Episode 204 - Steve Darby

Welcome

00:00:01Melissa Ellis: The following episode was recorded on Sunday the 5th of July. Two days later, due to rising cases of COVID-19, the Victorian Premier announced that metropolitan Melbourne would go back to Stage 3 stay-at-home restrictions and our only remaining open state border to New South Wales would be closed. For six weeks, once again, we can only leave our homes for four essential reasons. The seriousness and rapidly changing situation is not lost on us and all events referred to in this episode will continue with only household members to ensure Saturday continues to be a day to look forward to.

00:00:36Oliver Spake: Our thoughts are certainly with all the parkrunners and everyone out there, be it the Melbournians, the Victorians and those further afield. We look forward to parkrunning again with you when the time is right. Stay well.

00:00:48[26 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

00:01:13Melissa Ellis: Welcome to episode 204 of the parkrun adventurers podcast. My name is Melissa Ellis, and I'm joined today again by my co-host, Ollie Spake. Hi, Ollie. We've been allowed back.

00:01:28Oliver Spake: Hi, Mel. Yes. Yeah. Isn't it nice? I feel very privileged. So thanks for having me back.

00:01:36Melissa Ellis: So what have you been up to in the last few weeks, Ollie? We... It's been a while since we recorded our first episode together. We are still in lockdown. Nothing's changed there. And I think the last time we spoke, you hadn't really been running a lot. So did I inspire you? Have you been out? Have you been running?

00:01:58Oliver Spake: Yeah, the podcast was definitely good motivation. So I'm proud to say that as of Saturday just gone, Bass Point non-parkrun has now finished event number nine. So, yeah, I've managed to keep that routine up and find a couple of opportunities in there to start combating the COVID kilos. The beard's still there, but, yeah, slowly creeping out of lockdown, rubbing the eyes, looking at the sun, trying to remember what it looked like, and... Getting back to a bit of normality.

00:02:34Melissa Ellis: That's good. What about you, mate? COVID beard? No, I want to hear a bit more about COVID beard.

00:02:40Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, let's just say it's not the most popular feature in the household. The combination of the COVID beard and the shaved head is... has alarmed a few when I've been welcomed back at the office um for a couple of days but uh yeah I think I've really embraced lockdown I tried to get into the into the whole vibe of it I'm still hiding out in the garage den playing pool so the pool game's gotten a bit better but yeah as I say slowly creeping out getting a bit of activity oh that's good

00:03:15Melissa Ellis: It's been challenging times, definitely. I've tried to keep myself motivated. We had the longest run. So, yeah, recently it was the solstice here in Australia. And, of course, traditionally that is when we run our longest run in winter. And I got out with a small group of friends to do that. I was booked, originally to come to Sydney. So I was feeling a bit sad because I was going to come up and join you guys like I did last year.

00:03:48Oliver Spake: It would have been fantastic. It was special last year, but good you got back out. So tell me more.

00:03:54Melissa Ellis: Well, yeah, just a group of friends. So We obviously are restricted with how many people we can run with in groups. But just a small group of about 10 of us decided to go out on the Sunday morning of the Queen's birthday long weekend, which is when we usually do it here in Melbourne and run seven events. And we did. And I'll tell you what, just being with those friends, it really just filled the cup. It was fun. The weather was good. We didn't have rain, being that we're in the middle of winter and we're in Melbourne. We were very lucky. I think just because it was small numbers, the day ran really well and we stayed within our timings and, yeah, just parkruns shared with friends and it was brilliant.

00:04:39Oliver Spake: Yeah, I mean, obviously we've got to respect the restrictions out there and, you know, whilst it's disappointing to not have the opportunity to run it with larger groups, I think that's been... One of the things I have enjoyed, and you've obviously done it spectacularly well in knocking over seven in a day, is just getting the chance to try and reconnect now that we can, obviously, and have been for a little while in different states, being able to run, even parkrun, obviously, as Freedom runs and not at that time of the week, with a group of friends. Yeah.

00:05:17Melissa Ellis: I tell you what, though, I couldn't run them. Last year, I think in Sydney, I managed to run every event. And previously, obviously, I've been a lot faster. But this year, with just the situation we're in and my reduced ability to get out and run, there was walks. There was a few walks, definitely. But it doesn't matter. I didn't care. And

00:05:43Oliver Spake: It was still fun. We are kind of asking for it in Australia, running it on the shortest day and well and truly used to starting in the dark and finishing in the dark. Because I remember the suggested improvement we'd heard from Sydney last year was to include more time for chatting on the schedule. I think I would have needed a lot of time for chatting had I attempted that. So hats off to you, Mel. I wish I could say that I took on anything like the longest run, but maybe by the time an Equinox run rolls around, I'll be in a position to run three and a half parkruns. But... yeah look uh with all the food I consumed in the uh the solstice yeah I don't think that's uh anytime soon I want to hear more about this solstice thing so you've got some sort of swedish finnish kind of connection tell us about that yeah so my wife her mum's side of the family emigrated out from Finland back when my mother-in-law was quite young. So they're from the side of Finland that's a little more close to the Swedes. I'm told there are certainly different regions and different kinds of Finns. So this was probably more a Swedish tradition than anything else, and it's kind of stepped up a bit lately, which I don't mind because, uh, in our household, things like Eurovision have also stepped up in recent years. So this is a fantastic time of the year. Uh, just could have done with a bit of longest running to, to combat the kilos. Uh, yeah, we had, we had the maypole erected in the backyard of my parents-in-law's house. We did the little frog dance, uh, which, which I've only learned this year, did a bit of night swimming and, uh, ate a lot of food.

00:07:32Melissa Ellis: Um,

00:07:33Oliver Spake: Not a fan of herring pie, I discovered.

00:07:36Melissa Ellis: Oh.

00:07:38Oliver Spake: Good on anyone that is. But I gave it my best. Yeah, look, it's nice to have some traditions to embrace when some of these other ones aren't as readily available or maybe in the mix, given my lack of athletic ability.

