Episode 201 - Janet Reid

Welcome

00:00:21Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 201 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis and I am joined today by a brand new voice to the podcast Airwaves. He is a keen adventurer who has been at every listener meetup. He's done 169 parkruns at 25 different events. He is co-ED of Shellharbour parkrun. His mother calls him Oliver but we call him Ollie. Welcome to the co-host chair, Ollie Spake.

00:00:51Oliver Spake: Thanks, Mel. It's different to be here, but very nice.

00:00:56Melissa Ellis: So, Ollie, we're in charge. It's like when the parents are away and have left the kids in charge of the house. So I thought, while we've got the place to ourselves, let's throw a lockdown party. It's been a bit sad and stressful lately with no parkrun, and I think we need to have a parkrun party today, virtually of course what do you think I'm all for it I think that uh in this current environment uh lockdown parties are the way to go compliant of course and uh yeah stoked that you invited me thank you you're welcome so seeing as it's a parkrun party and parties need food you need to bring a plate so what would you bring what's your favourite parkrun party food

00:01:40Oliver Spake: Well, okay, aside from coffee, I generally would look to bring cake because it is parkrun and parkrun is synonymous with cake. And I have had lots of cake lately, so I have lots to spare. And look, you know, baked goods in general, danishes. I won't mention the other baked goods name. And look, maybe even for a point of difference, I'll bring a plate of watermelon because I would eat that all by myself anyway if no one wanted it.

00:02:13Melissa Ellis: When you say the other baked goods name, you're not talking about pasties, are you?

00:02:18Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, I wasn't going to bring it up quite that much. But yeah, pasties, pasties, pasties.

00:02:26Melissa Ellis: I don't even go there with the English. I'll have to refer to Pippa again because, yeah, no, I can't do it. But I just know in Australia it's a pasty.

00:02:40Oliver Spake: Sorry, Pippa.

00:02:42Melissa Ellis: So, Ollie, we're going to start right from the start and go with the informal version of your name so that you don't feel like you're getting in trouble from your mum.

00:02:51Oliver Spake: Or from Mel either, which hopefully I won't be.

00:02:55Melissa Ellis: So you think perhaps if we haven't done a very good job at co-hosting the podcast, you might get an Oliver, please explain.

00:03:04Oliver Spake: Be like school. Yeah. Hopefully it'll stay Ollie. And I'm pleased to say that, especially because mum comes to parkrun too, it's Ollie all around.

00:03:13Melissa Ellis: She does. She was at the very first Palm.

00:03:15Oliver Spake: Yes. Yes. No, mum hates to miss a parkrun. And yeah, no, she's often at Shellharbour too.

00:03:22Melissa Ellis: So... Shellharbour Co-ED, we met you at the very first parkrun adventurers Listener Meetup. Ollie, the audience don't know you yet. Tell us about your parkrun story.

00:03:36Oliver Spake: I have been parkrunning for almost six years, if you include a little bit of the pause. I started at Shellharbour in 2014 and I just stumbled across one of the early events and it got me hooked. Yeah, the community, the connections there just welcomed me back week in, week out. And pretty quickly, it was like, you know, an extension of the family, to discount the community aspect to any parkrun, but I felt really connected to the Shellharbour parkrun group. From there, I think it was the volunteering aspect that kept me hooked. And look, I'll blame Brendan at every point, at every juncture, because, yeah, he certainly sparked my interest in volunteering and just giving me some gentle nudges along the way, including listening to the pod. And... Pretty quickly, it was a chance to run direct, which I was petrified of, you know, speaking to lots of people publicly, not my thing. And yeah, I haven't looked back.

00:04:47Melissa Ellis: Not your thing. And here you are now co-hosting a podcast. So big step for you, I'm guessing.

00:04:54Oliver Spake: Well, it's a big change, but it's parkrun. So, you know, what do you do?

00:04:59Melissa Ellis: And when you say Brendan, you're referring to Brendan's Scholarly, your co-ED?

00:05:04Oliver Spake: Yes, yeah. So we've met Brendan at Palm and obviously it was fantastic to come to the recent parkrun adventurers Listeners Meetup down in South Australia with Brendan and his daughter, Em. And look, he and his whole family have been fantastic and it's fantastic It's been a very quick almost six years in getting to know them. But, yeah, I think just as much parkrun is a big part of the Saturday, so is Brendan and the family and obviously the whole group there.

