Episode 177 - The Doddfather

Welcome

00:00:24Melissa Erbacher: Welcome to episode 177 of the parkrun adventurers Podcast. It might seem like you were only here a few days ago and that's because we had a bit of a bonus episode for International Podcast Day this week. But lucky you, you get to hear us all again. And I am coming to you with a co-host with a bit of a difference this time. This is the first time the parkrun adventurers Podcast has had an international co-host and And of course, who is our person on the ground in the UK at the moment? It is Dave Moss. Dave, are you here?

00:01:02David Moss: I am, Mel. And hopefully with the connections, it'll stay that way as well. I'm in sunny Brighton in the bottom part of the UK at the moment, where the weather changes every two minutes, which has its ups and downs. A lot of downs in there, actually, but no, it's actually a really good place. And I'm talking to you from the Brighton Library in Jubilee Road, which was someplace that up until about 15 minutes ago, I didn't even know existed.

00:01:35Melissa Erbacher: So, yes, people won't know this, that it's become a little bit of an adventure just to get to the recording part of this episode. Can you walk us through the planning and the logistics it takes to record from the other side of the world when you're travelling and having just basically a general adventure?

00:01:55David Moss: Well, folks, for doing this sort of thing, I thought it'd be best to have Wi-Fi rather than just rely on the internet. What do you call it? The SIM card in the phone. So yesterday, I sort of sussed out a pub nearby that I thought would be really good. It seemed 10 o'clock in the morning, which is the time here. I thought it'd be nice, quiet, simple. So I went to the pub, checked it out, Wi-Fi, everything was good, looked like a quiet spot.

00:02:22Melissa Erbacher: Good hydration.

00:02:23David Moss: Pre-hydration is starting early in the week. Oh no, actually re-hydration, yeah, it's going from the weekend if it comes there.

00:02:30Unidentified speaker: Exactly.

00:02:31David Moss: Because the place that I'm staying has Wi-Fi, but there's too much background noise as well. So I thought, oh yeah, this would do good. So the plans, of course, didn't go exactly how I'd hoped. Just before I headed off to go to the pub to record this, what Did have a bit of blue sky up above, turned out to be beautiful and grey, and then it just bucketed down. Managed to make it here, not overly drenched, or to the place that I'd planned, only to find that it was closed for three days. So overnight, they decided to renovate the place. So there was a quick relocation, as they say, to the Brighton Library, which I'll probably have umpteen people looking at me in a strange way as I play along with the podcast with you.

00:03:17Melissa Erbacher: Well, you know, if we're not raising eyebrows, then what are we doing with our lives, Dave?

00:03:22David Moss: Thank you very much. It's doing well, Mel.

00:03:27Melissa Erbacher: All right. Well, thank you for joining me. You have gone above and beyond to be on the other side of the world and co-hosting and making podcast history. So I'm very happy to have you here.

00:03:38David Moss: I must say, it's nice to be here and it is actually quite nice. It's nice and dry inside.

00:03:44Melissa Erbacher: Excellent. So, I also want to know, because I have no idea, I didn't get a roving report from you on the weekend, where did you parkrun on Saturday?

00:03:52David Moss: Okay. So, I went to a place called Mole Valley, which is the town of Dorking, which is, I think it's Sussex, actually. I'm not too sure. The place I was staying for the last few days was in the Surrey Downs in a bit of woodland. And I was thinking it was going to take, well, everything indicated it was going to take over two hours just to walk to the start of the course. There are no buses that run there on Sunday. I'm getting by on public transport. So, yeah, life would have been a bit interesting with a two-plus-hour walk just to get to the start line. But fortunately, there were two girls in the place that I was staying who offered me a lift. They were taking part for the first time in a 55-kilometre ultra, which actually used the parkrun start line as one of the, what do you call them, rehydration or drink stops or whatever it is.

00:04:44Melissa Erbacher: Checkpoints.

00:04:45David Moss: Checkpoint. Hey, that sounds pretty good too. That sounds very technical. So it sounded really good. They actually took me there, so I got there in plenty of time. I didn't get to see them go through because, of course, they were probably a few hours after going through.

00:04:59Melissa Erbacher: Oh, just a couple?

00:05:00David Moss: Yeah, a couple of it. In fact, I didn't see them until I think it was about 8 o'clock in the evening. And one of them had blisters, beautiful blood blisters all over her feet. So it was the first time for them. And they both had massive smiles on their faces. So maybe we can put that down to the endorphins or actually they were both doctors and they had their own painkillers. So I'm not too sure. No comment on that.

00:05:26Melissa Erbacher: It's easier to smile about things when they're over, I think, often.

00:05:30David Moss: I was smiling the whole way. That was really good of them. But yeah, getting there was quite good. Well, it was brilliant with that. And look, with the Mole Valley, so I keep on thinking of Mole Hill and Mole Creek down in Tasmania. But the Mole Valley run is, it actually starts at, I hope I get this right, Denbies Winery. So it's a little bit like one or two of the runs we have back home. And this one is quite a large winery. And, of course, it's got a fair bit of uphill. The weather had been wet. It was quite slippery. The Run Director, Dave, was absolutely brilliant. And, yes, I should have recorded a thing with him, but he had to duck off. I'll say shortly after while we were having breakfast. But he was really good in recording, all his instructions, explaining the course. And they were actually a little bit concerned because last week I think two people had fallen over. They had over 200 people. But a couple of people had fallen over in a bit of a steep spot. And so most of us were a little bit cautious. And as far as I know, there were no casualties. But it was really good. There was a fair bit of uphill, then downhill, and a finish. It was a circuit through the vines again. Loved it, especially once it was over.

00:06:54Melissa Erbacher: Now, what is a parkrun adventurer like you doing? Staying in accommodation, that's approximately two hours walk from a parkrun on parkrun day.

00:07:04David Moss: Badly timed. Most places were booked out, unfortunately. This one, a weekend south in England, I think people are trying to latch on to the last part of, we'll call it summer before winter hits properly. As I say, it's been quite wet, but the air actually feels really nice. It's good. I know in about two weeks' time, it will suddenly start getting rather cool.

00:07:24Melissa Erbacher: You know, that is, I guess, one of the risks you take when you don't have too much of a fixed agenda. I was anticipating that you were going to say that there was something exciting drawing you so far away that you had to stay at.

00:07:36David Moss: But I do enjoy hiking. And the area that I found was in the middle of woodland. So that was a big bonus. Well, that was the main attraction. I've been in London a few days beforehand. London is nice, but I've been there once or five times before. So it's really nice to go to new places. And the other one is my mother actually comes from this area. She was brought up in that area near Guildford. So it gave me a chance to catch up with the places that she knew as a kid.

00:08:04Melissa Erbacher: Oh, that's lovely. I will admit I've been very jealous hearing about all your travels and seeing the photos and enjoying your stories. It is also, at the same time, simultaneously lovely to be able to experience all these adventures vicariously through you. So keep on keeping on, Dave.

00:08:23David Moss: Life's enjoyable. But where did you end up on the weekend?

00:08:26Melissa Erbacher: I skipped off to Harris Avenue at Narangba, which is five episodes. It's five events old now, and I needed a five for my Wilson Index. So that was nicely timed. But actually, and I didn't even realise this until I was looking at my challenge progress afterwards, because it's my 83rd different event out of 166 events that I've run. It's taken my tourist quotient to 50%. How nice is that? It's just a beautiful round number, which I'm a little bit chuffed about and proud of. And, yeah, so Harris Avenue, Lyndell was there the week before, so she's already done a roving report. She's covered it off, talked about the course, spoke to the Event Director. So I won't rehash all those sorts of details. I will say the course was very beautiful, lovely, lovely course, course around some lakes and very pretty and I tail walked. We also bumped into parkrun adventurer Lisa Akerson from Lota who came up and said hello which was really really nice. Anyone who ever listens to pod if you do happen to bump into me at parkrun please do come say hi because I am well I consider myself to be friendly and I would always love to have a chat with you and find out where you're from and what your adventures have been so Thank you, Lisa, for coming up and introducing yourself.