00:07:56Melissa Ellis: I can sort of connect with your Finnish antics, but... When I read that in the show notes, I totally thought you were going to talk about saunas or how we call them saunas because I had a brother-in-law who had a Finnish partner and I know that they like to do their saunas and then run and jump in the ice water. So that was what I was envisaging when you were talking about Swedish Finnish antics. but it's not.

00:08:27Oliver Spake: Yeah, well, I won't get into the pronunciation discussion with you. I don't know the correct pronunciation. Yeah, fortunately, it wasn't quite that extreme. The water was cold. We jumped in the cold pool and then in the hot spa. But a sauna would have been very nice, I think, after that cold pool.

00:08:46Melissa Ellis: Well, I'm very impressed that you've done Bass Point parkrun and you continued on with that because I have definitely continued on with Ellis Pellis parkrun. And I've got to tell you, It's just, it's what's keeping me going in this lockdown period because when I can't have my real parkrun, just recreating it in my own home is being just fabulous. And each week I've been trying to add something a little bit different. And I think since the last time we spoke on the podcast, I've made my own selfie frame. I had a week where I threw out some fake results emails to my tourists that came to visit I've dabbled in parkrun themes I was privileged to host some friends who were supposed to be in England doing bushy parkrun and look the fact that they were willing to get up at a stupid ridiculous time and drive all the way to my house to do a fake parkrun just testament to them and I thank them because you know, what that meant to me and the buzz that that gave me. And I hope that I was able to... You can't replace missing out on Bushy parkrun. No. But I just hope that I gave them a happy memory for the day so that it wasn't all miserable. But that's becoming a thing now for me. So this weekend, what did we do this weekend? So, oh, it was New Zealand. It was New Zealand.

00:10:18Oliver Spake: Yes, parkrun's back, yes.

00:10:20Melissa Ellis: Yes. So... I just woke up Friday morning and I went, oh, I've got to have a New Zealand flag. Where am I going to get one? And I've been working ridiculous hours and I'm like, oh, my God. Oh, quick, get on Google. Search where sells flags and where can I get a flag from? And I sent, and poor Paul, like I managed to locate this company in the city that sells flags. And I'm like, well, I can't get there. I've got to work. But, you know, I'll send Paul. So I'm like, honey, on your way to work, can you swing past this place and, you know, random place and pick up this New Zealand flag? And he did. And so, yeah, I was able to bring a little bit of New Zealand. It cost me a fortune because ridiculous. Hopefully I'll get to use it again. But, you know, In the scheme of things, these little efforts that I'm going to, they just make me happy. So whatever it takes, you know.

00:11:20Oliver Spake: Well, that's, yeah.

00:11:22Melissa Ellis: I didn't know what New Zealand cuisine was, so I couldn't do any kind of themed food for brunch. But it didn't seem to matter.

00:11:33Oliver Spake: Well, and I'm curious what that would have been. I mean, I'm not sure kiwifruit would cut it. It's probably a bit simple. Or have. Look, it's impressive. You've brought tourism home. If you can't go to the tourist venues, you bring them back. And, yeah, it'll be great to see what you come up with, no pressure, for weeks to come.

00:11:55Melissa Ellis: And like I've said, you know, I'm just blessed that I've reached out to a few friends and said, you know, would you come to my little parkrun? And I'll be honest, and I've said it in social media, it's not a very good course. It's just run about around my suburban streets and it's not pretty. There's nothing special about it, but we're introducing, well, it's developing, let me say that. And a funny point is that we've got this huge, I'm raising my hands to show you how huge it is. This huge sign.

00:12:32Oliver Spake: That's huge, yeah.

00:12:34Melissa Ellis: That is actually for the estate. That's got a big map of the estate. So it's probably the biggest course map that you've ever seen. I'm quite proud of that. So everybody that comes and runs has to stop and admire my course map. on their travels. And funnily enough, I'm not actually inundated with requests to visit Ellis Pellis parkrun. So I'd just like to put the call out. If any Victorians are keen to come, please reach out to me because I'd love you to come and visit. Any Westerfoldians, any previous podcast hosts that might like to come and visit. You're very welcome. And I put on a mean brunch. So, yeah.

00:13:18Oliver Spake: That sounds like a very broad, open invitation. You might have to come up with a bit of a booking system.

00:13:25Melissa Ellis: I know. And it goes against everything that's parkrun because, you know, it's supposed to be very inclusive. But unfortunately, as my dear friend Sally, who very kindly wrote me a run report after her visit last week, it's by appointment only. But sadly, that's just a sign of the times. We can only have five people in our house at a time. I could have, I think, 10 people run outside. We can gather in groups of 10, but I'm not going to have 10 people and then say, oh, sorry, five of you have to go and only five of you can come inside for brunch. So, yeah, no, we've got to restrict it to five. You know, like I said, I'm not exactly inundated with requests. So I'm more than happy if anybody is keen to come and tick off Ellis Pellis parkrun to get in touch. And can I just say as well, you've heard of the Peel Club, right? Yes, I have. And that's in Australia. To join the Peel Club, you have to run every state and territory. Well, I've got to level up for the Peel Club. Oh. If you want to level up for the Peel Club, you've got to run in the state of emergency. So I think you've got to do Ellis Pellis parkrun in the state of emergency for your level up Peel Club.

00:14:40Oliver Spake: And that's a reference to the time and not the state.

00:14:45Melissa Ellis: Well, Victoria is in a state of emergency. I'm not quite sure about all the other states. Like you can have your own themes, whatever. You know, in the greatest state, this is what you have to do.

00:14:56Oliver Spake: No, look, I love it. And, you know, I'm sure that you'll get some interest out there. And, look, hopefully some other events. Who knows what the future holds in terms of timing. It would be great to see some more not parkruns popping up. And hopefully they also get massive course maps so no one gets lost. And, yeah, I'd be curious to see if you're faced with the dilemma one day. Do you keep Ellis Pellis ongoing? If you don't have an event crew because they're suddenly touristing to someone else's parkrun.

00:15:29Melissa Ellis: Well, see, this is the thing, Ollie. It's turned me into a passionista. I've been this massive tourist and now I can't go anywhere because I've got to run my event.

00:15:39Oliver Spake: Yeah, look, can you run two parkruns in a day or a week for that matter? But yeah, we might have to blur the lines on parkrun time.

