned on their page, she was so excited to reach the 50 Club earlier this year and very proud to wear red, the club cape that they have at the event when she ran and actually achieved a new PB with her pacer who was incidentally her loving husband right by her side every step of the way yes very sadly Naomi passed away from cancer a couple of weeks ago and just this week Alan Hoskins the founding Event Director at Portland parkrun has also passed away after a battle with cancer

00:58:02Mark Scarborough: So they've written, the tears keep coming. Our beautiful friend and founding Event Director at Portland parkrun, Alan Hoskins, has died. Alan is family. He first joined us at Hamilton parkrun at our launch event on the 10th of the 10th, 2015, finishing 15th at a time of 22 minutes and 10 seconds. He was hooked on parkrun from that moment and returned to Portland on a mission to start his own event in his hometown. He did it, launching Portland parkrun on May 2016. After training as Run Director and Event Director at Hamilton parkrun, he then went on to support the launches of Warrnambool parkrun and Port Fairy parkrun. Such a gentle, genuine, kind, caring, funny, and super supportive guy. One of the good guys he will be missed by so many. Portland parkrun is hosting an event in Alan's honour this Saturday, the 28th of September. Wear your footie colours for a gentle giant at Allen Park. His team is the Tigers and they are in the grand final this Saturday. We are sure he will be cheering them on, sending all our love, support and strength to all of Alan's loved ones and the parkrun community there.

00:59:14Melissa Erbacher: And those words are from Diane Barrera at Hamilton parkrun. What can you say? We are so privileged at parkrun to be involved in With the communities that we have, I truly believe parkrun brings out the best in people and brings the best people together. And these are two examples, Naomi and Alan, of wonderful people who've really impacted on the communities that they've been involved with at parkrun and touched a lot of people's lives. So... To the Hamilton and Portland parkrun communities, we feel for you and we're sorry for your loss. And we'd like to extend that as well to the families and close friends of Naomi and Alan too. But, you know, I don't like the sad things. Mark, let's turn it around and instead talk about the things that people and communities do to support others who are going through terrible times like this. You've been involved in raising funds for charities that most recently, for example, you've been involved with an ambassadorship for Danaer's Rainbow Brain Tumor Research Fund. And that was part of your City to Surf run.

01:00:47Mark Scarborough: Yeah, I've been the ambassador for Danaer's Rainbow for the last couple of years. And part of that has been supporting Danaer's brother in the City to Surf run, um, in Sydney. And, um, Jarrett has been running City to Surf, um, for a number of years now, uh, raising money, um, in Danaer's name and honour to, um, go to the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation for, uh, research into pediatric brain tumor research. And so here for the last three years, I've been running in a team with Jarrett, uh, to, to raise funds for that. And, um, help grow the team. And this year, you know, we had a large number of people help us raise money and, you know, we had a fantastic outcome. The good thing is, is that 100% of the money that we raise for Danaer's Rainbow goes straight into research. The charity that it is, there's no administrative costs, anything like that. It's all volunteer based. So, yeah, that's the one thing I'm proud of is that the fact that 100% of the money that we raise goes to charity and It's straight into this research. And we're desperate to find a cure for brain tumor for kids. Unfortunately, in Canberra, we've lost a number of kids to this horrendous disease. And we're passionate about continuing Danaer's mission of finding a cure so that no other child has to suffer like she did. Yeah, that's it. I'm very proud to do it. This year was a bit hard for me because normally, you know, I do raise, you know, roughly around $2,500 to $2,700 for these kind of things. And this year I was really struggling to get the donations up and was feeling quite disheartened and sad about the whole thing. And one day I had a $2,000 anonymous donation come through, which absolutely just blew me away. I was just absolutely shocked. The generosity of people for these causes is just heartwarming.

01:02:38Melissa Erbacher: That's incredible, isn't it? And do you find linking your running efforts into raising funds for a charity makes you feel like you can, I guess, in the face of these awful diseases, which I don't know how to articulate this, that we feel powerless against. We can't stop them happening because we don't have the scientific knowledge or know-how yet to be able to do so. Do you feel like raising money to research is a way of taking back some control in the situation.