00:05:36Melissa Ellis: Okay, so what about the family? So who is behind the scenes with Team Spake?

00:05:44Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, look, I've enjoyed parkrunning with Brendan Everyone, but I really enjoy the fact that mum is always keen for a parkrun. She will adventure without me because adventuring is her thing, whether it's parkrun or whether it's pop-ups, Morocco and all over the world. And I think she spurs me on. She encourages me and that's helped make parkrun even more of a home. My oldest daughter, Hannah, has been a big part of parkrun as well. And she's been part of the team. She's volunteered a lot. She's done 30 to 40 parkruns herself, waning in and out from time to time. And look, I'd say they're part of the more committed parkrunners in the family. But we have, however, registered the rest of the family and everyone got barcodes for Christmas, of course, wristbands and key tags. And it's just a matter of time before I think Zali gets her legs to take on the Shellharbour course, which isn't easy for a seven-year-old.

00:06:55Melissa Ellis: No, sevens.

00:06:57Oliver Spake: Yeah, yeah, so just last Friday actually.

00:06:59Melissa Ellis: Oh, happy birthday, Zali.

00:07:01Oliver Spake: Yeah, so, yep, still got two cakes to share a bit more of there. So I'm glad we're having this party. And, look, Zali's been keen to take on the course. She's had one official finish because most of the other times she's done more than 50% on my shoulders.

00:07:21Melissa Ellis: Wow. That's no mean feat coming from Shellharbour because you guys have got some serious elevation happening down there.

00:07:28Oliver Spake: Yeah, we love our hills, maybe a little less so with a seven-year-old or a six-year-old on our shoulders. But, hey, I suppose it's another argument to one day have a junior parkrun here.

00:07:43Melissa Ellis: Ooh. Is that something you've looked into?

00:07:46Oliver Spake: I'd love to say yes, but no. But, yeah, look, I can see the attraction. Absolutely.

00:07:54Melissa Ellis: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So it sounds like Mum upstages you a little bit when it comes to the touring stakes, but you've got 25 events under your belt.

00:08:03Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, it's not quite podcast cred, but it's been great and I'm trying desperately, despite all circumstances, as we all are this year, to increase that. I... I'm part of the vicarious tourist club, and I think listening to the pod's been a big fix. You know, the longest runs gets me out to a few more, but I think the attraction of Shellharbour and obviously being a part of the team there has meant that it's been just as special to stay at home. But, you know, that hasn't fortunately kept me away from some other great parkrun journeys.

00:08:44Melissa Ellis: Speaking of... the longest run we actually did catch up last year I came up to New South Wales for their longest run event and uh and you very kindly um

00:08:58Oliver Spake: chauffeured me around for all the events and you have appeared on the podcast last year because I recorded an interview with you uh yes of course yeah so look I've slipped in here and there um I think I think I actually popped up in episode 11 too but uh I um yeah just just slightly I didn't know that oh okay I'll have to go back and have another listen no no we really don't need to

00:09:29Melissa Ellis: All right, so not an easy thing to step in and co-host. When the parents are away, a podcast, a parkrun podcast when there's no parkrun currently going on. I have developed my own weekly ritual, which I call Ellis Palace parkrun, which is basically just running from my front door a 5K course around my local streets each week. I'm currently pretty much doing that on my own. So I'm really missing running with other people at the moment. Paul's kind of dropped off. He's lost his interest a little bit. But I'm going out there at 8 o'clock to keep my ritual going. And we're up to event eight, sad to say.

00:10:19Oliver Spake: I think that's brilliant. Well done, Mel.

00:10:21Melissa Ellis: Thank you. But what are you doing each week, Ollie?

00:10:26Oliver Spake: Look, I can relate to Paul. I think I had underestimated how much the volunteering and the community side at the local parkrun really played a role. It's been fantastic to have the sleep-ins, to be able to get up and spend time maybe not just gently nudging, pushing the children to maybe give it a go again. But the parkrun morning has been something that I've only managed once. So look, I tried, I'll call it Bass Point parkrun, and it was spurred on, thankfully, by a great pod to listen to. So look, that's been part of the essential part. I think we've talked about, well, Mel and the team have talked about recently just how hard it is to get to listen to your podcasts. So that was part of the drive. So thank you, everyone. But what you're doing with the eight events so far has been fantastic. And I'm hoping to apply a bit of inspiration there to get my backside in gear and get out.