00:15:49Melissa Ellis: Well, if somebody else in Victoria wants to have their own parkrun course, I'll tell you what, I'll come and do a freedom run.

00:15:54Oliver Spake: Yeah, I think that sounds fair. Yeah. And, look, I'd love to have you up at Bass Point non-parkrun. Currently our record attendance remains at two. Thank heavens for Mum who keeps coming past and joining me on parkrun day. I'm sure she wants to see me too, but that's okay. Yeah, it has been good and I even got the chance to – to celebrate the Shellharbour parkrun virtual birthday as a non-parkrun. So that would have been awkward if I wasn't parkrunning on a weekend when that happened.

00:16:24Melissa Ellis: And I saw you had cupcakes.

00:16:27Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. I can't take the credit for the cupcakes. They were delicious. Thank you, Chris Fraser. What's a birthday without cupcakes or cake in general?

00:16:35Melissa Ellis: Was he just trying to chonk you up so you would be slower?

00:16:39Unidentified speaker: No.

00:16:40Oliver Spake: you've seen the records now I I haven't checked whether Chris logged an event last week but uh yeah look I've checked this week and uh he's beaten me again so I'm gonna have to improve significantly more convincingly this time so I should say that well done Chris that's a good effort and he's been putting in some time so kudos to him yeah absolutely And look, one other thing, and look, if I divert from parkrun slightly, and I apologise, but if I take it on a slight tangent, I'm coming back, I promise. I can't let this go unmissed. I'm still relishing the fact that the World Cup in 2023 has been announced today, to be shared between Australia and New Zealand. So fitting with our friends across the ditch, getting to relaunch parkrun this week. Yeah, it's given me something to dream about whilst tourism isn't such an option and the potential to go and enjoy probably my two big passions at the same time. So catch some matches in New Zealand and Australia and some parkruns too. Very excited.

00:17:48Melissa Ellis: Ollie, what code? World Cup what?

00:17:51Oliver Spake: Sorry. I'm speaking for a Victorian here. My apologies. It's the round ball World Cup. Soccer. Yeah, the FIFA Women's World Cup.

00:18:01Melissa Ellis: Oh. Oh, right.

00:18:04Oliver Spake: We're passionate fans of the Matildas and the Socceroos here.

00:18:08Melissa Ellis: Oh, that other code. Yes. Right.

00:18:11Oliver Spake: Yes. Yes, yes. No hands in this one. Well, not many anyway. Yeah.

00:18:17Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I did see reference to that in the media. Brilliant.

00:18:20Oliver Spake: Yes, and look, on the theme of New Zealand, maybe we should hand over to our guest this week.

00:18:26Melissa Ellis: Yes, let's do that.

Interview Steve Darby — parkrun 500 Club member and New Zealand resident; home parkrun Hobsonville Point

00:18:29Oliver Spake: Our guest in this week's podcast is Steve Darby. Steve is a native of the country that sent all its convicts here and now lives across the ditch in the one country in the world right now where you can legitimately scan a barcode. As of very recently, he has 527 parkruns under his belt and has a five-digit athlete ID, having started at Woodhouse Moor in 2008. He's a bit of an adventurer with 220 different events completed. Interestingly, four letters, I, J, U and Z still evade him. And he's completed well and truly the majority of the New Zealand parkruns, 23 of 30, and nine right here in Australia. Steve, welcome to the parkrun adventurers podcast.

00:19:16Steve Darby: Thank you for the invite. I'm just looking at the I, J, U, and Z and wondering whether they're possible.

00:19:21Oliver Spake: Yeah, do you have those in New Zealand?

00:19:24Steve Darby: Oh, well, there's Invercargill, so certainly we can do the I. I'll have to think about it.

00:19:29Melissa Ellis: Now, Steve, event number 527, it was a big one with parkrun coming back in New Zealand. What did you decide to do? Did you go for a new event or did you go to your home parkrun Hobsonville point?

00:19:42Steve Darby: No. There was 29 events out of the 30 New Zealand events ran yesterday. The one that didn't run was Hobsonville. And the reason it didn't run was quite interesting because Where the actual event starts goes by the name of Bomb Point. And the reason it couldn't run this week was because they're excavating for bombs.

00:20:07Unidentified speaker: What?

00:20:10Steve Darby: It was basically a New Zealand Air Force base. And now they're looking to build on it. So they have to excavate to make sure there's no ordnance lying around. And that doesn't quite go, you know, fit too well with a parkrun risk assessment. So they decided... Leave it for a few weeks.

00:20:30Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:20:31Steve Darby: Yeah.

00:20:32Melissa Ellis: But they've been – how many events has Hobsonville Point done already?

00:20:36Steve Darby: We've done well over a year anyway, so, yeah, probably 60, 70.

00:20:40Melissa Ellis: Okay. So why the new issue with the potential?

00:20:44Steve Darby: Oh, because they're wanting to build houses in that area, so they just have to make it safe, I suppose. Fair enough. I'm sure it was safe before.

00:20:55Oliver Spake: That's phase two. Phase one is sending the parkrunners.

00:21:00Steve Darby: We were just the test dummies, you know.

00:21:02Oliver Spake: Yes.

00:21:04Steve Darby: So, yeah, it ended up being Millwater in the end, which is kind of the nearest one to Hobsonville.

00:21:09Melissa Ellis: So you'd done Millwater before?

00:21:12Steve Darby: Yes, yeah, about probably four or five times. But it was interesting yesterday because we'd been in the routine of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, 5K runs, going for a coffee for the last four or five weeks now, you know, as groups of maybe, well, our group was about 25 people. So yesterday, although we were looking forward to the new start and getting the barcode scanned, et cetera, it was really a continuation of a theme. We just had to make sure we knew where the barcode actually was. But then, you know, as the week started progressing, you started realising this was actually a big deal, but beyond our borders. You know, it was getting a lot of interest elsewhere. And starting to listen to that live stream from With Me Now yesterday, you know, you started to think, hey, this is, you know, you start getting nervous.

00:22:03Melissa Ellis: The eyes of the world were on you.