00:09:55David Moss: And, Mel, I'm sure you've got a great big sign above you saying that you're a parkrun adventurer. Mel?

00:09:59Melissa Erbacher: Well, maybe I need some kind of neon sign or something that just flashes because it doesn't happen to me very often. I think probably Lisa was on the eye out for some woman with a baby baby, in a pram or a carrier because she had listened to the episode and had heard I was going to be there.

00:10:21David Moss: Oh, nicely done.

00:10:22Melissa Erbacher: She might have had her Mel-dar finely tuned. Anyway, it was a beautiful course and I had a great morning with the boys. That was pretty much my weekend.

00:10:34David Moss: Oh, very good.

00:10:34[12 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Interview Andrew Dodd — Newy parkrun original and core volunteer team member, celebrant/pastor, Medibank…

00:10:47Melissa Erbacher: We are heading now to the region of runners to have a chat to quite the local parkrun legend, I'm going to say. He is known around the parts as either Doddy or the Doddfather. His actual name is Andrew Dodd. And we're very excited to welcome him to the parkrun adventurers podcast. Doddy, welcome. Welcome.

00:11:14Andrew Dodd: I feel welcomed. Thank you, Mel, and looking forward to chatting to you and Dave, all things parkrun.

00:11:19Melissa Erbacher: Excellent. That's what we like to hear. Now, Doddy, I'm going to go to a little bit of recent history before we delve a little bit further into your parkrun story. I would like to know, a couple of weeks ago, you performed a very special ceremony for a couple of parkrunners at Newy parkrun. You are a pastor and you married some people. Yes.

00:11:43Andrew Dodd: Yes, so it was a great morning. Will and Louise, who met through running in Newcastle in the region of Runners. They didn't actually meet through parkrun, but parkrun is a big part of their running routine. And they decided they wanted to get married. And they thought, well, let's do it on a Saturday morning at 7 o'clock, parkrun in Newcastle starts at 8 o'clock. So we went to Mount Carrington, which is actually on the course. It's a man-made hill about 20 metres overlooking the beautiful Newy parkrun course at Throsby Creek in Carrington. And they wanted to get married there and they wanted their wedding party to then walk around to the start of parkrun. And they didn't do a first dance. They did their first parkrun together as a married couple at Newy. And it was a lot of fun as well as being a nice serious occasion for this next step in their relationship.

00:12:38Melissa Erbacher: And how did you come to be asked to be involved in that, Doddy?

00:12:43Andrew Dodd: Well, I've known Will and Louise separately and as a couple and I had conducted another Wooters wedding. So that's a whole other part of the region of runners is the Wooters running club that I'm very much involved in. And so I think Will had seen me perform a wedding. They knew that I was a celebrant and so they thought, well, let's get the Doddfather involved.

00:13:08David Moss: The question I was going to ask, does that mean with the wedding there was cake for everyone?

00:13:12Andrew Dodd: Well, we had the wedding and then we walked back to the start of Newy parkrun that was about exactly 500 metres away because we had our first marker pole, Westcott Way, named after Scott Westcott, right where they got married. And as they walked back the peloton, and on that day I think we had 222 parkrunners, sort of gave them a spontaneous welcome and a high five. And then on the start line we announced them, we split the peloton and they ran through the peloton the peloton high-fiving everyone and then they were the official starters. They ran parkrun together and then those who were, I guess, invited guests after parkrun walked back around to where they got married and there was cake and more. There was food galore for everyone. So it was a big morning. But I was also tempted with another rite of passage that morning where Maureen, one of our very regular guests, parkrunners or parkwalkers and volunteers had sadly died quite unexpectedly at 71 years of age a couple of weeks earlier. So we have another tradition at Newy where we have the raising of the barcode. So I gave a brief tribute to that, uh Maureen and then asked the peloton to raise their barcodes to Maureen so we had you know a wedding and also a sad um loss of one of our very important people of our parkrun community uh but we sort of managed those two rites of passage is okay and that's life isn't it uh things thrown together happy and the sad the highs and lows that happen yeah and that's the community

00:14:51David Moss: How did you actually get into running and parkrun?

00:14:56Andrew Dodd: So getting into parkrun, so I'm a lifelong runner. I think this next week I officially become late 50s. So I've been running most of my life. And in parkrun, Newy was the seventh parkrun to commence in Australia. I think you guys would know the stats better than me. I think we now have about 360. So Newy was the seventh. We started in the June long weekend of 2012. And a few things came together in Newcastle at that time. Robbo, who's one of the characters on the Newcastle scene who brought parkrun to Newcastle. I'd recently met him and there's a few other things happening that we're just bringing runners together. And he told me of his new event starting on a Saturday, said that I should come along. I knew nothing of parkrun, of Paul Sinton Hewitt, of Bushy. And I said to him with my great experience of running, like, what is this thing? He says, oh, it's on every week. It's 5k. It's on the same course. And I said, Robbo, it's not going to work, maybe every month uh people are just not going to run the same course every week and I think I've now run 300 of them uh so yeah I was there from day one we have 77 what we call the originals who were there on day one and I was there right from the get-go and almost immediately became involved in you know volunteering and help run the thing that I that I've

00:16:26David Moss: said wouldn't work so when is that to 2012 it was and uh I've now got your record up you've actually done quite a few different courses not just all those ones that knew you but you've you've really got around a bit I'm a believer in in parkrun tourism and this this weekend I visited one of my daughters in Bathurst and I'm sort of long term injured at the moment so I walked the Bathurst

00:16:52Andrew Dodd: parkrun is a beautiful course. So, yeah, I like to get out and about. So I'm very involved at Newy, part of the core volunteer team. But, yeah, I certainly like to get out and tour. And as you all know, you know, you build your holidays and you're around parkrun. You don't sort of head off somewhere where there's not a parkrun.

00:17:08Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. Now, Doddy, do you have any highlights from the rather extensive list of different parkrun events that you've been to? Yeah.

00:17:18Andrew Dodd: I don't think I've come across a parkrun of this size. So in Newcastle or the region of runners, as you referred to earlier, which is the Hunter Valley, we have 15 parkruns now in the region of runners. And as your listeners would well know, if you've done all 15, you're a regionaire. We recently launched Scone parkrun, which is called technically the Bill Rose Sports Complex parkrun. But in the tradition of ScoMo, we've renamed it the Byro Spoko parkrun.

00:17:48Melissa Erbacher: Very catchy.

00:17:49Andrew Dodd: That launched three or four weeks ago, so that was nice to get up there. I love Maitland parkrun. I've only been there a couple of times. This sort of reminds me of school cross-country, you know, the trails, a bit of bush around, you know, soft surface, a natural setting. I've really enjoyed going to Curl Curl, which is my old stomping ground. I grew up in Manly. And I went to Manly Boys High School, which I realise is a high school with a bit of an odd name like Manly Boys. It's a contradiction in terms. If I was a Manly Boy, I'm not too sure if I was a Manly Boy. That wasn't as bad as a school across – well, it was a school with another challenging name was Manly Girls High School. They built them tough down there back then. So Curl Curl parkrun or the Manly Boys and Manly Girls High School, they've got different names now, were – separated by a creek and an absolutely filthy area that no one went to but it's now very well redeveloped and the Curl Curl course runs between those two schools in a very nicely clean area now and it was very sort of nostalgic for me to go down there and run that one time between the two schools where I really cut my teeth I guess as a cross-country runner and high school running was where I really got involved in running. So it was really nice to go there for that reason down to Curl Curl.