00:11:39Melissa Ellis: So I'm not sure how... close you actually live to your local parkrun to Shellharbour but do you have you actually had the opportunity to to visit Shellharbour during lockdown and are you close enough that you can get there and you know just during the day on your own obviously social distancing and and do the course yeah yeah look that's probably a little embarrassing I'm down the hill from parkrun um

00:12:05Oliver Spake: It's less than one kilometre to run up the hill from my house through the town here, through the suburb, and come out at a little part that unofficially I call the Woods Between Worlds. So that's where I step out of my day-to-day life. across a little footbridge through a windy track into the woods. And I pop out at the top of Heartbreak Hill at Shellharbour parkrun, which is the best place to appear because you can either run from virtually straight from there or run down the hill. So it just completely removes that hill part. I've been out a couple of times, never at parkrun time, of course. Usually it's before a workday, but, yeah, hoping to get back out of a weekend and enjoy the course.

00:12:52Melissa Ellis: Has there been any Friday the 13th since lockdown? I haven't been keeping track, but I know Shellharbour, they do their, what do you call it?

00:13:02Oliver Spake: Let's just call it a run in the dark.

00:13:04Melissa Ellis: Dark run.

00:13:06Oliver Spake: A dark run, yes, yes. Yeah, so there has not been a Friday the 13th. We came very close, or the month's... The months are all a blur, aren't they, Mel? March was very long. There must have been one in March. But perhaps it was February. But, yes, yeah, it's good fun. I mean, we're really fortunate to run in the state park. The state park are fantastic at just... obviously letting the whole community have access to the beautiful surrounds, The Farm beach and Killalea. And I know it's something that Brendan has certainly supported and a few of us other members of the community is get out there sometimes and particularly on a Friday the 13th where it feels a bit more spooky, get out there as the sun's setting and just enjoy a good evening meal of bugs as we take on the course in the dark.

00:14:04Melissa Ellis: I love that Shellharbour has that tradition and, you know, different parkruns have their little unique things that just set them aside from other parkruns and Shellharbour certainly has that. Now, I don't live as close to you probably to my local parkrun or my home parkrun, which is Toolern Creek, and although it's tantalisingly close to as the crow flies. Unfortunately, I live in an estate where the footpaths aren't fully developed and I can't run. I can see it, but I can't get there by foot. However, the other day I was on my way to food shop and I thought, I have to practically drive past the start of parkrun to go to food shopping. So I might just like stop on my way there. And it was so nice just to get on the parkrun course and have a break from running around the block and just to visit and reconnect to my parkrun course. I really did enjoy that. And Toolern Creek, I can't wait to get back there when we are allowed in an official sense.

00:15:21Oliver Spake: I'm curious, Mel, what do you miss most about parkrun and parkrun morning?

00:15:26Melissa Ellis: I think the thing that I miss the most is is the travel, the car trip, you know. So because Paul and I and Zoe, we're very big tourists and often our parkrun morning involves quite long car trips. And what I've realised is that is an opportunity where we sit, where we're together as just the three of us and there's no distractions and we're in the car and we can talk. And that's very important family time that we have in our busy lives that we... that we spend together and we discuss things and, you know, just that journey that we have. And I miss that. I miss the long car trips and the early starts.

00:16:09Oliver Spake: And, I mean, who needs a reason to go to parkrun, of course? But, yeah, I can relate. I mean, I think it was the same weekend that we saw Paul and Zoe and the doggies out at, was it Wang parkrun?

00:16:25Melissa Ellis: Oh, yes.

00:16:26Oliver Spake: Yes. But that was, you know, that was a great experience. That's when, you know, Mum and Hannah and I went off to a family wedding down just out from Wangaratta and, yeah, bumped into you guys. Well... to part of the family and um yeah there was something special about just having that time having that shared experience and yeah of course that wasn't all parkrun but yeah you guys you guys go on some fantastic adventures you surely must be looking forward to that again I am I don't know that Zoe is I think uh she um isn't always very keen on the early morning starts

00:17:04Melissa Ellis: She's very keen on the brunch. She's quite happy about the brunch. I've tried to, yeah, we usually let her have a treat, you know, obviously with her pancakes and her cakes and whatever at post-parkrun catch-ups. And I've tried to entice her out in the mornings as maybe my volunteer photographer of Ellis Palace parkrun. I haven't been successful yet, but somehow she's still managed to get the post-parkrun treat. So, yeah, I'm a bit slack with that. I might have to get a bit stricter.