00:22:05Steve Darby: They were, weren't they? But you see... Because we've been in normality for four or five weeks, and Mel, you touched on this last week. I listened to last week's episode. And that's that 90% of a parkrun experience is actually getting together with a group, running 5K, I'm going for a coffee afterwards. I'm just having a good old chat for an hour or whatever. We didn't really miss the barcode bit of it and the beeping and looking at the results. And that's coming from me who's into stats. And I shocked myself on that one, but, but, You know, it was a bigger deal to elsewhere because it was like a glimpse of normality and what you could get. And it also means that, you know, in places like the UK and Australia, you don't necessarily have to wait until parkrun HQ says we're good to go as the big event. As soon as you can get, you know, you've got the right in your country to have 20 people gather together, you can get 90% of the benefit of parkrun HQ, you know, off your own back, basically. And I think you were saying that, Mel. You were doing solo runs and then you invited some friends around and had coffee and, you know, you got a big part of the experience, yeah?

00:23:24Melissa Ellis: I definitely did. And, yeah, it just goes to show that, you know, it's so much more than just... scanning your barcode and getting a token. And that is what's keeping me going in the lockdown is just catching up with my friends in small numbers. And obviously you've been able to do that in slightly bigger numbers in New Zealand.

00:23:46Steve Darby: I would emphasise that when we've been doing these Saturday morning runs, we haven't done it on an official parkrun course. So we have stuck to the rules. We took the chance actually to test a proposed route So, you know, it's very difficult to test the proposed route at the normal parkrun time. So that actually fell really well.

00:24:04Oliver Spake: So a new parkrun course on its way?

00:24:06Steve Darby: Yep.

00:24:07Oliver Spake: Excellent.

00:24:09Steve Darby: There's quite a few on the way, actually, or in, you know, various stages of development.

00:24:13Oliver Spake: They'll be very welcome after such a long pause. I'm sure people will be chomping at the bit to get involved.

00:24:19Steve Darby: Yeah, well, I think New Zealand's a bit like Ireland in the sense that, you know, a few steps behind in that it's got about, it's got 30 parkruns now. It's got a similar population to Ireland, but Ireland's got, I don't actually know, but well into three figures. And I can see New Zealand getting to 100 quite quickly now because it's got, you know, a critical mass to it and it's, People want the events in different locations. And there's still quite some distance between events. And what often happens is someone puts them in the middle. And I can see that happening quite rapidly now.

00:24:55Oliver Spake: So it does look like over the pause, you've almost found a way, Steve, to kind of improve parkrun. So you're saying the barcode scanning is not as important. Obviously, work within the rules. Extend the brunch. Yeah. Any other improvements you've discovered?

00:25:11Steve Darby: Well, what was interesting about yesterday, if we carry on with this theme of it was actually a bigger deal outside New Zealand than in New Zealand, the guys, I think it was at Paranga parkrun, they had the brainwave of tying up each parkrun with an international region. So, for instance, Millwater was tied up with Italy. Pegasus was tied up with Wales. Every event was tied up with somewhere else. And as a result, in the week leading up to it, contacts were made and, you know, new friends were made in different countries across the globe. For instance, down at Pegasus yesterday, Jackie Hancock RD'd dressed as a daffodil, to make Wales feel part of it. And the South Island ambassador, Geoff McMillan, was dressed as Tom Jones.

00:25:59Melissa Ellis: Do you think everybody's really missed dressing up?

00:26:02Steve Darby: Geoff McMillan has. He'll dress up at any opportunity.

00:26:07Oliver Spake: Yeah, that's not unusual in parkrun.

00:26:10Steve Darby: That's not unusual. You had to, didn't you? You had to.

00:26:12Oliver Spake: Very important part of parkrun.

00:26:14Steve Darby: And I didn't even tee that one up. And Rhys, the RD at Millwater, delivered part of the briefing in Italian, which, although we didn't understand it, was incredibly impressive, and he did translate it for us afterwards as well. So that was good. That was impressive.

00:26:31Melissa Ellis: What sort of numbers did you get at Millwater?

00:26:34Steve Darby: Millwater, it was just one off the record. 286 maybe with the record at 286 or something like that. But we don't get massive numbers here. I think the record attendance is at Hagley, which is 500 and something. Every event was round about its record level, which are all very manageable.

00:26:54Melissa Ellis: I think that's what parkrun is sitting and waiting to see what happens in New Zealand to judge what potentially will happen next, you know, across the other countries as they open up. Have people dropped off parkrun? Are they chomping at the bit to get back? Are extra people who have maybe become active in the pause going to come back and increase numbers? I'm sure that everybody's waiting to see and looking to New Zealand to find out.

00:27:20Steve Darby: Yeah, well, we have 3,600 altogether. That's, well, 29 events. So, you know, that's fairly normal, maybe averaging 140. 140 something like that okay but you won't go to a parkrun normally in New Zealand without lots of international hands going up you know international visitors and obviously we had none of those it's not worth going into quarantine for two weeks just to run a parkrun I don't know about that well okay well you well well we'll see you in three weeks time then I think I could quite happily work from home in a hotel in uh New Zealand

00:27:55Melissa Ellis: while I quarantine for the sake of doing a parkrun.

00:27:59Steve Darby: Hey, I've got a question for you too. Have you, how have the COVID calories treated you?

00:28:05Unidentified speaker: Oh.

00:28:06Steve Darby: They've treated me not too kindly. I mean, you don't have to answer the question, but is it good or bad or about the same?

00:28:13Oliver Spake: Look, I've embraced the parkrun brunch, less so the parkrun. And I'm sorting out the balance a little more now. But yeah, COVID calories, definitely a thing. I think I'll be well and truly ready to get back into the regularity of the parkrun just to get that discipline back.

00:28:32Melissa Ellis: And in Danny's words, I am chonk. I am chonk all over. And, oh, it's terrible. I've just been working so much. And it's not from lack of, you know, desire. I would love to be out there running. But unfortunately, my work has increased in the lockdown. So I'm very... inactive and stuck in front of my computer for long hours. I've got a bit of work ahead of me.