00:19:18David Moss: So you've been running for quite a long time.

00:19:20Andrew Dodd: Indeed, yes. So I'm a product of the first running boom. I think what's generally considered we're now in the second running boom. So, yeah, I started running really probably as an 11-year-old. I think I went in a school 800-metre race and that really got me going with running and I've pretty much been running ever since. Frank Shorter was an American who won the Munich Marathon, and that generally is considered to be the commencement of the running boom. Because before then, if you ran, you were sort of odd and weird and eccentric, and it became sort of mainstream to be a runner. So the 70s and early 80s was the first running boom. And then I think we're certainly in a running boom now where all around the world people are going to big city marathons. They're doing ultra events. They're doing trial events. parkrun is just a phenomena in and of itself around the world. So it's been a privilege for me to sort of... spanned one running boom and going incredibly well at the moment with parkrun front and centre of the second running boom true yeah very much so what keeps you going barcodes yes I love running. I love, I love moving. As I mentioned, I'm sort of, you know, long-term injured, but I'm out there walking parkrun every week. So wherever I go, I'll walk parkrun. Hopefully we've got a break into a jog soon, but I just love running to me. It's natural. It's, it's enjoyable. And then you throw that in with the running community, be that a parkrun or another event. And, the whole volunteer side of things, the camaraderie, the lives that you share with other people. So a lot of my friends now are people that I've met somewhere along the line in the last seven years. So it's the whole parkrun vibe, I guess, that keeps me going, even though I thought it wouldn't work. You can't do this every week. It's not going to work, but it seems to be doing all right.

00:21:26Melissa Erbacher: It's just the vibe of it.

00:21:29Unidentified speaker: Right.

00:21:30Andrew Dodd: You could almost throw that into a movie, couldn't you?

00:21:32Melissa Erbacher: You could. Doddy, you mentioned ultra running before now. I had a friend who ran Western States this year and you also had a friend who ran Western States, different friends. However, you headed over and actually crewed for your friend. Can you talk us through what kind of experience that was like?

00:21:53Andrew Dodd: It was absolutely fantastic. I remember as a teenager reading in – Runner's World Magazine. This would have been an American edition. And back then, you know, there's no internet. All you're hearing about is in newspapers, I guess, of like maybe Sebastian Coe or Steve Ovett setting a world record. So we knew very little information. And then Running Magazine started to come out. And I remember reading of... In the 1970s of the Western States 100, this epic event that went 100 miles, and that was just completely beyond anything I could think of. I mean, I ran a marathon at 16. See, back in the first running, we were just pushed up into distances. So at 16, I think it's illegal now, but I ran a marathon. But to hear of a 100-mile event was just extraordinary. And a year or so ago, a friend of mine, Stan, said, running friend from Queensland. I knew that he had got a lucky entry into Western States 100. He got in on one ticket. They have a draw system and it normally takes people several years to get in as they accumulate tickets. He got in on one ticket and I was sort of aware of that And then he rang me up and said, do you want to come and crew for me? And it was just one of those moments that you just think, yeah, I'm in. So we went over with him to the Western States 100, which is the longest running continual hundred miler in the world. It's been going since about 1974. And it's just an incredible event, so well run and yet a very laid back atmosphere. It's very restricted entry. They only allow about 360 runners in. And elites get in, but generally it's, you know, good trail runners who get in through a ballot system. And talking about Vibe, it was just an extraordinary event of a travelling roadshow of 360 runners, 1,500 volunteers, crew, pacers, from Squaw Valley in California, the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, to Auburn. And they have a term, Auburn or bust. You either make it to Auburn within the 30-hour cutoff or you don't. And it was just a wonderful event. And you're part of it. You know, we're up for 30 hours without sleep, crewing while other people are pacing and volunteering. And it was just an extraordinary event and an absolute privilege to be part of.

00:24:18Melissa Erbacher: So it's an endurance event for the crew.

00:24:20Andrew Dodd: It is.

00:24:22Melissa Erbacher: Well, let's come back to Australia now, Doddy. And something that's been going on this year is that Medibank, parkrun Australia, is one of our major sponsors, has been doing what they call parkrun Heroes. They've been announcing a hero every month and people have been nominating their heroes. And I understand that you are the Medibank parkrun Hero for September.

00:24:48Andrew Dodd: Yeah, that's exciting breaking news. So my daughter, Anna, nominated me. So she somehow heard that you could nominate a parkrun Hero and she thought, well, you know, my dad might qualify. So I think you might have a hundred words to write. So she wrote a really nice piece about her dad, the parkrunner, and threw in the bit about the pending wedding, which has now taken place and we've spoken about. And she put it in and lo and behold, whatever criteria Medibank used to determine the parkrun hero and as entry snared me, Mr. September.

00:25:28Melissa Erbacher: How did it make you feel when you found out that your daughter had nominated you and you got to read the nice things that she said about you for the Medibank parkrun Hero?

00:25:37Andrew Dodd: Oh, that was really nice. So I've modelled running to all three of my kids since the day that they were born and none of them have taken it up and that's fine. That's their choice. But the day I did my 250th, my green parkrun, I, they came along, all three of my kids came along and Anna, my daughter was there. And so she often asked me about it. She lives in Sydney, I'm in Newcastle. So it was really nice for her to, see that and put in the nomination and the words that she wrote were quite touching. It was really nice. So for her to share in that with me was quite nice. They're not runners as such. They show an interest in what Dad's doing.

00:26:23David Moss: That's excellent, actually.

00:26:24Andrew Dodd: And what do they reward you with? Well, they send you to a parkrun a long way away from you. So I'm going to one in Perth that might be called Burswood Peninsula, which goes around the new stadium in the city of Perth. So Medibank now are involved in launching a lot of new parkruns. So I think they send you to one which they've helped launch, which is a long way away from you. So they send me to Perth. And you can't get much further away from it, completely the other side of the country. That's brilliant. That's right. And the same barcode gets you in, which is really nice.

00:27:02Melissa Erbacher: Always a treat. Burswood Peninsula is a great event. We've spoken to Clint, the Event Director there, and you're in for a treat. So when do you get to go then, Doddy?

00:27:14Andrew Dodd: Well, I get quite a bit of freedom of choice in that. I think it's between now and June next year, so I might try and line it up with a – a test match in the stadium or something else that I can go and join in while I'm over in Perth.

00:27:29David Moss: And would you try and make it so that you can stay for a couple of weekends and do one or two different parkruns as well? Wow, that's an idea.

00:27:37Andrew Dodd: I hadn't thought of that. So they send you out, they provide airfares for a couple of people and I think accommodation for a night. But the obvious thing to do would be to extend that. But you've planted a seed, Dave, the two Perth parkrun week. Oh, why stop at two? I haven't done a Western Australia. Well, then I've done that. I think I only need Northern Territory and I don't know, there's probably some parkrun club. Is there? If you've done all states and territories, Mel, can you answer?

00:28:03Melissa Erbacher: There is. It's called the Peel Club.

00:28:05Andrew Dodd: The Peel after Geoffrey. Geoff.

00:28:08Melissa Erbacher: No, after Brendan Peel. I don't know who Jeff Peel is.