00:17:39Oliver Spake: Well, not wanting to jump onto sides here, but I suppose I'm now relating to Paul and Zoe there. Yes, parkrun treats without the parkrun. We'll have to get stricter.

00:17:52Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear.

00:17:53Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:17:55Melissa Ellis: Let's talk a bit about what have you missed about not being able to go?

00:18:01Oliver Spake: I think it's a bit of a lifestyle thing. It's been a long time doing it, but it's a huge connection. It's the heartbeat of the week sometimes. You're having a hard week and your parkrun is a snapshot into somewhere you've never been, even if it's just a random track, 75 kilometres, 375 kilometres in some of your cases away. But it's just a little reset. It's a little red button that just says, bang. Yeah, something a bit different. And we're obviously all, we're all struggling without that little reset button. There is no reset button. And yeah, so, you know, routines are probably the coping mechanism. And I'm, oh, look, I'll be proud. I'll be proud and say I'm working on my winter COVID body. Thank you, Scotty. So, you know, we've inserted new routines here. We purchased the cheap pool table. We play pool on a Saturday now in the garage, which has become a classroom quasi bar. But what I do miss is obviously getting up there, getting the welcome, you know, the welcome from Em and the rest of the team up at Shellharbour or just walking in and just seeing how a new bunch of parkrunners that I've never met before tick.

00:19:27Melissa Ellis: I completely agree with you with that, Ollie, because I've always said that since I began parkrunning, I look forward to Saturday mornings every week like it's Christmas morning. It's just that thing that I look forward to every Saturday. I wake up Saturday morning. I jump out of bed because it's Saturday morning and I'm so excited to go off to parkrun. And, yes, completely, that is what I miss. And, oh. Can't wait for it to come back. And it's just, it keeps me going because I know eventually it will come back and we can get back there. We've probably substituted that with our own little ritual. So, and it's a food-based ritual. Go figure.

00:20:15Oliver Spake: No arguments here.

00:20:16Melissa Ellis: At Ellis Palace, we're having our Sunday or Saturday afternoon ritual, um snacks so we're just we're just having a little um platter of dips and and bickies well not because I'm low carb but dips and and cabana and and and celery sticks uh and we and we but we come together and and I think that's the point I put the platter together we have some grapes as well um I put the platter together and we just come together and we sit out on our deck in the sunshine in the afternoon and And we spend time and we just enjoy that. And so I suppose that's probably the closest thing we've come to replacing our experience, our parkrun experience each week in a connective way. Yeah.

00:21:07Oliver Spake: And, I mean, how's the quiz going? Have you almost won or indeed won any more parkrun quizzes lately?

00:21:15Melissa Ellis: Since my PB of coming second. Yes. I continue to partake and I look forward to that as well. And luckily YouTube is very kind to give me a little prompt when I might have had a few too many wines on a Saturday afternoon that I have to run inside and jump online and quickly jump into the quiz. I did okay this week. I think I got 13 out of 15. So that's not too bad.

00:21:46Oliver Spake: That's a little more than okay, I think. Yes.

00:21:49Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, so I'm doing okay and I really enjoy it. And parkrun's doing a fabulous job of keeping the community connected.

00:21:57Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:21:58Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Have you been doing the quiz?

00:22:02Oliver Spake: Look, I have attempted the quiz. I didn't think I was that bad at routines and technology, but I have been inhibited by my lack of experience well, let's say YouTube reminders and set up. So yeah, no 13s out of 15s for me here, but you're right. It's a fabulous initiative and any opportunity to just sort of touch base and to get back to the things that have become very dear to all of us. Again, 5K walk, stroll, run, whatever it might be, or just a volunteer and... Missed the high fives. You know, it's a little part of life, but it's also such a big thing. So, yeah, it will be good to get back to it. But at the same time, it's been fantastic to see all of the initiative out there. And it allowed me this opportunity. So I'm not complaining. Well, I am, but, you know.