01:03:16Mark Scarborough: Yeah, look, I think it's just, you know, playing my little part in trying to make a difference in something. You know, like I've got a bit of a platform, you know, here in Canberra that I feel I need to use for good to raise awareness and raise money. It's just my little part in doing that, you know, and I get a lot of strength thinking about, you know, what Danaer and other children have gone through when, you know, I'm having a bad run. You know, it's just like... Think about what they went through and the pain and suffering they went through. And it's like, you know what, this isn't that bad. And a lot of it is also about raising awareness. Like a lot of people just don't know, particularly with pediatric brain tumors, just how aggressive they are, what the symptoms are to look out for, even things like that. So it is an educational thing as well as raising money.

01:04:00Melissa Erbacher: It scares the life out of me. It really does. Um, so you've got an ambassadorship for the Stromlo Running Festival in Canberra in November coming up. Is, is that the same kind of thing? Like how do ambassadorships work with running festivals?

01:04:16Mark Scarborough: Um, yeah, so look, once again, it's, um, basically using my platform, my profile to, to promote the Stromlo Running Festival. Um, honestly, when, when they first reached out to me and asked me to be an ambassador, like I was quite surprised. Um, I, I am not, I suppose, your typical runner. And I went back to them. I said, you know, are you serious? Like, maybe I have to bring out the hashtag dad bod runner. And it's just about promoting the Stromlo Running Festival in Canberra, which is going into its 10th year.

01:04:50Melissa Erbacher: Awesome. Cool. Well, I think more power to you, Mark, for all the work you're doing with, you know, raising funds for Danaer's Rainbow Brain Tumour Research, but also for your ambassadorships and, you know, the hashtag dad bod. Or what is it?

01:05:09Mark Scarborough: Hashtag dad bod runner. Yeah.

01:05:12Melissa Erbacher: Dad bod runner. Love it. Love it. Now, Let's keep on the up and up. I like this trajectory here. Let's bring it back to some happy. Did you know that on the 30th of September, it's International Podcast Day?

01:05:30Mark Scarborough: Is it really?

01:05:32Melissa Erbacher: It is. I feel like that's sort of the unofficial birthday for podcasts or something like that. I feel like there needs to be some sort of celebration, involved from the parkrun adventurers I don't know what yet do you have any ideas no but I think you know I think you're right like I think podcast is a relatively new thing and it should be celebrated like it is such a an awesome medium to you know connect and engage people if any of our adventurers out there have any ideas about how we can celebrate international podcast day here at the parkrun adventurers please let us know

01:06:06Mark Scarborough: Maybe you could dig through 175 episodes and put like a highlights reel through all those funny moments over the years.

01:06:13Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, see, the problem with that is, A, time, time to listen to 175-odd episodes, and B, Scotty and I did that once or twice. We thought, hey, let's give ourselves an easy week and instead of getting a guest on or, you know, trying to think of some content to talk about, maybe we'll just go back and do a highlights reel and And then we didn't realise that that was actually a lot more work than just asking a new person to come and join us on the podcast and all that sort of thing. So a great idea in theory. I like where you're going with this, Mark. And there have been a lot of highlights over the years so far. But I think I'll be a little bit short on time to collate that sort of stuff. I'd be interested to hear what people's highlights have been, though. What are your favourite moments? So, as Scotty will laugh when he hears this if he listens, but interact with us, people. Send us a Facebook message or email parkrunadventurers at gmail.com and let us know what you have considered to be a highlight, of the pod over the last three and a half, almost four years.

01:07:23Mark Scarborough: Yeah, get us up on the socials and tell us your highlights. Maybe it's been this episode.

01:07:28Melissa Erbacher: It could be. It could be that new co-host, Mark. He did a great job. Let us know about it. We want to hear.

01:07:35Mark Scarborough: I reckon my wife will be at least making a comment saying it's a highlight.

01:07:41Melissa Erbacher: Even if she changes her name and creates a false Facebook account to do it so that it's not so obvious.

01:07:46Lyndell Murray: Yeah.

Streaky September

01:07:47Melissa Erbacher: Well, Mark, I'm going to launch into my weekly Streaky September progress update. There's been a lot going on in the Streaky September Facebook group. And for me personally, with my streak and things like that, I'm still on the bandwagon. I haven't broken the streak yet, though we have had some moments where it's been a bit stressful as a family to continue streaking.

01:08:13Mark Scarborough: Well done. It's been a good occasion.