00:29:00Steve Darby: Here's a stat for you from yesterday. On March the 14th in New Zealand, the average time across all parkruns was 30 minutes 44 seconds. Yesterday, it was 30 minutes 45.

00:29:16Melissa Ellis: Wow.

00:29:17Steve Darby: Now, I'm responsible for that one second just by myself.

00:29:21Melissa Ellis: I like a guest that brings his own stats.

00:29:23Steve Darby: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Impressive. I didn't make the stats up. I just saw it somewhere. But the point is that means the rest of New Zealand have got no COVID calorie effect whatsoever. They're all leaner, just as lean and mean as they were on March the 14th.

00:29:38Melissa Ellis: I've got friends that have been out running and they've dropped massive amounts of weight and their times are just dropping as well. So there's two ways it goes. Yes.

00:29:50Steve Darby: So people have more opportunity to exercise as well. So that was the other side of the coin, wasn't it? But, yeah, you know, so in general, the Kiwi parkrunners, just as lean and mean as they were. So let's see if that plays out for the countries.

00:30:06Oliver Spake: Full admiration for New Zealand there. I think New Zealand's managed things remarkably well in a number of ways. It's been an interesting time. And I suppose if we all look back, I... I'm pretty sure everyone would have put the money on New Zealand to start up first, given the track record. But you obviously, you've done a few Freedom Runs and travelled to a few parkrun countries. Obviously, parkrun countries aren't up and running outside of New Zealand. But hypothetically speaking, if you've got the ticket to the world being based in New Zealand right now, where do you go? Where do you do a Freedom Run? Are there countries you haven't visited that this is your chance?

00:30:47Steve Darby: Well, yeah. I mean, I did have a trip, was working on a trip to Bere Island in Ireland in about four weeks' time. But obviously, that's not going to happen now.

00:30:57Melissa Ellis: You've been there before, though, haven't you? Have you, Steve?

00:30:59Steve Darby: Been there twice before, yeah. Yeah, it's a great place. It's unique. The place is unique. It's an island with 200 inhabitants, something like that. But they're great. Almost the entire population is into parkrun there.

00:31:14Melissa Ellis: I did hear you said what makes you unique to a lot of tourists is you like to return to parkruns that you've toured at, that you've enjoyed. So you will return multiple times.

00:31:26Steve Darby: Well, it's like when you mentioned those stats at the beginning, you said, you know, 527 parkruns and I don't know how many different events it was, but, you know, roughly half. I think if you're either extreme where you... Say if you've done 527 at one single event, you're missing something, aren't you? You're missing... you know, a variety of courses and other groups of people and all that kind of thing.

00:31:51Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:31:51Steve Darby: Where if you go to the other extreme and you've done 527 completely different events, never going back to one, well, you've equally missed out on a lot, haven't you? Because, you know, you never make any connections as such. You're just moving on each time. So it seems that the happy middle ground is about like that 50% ratio.

00:32:12Melissa Ellis: Yeah, I definitely have a small amount of events where – I do go back to because I know people and I'm drawn back to them for specific reasons.

00:32:23Steve Darby: Yeah. I think I've been to a dozen courses more than a dozen times or something like that. So, you know, it's just whatever happens. It's just wherever you feel like going on a particular day sometimes.

00:32:34Melissa Ellis: Yeah. Agree.

00:32:37Steve Darby: There's a lot in Australia I want to do.

00:32:39Melissa Ellis: Okay. Tell us what are a few events that you're keen to come back to in Australia? Yeah.

00:32:43Steve Darby: Well, I want to do Kangaroo Island. I've done Kangaroo Island Marathon, but the parkrun hadn't actually started then, and the marathon's on a Saturday morning anyway, so I think it'd be impossible to do both because they're opposite sides of the island. But Kangaroo Island's a bit like Bere Island. It's just unique, and if you call yourself a parkrun tourist, you want to do both of them once in your parkrun career.

00:33:09Melissa Ellis: I'd have to agree with you there because Kangaroo Island is on my list. Very high up on my to-do list. I know Mel Erbacher and Brendan Peel, they would agree with me.

00:33:19Steve Darby: It seems to be actually anything with island in the name seems to be the must-dos. I mean, we were lucky enough to do Harrison Island before it got permanently. Brilliant. Loved it.

00:33:32Melissa Ellis: Okay, so what else maybe in Australia apart from Kangaroo Island?

00:33:36Steve Darby: I've done about 60 Freedom runs, not many as official runs. The first one was actually Mosman with Simon Mackley.

00:33:45Oliver Spake: Aha!

00:33:47Steve Darby: Yeah. That was a strange one because we've never turned up at a parkrun that's about to start and it's still completely dark, completely pitch black. This voice comes out from under a tree saying, are you Steve Darby? LAUGHTER I've only just arrived in Australia. Who's that? What's this? And it was just that Simon had noticed we'd liked the Mosman Facebook page the night before. But, you know, that put the spooks on me.

00:34:04[laughter]

00:34:18Oliver Spake: Yes. News travels fast in the parkrun world.

00:34:21Steve Darby: But that's a good example, though, isn't it? You can go to the other side of the world and you can plug into this group that you can go for breakfast with afterwards.

00:34:28Melissa Ellis: Yeah, it's pretty unique, isn't it? There's not many places where that can happen, I wouldn't think.

00:34:33Steve Darby: And what is bizarre is you then trust that group of people. So if you want to know something locally, you ask them and you believe everything they say. Well, what is it about a group of parkrunners that just got sort of parkrunner? You trust them, but you do.

00:34:47Melissa Ellis: Yeah, would you like a lift to brunch? Hop in my car.

00:34:49Steve Darby: Yeah, that's exactly what Simon did. Does he normally pick up strangers?

00:34:57Melissa Ellis: Maybe he can answer that for us. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:34:59Oliver Spake: We'll have to ask Simon.

00:35:02Melissa Ellis: So... Anyway, talking about brunch, I want to know what is your typical brunch in New Zealand and what do New Zealanders have for brunch? Is it different to what people have in the UK?

00:35:14Steve Darby: No, typically it's coffee and a scone.

00:35:18Melissa Ellis: Ah, okay.