00:28:14Andrew Dodd: Is he big in the parkrun world? He's involved with Newy, with his family, with his wife and son. They're keen orienteers. So the Peels have met. So Brendan has been up here for the – he came up for the Beaches launch and he met – the two Peels met.

00:28:33Melissa Erbacher: Ah, well, there you go.

00:28:35Andrew Dodd: Well, as you know, Melbourne this year, the Beaches is 100% sand.

00:28:41Melissa Erbacher: Yes, it is, and it holds the record for my longest ever parkrun.

00:28:46Andrew Dodd: 5,001 metres? Or do you mean our time length?

00:28:49Melissa Erbacher: Time length, yeah. And given the fact that I was almost eight months pregnant, it's to be understood. And you know what? I actually hold the record for the slowest finisher on the course, if you don't count the Tail Walker who was just behind me.

00:29:04Andrew Dodd: The record holder for the slowest non-tail runner at the Beaches. That's a great term.

00:29:09Melissa Erbacher: Look, it's a claim to fame and I am very proud of it.

00:29:12Andrew Dodd: Now, as a result of this discussion, which has been broadcast far and wide, it could well be that the organisers, people like your Michael Sharps and your Pohlmans down there thinking, oh, no, this New Year's Day, we're going to have people out there attempting a new slow record.

00:29:27Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, they'll be trying to break Mel Erbacher's record. It's entirely possible.

00:29:32David Moss: Actually, can I ask an odd one? What's the long-term injury that you've got at the moment?

00:29:39Andrew Dodd: Yeah, it's quite annoying. I call it a stiff ankle. So my left ankle, I guess, has got some long-term twisted at me for years. I've got arthritis and I've got a tendinopathy. So it's sort of three things coming together, which is making running quite difficult.

00:29:55David Moss: Okay.

00:29:56Andrew Dodd: But I'm on a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

00:29:59David Moss: Okay.

00:29:59Andrew Dodd: So I'd love, I mean, I enjoy parkrun every week, walking it, but I'm hanging out to get back and actually running.

00:30:07David Moss: A frustrated runner.

00:30:09Andrew Dodd: But one thing I do take, I guess, to heart, as your adventurer listeners would know, that parkrun commenced out of injury. So Paul Sinton-Hewitt, 15 years ago, was injured and wanted to keep in touch with his friends. So there's been 13 of them kicked off, what we now know as parkrun one day and bushy parkrun. So, you know, if someone comes up to me with an injury and having a bit of a whinge, I say, well, you know, don't whinge to me. What worldwide movement are you going to start? So I'm still working on what worldwide movement I'm going to start. Paul Sinton-Hewitt's already started parkrun, so that one's taken. So stay tuned for what worldwide event I'm going to start. Love the attitude of taking the positive out of the, yeah. Good things can grow out of not so wonderful. If Horsin didn't get injured, you know, you wouldn't be having this podcast.

00:31:02Melissa Erbacher: That is exactly true. Yeah, as Dave said, I love that attitude too, Doddy. So you mentioned it's 15 years since parkrun started in the world and we are just about to celebrate International parkrun Day this coming weekend. I know a lot of event teams have organised different ways to celebrate it. Is anything in particular happening specially at Newy this weekend, Doddy?

00:31:29Andrew Dodd: Well, it's a long way again here, and apparently the September parkrun hero is going to get rolled out. I think there's a costume involved that the hero of this month has to wear. And in a sense, sadly, we also have another tribute to another volunteer, Russ, that we lost to cancer this week. Russ has been... you know, a long-term runner and then had to start walking. He's been on crutches for years, walking, parkrunning, volunteering. He's volunteered 98 times, often as our photographer. So we're going to be having a raising of the barcode for Russ this week, which is, again, it's just a nice tribute that we do at Newy. So there'll be a bit of celebration, there'll be a bit of sadness, and somewhere along the line we'll throw in and let people know that it's International parkrun Day.

00:32:23Melissa Erbacher: And where did the raising of the barcode come from? Because I have seen the pictures of it and it just really is a beautiful and very poignant kind of way to honour someone.

00:32:33Andrew Dodd: We've done a few, not many. We had a lady, Jen, who... was a regular parkrunner with her husband, Geordie, and she was tragically killed in a car accident, which happened to be at a roundabout, which is pretty much at the halfway point. I think that might've been the first one. Her favourite colour was purple. And she, the last photo we have of her just a few days before she died was wearing purple. I'm feeling the emotion as I'm talking to you. And we've got a photo with her thumbs up at a particular place. And the Saturday after she died, we got together and we issued everyone with a purple barcode. And we gave a tribute. And the running club, the Newcastle Flyers, that her husband was involved in, led the peloton out. And we had a raising of the purple barcodes to Jen. And around that time, or maybe even before then, when Ron Clarke, the... patron of parkrun in Australia died in 2015 that might have been the first time we did a raising of the barcode so we let the people know that you know the the great run Clark had died and he was a patron he was there to send off the runners on the very very first parkrun in Australia and we had a raising of the barcode for run and then I think it was Jen and then we've had um know maybe one or two a year and it just happened that we've had two or so in the last week so it's just our way of doing a parkrun tribute we realise people's lives are much bigger than parkrun but when the people that we know are at parkrun and so that's a way I guess we know the special connection that that um you know the deal we make about barcodes and it was just I guess a nice way of bringing bringing that together that's nice I'm glad to say that I haven't actually attended any uh I guess memorial services uh for parkrun though we have had a few runners that we've lost over time I guess it's uh individual events have you know roll out year after year that we do have the you know the weddings the funeral the births the milestones in people's lives so that's I guess what we'd expect of those traditions would develop in particular ways in particular places

00:35:03David Moss: And Newy does have quite a few people there, so you're going to have more of everything.

00:35:07Andrew Dodd: Well, I guess the whole thing, you know, parkrun, you know, when I told Rob, it wouldn't work. It takes a life of its own. So you go around to the 360 parkruns in Australia and there's a particular feel about parkrun in general, but each location... has its own feel made up of the personalities, the course, and each one, I guess, develops its own way of connecting with each other. It could be the cafe you go back to afterwards, the high fives you do, the tributes you do. And, you know, we've all noticed that as we go around to different ones, they have their own little ways and that's what makes it so special.

00:35:45David Moss: Yeah, so it's one of the best things, I reckon, about touristing. Different places or you're getting to meet different people from the local area and But, yes, every community is slightly different or somewhat dramatically different actually, but I love it.

00:35:59Andrew Dodd: So I'm a little bit envious of you, Dave, over in the UK. I assume you've taken your barcode with you, but I haven't quite done all the states yet, but I'm still waiting for my debut international. I did my Don parkrun the other day. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Don parkrun. So I did my 334th. And we know Don Bradman's highest score was 334, so I wore a baggy green and walked around the course in my baggy green for the Don.

00:36:32Melissa Erbacher: Sounds like a great unofficial milestone. It's going to take me about 20 years to get to that number, the rate I go, but one day, one day.

00:36:43Andrew Dodd: Oh, we can't take away from you your beach's slowest non-Tail Walker parkrun record. That's your special place.

00:36:51Melissa Erbacher: Well, somebody might take it. I think somebody could go, you know what, that's a record I could probably smash.

00:36:57Andrew Dodd: I did a Mel.

00:36:58David Moss: That's your Mel parkrun if you do slow run. Pushing a plan at high tide on the Beaches parkrun. Yes, that could be a new event.

00:37:07Andrew Dodd: And that could be the new question, you know, when you meet someone rather than saying what's your PB, you just say what's your Mel. Your Mel is your slowest parkrun at whatever event you choose.