00:23:07Melissa Ellis: I think with the YouTube quiz, the equivalent of the high fives is trying to keep up with that chat. Have you, have you tried to keep up with that chat that goes down the side? I mean, seriously, I, I say, I say, hello, I'm here. And then, you know, so hard to keep on. I try to say hello to my friends that I spot that are also online. And I know there's a couple, I know TOC, TOC jumps on and supercell jumps on. So, I see those names whiz past as I try to reply. And Bruce, Bruce Purdy, I've seen him there every week. So hello to all those guys. Yeah. But, Ollie, we're having a party here. Yes. I think we need to put out an invitation to our party. We need to include somebody. I think we need a guest. So how about we do that?

00:24:02Oliver Spake: I think that's a great idea. Have you got any good suggestions Mel?

00:24:07Melissa Ellis: Yeah I think so. Let's see who we can find.

00:24:12Oliver Spake: Okay.

00:24:12[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Meet the ED

Interview Janet Reid — Event Director, Lochiel parkrun (Adelaide, South Australia)

00:24:27Melissa Ellis: Our guest today is a South Australian ED whose parkrun journey spans multiple countries. She is Lochiel parkrun's hostess with the mostess. Welcome to the parkrun adventurers podcast, Janet Llewellyn-Reid.

00:24:41Janet Reid: Well, hello, Mel. Lovely to speak to you again. It's been a while. A lot has changed since we last saw each other, which was at palm20.

00:24:49Melissa Ellis: It was. And we're having a party. We are indeed. Got my hat on. Oh, excellent. Now, I think your invitation should have said that you had to bring a plate. Yes. So what have you brought?

00:25:03Janet Reid: Well, in keeping with parkrun, I have – well, it was going to be a bowl of chips, because they make the best hot chips at Lochiel parkrun. But they were eaten by my husband and son. So I had some cheese and biscuits and a lovely glass of red Shiraz from South Australia.

00:25:23Melissa Ellis: Beautiful. I knew you'd have some alcohol. So anyway, so I've had a little look at your – your parkrun pedigree, 206 events, 24 different events, three countries. How did parkrun begin in your life?

00:25:45Janet Reid: Gosh, that sounds quite impressive when you put it like that. Yeah, well, we were still living back in South Africa and a friend heard about parkrun and we were doing a challenge and she said, well, Let's go along, see what it's about. And yes, I'm afraid. And so I did 20 parkruns at Root 44, which is in Stellenbosch, about 20 minutes outside of Cape Town, and really loved it, volunteered there. It was a great team. And I remember the celebrations we had when we hit 300 people. They now average about 1,000 every Saturday. So it's grown substantially. But that's where it started for me, yep.

00:26:29Oliver Spake: Yeah, and the numbers in South Africa seem to grow by the month. I mean, do you have any idea why it's taken so well in South Africa?

00:26:38Janet Reid: Ollie, I think one of the biggest things is probably the fact that it's free. It's all inclusive. And I think given South Africa's past and its history, to have something like parkrun there is really fabulous. Bruce Fordyce has brought it to South Africa. And the fact that everybody can just go along and participate and not have to pay for anything, I'm sure that's the reason why. And, of course, there's such beautiful venues over there as well, lovely routes everywhere. Root 44 that I did was through vineyards and uphills and so it was more of a trail parkrun but it was really beautiful, yeah.

00:27:18Oliver Spake: Yeah, I have to admit I did Google Root 44 and that was the first thing I noticed, wine. What's the course like?

00:27:26Janet Reid: Very much a trail run. You sort of start off, go through what becomes a car park later on in the morning over a little bridge. As I recall, you turn left. it's a sand road through the vineyards you do a sort of couple of loops and then you go up a little hill short steep clay filled little hill and then you start the climb and you go up and you go up and you go up and you go up and run along a a Pine Forest and you've got vineyards dropping down to your right and just when you get to the top of that hill you think it can't get any worse and you turn left and you go up another hill and then you turn right and you go up another hill and then you start coming back down again. But when you get to the top the views are just spectacular. You look over all the vineyards. You look out to the sea. You can see the market being set up down below you. It's beautiful. Summer, winter, spring, autumn, it's a lovely, lovely venue. I'd recommend everybody goes and has a go there.

00:28:27Melissa Ellis: So, Janet, I know that Scott has mentioned in the past that the parkrun adventurers need to do a trip to South Africa. So this would sound like the perfect trip for me to Root 44. Yes. You emigrated to Australia. And how did you get from running at Root 44 to being an Event Director at Lochiel?