00:35:20Steve Darby: That's what you normally have, yeah. You know, the bigger the better, obviously, but, you know, there's always one available. With jam, with cream? That sounds complicated. It's a bit of a brush, aren't they?

00:35:30Melissa Ellis: That's interesting because I had... So my Ellis Pellis parkrun that I've been doing, we celebrated last week with a UK theme and we had scones with jam and cream because I'm like, I don't know. What's UK? I don't know.

00:35:45Steve Darby: I mean, it's either that or it's a full English breakfast, but you don't want one of those if you're having another run later in the day.

00:35:55Oliver Spake: No, no. Okay. And so... Obviously, the home parkrun, not an option, parkrun, all things going to plan, and it's difficult to imagine that everything goes to plan in today's world, but all things going to plan. Where are you parkrunning next week, Steve?

00:36:12Steve Darby: Well, I think the plan is to do Hamilton next week, actually. So, yeah, Millwater this week, Hamilton next week.

00:36:19Melissa Ellis: Is that a new event for you?

00:36:21Steve Darby: No, no, no, no, no. I mean, within normal travelling distance or driving distance, we've probably got six parkruns. So I've been up here two years, so obviously they've all been done multiple times. There's no new ones within driving range, how far is driving range out of interest for you uh sometimes sometimes it can be 300k maybe it's been further it's been further driven to Wellington so that was 600 so so I'm telling you desperate times call for desperate measures Oh, no, it just depends whether the airfare is more than the petrol.

00:37:04Oliver Spake: Well, yeah, yes. It certainly sounds fantastic. We're still looking on with just a tinge of jealousy, but overwhelmingly happy for you, Steve.

00:37:15Steve Darby: What's your estimate of getting back then? Any news?

00:37:19Oliver Spake: It's touch and go. If you asked certainly me a couple of weeks ago, it felt much closer. I think we're seeing just how quickly things can change and we just have to do the right thing for all. And as you say, getting back to small groups, whatever's permissible and whatever's in the right interests for the time.

00:37:41Melissa Ellis: Australia was looking really good. And now in Victoria, where I am, we've just had a second wave kind of happening. It's a little bit scary at the moment. I mean, it's not kind of the numbers that certainly some of the other countries have, dealing with it it's it's relatively small scale but Victoria is uh for Australia where they're brunt of a lot of jokes with the rest of the states at the moment uh talking of which you said which Australian parkruns I still need to do Albert park I've really I've run around it but there was a formula one course on it at the time yeah it's so inconvenient so yeah I have to come back and do that at some point yes definitely yeah there's a few around Melbourne actually Well, you'll have to come and revisit us in Victoria. We'll be very glad to host you in the near future. That'll be fabulous. Thank you very much for joining us today.

00:38:33Steve Darby: No problem at all.

00:38:34Oliver Spake: Yes, thank you, Steve.

00:38:35Steve Darby: Nice talking to you both and best of luck with getting back up and running, well, as soon as possible.

00:38:40Oliver Spake: Thank you. And that was fantastic to get a chance to talk to Steve. And nice to hear a parkrunner talk about parkrunning, not something we've done for some time. How fabulous was it to hear about New Zealand relaunching and the relaunch going well? Hopefully that's something our other parkrun cousins across the world get to enjoy like us sometime soon. And very important, we give credit to our statistician and scriptwriter, Simon Mackley. I think the saying is peeling back the curtain, right, Mel? Thanks, Simon, for putting us in touch with Steve. It was, of course, great just to share a bit of the excitement of the weekend and hear some of Steve's wonderful adventures.

00:39:30Melissa Ellis: It was. I was in awe of listening to somebody who has been around for for quite a long time and and back in the early days when Woodhouse Moor was was Leeds parkrun and only one of four in the world at that time so he's got a very uh colourful history with parkrun so that was great to speak to him thank you Steve for joining us yeah thank you Steve we could certainly talk for much much longer so maybe maybe it's someone we need to check in with again in future Yeah, no, he's coming to visit me at Albert parkrun.

00:40:07Oliver Spake: Oh yeah, of course.

00:40:08Melissa Ellis: That's right. I'll interview him when he comes.

00:40:11Oliver Spake: Excellent. Excellent. Maybe I'll try and make it down then too.

00:40:14Melissa Ellis: Okay.

00:40:15Oliver Spake: Assuming everything's back to normal and I can come down to the southern state there.

00:40:19Melissa Ellis: Great. Bring the kids, bring the family, come stay with us and you can do an Ellis Pellis Freedom Run.

00:40:24Oliver Spake: Brilliant. Yes, that'd make it a weekend. Now, if I could squeeze in a kids parkrun on Sunday, I think...

00:40:30[laughter]

00:40:30Melissa Ellis: yeah I think that's a winning formula yes come and see Eynesbury Heritage Trail Junior parkrun when it's up and running but yeah when the borders open because at the moment Victoria's got the plague and nobody wants to let us anywhere and you aren't allowed to come and visit us so oh yeah and and look I don't mean to laugh um you know I certainly feel for everyone in Victoria at the moment you feel for anyone across the world this is this is not a fun time you know I've

00:40:56Oliver Spake: I've had the pleasure of being COVID tested. Fortunately for me, I had tonsillitis. It was just a precaution. Don't wish that upon anyone. But obviously, we're all trying to do the right thing. And like running in small groups and observing our social physical distancing requirements. Yeah, I think obviously when the time is right, we'll be ready to jump back in and have some fantastic travels.

00:41:23Melissa Ellis: Completely agree with that.

00:41:25Oliver Spake: Yeah, but in the meantime, we can watch New Zealand and we can share some of the good vibes that our brothers and sisters across the ditch are sending. I look forward to another week.

00:41:36Melissa Ellis: How happy has everybody been for New Zealand? That has been a really good thing to see on the parkrun socials, just how happy everybody's been to see New Zealand get back to parkrun.

00:41:49Oliver Spake: I think so. Obviously, no one wants to do the wrong thing. No one wants to get parkrun back up and running when things could obviously go downhill quickly. We've seen how things can go downhill quickly. So it is fantastic and it's fantastic to see people acknowledging how nice it is for the people of New Zealand to be enjoying that. Rest assured, it will happen for the rest of us at some stage. Yeah, it's good to see some love.