00:37:17Melissa Erbacher: And I would be proud to own that terminology, Doddy, as well.

00:37:21David Moss: All I can really say is it's really good to hear from you, Doddy, and I'm really impressed by, well, the runs that you've done. Actually, your whole running career.

00:37:28Melissa Erbacher: Yes, thank you for joining us, Doddy. It has been lovely having a chat.

00:37:33Andrew Dodd: All right, thank you, and nice to chat all things parkrun with you guys.

00:37:37[23 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Greta — Stebonheath

00:38:00Greta: Good morning parkrun adventurers, it's Greta here and I'm here at the Stebonheath first anniversary this morning and it is a beautiful day and there's a bit of a crowd gathering so I'm going to go and listen to the briefing and do my run and then find some people to chat to afterwards. Okay, happy parkrun day! I'm now here with Kobe, how are you going Kobe? Good. And now you did a special job this morning and I hear that it's your favourite job at parkrun, what did you do this morning?

00:38:30Kobe: I did photographer.

00:38:34Greta: And what was the other thing that you did as part of the briefing?

00:38:37Kobe: I did the acknowledgement to country. And do you do that every week that Dad's Run Director?

00:38:42Greta: Yes, not photos. Not photos every week?

00:38:46Kobe: Yes.

00:38:46Greta: But acknowledgement every week. And I thought you did a great job. And I was wondering if you would be happy to let me record you doing it again. Would you mind doing that?

00:38:55Kobe: Yes.

00:38:56Greta: Okay, here you go.

00:38:58Kobe: It gives us great pleasure to begin by acknowledging the Kaurna people, the traditional owners of the land. We respect their spiritual and cultural connection to the land. We will all enjoy, connect, walk and run on today. We also pay respect to all the elders and those who have passed.

00:39:18Greta: That's wonderful. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed that this morning. Thank you so much for welcoming me to your parkrun.

00:39:24Cheryl: No problem.

00:39:27Greta: I'm now here with Cheryl. How are you going, Cheryl?

00:39:29Cheryl: I'm good, thank you.

00:39:30Greta: And Cheryl, you're the ED or Event Director here at Stebonheath parkrun. And I think the last time I spoke to you on the podcast, it was your launch. And here we are at your first anniversary. Congratulations, a year on.

00:39:43Cheryl: Thank you. It's hard to believe that a year's gone already. It's just, yeah, it's been really good fun and just time sure flies, that's for sure.

00:39:50Greta: And so you've turned on another nice day. So I'm going to just have to assume that it's always nice days at Stebonheath because every time I come here, it's beautiful.

00:40:01Cheryl: Of course it is. Yeah, we're very lucky. I'm glad there's no rain or anything today. That's for sure. It's a beautiful sunny day. Yeah, it's gorgeous.

00:40:08Greta: Now, you've had a few changes since your launch.

00:40:13Cheryl: Tell me what happened with your course. Well, the council decided to run part of the road through to allow for some traffic flow for the school that's near us. So we just had to divert our course a bit. And now so instead of an out and back, we have a figure eight double loop course, which seems to work a lot better because people are passing each other. It's a bit more interactive and everyone can see each other. And running around the lake's kind of pretty too.

00:40:39Greta: Well, I really enjoyed it. When Ian described it in the run briefing this morning, I kind of thought, am I going to get lost? But when I was out there, it felt really natural. It's really well signposted. I didn't get lost at all. I thought it was really pretty. And yeah, as you say, it's really social because you get to see people multiple times. You get to look across the lake and see the faster runners. And yeah, lovely course.

00:41:04Cheryl: Yeah and especially with the wildlife out and about the geese wander around occasionally and yeah it's really good and you can see the playground so you can see the kids up on the swings and stuff afterwards even if you're still walking so yeah it's quite a good spot so I actually think that the changes work for the better rather than worse.

00:41:20Greta: And it probably didn't feel like that at the time. No, no.

00:41:23Cheryl: It's always stressful when you have to quickly change things. But yeah, you always think, yep, just breathe. It'll be fine. And yeah, I think people just appreciate the fact that we put so much effort into doing it really quickly. So that's nice too. Yeah.

00:41:37Greta: And you've got a great crowd here this morning. We've got cake. We've got some people from the local council out. We've got... Now, have we got an MP here today as well?

00:41:47Cheryl: Yep, we've got our local MP for Light, which is Tony Piccolo. And we have Clint Marsh, who's councillor for Ward 5. And Akram is involved with council as well, but I'm not quite sure what his role is, but two out of three isn't bad. It is, yeah. And look, the council has been really supportive, haven't they? Oh, absolutely. Playford Council are absolutely fantastic. They always keep in touch with me. They're always promoting the event. And yeah, it's great to have so much support.

00:42:14Greta: Well, look, congratulations on your first anniversary. You've got a wonderful event here and you're building such a great community. Thank you for everything you do for parkrun.

00:42:23Cheryl: Thank you. I look forward to celebrating our second year.

00:42:26Greta: Yeah, number two, bring it on. Yay.

Roving report Cameron Drake — Shipwreck parkrun

00:42:29Cameron Drake: G'day everyone, it's Cameron here. And this week I'm doing my Nendi, which is Shipwreck parkrun in the suburb of Hilbert in WA. Shipwreck parkrun is a double out and back course around a pirate playground, which looks absolutely fantastic for kids. And there's also a separate playground for dogs. Well, it's a dog exercise area, but close enough. On site, there is coffee. It is amazing coffee, so I can definitely recommend that. Shipwreck parkrun has been running for a little over a year now. This was event number 59 and today Raoul was running the event. Shipwreck has around 45 participants every week and it's really lovely community vibe that they've got going on and I hope I have a great run. It's seen a tick. G'day everyone I'm here with Raoul the Run Director today and Tell us a bit about the fantastic Shipwreck parkrun course that I've just run today.

00:43:26Raoul: Shipwreck, we started just over 12 months ago. Run number 59 today. Beautiful little course with a lovely big ship. There's a parkland here and a lovely coffee shop afterwards. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that coffee. I'm hanging out for it. Yeah, you'll certainly enjoy that. Yeah, we're a little double out and back course with a couple of loops thrown in.

00:43:47Cameron Drake: Yeah, I noticed there was no marshals, but it's very well marked, so I didn't get lost, thankfully. But the last little bit towards the end, I was following a little fella, and I was hoping that he knew which way I was going, because I didn't. And luckily, we found everyone at the end. So how long have you been involved in parkrun?

00:44:04Raoul: Probably my fourth year myself. Wow, okay. And how did you get started? Decided to do it as extra training for footy actually. Oh, okay. So you've kept up with the parkrun and still going with the footy? Footy's probably taken a back seat. Not as much, but yeah, probably more into the running now. Excellent. So volunteering around here as well a lot as running? Yeah, one of the Run Directors here said normally probably volunteered two out of four.

00:44:33Cameron Drake: Okay, so being a Run Director makes it a bit more difficult to get out and about and see how the parkruns, I imagine, or are you still getting out and about?

00:44:39Raoul: I still try and tourist every so often, maybe once every six weeks or so, if I can. That's all right.

00:44:45Cameron Drake: Fantastic. Well, thank you very much for a lovely event today, and one day, hopefully, I'm back here soon. No worries.

00:44:51Raoul: Cheers. Welcome back.