01:08:14Melissa Erbacher: Yes, yes. Well, there's not too many days left to go. We're over three quarters of the way there. So, we're on the downhill now. But I'd like to give a bunch of shout outs to people in the Streaky September group. So, Heather Hunter, who we gave a shout out for joining the Pirate Club last week. She is streaking, but so is Mel Alderton, who we've had on the pod here before. And I didn't – I must have missed this detail entirely, and I apologise. Mel actually joined Heather in Walking the Plank when she joined the Pirate Club in recent weeks. But in and of her own right, Mel has submitted some fantastic Streaky Strava art as part of Streaky Bingo. And she's done this incredible snail with this giant spirally shell. And I don't quite know how she's managed it, but it is just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, while we're on the uh subject of Strava art Therese Marty also did an amazing house with windows and it took us something like eight or nine kilometres to do it and that's Strava art on a scale is incredible like it's one thing to run around on an oval which is what I tend to do not a cheat at all because it still takes some skill to do it but to do it on such a scale blows my mind so well done Therese and yeah loving your snail Mel as well there has been some amazing Strava art I've seen lately it's just incredible with the detail and the planning that people go to for it's so cool yeah I think I need to live somewhere that's a bit more built up with more streets so that you know you can kind of bodgy up something with with less effort than trying to squeeze it into streets in rural areas if that makes sense And I also want to give a shout out to Just Manning who on day 21, we're past that now, but on day 21 mentioned that it has been her longest streak to date. So I'm loving this, Mark. I'm loving that Streaky September is getting people doing things they've never done before, not just in terms of streaky bingo and taking on the challenges and things like that, but 21 days of streaking. That's a big deal. Yeah.

01:10:44Mark Scarborough: Oh, it is. You know, as somebody who's not streaking, I certainly, you know, I certainly respect that commitment and dedication. It's awesome.

01:10:53Melissa Erbacher: It is. It is. I love Streaky September. It is one of my favourite times of the podcast year.

01:10:58Mark Scarborough: Mixing it up with the, you know, the bingo challenges, I think, you know, makes it a bit more interesting and creative. And I think I'll try and, well, there's not many days left for me, but I'll try and get out there and tick a few things off. We'll get that gnome for you.

Sign-off

01:11:12Unidentified speaker: Yep.

01:11:13Melissa Erbacher: Yes, Pink Floyd has to be done. Mark, I have had so much fun. Again, this has become a bit of a trend with all you roving reporters. There is a reason why the Channel 5 News crew are the Channel 5 News crew. You guys are fun.

01:11:28Mark Scarborough: It's been good to see how it all comes together and then to be a co-host today. I've really appreciated the opportunity and hopefully the listeners enjoyed this episode.

01:11:41Melissa Erbacher: Yes, and not in Stephen Bradbury getting a gold medal kind of way.

01:11:45Mark Scarborough: Yes, if you miss those episodes, go back and check them out. So lots of lols there.

01:11:51Melissa Erbacher: Thank you, Mark, for joining me again this week. It has been loads of fun. I know I've been saying this a lot every week, but it's only because it's true. And I do feel truly blessed to have the Channel 5 News crew on hand to co-host with me every week. You are a stellar example. of the fun and frivolity that can be had. And I always enjoy your roving reports and I look forward to hearing more. And good luck with all your pursuits with your marathon training. And, you know, it is a bit of a slim excuse not to streak this month, but I'm going to let that one slide. I won't consider it your sackable offence. And I think you did good. You know, that first 30 seconds of the pod was strong and I'm pretty confident all the other minutes have been good too.

01:12:40Mark Scarborough: Look, thank you for the opportunity, Mel, to be on. It's been great to co-host with you this week and also to be part of the Channel 5 News crew. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to participating more into the future. And best of luck to everybody who's heading out for parkrun Day this week.

01:13:30[other]

01:13:30Melissa Erbacher: I will be looking forward to future roving reports and, oh, my goodness, can you hear Emmett?

01:13:36Andy Chase: No.

01:13:37Melissa Erbacher: Okay, good. Sorry, train has gone.

01:13:44Mark Scarborough: Now I can.

01:13:48Melissa Erbacher: Feed me. Walk him down the other end of the house, Adam. I can't concentrate.

01:14:02Lyndell Murray: Ah, the noise, the noise. I can't turn it off.