00:42:19Melissa Ellis: It is. So have you logged a (not)parkrun yet, Ollie?

00:42:22Oliver Spake: Yes, absolutely yes. I've logged a couple of not parkruns. Generally they're out on the Bass Point course. I did actually get the opportunity to unofficially on a Sunday visit Shellharbour parkrun and catch up with some fellow parkrunners and a visitor from Penrith as well, one of our surrogate Shellharbour parkrunners, Catherine. But, yeah, the (not)parkruns at the moment have been the (not)parkrun course at Bass Point.

00:42:50Melissa Ellis: I'm becoming a bit obsessed with my own parkrun. So my (not)parkruns have to be Freedom Runs of Ellis Pellis parkrun.

00:42:58Oliver Spake: Of course.

00:42:59Melissa Ellis: Which is really not that exciting because it's just running around my block by myself, which isn't necessarily really fun. But actually what I've been trying to do because my work has ramped up, it's been hard to get out and run in the last week or so. But I've been making an effort to get up a bit earlier. So every morning I'm going out in search of a nice sunrise. So I'm doing my morning walk or, yeah, it's been a walk. I won't pretend it's been a run that hasn't.

00:43:29Oliver Spake: Well, a parkrun is not a run. Exactly. Well, that's it. Call it what you will.

00:43:32Melissa Ellis: I know. That's what I'm calling it. I haven't discovered one yet, but, you know, every morning there's that hope that, this might be the day where I get that really nice sunrise because I'll tell you what, I've got some Strava friends that are, and they're in Victoria and they're posting some pretty amazing sunrise photos. I've got a bit of FOMO going on. I want some of that sunrise love. So that's my, it's my, oh, what's the word for it? It's my reason to get out of bed every morning that on the chance that it might be the morning I'm not going to sleep in and miss it, let's say that. But, yeah, so my (not)parkrun is doing my fake parkrun course. But Mel and Dave mentioned last week that they were curious to know where everybody was doing their (not)parkruns.

00:44:26Oliver Spake: Yeah, and there have been some. You know, there have been pictures on Facebook and Instagram and I'm sure many other social media platforms that I do not even understand. I don't know if you can load a picture to TikTok, but I'm sure there's going to be parkruns on TikTok at some stage. But the, yeah, look, the... The discoveries out there and some of the courses, not necessarily all 5Ks, but hey, not parkrun is flexible. There have been some great trails through the bush, some fantastic sunrises. I've been seeing those too.

00:45:00Melissa Ellis: So I thought maybe we could put a call out to the listeners, to our trusty parkrun adventurer listeners, if you want to let us know where you've been doing your (not)parkruns please comment on the post for this podcast and let us know. Are you getting out to your local parkrun at a different time, you know, through the week? Have you got your own fake parkrun course like I do? Are you just running randomly wherever you feel like, whatever takes your fancy? Let us know. Yeah, comment in the post to this podcast. so that we can find out where everybody is running. That would be great. What do you think, Ollie?

00:45:50Oliver Spake: Oh, look, I'm a big fan of, in the right vein, peer pressure. And in this case, those sorts of comments and pictures will add peer pressure to me, just like the last podcast did. It will get me out there, get me enjoying it.

00:46:05Melissa Ellis: What if nobody comments?

00:46:08Oliver Spake: Or if they put it all on TikTok, I won't have a clue. Yeah.

00:46:11Melissa Ellis: What is that? I don't even have to. I thought you were going to say Snapchat. I can't understand Snapchat either.

00:46:17Oliver Spake: Snapchat, yes. Well, yeah, Snapchat's about as long as my memory. So everything disappears. Yeah.

00:46:23Melissa Ellis: Oh, dear. Okay.

00:46:25Oliver Spake: No, look, and it's, you know, hopefully that inspiration that will keep getting us through. You know, we've got another week to look forward to, another week, another (not)parkrun for now until it's our turn, like our Kiwi friends. Have you more plans for not parkrun, Mel, next week and weeks to come?

00:46:49Melissa Ellis: I do. I do. I'm really excited about next week. I've already started buying the... Another thing? Yes. Yes. It's Christmas in July next week, Ollie.

00:47:02Oliver Spake: Ah, whoops. Yes, of course.

00:47:04[laughter]

00:47:04Unidentified speaker: LAUGHTER

00:47:06Melissa Ellis: I'm excited. I've already started planning the food and how I'm going to decorate the house. And, yeah, it's a Christmas theme. I've got a couple of friends I've reached out to that they actually said yes. So that's a bonus. A girlfriend who was actually the person that dragged me along to parkrun in the first place back in the day in 2014 when Berwick Springs was just a baby parkrun. So she's coming all the way across town, to join me and so I'm very excited for Christmas in July fake parkrun um I might have to add something to the selfie frame to mark the occasion because this week in honour of New Zealand because you know I've got my selfie frame and I've got little yes I've got little drawings on it to to represent different things that have occurred during the lockdown so I drew a kiwi And I only, like, you know, the bird. Yep.

00:48:02Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. Not the bird.

00:48:04Melissa Ellis: Just the fluffy kiwi. Yes. So, yeah, and that was also a last-minute thing, the morning of parkrun, that I thought, oh, I should draw a kiwi on my selfie frame. Oh, okay. Google how to draw a kiwi. It came up quite good, though. I'm really happy. I'm really proud of my little kiwi. So maybe he needs to have a Santa hat next week.

00:48:31Oliver Spake: The Kiwi will collect its accessories as we go. It's sounding like the badge system. So this is your (not)parkrun profile is your frame.

00:48:40Melissa Ellis: And you know what I'm getting everybody to do as well? On the back of my selfie frame, everybody has to sign. All my tourists have to sign and write a message. So I've got a written record of everybody that came here.

00:48:54Oliver Spake: Oh, I think that's a great idea. I hope your selfie frame is big enough.

00:48:58Unidentified speaker: Oh, don't say that. How many times are we going to be in lockdown for?

00:49:02Oliver Spake: Just in case.