00:44:52Cameron Drake: That's it today from Shipwreck parkrun. Thanks for putting on a great event. Hope everyone had a great parkrun day, and see you next time. Bye.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Tony O'Connell — Lorne

00:45:01Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, TOC reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. Today Jack and I have ventured down to the seaside town of Lorne. Lorne's down on the Great Ocean Road, about 130 kilometres from Melbourne. You can probably hear the surf in the background. The run itself takes place right along the edge of the sea. From where we are, we're looking at, we can see the Lorne Pier, which is home to the Lorne Pier to Pub, which is the largest ocean swim in the world. They have about 4,000 participants each year. It's an absolutely stunning day down here. We're sitting right beside the beach. The waves are gently rolling in. Blue skies above, very light breeze. For late September, it's an absolutely stunning day. We'll go off and have our parkrun and we'll check in later. Howdy parkrunners, we've finished the Lorne parkrun. I'm with Chelsea. Chelsea, where are you from and what did you think of the course today?

00:45:57Chelsea: I'm from Shepparton, so I've come from a really flat course to one that's got quite a few hills and rises in it. So I'm not used to those at all, but I really enjoyed the run. It was great.

00:46:08Tony O'Connell: Are you one of the Run Directors up at Shepp?

00:46:10Chelsea: Yeah, I am actually. I do run direct from time to time and a lot of the volunteer work behind the scenes. especially in terms of coordinating volunteers and making sure that it's running well behind the scenes.

00:46:22Tony O'Connell: And for the people that haven't been to Lorne, give us a little bit of a description of the course. What do you think? Where does it run?

00:46:30Chelsea: So it runs out along the shoreline, up out to the pier, along the pier and then back the way you came along the shore. So you've got some really nice views looking out over the ocean. and the nice sounds of the oceans hitting the shoreline. And then you go back and have to go through all those rises and an uphill run for the second time.

00:46:54Tony O'Connell: It has a few little surprising little mounds of opportunity.

00:46:57Chelsea: It certainly does. I actually felt there at one point like I was running the whole thing uphill and I didn't come downhill at all. But the finish line, the run to the finish is beautiful, knowing that you're all the way downhill, knowing you don't have to go back up it again.

00:47:10Tony O'Connell: And I don't know about you, but I spent half the run looking out to sea, trying to see the dolphins that are quite often out here.

00:47:15Chelsea: Yeah.

00:47:17Tony O'Connell: And if you look across into the distance, you've got the Aireys Inlet Lighthouse. It's very scenic, this course.

00:47:21Chelsea: Yeah, it's fabulous for the scenery. It's just beautiful looking out over the sea and being able to see all the smiling faces coming the other way as well.

00:47:31Tony O'Connell: Well, I reckon it's time for coffee. What do you reckon? Oh, totally. I totally agree with that. All right, cheers.

00:47:36Chelsea: Cheers.

00:47:39Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, we're just packing up at the very scenic Lorne parkrun. I'm here with Carly. Carly, you were Run Director today. Pretty good numbers for the day.

00:47:49Carly: Yeah, it was. We had a great turnout being a long weekend and being, you know, a few extra tourists around. It was fantastic to see some extra smiling faces here at parkrun this morning.

00:47:59Tony O'Connell: I think from a couple of accents you might have actually had a couple of international tourists in amongst it.

00:48:03Carly: Yeah, quite often we do here, being such that tourist and transient destination that, yeah, we've quite often got people from all across the world and all across the country.

00:48:12Tony O'Connell: It's a stunning little bit out on the jetty. There's not too many parkruns that would be able to say they run out on a pier.

00:48:18Carly: Yes, and that was one of the reasons why we were kind of really pushing to go out that way. We wanted to be something a bit different and running out on the pier and it's always changing. It's sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy and yeah, it's just really, really special.

00:48:31Tony O'Connell: Yeah, sometimes that sunshine would be coming in horizontally on a sou'wester and...

00:48:36Carly: Yes, look there has been a few times where we've had to hold on on the run out to the end but it's all pretty good so we've been quite blessed with the weather so far.

00:48:45Tony O'Connell: Yep, and I met a couple of people out on the course today that are locals that hadn't actually heard of parkrun, so I think you might have a couple of extras next week. We stopped and did the big full website thing and the conversion.

00:48:58Carly: Yeah, and that's what's happening. So we're six months old and we're just growing and growing and our local numbers are growing every time. So now that the weather's finding up and the days are getting longer, people are getting out and about and seeing what all the flags are about. So we hope to continually grow from here.

00:49:12Tony O'Connell: Beautiful. It's a stunning parkrun and thanks for having us.

00:49:15Carly: Thanks so much. Thanks for coming.

00:49:16Tony O'Connell: Cheers.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Rocks Riverside parkrun

00:49:18Lyndell Murray: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's Lyndell and I am checking in this morning for the Channel 5 News crew from Rocks Riverside parkrun. Now Rocks Riverside parkrun is in the Brisbane City Council area, it's the western suburbs, maybe 10, 12 say kilometres from the CBD and it's an out and back course here in the western suburbs of Brisbane along the Brisbane River. Now I've caught up with Paul, today's Run Director. How are you going Paul? How did today go?

00:49:48Paul: Went really well, thank you. We've had, looks like about 400 people come through. Lots of people enjoying their run, their jog or their walk. It's great to see so many walkers out and about because that's what parkrun's all about.

00:50:01Lyndell Murray: Yeah, and now that's big numbers for many parkruns. Is that a pretty normal number that you get here at Rocks Riverside?

00:50:08Paul: Yeah, that's pretty normal. Once we get into summer, we'll probably get up to, in the reach, close to 600, which is pretty good. It's great that so many people come out and enjoy this in the local community and it's a real pleasure to bring it to the local community.

00:50:25Lyndell Murray: Yeah, and it's a nice spot here. As I said in my intro, it's a run along the river. It's a beautiful course. It's not flat. Now, my parkrun PB is here at Rocks Riverside, so it has a special place in my heart. But having gone out there today, I have no idea how I did that because it's not flat.

00:50:43Paul: Oh, look, it's a sneaky course in the sense that there's no massive hills, but it's always either going a little bit down or a little bit up. And on a warm day like this, that can make that last K a bit harder than usual. But everybody's still coming back smiling and enjoying their morning out. So it's great to see.

00:51:04Lyndell Murray: And there's nice scenery to take you off, take your mind off the little undulations, isn't there?

00:51:10Paul: Absolutely. It's a great park. There's a playground for the kids. The view along the river is great. When they turn it on, there's actually water spouts here for the kids to enjoy after the run. And you see plenty of kids doing that in summer.

00:51:24Lyndell Murray: Just the kids or the adults get in on that too?

00:51:27Paul: Oh, look, I'm a big kid at heart. When it rained last week, I was one of the ones that was running straight through the puddles. So that's just the way of it. You've got to enjoy it. There's no fun coming out at 7am on a Saturday morning if you don't have a bit of fun.

00:51:41Lyndell Murray: Absolutely. Now, they're big numbers that you're getting here and you talked about the community. How's the community here at Rocks Riverside? How long have you been going here now?

00:51:51Paul: So Rocks Riverside's been going a little under six years. We had our 300th parkrun. As I lose track of time, I think it was four weeks ago now, so we're up to 304. Awesome. It's built from the initial numbers, I think we're about 150, 200, and it's built all the way up to 400, 500, 600 people. The local community embraces it. The volunteers are always great, and you see that by the amount of people that are around in their purple T-shirts, and we really value that volunteering spirit because it's what makes parkrun tick.

00:52:24Lyndell Murray: Excellent. And there is still quite a few people hanging around now and we're a little way past, you know.

00:52:29Paul: We're nearly at the hour mark.

00:52:30Lyndell Murray: Nearly at the hour mark. There's still a lot of people hanging around, having a chat and enjoying the sunshine.