00:28:51Janet Reid: Well, our daughter emigrated about 10 years ago and our son around eight years ago. So when we would come over here to visit them, we went to Torrens a couple of times, but it's a bit far away from where they were staying. But we still went along once we emigrated. And then we It took a bit of a year off parkrun. I know, shock and horror, Janet didn't go to parkrun for a year. But we noticed that a new parkrun was opening at somewhere called Lochiel. So we Googled it, not being at all familiar with the surroundings and found it was only 15 minutes away from us. So we went to the launch of Lochiel parkrun and we have, unless we're touristing, been there almost every Saturday since. And just love the community and the location. And it's my hashtag happy place.

00:29:43Melissa Ellis: But how did you become Event Director? You must have… I started volunteering.

00:29:50Janet Reid: Really enjoyed that. And then somebody asked me if I'd like to have a go at being Run Director and, you know, being the… shrinking violet that I am, I thought about it, and a couple of seconds later said, yeah, all right, I'll give it a go, and started run directing and absolutely loved it, really, really enjoyed that. This part of it for me is just encouraging everybody back home over the finish line. I get a little animated there, but they're used to me. Then we had a wonderful Event Director at the time, Alicia Hopper, and Alicia stepped on to start the Canfield parkrun in the city. And she asked if I would be interested in being Event Director. That took me a little bit longer to think about and make up my mind, probably two minutes. And that's how I became Event Director at Lochiel parkrun.

00:30:43Melissa Ellis: You've got quite a unique situation there with the golf club and you have Is it a cafe?

00:30:51Janet Reid: Just really like a little coffee shop and they make chips and baguettes but have a liquor license.

00:30:58Melissa Ellis: They do. We enjoyed the hospitality of the coffee shop when we came to visit for Palm and it was quite unique.

00:31:09Oliver Spake: Janet, the course is quite beautiful. I mean, we went there during the Palm visit and I think we had to walk the course. Some were jogging, some were running, but yeah, I think a few of us found that we had to walk, we had to stop and take pictures along the way of all of the koalas and just taking this around. So, I mean, it's a pretty fantastic place to spend on a Saturday morning. You're happy you found that as your home and you haven't gone off and started other events like some of the others in the team?

00:31:41Janet Reid: Yeah, no, I'm, I'm very happy. Like I said, I've always hashtag happy place for, for Lochiel for me. Uh, it is pretty and, um, I'm, I'm very passionate about koalas and volunteer with Adelaide Koala Rescue. So, uh, Some of them I know by name, which you'll see in the trees along there. We always look out for them. It is a pretty route. And we're also very, very lucky that we have an exceptionally good relationship with Campbelltown Council, and they maintain the path for us, the route, very, very well. And that does make a difference, especially when it comes to the winter months and we have all the heavy rain. But it's a sealed track, and we've got a couple of little hills and – The local community are very used to us on a Saturday morning, so they know they'll have around 300 of us come landing on the pathway and say hello and cheer and wave. And so we've got a good relationship with the local community as well. But it is a pretty course and we're very proud of it.

00:32:45Oliver Spake: Yeah, no, it was a lovely little way to spend an afternoon and I think a parkrun morning would be all the more magic. Now, for any of the visitors still to make it out to Lochiel, can you share with us some of the koala names?

00:32:59Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:33:01Janet Reid: Well, of course, we've got a Lockie there. We'd have to have one. And then we've got Annie and her little one, Joyce. And we've obviously got a Bruce there too. It wouldn't be complete without a Bruce and a Sheila, would it? And then we've actually got a mum and Joey there at the moment that haven't got names. They're not tagged yet. So we're waiting to see what's going to happen with them. We had a little one that we rescued about four weeks ago. We found him sitting shivering in the tree all on his own, soaking wet. So he went off to the care facility and died. I think they named him Joe and he'll be back one of these days as well.

00:33:43Oliver Spake: So there's quite a few. That's fantastic. And, yeah, I hadn't realised you had that relationship with the wildlife there.

00:33:51Janet Reid: I think for most I've counted on a walk along there is 10.

00:33:54Oliver Spake: Oh, well, we were astounded by three. So we'll have to make it back out there and see them when they're all out. What time of day do they all make it out?

00:34:02Janet Reid: There's quite a lot of them early in the morning. It's lovely to watch them all waking up. And then I suppose it just depends on the day and what their mood is like. They're very individual, each one of them.

00:34:16Melissa Ellis: Janet, I know that you've been a streaker. And so I guess that that started from Streaky September. So how long did you streak for and did you do a full 12 months?