00:49:03Melissa Ellis: I might have to have a Mark II selfie frame. Oh, dear. I'll just get them to write smaller.

00:49:11Oliver Spake: Yes, or like I should have said, you know, we'll have the good vibes and we'll hopefully have a couple more weeks and we'll be back at some stage. But, no, I like the approach. you'll have some great memories on that. And maybe the selfie frame will make an appearance at a couple of official parkruns.

00:49:32Melissa Ellis: I could take it on tour. Yeah. I could be Ellis Pellis parkrun on tour. There's so many possibilities. But what I think I need to do now, I need to adopt a country.

00:49:45Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. I really like that idea.

00:49:49Melissa Ellis: So I think, now this is just off the top of my head, If I could adopt a country in the world, I think I might go with France.

00:49:57Oliver Spake: Oh, yeah? Why France?

00:49:59Melissa Ellis: I just like the idea of that theme. I might get a French flag. I studied French for five years in high school. All my friends were a lot smarter than me and they did typing. So they can now touch type and I can just say, parlez-vous Francais. That's a bit... But through five years of studying the country, I feel quite fond of it. So I think I could quite easily draw the Eiffel Tower on my selfie frame. [French: "do you speak French?"]

00:50:32Oliver Spake: Yep, yep.

00:50:33Melissa Ellis: Yeah, and I think I might have to have a French-themed – yeah, that might attract some people. We might have to throw that out on the socials and see who might like to come and join me for that week.

00:50:45Oliver Spake: Yes, yes. I think – This is something we need to keep doing, adopting parkrun countries and keep the themes coming. There's nothing like a parkrun fancy dress.

00:50:55Melissa Ellis: Oh, you've got to make it fun. That's the thing, you see? It's got to be fun. And what about you next week, Ollie? What are you going to do?

00:51:01Oliver Spake: Well, I won't adopt a country. Well, you could. I could, yeah. There's plenty of time yet, actually, yeah.

00:51:09Melissa Ellis: I think, hang on, Finland, what are your countries that you've got an affinity with?

00:51:15Oliver Spake: Well, Finland and Sweden, look... Now I feel guilty. I wasn't going to say I would pick Finland or Sweden, but maybe I should.

00:51:25Melissa Ellis: Toss a coin.

00:51:26Oliver Spake: I'll just grab the ABBA outfit and go for one.

00:51:29Melissa Ellis: Oh, I didn't see that.

00:51:31Oliver Spake: Yeah. Yeah, look, any of those countries with the Eurovision inclusion. So, look, I can adopt Australia given that. Yeah. Yeah, that would make it fun. I was going to say Russia just because, or just because. But all right, no, Finland or Sweden.

00:51:50Melissa Ellis: Okay, yeah. No pressure. No pressure. I'm seeing a (not)parkrun maypole.

00:51:59Oliver Spake: Course description, run around. Dance like little frog.

00:52:07Melissa Ellis: It could work. Hey, work with me here.

00:52:10Oliver Spake: Don't let go. Yes.

00:52:12Melissa Ellis: Maybe you could just run 5K holding a ribbon. It doesn't have to be attached to the maypole. Just pick the maypole up and run with it.

00:52:19Oliver Spake: Well, I only got a few looks when I ran with a cape for the Shellharbour parkrun virtual birthday. So, yeah, look, maybe a ribbon won't turn too much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just adapt.

00:52:30Melissa Ellis: Adapt.

00:52:31Oliver Spake: Yes, adapt. I like that idea.

00:52:34Melissa Ellis: Okay, I want to see a photo. On your Strava next week, I want to see some sort of Finnish or Swedish maypole paraphernalia.

00:52:44Oliver Spake: All right. No, I'll have to see if the family still have the maypole. I'm sure they do.

00:52:48Melissa Ellis: And the flowers. Did I not see a photo with flowers, people wearing flowers?

00:52:53Oliver Spake: That's a good point. So it's a maypole and flowers. Yes. Excellent. I look forward to it. parkrun's always about fancy dress.

00:53:03Melissa Ellis: We've had fun. This has been fun. Thank you. Thank you for joining me again. How lucky were we that they let us come back?

00:53:11Oliver Spake: Well, obviously they didn't check hard enough. I mean, did anyone look under the table?

00:53:17Melissa Ellis: I don't think so.

00:53:19Oliver Spake: No, look, I do appreciate getting the chance to come back and I know that obviously I will make sure to tidy up a little more this time.

00:53:31Melissa Ellis: Hide the broken maypole.

00:53:35Oliver Spake: No, it's nice to get to talk to parkrun or get to talk to parkrun.

00:53:39Melissa Ellis: Hello, parkrun.

00:53:42Oliver Spake: It usually doesn't talk back. And, yeah, it's... It's fantastic to get to tune in and have a chat with the relaunch and, as I said, all the good vibes and all the good vibes to come.

00:53:55Melissa Ellis: We might even get better at it if they keep letting us come back.

00:53:58Oliver Spake: Absolutely. Let's hope.

00:54:01Melissa Ellis: All right. Time to say goodbye, you reckon?

00:54:03Oliver Spake: I suppose so. I'll finish up and I'll go and talk to parkrun on my own and hope the family don't look at me.

00:54:12Melissa Ellis: Oh, fabulous. All right. It's been a pleasure again, Ollie. Thank you for joining me on this week's episode.

00:54:18Oliver Spake: And thank you, Mel. I appreciate you having me on the episode.

00:54:23Melissa Ellis: I think we're a duo now.

00:54:25Oliver Spake: Oh, look, given there's two of us and we've been talking about parkrun, that ticks the box, right?

00:54:31Melissa Ellis: Okay. Well, hopefully we can... Be invited back and we can check in with the listeners and let them know about Maypoles and Eiffel Towers in the future.

00:54:42Oliver Spake: And hopefully see some wonderful sunrise and other not parkrun courses too. Absolutely.

Sign-off

00:54:49Melissa Ellis: Fabulous. Well, that's it from us for episode 204. Back to you next week, Mel. Thanks for giving us the reins again. And we look forward to hearing more adventures with New Zealand parkrun in the coming weeks. See you all.

00:56:05Unidentified speaker: Thank you.