00:52:36Paul: Absolutely. And then there's probably already a whole bunch up at the local cafe. Most people go up to the Cafe 63 that's just up on the main road and have a bit of breakfast afterwards. And it's a great way to spend a morning.

00:52:48Lyndell Murray: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for talking to me today, Paul. And well done to you and all of the Run Director team and the Event Directors here on a fantastic parkrun here in Brisbane.

00:53:00Paul: Thank you very much. Really appreciate it. Have a lovely weekend.

00:53:05Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, so look, in a field of a few hundred, of course, there was a couple of official parkrun milestones set this morning. But another celebration that happened at parkrun here at Rocks Riverside this morning was Katrina doing her, finishing off her run down under. Tell us about that, Katrina. How many kilometres?

00:53:24Katrina: 14,080 kilometres. Are you going to go home and have a bit of a sleep now? I am going to sleep and I am sleeping in tomorrow morning. I can't remember the last time I slept in on a Sunday morning.

00:53:39Lyndell Murray: Well, it would have been a few years ago. This has been a bit of a labour of love over a bit of time now, yeah?

00:53:45Katrina: Yeah, so I started back in 2014 when Travis first started it. A few lean years in the beginning when nobody else was on board, but it's a huge thing now and... Glad I stuck it out and become part of the community to finish today.

00:54:01Lyndell Murray: Now, finisher number 56. It's not a small number. It's not a small number but it is in the scheme of run down under I would think. That doesn't seem like a lot of people to have finished.

00:54:15Katrina: No, obviously because it hasn't been going many years and 14,080 kilometres is a long way. But Travis did say that he's got 50 people on the books to finish next year so I think now it's been going a while there's people who are ready to finish their journey.

00:54:31Lyndell Murray: And now what is the best thing about doing Run Down Under?

00:54:36Katrina: I would have to say the community and I love the fact that Travis is so hands on. You can email him about anything, you can contact him, you see him at events, he has a Christmas party every year and he's there for people, he's not just a... someone behind a computer screen so I love that, the community.

00:54:57Lyndell Murray: Would you have run 14,100 and whatever it is kilometres without being in rundown, do you reckon?

00:55:03Katrina: I think I definitely would, but it's been very motivating. So yesterday I needed to finish six kilometres to finish out here today, and I just had two friends stick their hand up and say, we'll come and finish those kilometres off with you this morning. So that just makes it really easy when you've got people who are willing to do that for you.

00:55:24Lyndell Murray: That's fantastic. And look, it's probably something that people can get behind. I mean, there's, what, 20 or 30 people that have come in their Run Down Under singlets just to support you this morning. So it probably is, you know, people see the magnitude of what you've achieved and that is infectious as well and helps motivate others as well, I guess.

00:55:42Katrina: Yeah, it's lovely because I think there's people here who I know of but have never met and they've come out this morning just to show support. So it's lovely that people will come out and... be a part of that and join in and, and yeah, you get to meet lots of people and make new friends.

00:55:58Lyndell Murray: Fantastic. So a sleep in tomorrow and then what will you run around next?

00:56:04Katrina: I'm pretty sure I'm going to jump into the European rundown, uh, run, run the world, run the world. So it'll be around Europe.

00:56:12Lyndell Murray: The next one. That sounds hilly. I don't know.

00:56:16Katrina: I haven't, I haven't thought about it and I haven't looked at it yet.

00:56:21Lyndell Murray: Well, that sounds like a fantastic next accomplishment. Congratulations, honestly, on such a big achievement today. How fantastic. So congratulations and all the best with the next one. Thanks, Lyndell. It's been great. Well, that's a wrap from me from Rocks Riverside parkrun. Sadly, no PB, no real surprise. No PB for me, but other celebrations to be had on a fantastic little course in Brisbane, Rocks Riverside. This is Lyndell signing out for the Channel 5 News crew on the parkrun adventurers.

Roving report Melissa Ellis — Burley Griffin parkrun

00:56:55Melissa Ellis: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Melissa here, and I'm coming to you from Burley Griffin parkrun in the nation's capital, Canberra. My first time to do Burley Griffin, and I've been to Canberra a couple of times in the past to get my G and to get my Q at Ginninderra and Queanbeyan. But yeah, I had to come back to do this one because I knew its location. I'd seen photos of it. It's absolutely beautiful. It's an out-and-back course on the edge of the man-made Lake Burley Griffin, which our nation's parliament house sits on the shore of. Lake Burley Griffin we don't actually run past Parliament House but anyway the sun was out for me this morning there was a big crowd here lots of tourists a bit of excitement being sort of football season here in Australia so there's a few footy jumpers and I spotted a bride and her bridal party here so I might try and grab a chat with them later anyway I'll see who I can talk to I'm here with the Run Director today, Kim. How are you, Kim?

00:57:57Kim: I'm good, thanks.

00:57:58Melissa Ellis: How long have you been run directing here at Burley Griffin?

00:58:01Kim: About eight months. So I've only come into run directing this year, really.

00:58:07Melissa Ellis: Okay, and so have you been involved with parkrun for a while?

00:58:10Kim: Yeah, so I've been running here for nearly three years and then started volunteering and then became a Run Director about the beginning of this year.

00:58:19Melissa Ellis: Wonderful. And how long has Burley Griffin been going for?

00:58:23Kim: Well so it's run 174 this week so we've been going a bit over three and a half years I suppose.

00:58:31Melissa Ellis: And do you know the story behind it getting started up?

00:58:34Kim: Only vaguely so my understanding is it was decided that we need another parkrun in Canberra and Sally and Darren Coyle who were running at Tuggeranong decided that Burley Griffin would be a great location for one. And so they worked really hard and set the parkrun up here.

00:58:56Melissa Ellis: This is a beautiful spot. It is a large park.

00:59:00Kim: It's one of the prettiest parkruns in Canberra.

00:59:03Melissa Ellis: Or you might get a bit of... But I'm biased. I can't judge because I haven't been to them all. But it is definitely very pretty. So you've got car parking facilities here. You've got a toilet block.

00:59:16Kim: And we've got a cafe just adjacent to it as well. So people can come along. It's easy to park. As you said, toilet facilities, it's a good course. It's a bitumen course all the way. So sealed all the way out and back and coffee facilities here and a great view over Lake Burley Griffin. where we get the rowers. And most mornings, and earlier this morning, there were lots of balloons up around the place as well.

00:59:41Melissa Ellis: I did see one. I was quite excited. Just on your course, that little section just before the turnaround where it's all downhill, I was starting to dread that.

00:59:50Kim: I expected it to be quite a flat course, but you do have a bit of a... Yeah, no, it's deceptively undulating, we like to say. So there's lots of downhills, but unfortunately that means that there's uphills as well.

01:00:03Melissa Ellis: You've got over 300 here today.

01:00:05Kim: Yeah, so it's a good turnout. Spring certainly has sprung. It gets down a bit during winter because it gets quite chilly. But 300 and something this morning, probably around 320, which is up from last week. Last week was about 280, so 40 other people sort of coming along. Lots of newcomers today, which is really encouraging.

01:00:27Melissa Ellis: The public holiday in Melbourne might have helped, do you think, Friday?

01:00:30Kim: Um... I don't know. It'll be interesting next weekend because it's a public holiday here. So next weekend will be interesting to see how many people turn up.

01:00:40Melissa Ellis: And how's your cafe culture? Do you get a big group going every week?

01:00:43Kim: It's a bit mixed. I wouldn't say that it floods the cafe, but there's lots of people that enjoy their cup of coffee after the run and it's as much about the cup of coffee and the chat after the run for some people as it is about the event itself, I think.