00:34:28Janet Reid: Yeah, right. I did start with Streaky September. I think I'm into my third year now and I haven't missed a day. And that is the truth. So I have no idea how many days I'm on anymore. I think I'm well over 700, I think. I know I think probably a bit ahead of top, but yeah. That's incredible. Well done. Yeah. And it's now become a little bit of an obsession. I have to do it. I cannot not do my minimum of two kilometres. And I think health-wise, it's been really, really good for me. Just getting out there every single day and I don't always run. I walk, I stop and look at gardens and things around me and it's just, it's my little two kilometres of my time.

00:35:23Oliver Spake: That's a fantastic effort. I think I lasted all of about... 32 days so I made it to October but Janet that's that's amazing and you're also part of the parkrun adventurers podcast family so how did you discover parkrun adventurers well streaky September and uh the

00:35:45Janet Reid: podcast kind of went hand in hand because I saw this thing about Streaky September and the streaky part caught my eye because I love bacon and I love streaky bacon. So when I saw Streaky September, I immediately thought, oh, this must be something to do with bacon every day of September, maybe different recipes or something like that. Yeah, no, it wasn't. It had nothing to do with bacon. And I'm glad because I'm still here streaking. And the podcast is just, yeah, it's a highlight for me. I enjoy the banter. I enjoy hearing about the different patterns. And especially now that we hear from international ones as well, that's great. And normally my podcast either goes with me on one of my streaks or I settle down with some liquid content, refreshment and listen to to the podcast that way now you've travelled around South Africa South Australia a little bit since you've uh made it out there what have been some of the highlights of other parkruns you've been to in the state oh uh Mount Gambier, the Blue Lake, absolutely love that it's been the weekend down there and I went to the Coonawarra and sampled some of the wines there. I love Mount Barker. I like the community there and I love the Laratinga Wetlands. That's very nice. Port Lincoln was wonderful. That was a lovely parkrun. Great people. And being such a seafood capital, I was in my element there. Where else? Yeah. I was meant to have been at Barossa Valley this weekend at New York and doing a parkrun, but plans changed. So we'll put that one on hold for a little while longer. But Renmark, Renmark's a lovely one, great community there too. Jubilee Way just down the road from me, Mawson Lakes. Each one brings its own uniqueness and community, and I think that's the one thing I really enjoy about parkrun is the versatility and the different locations and scenery. There's just so much.

00:38:01Melissa Ellis: Janet, can I just mention that you seem to have not come to the greatest state yet.

00:38:08Janet Reid: That's probably because I love there.

00:38:15Melissa Ellis: Fair enough. But when are you coming to the real great state, Victoria, to visit me?

00:38:22Janet Reid: Well, I'm really keen to do Ellis parkrun, but I do believe that by the time I get there, that one may be on hold. But, yeah, as soon as this is all over and behind us, we definitely plan to do some interstate travelling and start ticking off that little bucket list too.

00:38:46Melissa Ellis: That's great. And that is exactly what I wanted to ask you. So when parkrun returns, what are three things that you're looking forward to?

00:38:57Janet Reid: Oh, that's easy as. Hugs, hugs, hugs, and more hugs. I'm a hugger and I'm missing all the upfront hugs. I really am. But no, what would I really be looking forward to being back with my with my community. Being back with all those fabulous people and all the children, they're the highlight of parkrun for me. I just love watching them grow and You know, they chase me. They're all faster than me. And I really love that. So, yeah, to be back with our community and have our Lochiel parkrun family back together again, that's going to be wonderful. Just knowing that it's there on Saturday morning again, that is just going to be great. And probably getting back to volunteering because, strangely, I can go and run any time that I am missing volunteering.

00:40:00Melissa Ellis: I think you're very right there, Janet, because as much as we can go out for a run whenever we want, it's just that something's just really missing and it's seeing our friends. It's volunteering. Getting together. It's the chats we have. It's the catching up every week. And, yeah, it's definitely leaving a big hole in our life.

00:40:20Janet Reid: It is. It is. And we've been doing a virtual briefing on a Saturday morning. So, at 7.50, normal parkrun time, we go live and we do a briefing. And each Run Director takes a turn after eight fabulous Run Directors. And they host the briefing. And we encourage everybody to share their birthdays and anniversaries with us because those are our current milestones. And then go out and do your your parkrun somewhere and then you just add your name under the morning's video to say where you've been and we add up all our kilometres and our different routes and we do our results of our virtual event on the Sunday morning. So that's keeping us all connected and we're getting a good response to that too.

00:41:12Melissa Ellis: That's really good. I'm glad that Lochiel found a way to keep engaged with their parkrunners. And thank you, Janet. Thank you for sharing a little bit of your parkrun history with us today on the podcast. And we look forward to you coming to visit us in Victoria and no doubt up north in Newcastle or Shellharbour, up Ollie's Way sometime in the future. Definitely, definitely. And thank you. And May we all return to parkrun soon. Thank you, Janet.

00:41:43Janet Reid: Yes, I hope so too, Mel. And Ollie, Mel, thank you so much for having me on. It's been wonderful. It's been a great experience. And just to all our fabulous parkrun adventurers, stay safe, take care, and as you say, we will be back stronger than ever before.

00:41:58Melissa Ellis: We will. Thank you.

00:41:59Janet Reid: Thank you, Janet. Thanks, Mel.

00:42:01Melissa Ellis: Cheers, Ollie. Cheers.

00:42:02[15 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:42:17Oliver Spake: So given this is a party, Mel, I do like to make an effort. I brought the pink wig, but what are you wearing to the party?

00:42:25Melissa Ellis: Apricot. Hello. So I ordered one of those new whiz-bang, put whatever you want on your parkrun apricot singlets. Had to have one of those, you know, because not that I need another running top, but I had to have a personalised one.

00:42:45Oliver Spake: Ah, so what is your personalised apricot?

00:42:49Melissa Ellis: Well, it says, well, this is spoiling the surprise. I wish I could post a photo. It says Adventurer and then I've got my barcode number. So I am Adventurer860793.

00:43:02Oliver Spake: Aha. So you weren't tempted to formalise the Ellis Palace parkrun or...?

00:43:08Melissa Ellis: I actually was. So this is the thing. So there's many things that ran through my brain and that was one of them. Do I put Ellis Palace parkrun? Do I go with my barcode number? And I also go by a bit of a hashtag that's hashtag BeLikeMel. So that was also a consideration. Yeah, but the barcode number won out. I just felt like that was what I wanted to make my statement. Yeah.

00:43:35Oliver Spake: Yeah.

00:43:36Melissa Ellis: Yeah, so that's the party clothes with the cheetah ears. I've got the cheetah ears with the apricot.

00:43:43Oliver Spake: Of course.

00:43:44Melissa Ellis: So that is my parkrun. I should ask you, Ollie, what is your parkrun group?

00:43:50Oliver Spake: Well, look, I am yet to sign up to a club and yet to sign up to a personalised apricot. So I have huge envy for your adventurer parkrun barcode ID apricot, not to mention some of the others we've heard about recently. I mean, Scott's collection sounds amazing and some of the other ingenious ideas. I am in traditional Shellharbour apricot, of course. Let's call it formal wear. And cap, of course, and look to top it all off the pink wig because it's kind of grown on me. As has the ISO beard, of course, which I'm being told firmly by my daughter cannot be dyed pink.

00:44:35Melissa Ellis: Oh, yeah, probably not a good look.

00:44:37Oliver Spake: Yeah, no, no, unprofessional, absolutely.

Sign-off

00:44:40Melissa Ellis: But, Ollie, we've... Probably not invited enough people to our parkrun party while the parents have been away. I don't think we've wrecked the house.

00:44:51Oliver Spake: I think... You think we've underdone it, yeah.

00:44:54Melissa Ellis: I think we've left it in... in a good condition. So we might get invited back.

00:45:00Oliver Spake: Look, I hope so. It's been good fun and hopefully Mel has enjoyed her week or weeks. You know, weeks are a fluid thing nowadays, aren't they? We'll just call it a week. Mel's enjoyed her week off and we certainly haven't broken anything, I think. Yeah, it would be fun.

00:45:20Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, Mel, thank you for giving us this opportunity to co-host in your absence. I hope we did you proud and we look forward to listening to you next week on the next episode of the parkrun adventurers podcast.

00:45:36Oliver Spake: Thank you, Mel. And thank you, Mel.

00:45:39Melissa Ellis: Bye, Ollie.

00:45:40Oliver Spake: Bye, Mel. Bye, Mel.

00:46:37Unidentified speaker: Thank you.