01:00:58Melissa Ellis: I heard you refer to yourself earlier when you were talking to the volunteers as a bronzed anzac. Does that mean you're a military man?

01:01:05Kim: I have been.

01:01:07Melissa Ellis: That's good. It's good to hear. Seeing as it's a very military area too in Canberra, isn't it?

01:01:11Kim: There's lots of military here. There's a few military people that are involved in the run and their families, of course, and that gives us a bit of a mobile population as people post in and post out as well. So the parkrun family is great for those people as they move around the countryside to be able to come and... join another group and become part of the community as well.

01:01:35Melissa Ellis: It definitely is. I've got a military background too, and I especially went and did Wagga Wagga parkrun. Sorry, it's just Wagga parkrun, just because from recruit training, I wanted to go back to the area.

01:01:46Kim: Home of the soldier.

01:01:47Melissa Ellis: Exactly right. So there you go. A bit of information you didn't know about me. Anyway, thank you for a beautiful morning here. There's lots of families, I notice. You've got lots of prams and dogs and, yeah, really nice.

01:02:00Kim: Well, we like to think that it's a very family-friendly parkrun and it's generational so it was lovely today we had our bride today who was here and you know she was running here today and her future mother-in-law is here as well so I grabbed a chat with her and a selfie and a selfie anyway yeah so great well thanks for chatting to me Kim my pleasure had a beautiful morning and I shall be over at the cafe shortly okay then cheers

01:02:29Melissa Ellis: Okay, now I'm here with some special people that I chased down. I didn't actually catch them because they're a bit speedy for me. But I've got here dressed as a bride and her bridesmaids.

01:02:39Steph: Can you please tell me your name? I'm Steph from Wollongong and with me I have Holly and Rosie as well. Good morning. How was your run today? Oh, it was beautiful. We had a sensational day here in Burley Griffin. The sun was out and it was shining on us for a fun run.

01:02:54Melissa Ellis: I notice you've got a bouquet and you've got a lovely little star there as well. So have you done Burley Griffin before?

01:03:02Steph: I've actually done it once before. My partner's from Canberra, so we've come here before and done a few of the runs. But yeah, this is not our traditional home run.

01:03:11Melissa Ellis: Is that why you've chosen this one? Is there a reason that you've chosen this one today for your special...

01:03:17Steph: It was just a bit serendipitous, I guess, that we were all here at the same time. None of us were actually here for the same reasons in Canberra. It was a bit of a happy accident. Yeah, we all came together and, yeah, we just, I didn't know this was happening. I got ambushed as I stepped out of the car this morning. Good work, bridesmaids.

01:03:35Melissa Ellis: Love your wear. Because, yep, you've got the lovely pink tutus and you've got a white one just painting the picture for the people that can't see you. Go Margaret! Go Margaret!

01:03:44Steph: A Stefan dream, that's the mother mother-in-law to be groom for the bouquet okay so when's the big day uh the end of November actually so it's a little ways away but this is the last one that we can do before I get married so uh yeah we were making sure that we could all do it together that's fabulous um well thanks for having a chat with me today and good luck thank you very much

01:04:09[14 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

01:04:23Melissa Erbacher: Hey guys, it's Mel. I'm back. Funny story, we've lost Dave. So, I'm recording this on Friday, midday, sort of early afternoon. You've been here through the rest of the pod. You would know that I started recording with Dave. That was on Tuesday night for me, morning for him. He was at the public library. All was well when we recorded the intro and you'll notice he was still around during the interview with Doddy. However, during that interview, he actually dropped out several times. It was kind of repeated. There was some issues with the Wi-Fi and it just wasn't playing nicely. When we wrapped up the interview, I had a break so I could feed Emmett because he was demanding my attention. And we thought when we got back, hopefully, you know, the Wi-Fi would have sorted itself out. Unfortunately, when we got back, it was dropping out about every 20 to 30 seconds. So Tuesday, that was done. We said, all right, let's try for the next day. Wednesday comes. It started off really well. Dave found himself in the reception area of the hotel that he was staying in. He thought it was quiet enough there and the Wi-Fi was better than the public library. So, that was all good. Unfortunately, partway through the recording, it got a bit noisy with people coming in and out wanting to talk to him. So, He moved upstairs. We recorded him going all the way upstairs, two flights to the toilets. He moved into the facilities, basically. There were fabulous acoustics and the connection seemed to be good enough. However, just as we were wrapping up, he dropped out again. And so we only had a little bit more to do and we thought, all right, it's okay. We'll just log back in and record this last tiny little piece and And unfortunately, what we didn't realise at the time was that the previous file for all the stuff that we had recorded didn't work. It didn't upload. Technology has escaped us. And I didn't notice it until I went to edit on Thursday night. So, Dave is now out sitting on a cliff overlooking some fabulous vista somewhere in the UK. Sans Wi-Fi. So, unfortunately, there's not going to be a three times a charm for the outro and we won't have Dave back for the final of the episode. Well, not back in time, the traditional sense there is a little piece I'll play for you at the end however I do want to cover very quickly what we talked about just in a nutshell so bear with me I know it's less interesting when you're just being talked at by one person but we've got to make do I'm afraid otherwise there's not going to be a parkrun adventurers pod for this week um what we talked about okay so of course we said that the uh roving reports this week were fabulous once again I'm just going to give you really the brief version because nobody wants – if you say something three times, it kind of loses a little bit of its shine. So everything's got shorter by now. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, yes, roving reports, excellent. Special kudos to Kobe from Stebonheath that Greta recorded for his awesome delivery of the Acknowledgement of Country. That was incredibly cute. And also to Cameron Drake, our first-time roving reporter from the West, who was at Shipwreck. It was lovely to have another new voice on the pod. Great job, first-time out, Cameron. We really look forward to hearing from you again.

Launches and anniversaries"Where is the cake?"

01:08:09Melissa Erbacher: Then good luck to the event team at Warrington Lakes Reserve in New South Wales who are launching this coming weekend.

Sign-off

01:08:16Melissa Erbacher: And finally, a shout out to everyone who took part in or completed Streaky September this year. Lots of fun was had by streakers out to complete the Streaky Bingo Challenge. I had lots of fun seeing all the pictures, the gnome selfies, the Strava art, the ties or tutus. All of it was just brilliant. And thank you to everyone who came along for the ride just to get moving and to keep moving throughout the month. You all did a brilliant job. I personally did 77 kilometres, which blows the rest of my year out of the water in terms of moving. So I'm really grateful to have had the challenge and the motivation of every person who gave it a go. and shared how they were getting on during the month. So thanks, guys. The group has changed its name again to Streak to New Year's Day. So I know there are some – I don't want to call them hangers-on but people that are kicking on and going to continue the fun. So good luck to you. I broke my streak on the first day of October. So I'm not one of those people. However, I have made a personal goal to myself to keep moving a lot more than I was before the month began. Next week we'll be back with Episode 178 and with a co-host also on Aussie shores. So our regular programming shall ensue. However, I will leave you now with the last bit of audio that Dave and I captured before we finished up on Wednesday. The irony is not lost on me and I'm sure you'll appreciate it also. Until next week, happy parkrun adventures. Music

01:09:53[music]

01:11:09Melissa Erbacher: So whenever you're ready, just flush away.

01:11:12David Moss: Okay. God knows what other people are thinking of this, by the way. Talking to himself. Yeah. Okay. You can do it to lit up. Loo with a view, isn't it? Or view of a loo. Okay. Three, two, one.